With Portal 2 coming up fast I decided I'd like another run through the original, after all, it only takes about 3 hours to go through it, and I've now got a new PC to try it on. Going to my games shelf I took down the Orange-Box DVD, popped it in the drive, and sat staring at the installer. I ticked the box for the Portal install, then looked further down the list at Half-Life 2, ep.1 and ep.2 innocently sitting there. "Why not" I thought, "it's been a couple of years since I did a full playthrough, and it's one of my favorite games, I'll only play a couple of hours a day and make it last this time."
[Spoiler Alert]
Portal
One thing that always gets me about Portal is the massive amount of replay value it has. Other games I will decide to replay and maybe get bored after a few hours, or only continue with them because I feel I should. I've lost count of how many time's I've played through Portal, but even now, if I close it down to do some work or get food or something, I still get the yearning to be back playing it after a few minutes. It's not that there is loads of stuff to do, it's the same 18 or so chambers then the ending every time, it's just the satisfaction of solving those puzzles in the most elegant way I can is addictive like no other puzzle game I've played.
I've also noticed how much faster I get back into the habit of 'Thinking with Portals'. The first few levels never take any time at all, but in the past I have always had to think hard about some of the later ones, but not this time. This time I was able to look at the layouts and after a few seconds see exactly how to solve it. It's not that I remember the solutions (I do for some, but not all), it's that I think Valve have actually trained me into a real life Aperture Science Portal Operator.
Having watched the Portal 2 trailers again, I'm getting more and more excited for this new game. At first I was a little disappointed that we would be Portalling away indoors again, having convinced myself that the next game would be set in the open, wider world. Then I saw the trailers for the Gels, Lasers and suspension beams, and decided that Valve know what they're doing after all. Anyway, I'm now convinced that the long awaited HL2:ep3 will involve the Portal gun, and this will be my open-world portal gameplay. It explains the ep.3 delay: they're waiting for Portal 2 to drop, and at the end of ep.2 you are about to head off after the Borealis, an 'Aperture Science' vessel, so it all fits nicely.
[Spoiler Alert]
Portal
I've also noticed how much faster I get back into the habit of 'Thinking with Portals'. The first few levels never take any time at all, but in the past I have always had to think hard about some of the later ones, but not this time. This time I was able to look at the layouts and after a few seconds see exactly how to solve it. It's not that I remember the solutions (I do for some, but not all), it's that I think Valve have actually trained me into a real life Aperture Science Portal Operator.
Having watched the Portal 2 trailers again, I'm getting more and more excited for this new game. At first I was a little disappointed that we would be Portalling away indoors again, having convinced myself that the next game would be set in the open, wider world. Then I saw the trailers for the Gels, Lasers and suspension beams, and decided that Valve know what they're doing after all. Anyway, I'm now convinced that the long awaited HL2:ep3 will involve the Portal gun, and this will be my open-world portal gameplay. It explains the ep.3 delay: they're waiting for Portal 2 to drop, and at the end of ep.2 you are about to head off after the Borealis, an 'Aperture Science' vessel, so it all fits nicely.
Half Life 2
Having just got a new PC I was able to turn the HL2 settings right up for this playthrough, something that satisfies me in a wholly unhealthy way. Even though it was released in 2004, the game still looks great, better than some games I've played since then I'd say. A lot of that is down to the Source Engine, which is one of the best engines developed in the last decade. That's not to say it's flawless, there are a few parts that are downright ugly, with different textures bumping up against each other and other such problems, but these are the vast minority.
I always find Half-Life games are some of the easiest to get immersed in, the reasons for this are well documented, but that doesn't make them any less true. Having a protagonist that doesn't talk, never does anything you don't command him to, and never leaving first-person view are a good start, but filling a world with likeable characters, with actual, persistent personalities that you end up caring about goes a long way as well. This is helped a lot by great character models, animations, and facial rigs, but even Dog is likeable, and he doesn't even have a face.
Speaking of Dog, he's one of my favourite characters in any game. It's not often you can have an NPC that only appears for a couple of minutes at a time, but during those periods moves the story on so much, and all without ever speaking. He is the very definition of a 'Deus Ex Machina', but at the same time valve have created a character with real depth.
