Unpopular opinion: Overrated game

[Sergeant Poultry]

Am I the only one who thinks this game is way overrated beyond belief? Definitely not worthy of the GOAT title as so many people seem to think. Just a really meh game, from the lackluster story/environment not explaining ♥♥♥♥, lack of interactivity with the characters, Gordon Freeman basically being a nobody, not so smart A.I and boring driving sections/gimmicks (i.e sandtraps). May have been popular for it's time, but definitely doesn't have anything on modern games nowadays.

[Alin.]

Originally posted by Sergeant Poultry:

Originally posted by _PauL_:

Like my very first reply was, to each their own. For you Half life 2 is overrated, for me Dishonored. I found that game so boring I couldn't even finish the first mission after you get all your toys. Assassins creed with rats in a street. Also, something I stole from a cool Guide on Steam :

This isn't necessarily a theory, it's more like a reason. Like Gabe Newell said, Gordon Freeman is silent to him because it is the player who does all the talking. It's not Freeman's reaction that reaches the player, it's what happens that reaches the player. You wear Freeman like he wears his glasses. Your experiences and Gordon's are always alike, because you are him. This sort of breaks the 4th wall, but then again, Half-Life emphasizes on immersion than anything else. His story is your story.

I will gladly crack another dozen of skulls with a crowbar over throwing corpses to a bunch of street rats.

You can literally make this argument with just about any game that has you play a character as a protagonist. You are the character, you play him. Fallout, Sky, Fable and any other RPG also arguably fulfill the exact same role. It's just with HL2 I never had any meaning to it being the smartest scientist (probably in the world). You don't solve tech puzzles, Alex does them for you, where you have to argue what's her I.Q? If Alex is so good at tech puzzles but I'm supposed to be smarter than her, why does she do them for me? Otherwise, why not just centre them game on Alex and just say Gordon died or something. Likewise with guns. Supposedly Gordon got military grade training (game couldn't even be bothered to confirm this, would have made a nice moment) and yet we need to escort Alex around the whole time? Why? Everything she can do, Gordon should be able to do better, hence IMO she doesn't really serve a purpose. Even terminal hacking would have lent a nice bit of worldbuiling and perhaps she'd the greys of the world, as opposed to "Combine bad, man good". You know, show some Combines helping each other/the citizens, only to be attacked by drug crazed psychos. The game is only black and white, no greys. Better games show you this, such as FNv. With Gordon, you don't have freedom of play. Stealth basically doesn't exist, that moment with the Combine turned doesn't count. You couldn't take him out sneakily with a one shot from the crowbar or even choke him, so it's not stealth in the slightest. You can't change up the way you save the resistance, i.e in one play through everyone survives because you helped them out, but in another you literally call every essential/non-essential NPC you meet. You can't even kill/harm the nobody, random NPC's you meet! Literally nobody would know that I killed them, yet I can't do it. Whereas in New Vegas for example, yo could do just that. In one playhtiugh you're good helping fellow man, in another you leave everyone an exploded corpse. You can't do that in HL2, thus you arguably can't become Gordon, or a sick twisted version of him (better game would have left that decision up to you). And for supposedly being an iconic weapon, I found the crowbar downright useless. Can't one shot enemies/crates, can't throw it. Very limiting overall.

Sorry that i ask, but are you mentally ret@rded?

[Saul Goodman]

unrelated, but I'm pretty redundant.

[Sergeant Poultry]

Originally posted by _PauL_:

Originally posted by Sergeant Poultry:

You can literally make this argument with just about any game that has you play a character as a protagonist. You are the character, you play him. Fallout, Sky, Fable and any other RPG also arguably fulfill the exact same role. It's just with HL2 I never had any meaning to it being the smartest scientist (probably in the world). You don't solve tech puzzles, Alex does them for you, where you have to argue what's her I.Q? If Alex is so good at tech puzzles but I'm supposed to be smarter than her, why does she do them for me? Otherwise, why not just centre them game on Alex and just say Gordon died or something. Likewise with guns. Supposedly Gordon got military grade training (game couldn't even be bothered to confirm this, would have made a nice moment) and yet we need to escort Alex around the whole time? Why? Everything she can do, Gordon should be able to do better, hence IMO she doesn't really serve a purpose. Even terminal hacking would have lent a nice bit of worldbuiling and perhaps she'd the greys of the world, as opposed to "Combine bad, man good". You know, show some Combines helping each other/the citizens, only to be attacked by drug crazed psychos. The game is only black and white, no greys. Better games show you this, such as FNv. With Gordon, you don't have freedom of play. Stealth basically doesn't exist, that moment with the Combine turned doesn't count. You couldn't take him out sneakily with a one shot from the crowbar or even choke him, so it's not stealth in the slightest. You can't change up the way you save the resistance, i.e in one play through everyone survives because you helped them out, but in another you literally call every essential/non-essential NPC you meet. You can't even kill/harm the nobody, random NPC's you meet! Literally nobody would know that I killed them, yet I can't do it. Whereas in New Vegas for example, yo could do just that. In one playhtiugh you're good helping fellow man, in another you leave everyone an exploded corpse. You can't do that in HL2, thus you arguably can't become Gordon, or a sick twisted version of him (better game would have left that decision up to you). And for supposedly being an iconic weapon, I found the crowbar downright useless. Can't one shot enemies/crates, can't throw it. Very limiting overall.

