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This game is a buggy peice of crap

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: December 05, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This game has a serious stuttering issue and Valve has still not resolved it. You can read all about the bug. There is also an ungodly long thread on Valve's website called Audio Stuttering

You can read all about the problem. It plagues machines that are fast and slow. There is no ryhme or reason that it happens. It happens to me and makes the game completely unplayable.

The game would be near perfect if it was not for this huge technical glitch. It also appears that Valve knew about this problem.

I think this is a travesty. I have spent 50 bucks only to not be able to play the game in a satisfactory manner.

The Instruction at 0x####### referenced memory at 0x#######

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 13 / 16
Date: February 15, 2005
Author: Amazon User

If you buy this game, look forward to at most 5 minutes at a time of actual game play, then this error.

'The Instruction at 0x####### referenced memory at 0x#######. The memory could not be 'read'

Valve/Source has acknowledged this problem, and has no clue how to fix it. They have no clue as to the cause, and you will be unable to get your money back if it happens to you. This is a useless game, unless you really want an expensive set of Half Life 2 coasters. In case you're wondering, its not my system. Here are my specs.

Athlon 64 3500+
1 GB Corsair XMS 2-2-2-5 RAM
eVGA GeForce 6800 Ultra
200GB 7200RPM w/NCQ Seagate SATA HDD
ZALMAN 7000-CU Heatsink/Fan (running at maximum speed)
Soltek K8TPro-939 Motherboard
Windows XP Pro SP2 with all updates
All drivers, bios, etc updated.

Again, Valve/Souce knows this is a problem, and is completely useless in resolving it. They are shipping a game which they know for a fact to be unplayable in a massive number of cases. This is borderline fraud. Don't waste your money, and don't buy anything from valve or source, developers like this don't deserve your cash.

Returned without a hitch

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 14 / 18
Date: November 19, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I just returned HL2. The internet authentication hassle and long term concerns were definitely not worth the $$$$ I spent on the retail collectors edition. This edition was extremely disappointing for the extra money required. I will likely purchase HL2 again at a more reasonable price once Valve has had a chance to correct some useability issues. At least they won't be getting as much of my money for this fiasco.

I returned HL2 since the game did not work as advertised. There is no mention of a product called STEAM being installed on the box or that an internet connection is required whenever I want to run HL2 (Sorry, OFFLINE mode absolutely does not work when configured as specified).

Very disappointing, but I am hoping some corrections will come out soon and then I will try to install and play HL2 again.

AHHHHHHH

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 15 / 20
Date: November 20, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Login to play single player?! give me a break.
Valve is seriously out of control if they think people are this stupid. I will never buy another valve game until they pull their head out of the sand. DONT BUY THIS GAME - YOU WILL REGRET IT.

Steamed Out

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 10 / 11
Date: January 01, 2005
Author: Amazon User

The game seems great, unfortunately, the rigamorole one has to go through in order to play it is exhausting, frustrating, and, in the end, overwhelming. I have had HL2 for about a month and have played it for a total of about 5 hours, meanwhile I have spent approximately 15-20 hours setting it up, downloading updates, "scanning for games", etc., etc. The 1:4 ratio is inconceivable for a product that I shelled out 50 hard-earned dollars for. I understand the developers desire to squeeze out every last penny for their product, but, hey, I purchased it fair and square and am thus unwilling to put up with the kind of hassle the whole "Steam-concept" requires. I imagine that part of my problem is due to the fact that I have a very slow dial-up ISP (I am rural, sue me), but if that is the case, then "high-speed connection" should be listed as a mimimum requirement. REPEAT: HIGH SPEED INTERNET CONNECTION NECESSARY EVEN FOR SINGLE_PLAYER MODE!!! Feel free to disregard this advice as I did in my eagerness to to experience the new installment of what was once my favorite game, but, I warned you. . . (Oh, look, this time it only took Steam 53 minutes to scan and download updates. I guess I can stop griping and can finally play it tonight. . . Oh, wait, its time for bed).

Beware of this all time KLUGE

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 21 / 33
Date: November 16, 2004
Author: Amazon User

take a look at the packaging when you purchase it:

1) Nothing about creating an internet account except in incredibly small lettering at the bottom of the box
2) The game takes forever to install (and you are installing compressed files), AND, you need to create an account which will likely error out on you. If you are successful - then you merely wait forever to have the files decompressed - just so you can play the game.
3) Customer Support is being swamped - all circuits are busy.

If you are interested in purchasing the ALL-TIME WORST CD GAME INSTALLATION WITH ACCOMPANYING SUPPORT - THIS IS FOR YOU.

Otherwise, purchase another game. You'll have a better experience.

"Steamed Up"

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 11 / 13
Date: December 24, 2004
Author: Amazon User

While shopping, browsing or whatever on some Internet site, the site told you to make your PC wide-open to it, to grant it supreme access to do whatever it wants to do, wheneverit wants to. What would you think? What would you do? Well, that's what it takes to install and run Half Life2.

You might do the above to allow Microsoft LiveUpdate to patch your PC or Norton to upgrade your Anti-Virus software but a game site? Be warned to play this game you just about have to sell your soul to Valve and Steam. After loading the 5 software disks, you will be spending the next 1 to 8 hours (based on my and friends experience) creating a Steam account and having Steam set up hl2 - if you can. While this is all going on, your PC is sending God know what back to Steam and Steam is returning the favor to your PC. All this so you can finally play the game that you paid big $$$ for.