At the start of episode-1 for instance, he enables Gordon and Alyx to get onto the Citadel by putting them in a car and pitching it across a 40ft wide chasm, and manages to do it with hilarious amounts of personality. And at the end of Episode-2, he just gallops off on his own round the back of the hangar and you think "oh look at Dog, isn't he funny just running off like a little kid" only for him to burst through the ceiling a few minutes later (albeit a few seconds late), and begin to pound on the Advisors so you can escape, again making him the saviour of the day.
As well as the great characters, the varied environments you move through during your time in the game are just superb. Ravenholm is soooo fantastic, in the way it's creepy and funny at the same time, and Valve have managed to make a place where you can not only learn to use the Gravity-gun effectively, but in fact the Gravity-gun is by far and away the best way to get through it. The zombies line up and parade through the narrow corridors towards you, just asking to be dismembered by a rapidly moving circular-saw at chest height.
The first time I played through I remember picking up teh gravity gun and chucking Dogs ball about, thinking, "This is cool, but I don't know why everyone has been raving about it so much, I was expecting a bit more". Then I moved into Ravenholm and chopped and blew up some zombies and again thought "Well, this is more like it, but still, I don't know why people are calling this the best gun ever." It wasn't until the Citadel, when the gun begins to glow blue, that I never, ever wanted to put it down again. The first time I picked up a soldier and tossed him into his friends, knocking them all down a 1000ft pit I knew I was in love. And that was nothing compared to standing next to a power-beam and grabbing energy spheres to bounce into a room full of combine, watching them all disintegrate to the sound of "paong-paong-paong-paong".
There is nothing I don't like about HL2 and it's episodic sequels, and it's easy to see why it's the #1 game on Metacritic (incidentally, the Orange box is #3, and the original Half-Life is #4). It still has huge amounts of appeal and continued interest, which you can plainly see at any Valve Q&A session. Gabe Newell must be sick of hearing "When will you be releasing Episode 3?", although as I discussed earlier I don't think it will be that far off now Portal 2 is imminent. Let's hope not at least...
Speaking of Dog, he's one of my favourite characters in any game. It's not often you can have an NPC that only appears for a couple of minutes at a time, but during those periods moves the story on so much, and all without ever speaking. He is the very definition of a 'Deus Ex Machina', but at the same time valve have created a character with real depth.
At the start of episode-1 for instance, he enables Gordon and Alyx to get onto the Citadel by putting them in a car and pitching it across a 40ft wide chasm, and manages to do it with hilarious amounts of personality. And at the end of Episode-2, he just gallops off on his own round the back of the hangar and you think "oh look at Dog, isn't he funny just running off like a little kid" only for him to burst through the ceiling a few minutes later (albeit a few seconds late), and begin to pound on the Advisors so you can escape, again making him the saviour of the day.
As well as the great characters, the varied environments you move through during your time in the game are just superb. Ravenholm is soooo fantastic, in the way it's creepy and funny at the same time, and Valve have managed to make a place where you can not only learn to use the Gravity-gun effectively, but in fact the Gravity-gun is by far and away the best way to get through it. The zombies line up and parade through the narrow corridors towards you, just asking to be dismembered by a rapidly moving circular-saw at chest height.
The first time I played through I remember picking up teh gravity gun and chucking Dogs ball about, thinking, "This is cool, but I don't know why everyone has been raving about it so much, I was expecting a bit more". Then I moved into Ravenholm and chopped and blew up some zombies and again thought "Well, this is more like it, but still, I don't know why people are calling this the best gun ever." It wasn't until the Citadel, when the gun begins to glow blue, that I never, ever wanted to put it down again. The first time I picked up a soldier and tossed him into his friends, knocking them all down a 1000ft pit I knew I was in love. And that was nothing compared to standing next to a power-beam and grabbing energy spheres to bounce into a room full of combine, watching them all disintegrate to the sound of "paong-paong-paong-paong".
There is nothing I don't like about HL2 and it's episodic sequels, and it's easy to see why it's the #1 game on Metacritic (incidentally, the Orange box is #3, and the original Half-Life is #4). It still has huge amounts of appeal and continued interest, which you can plainly see at any Valve Q&A session. Gabe Newell must be sick of hearing "When will you be releasing Episode 3?", although as I discussed earlier I don't think it will be that far off now Portal 2 is imminent. Let's hope not at least...
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