[jakepunk]

Rejoice, children!  

The update to one of the most popular PC games of all time was released yesterday.  HL2 is awesome.  The graphics are incredible.  The faces on the characters look so realistic it's creepy.  You can pick up and manipulate objects much more easily than in the original HL.  The physics of the game allow random objects to bounce and ricochet.   Metal objects generate sparks if you move them near a wall.

Counter-Strike Source is great, too.  The updated versions of the maps you know and love look much more detailed.  The weapons now generate realistic muzzle flashes, and the grenades really stun you if they go off nearby.

It did take a long time to install (5 CDs = 30 minutes).  And you now need to use Valve's Steam service to play, but it's free, and it works a lot better than GameSpy, in my opinion.

JakeBob says check it out.

[Double Ugly]

Yep, I got my shipping confirmation from Amazon yesterday.  'Course, I pre-ordered back in July when it was supposed to ship the first week of September.  

But it's on the way, and that's all that matters I guess.

What video card are you using? I know there'd be some benefit, but with all the other stuff I'm buying right now, I REALLY don't won't to replace my ATI Radeon 9700 Pro w/ 128MB if I don't have to.

DU

[jakepunk]

I'm using a lowly ATI Radeon 9000.  It does the job.

[Double Ugly]

That's good to know.  Thanks.

DU

[Sean Parque]

Halo 2 and HL2 all in a week's time.  Very mean of them!  

Halo 2 is good but HL2 is awesome....

Sean

[Sean Parque]

Oh, in case anyone runs into the bug I did, if you don't install CS as well, your HL2 install may fail.  You can uninstall CS afterwards of you like.

Sean

[jermmd]

I got mine today but haven't loaded it.  I've been waiting a long time for this game.  Half life was the greatest game of all time IMHO.  I've played nothing but Unreal T 2004 for the last few months so it's time for something new.  The first one to complete the game should post here.

Joe M.

[Hantra]

Umm, what kind of system is this?



Looks like an Accuphase tuner up top, some Harmon Kardon.  I guess the City 17 resistance doesn't do too bad for itself!

 

[jqp]

Halo 2 and HL2 all in a week's time.  Very mean of them!  

Halo 2 is good but HL2 is awesome....

Sean

And don't forget Ghost Recon 2 !

[jakepunk]

I finished HL2 tonight.  The ending is very similar to the first game... kind of like the X-Files... the plot is never fully developed in order to get you to tune in to the next episode.

This was a great game, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I played on the "easy" setting.  It might have been more challenging to play on the "hard" setting, but then again, I might have gotten frustrated if I kept dying all the time.

There were parts of this game that were scary.  I never played Doom 3, but HL2's "Ravenholm" and "Nova Prospekt" levels were very creepy with dark shadows, droning music, and things that go "boo!".

One recommendation I have for anyone playing this game: defragment your harddrive after installing the game!  HL2 is a huge installation, and it scatters files all over the disk.  This makes the time to load levels and save games quite slow.  I saw a huge performance improvement in load times after I defragged my harddrive.

[RooX]

i loved every minute of HL2 up until i got to the very last part of the game (no spoilers here) and then it just went on rails and was pretty much a movie to me.  It was nt bad at the end, just felt tacked on (must like the first game)  

i also thought it seemed far shorted than the first, i could be wrong here as i havent played teh 1st in years though. (hell, mabey im just better at gaming now!