Here's some helpful hints from Steam and Steam forums to fix what is obviously your problem - you need to open ports.....through your firewall, you need to disable Norton Script Blocking, you need to grant Steam "GOD" rights to your PC, Anti-Virus software? Obviously that's the problem. Turn it off! These are being presented like they are your problems or Norton's or Zone Alarm. Worse, gamers are complaining how horrid it is that Norton should cause them all this trouble! Does anyone besides me see something terribly wrong here?

Do yourself favor - pass on this one. It's a good game but not a great game and certainly not good enough to warrant the trouble and risk you are going to take. You may be doing others a favor too. If the Half Life / Steam way of doing business becomes prevelant, PC Gaming is doomed. I absolutely will never purchase another game that forces me to go through all this again and expose my PC to the risk. If every game company starts doing this, I'm done with PC games. It's back to reading and music. I might even pay some attention to the wife who gets little now because I play too many PC games!

One last comment - I assume that all the folks giving Half Life2 4-5 stars are either 12 year kids or are completely computer illiterate or are gamming zombies who will put up with almost anything to play hl2. If your none of these, I can't say little enough about you. If I tried, Amazon probably wouldn't publish this. Any adult who bought this game and attempts to install it, will realize they have been had and try to get their money back if they can.

..............Uninstalling Steam
..............Uninstalling HalfLife2

You have to be connected to the internet for Single Player missions!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 16 / 23
Date: August 18, 2005
Author: Amazon User

To begin with, this game made me extremely dizzy and nauseous. I have been playing pc games for many, many years and I have never had a game to do that to me. I had to quit playing for a while just not to literally throw up. There is so much quick spinning around to check for enemies and maybe it's the game engine too, but this game made me literally sick. The game itself is also very linear and scripted. You just follow along shooting at enemies until the next cutscene. Also, there are MANY load screens everywhere! And, the world of Half Life 2 is very depressing. I wouldn't want play it again to return to that world at all.

Next and the worst part of this game is:

STEAM!!!!

You have to be connected to the internet at all times to install the game and even play it in Single Player mode. I will never again purchase another game where this is a requirement. STEAM can also load any software it wants to onto your computer. How does that sound? That's what you agree to when you install the game after a long, arduous process.

And, you can't resell the game if you ever want to due to registering your computer with the ID# that comes with the game. Now I have a $50.00 game that I don't ever want to play. It comes on 5 Cds so I guess that's 5 coasters I can place around my house.

Steam should be banned

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 14 / 19
Date: May 24, 2005
Author: Amazon User

My copy failed to register the first time I tried it (server crash) and then refused to register after that because it said I'd already registered. Their customer support is non existent (couple of email addresses nobody ever replies to) so I've not actually been able to play it. Would rate it 0 stars if that were possible. Copy protection that prevents people who've bought a game from playing it should illegal!

So I decided to drink the Kool-Aid...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 10
Date: February 12, 2005
Author: Amazon User

As one of the 3 people in the universe who didn't much care for the original Half-Life, I was hardly awaiting with baited breath the release of this sequel. The things I didn't like about the original, namely the clunky and flawed controls, dated graphics even for 1998, outweighed the undeniable genius of the game as a story. I wasn't ruling out Half Life 2, but I was much more interested and looking forward to Doom 3.

Fast forward to the present. Having just built myself a top-notch gaming PC capable of running both games with ease, I took the plunge, but decided to install and play Doom 3 first. My initial reaction to that game --awe at the graphics and production value, creepy atmosphere-- was quickly replaced with tedium and boredom as the game played out like a 21st century scavenger hunt (find the key card! Get lost in the dark!). When I played Half-Life 2, however, I was BLOWN AWAY. The graphics are as good as Doom 3, but the big difference is that you can actually see them, because the entire game is not in dark tunnels, but rather takes place over a variety of terrains, ranging from beautiful coastline to wonderfully post-apocalyptic cityscapes. This game is truly deserving of all of the "Game of the Year" awards, and here is why:

GRAPHICS: Simply stellar. The textures are terrific, and the water effects are super, second only to Far Cry. The character models are very nicely done, and the way their eyes follow you around the room is both creepy and amazing.

SOUND: Very, very good. The sounds and music are very well done, and complement the game's moods quite ably.

GAMEPLAY: A gift from heaven. The game engine is ruled by physics so real, you're going to try picking up every object just to see what happens. A brick feels and reacts different that a doll, a tire swing responds realistically to a push, and bodies fall convincingly when shot or falling. The control is simple, smooth and effective, and the weapons are generally balanced. I wish there had been a better sniping weapon than the crossbow, but hey, that's what mods are for!

STORY: Again, stellar. It's so noticeable when a story grabs you, and when a story is just filler, a pretext for the setting of the game. In Doom 3, I couldn't care less why I was there. I certainly wasn't about to read the myriad boring PDA's you find on corpses, and the story is really trite. Half-Life 2, much like Knights of the Old Republic, makes YOU the star of the game, and gives you little chunks of info, but never overwhelms you with random names that mean nothing to you. As a result, you internalize the info, and actually come to care about the other characters. The scripted scenes are always logical and never forced, and they are just plain funny at times. I can't say enough about the great immersive world of this game.

NEGATIVES: Much like everyone, I dislike the "Steam" program which basically means that each time you play half life, you need an active internet connection. It's the company's way of authenticating your software, and while it's logical to be paranoid, (after all, this game's code was famously stolen by a hacker last year) it's a bit much. That said, most people have internet, so this is somewhat moot.

OVERALL: I personally don't care for online games; I find that people often act like children or jerks, and that the few games that are fun to play in multiplayer are shooters like Unreal Tournament of the Battlefield series. I can't express enthusiastically enough how happy I am to see that a game developer still cares about putting out a polished and amazing single player game.

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