# Does Half-Life 2 ever get good? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 4, 2008, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-half-life-2-ever-get-good/440026 "2008-03-04T13:57:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2008, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-half-life-2-ever-get-good/440026/21 "2008-03-04T21:19:32Z")
[QUOTE=D\_Odds] Technically, cutting them in half only slows them down. As Minsc would say, “Go for the eyes, Boo. GO FOR THE EYES!” Personally, I’m more of a pyromaniac and prefer to watch them _burn_ [/QUOTE] And listen to them. The screaming sound effect when you trap some zombies in a nice flame (not explosion) trap is great. And Father Grigori rocks. “I remember your true face.” ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2008, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-half-life-2-ever-get-good/440026/22 "2008-03-04T21:20:40Z")
I’m partial to the whirling blade thingy, especially if you can get it to turn and watch the zombies walk right into it. And once it falls off its axis, you get a whole new toy to play with. BTW, not all zombies keep coming after you cut 'em in half. Most seem to stay dead. Or rather, _really_ dead. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2008, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-half-life-2-ever-get-good/440026/23 "2008-03-04T21:41:30Z")
[QUOTE=choie] BTW, not all zombies keep coming after you cut 'em in half. Most seem to stay dead. Or rather, _really_ dead. [/QUOTE] That’s been my experience as well. I dunno how the rest of you throw a sawblade, but when I cut my zombies in half they are really, really dead. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2008, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-half-life-2-ever-get-good/440026/24 "2008-03-04T21:48:03Z")
[QUOTE=Athena] That’s been my experience as well. I dunno how the rest of you throw a sawblade, but when I cut my zombies in half they are really, really dead. [/QUOTE] I’ve no intention of replaying to find out, but I’m fairly sure I’ve had some crawlers after a good sawblade in half. Taught me to aim high. ---
**Author:** ![Fredescu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/73ab20/32.png) [@Fredescu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fredescu)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2008, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-half-life-2-ever-get-good/440026/25 "2008-03-04T22:09:51Z")
Count me in with the camp who liked Halflife 1, but _loved_ Halflife 2. The story presentation is really still the best in the business, at least as far as shooters go. It has it’s flaws like the squad bits, and the bad music triggers, but it’s still my favourite single player shooter. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2008, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-half-life-2-ever-get-good/440026/26 "2008-03-04T23:08:09Z")
I absolutely loved Halflife 2. I even loved the damn ‘physics engine’ puzzles. And shooting skyships with missile launchers. ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-half-life-2-ever-get-good/440026/27 "2008-03-05T06:02:23Z")
Half-Life 2 is one of the best video games ever made. It boggles my mind that some people don’t like it. But to each his own. Hell, some people like mangos for chrissakes. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-half-life-2-ever-get-good/440026/28 "2008-03-05T06:30:27Z")
[QUOTE=Hoopy Frood] R.I.P.: W.C.C. ☹ [/QUOTE] Who is W.C.C.? ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-half-life-2-ever-get-good/440026/29 "2008-03-05T08:07:15Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] Who is W.C.C.? [/QUOTE] It’s a reference to _Portal_. The Weighted Companion Cube. Which you first meet in level 17 and, er, doesn’t make it to 18. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-half-life-2-ever-get-good/440026/30 "2008-03-05T14:08:17Z")
Yeah, what choie said. And I forgot to throw my vote in as someone who really liked HL and loved HL2. I admit a few mechanics annoyed me until I got used to them (e.g. The first encounter with the flying gunships where, IIRC, it’s the first time you get the rocket launcher. I believe it took me a few tries to get the hang of it), but overall it was one of the best game sever (and this from someone who’s generally not a huge FPS fan). And antlions are one of the best weapons ever introduced in a game. ---
**Author:** ![Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoundrel_Swanswater)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-half-life-2-ever-get-good/440026/31 "2008-03-05T15:54:45Z")
I also didn’t like HL2 at first but the further you get, the better it gets. The end battle is a nightmare though for which I had to cheat to get through. I would advise sticking it out a few more hours. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-half-life-2-ever-get-good/440026/32 "2008-03-05T15:57:53Z")
[QUOTE=Scoundrel Swanswater] I also didn’t like HL2 at first but the further you get, the better it gets. The end battle is a nightmare though for which I had to cheat to get through. I would advise sticking it out a few more hours. [/QUOTE] Heh, do you remember the end of HL1 in Xen with all the hopping around from platform to platform? I had to cheat my way though bits of that, but still finished the game which is a rarity for me. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-half-life-2-ever-get-good/440026/33 "2008-03-05T16:40:35Z")
[QUOTE=Scoundrel Swanswater] I also didn’t like HL2 at first but the further you get, the better it gets. The end battle is a nightmare though for which I had to cheat to get through. I would advise sticking it out a few more hours. [/QUOTE] Really? I thought there were parts in the middle of HL2 that were much, much harder than the end battle: The second turret battle in Entanglement is just horrible, the strider battles in City 17 were insane, but breaking the reactor with the Super Gravity Gun and energy spheres was pretty straightforward. In fact, I think the entire segment with the SGG is actually a bit too easy. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-half-life-2-ever-get-good/440026/34 "2008-03-05T17:09:06Z")
[QUOTE=muldoonthief] The second turret battle in Entanglement is just horrible, the strider battles in City 17 were insane, but breaking the reactor with the Super Gravity Gun and energy spheres was pretty straightforward. In fact, I think the entire segment with the SGG is actually a bit too easy. [/QUOTE] Agreed. Turrets…ugh. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-half-life-2-ever-get-good/440026/35 "2008-03-05T18:22:49Z")
I started [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=287448) spoilerific thread back when the game first came out, talking about my favorite moments in the game. It’s a good cross section of the sort of thing that made HL2 my all-time favorite shooter. ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-half-life-2-ever-get-good/440026/36 "2008-03-05T19:29:02Z")
I just kept waiting to go back to Xen. I was so very bummed that it doesn’t happen!!! That being said, some of the mods for both 1 and 2 are big fun. My favorite is “They Hunger”. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-half-life-2-ever-get-good/440026/37 "2008-03-06T13:31:02Z")
Okay, I had the opportunity to spend a few hours playing it over the last couple days. It did improve remarkably following the completion of the speedboat segment. The gravity gun is cool. Not the greatest thing ever, but cool. Ravensholm was damned good. Too short, maybe, but damned good. It was atmospheric and absorbing like HL1. The Father Grigori character was a great touch. The dune buggy segment amuses me. It works for me in a way the speedboat segment didn’t, for some reason. There is kind of a Mad Max vibe to cruising through the wasteland and having violent encounters with Combine from time to time. Also, I laughed out loud (something I very seldom do at video games) on my first attempt to cross the railroad bridge. I was screaming across the bridge, turbo kicked in, and slammed head on into the oncoming train. Quite the Viking death. IN retrospect, I should have expected that if there were two sets of tracks there would be no question that the designers would put a train coming in the opposite direction. Thematically it was correct, too, since the opening chapter does indicate a lot of rail traffic goes on in the Combine’s world. The antlion segment was tedious. All that jumping and moving crap around with the gravity gun. Toward the end, I got impatient and just ran for it. It seems there is an upper limit on how many bugs appear at one time, so crossing losts of open sand could only get so bad. Killing the big bug took a lot of ammo but was disappointingly unchallenging. Having the bugs on my side provides convenient cannon-fodder, but they’re also irritatingly stupid and have a tendency to get in my way when I’d like to be running for cover or getting through a doorway. So, things did get better, but overall I still prefer Half-life one at this point. PS Is there any point to the alt. fire function for the pulse rifle? The glowing ball thingie bounces around, does nothing in particular to the enemy, and disappears. Am I not using it right? ---
**Author:** ![Gerome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Gerome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gerome)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-half-life-2-ever-get-good/440026/38 "2008-03-06T13:41:43Z")
[QUOTE=Scumpup] PS Is there any point to the alt. fire function for the pulse rifle? The glowing ball thingie bounces around, does nothing in particular to the enemy, and disappears. Am I not using it right? [/QUOTE] If you do it right, it can take out multiple enemies in one hit by vapourising them as it bounces around. You can’t pick up ammo from them when this happens, however. Try firing it when you’re in a small room with a bunch of Combines. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-half-life-2-ever-get-good/440026/39 "2008-03-06T19:15:38Z")
Forgot to mention: Alyx has the nicest ass I have ever seen in a video game. Is that a thong peeking out of the top of her jeans? If there’s a God, somebody out there has developed a nude Alyx patch available for free download. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-half-life-2-ever-get-good/440026/40 "2008-03-06T19:24:52Z")
[QUOTE=Scumpup] Having the bugs on my side provides convenient cannon-fodder, but they’re also irritatingly stupid and have a tendency to get in my way when I’d like to be running for cover or getting through a doorway. So, things did get better, but overall I still prefer Half-life one at this point. PS Is there any point to the alt. fire function for the pulse rifle? The glowing ball thingie bounces around, does nothing in particular to the enemy, and disappears. Am I not using it right? [/QUOTE] The antlions will go wherever you throw the squishy gland things… so you shouldn’t really need to be looking for cover at all. Just send them waaaaay out ahead of you and 99% of the time they’ll slaughter the Combine troops before they even see _you_. The only time they got in my way was during the gunship battle, and even then the gunship tended to splatter them quickly enough that it made little difference. ETA: I found the big bug battle a lot more challenging (okay, ridiculously hard) on hard mode… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-half-life-2-ever-get-good/440026.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-half-life-2-ever-get-good/440026.md?page=3)