You compare Open world RPG to FPS, which somehow ended up looking like a dog turd while being 6 years newer. You can hate HL2 all you want, but calling it overrated is too much. It sold plenty of copies to prove that it isn't overrated, not to mention all the copies that people pirated. You played it, you didn't like it, we get it. No need to write a whole holy bible.

Simply selling a lot of copies doesn't necessarily automatically make it great literature piece. Plenty of popular games with an unbelievable amount of issues/controversial mechanics (Fortnite, COD if you will) all sell bucket loads. Doesn't mean that they're excellent and that's fine. Also exists barely know games such as Zero Escape/Danganronpa that have great plot/characters. And how do Skyrim/Fallout look bad compared to HL2? FNV had a similar style, which it arguably at times did better, and although somewhat bland with greys Skyrim still looked solid, definelyy not worse then HL2.

[Sergeant Poultry]

Originally posted by Alin.:

Originally posted by Sergeant Poultry:

You can literally make this argument with just about any game that has you play a character as a protagonist. You are the character, you play him. Fallout, Sky, Fable and any other RPG also arguably fulfill the exact same role. It's just with HL2 I never had any meaning to it being the smartest scientist (probably in the world). You don't solve tech puzzles, Alex does them for you, where you have to argue what's her I.Q? If Alex is so good at tech puzzles but I'm supposed to be smarter than her, why does she do them for me? Otherwise, why not just centre them game on Alex and just say Gordon died or something. Likewise with guns. Supposedly Gordon got military grade training (game couldn't even be bothered to confirm this, would have made a nice moment) and yet we need to escort Alex around the whole time? Why? Everything she can do, Gordon should be able to do better, hence IMO she doesn't really serve a purpose. Even terminal hacking would have lent a nice bit of worldbuiling and perhaps she'd the greys of the world, as opposed to "Combine bad, man good". You know, show some Combines helping each other/the citizens, only to be attacked by drug crazed psychos. The game is only black and white, no greys. Better games show you this, such as FNv. With Gordon, you don't have freedom of play. Stealth basically doesn't exist, that moment with the Combine turned doesn't count. You couldn't take him out sneakily with a one shot from the crowbar or even choke him, so it's not stealth in the slightest. You can't change up the way you save the resistance, i.e in one play through everyone survives because you helped them out, but in another you literally call every essential/non-essential NPC you meet. You can't even kill/harm the nobody, random NPC's you meet! Literally nobody would know that I killed them, yet I can't do it. Whereas in New Vegas for example, yo could do just that. In one playhtiugh you're good helping fellow man, in another you leave everyone an exploded corpse. You can't do that in HL2, thus you arguably can't become Gordon, or a sick twisted version of him (better game would have left that decision up to you). And for supposedly being an iconic weapon, I found the crowbar downright useless. Can't one shot enemies/crates, can't throw it. Very limiting overall.

Sorry that i ask, but are you mentally ret@rded?

It is unfortunate that my highly superior analysis of a form of literature and its merits was too complex for your understanding of what had been stated and it's impact. Next time such a collection of thoughts and opinions is presented would you prefer it to be presented with crayons or stick figures, or a combination of both?

[Alin.]

It is unfortunate that my highly superior analysis of a form of literature and its merits was too complex for your understanding of what had been stated and it's impact.
Compares an Open World RPG with a liniar FPS game. Good job, dude. lol

[Paul.]

Originally posted by Sergeant Poultry:

Originally posted by _PauL_:

You compare Open world RPG to FPS, which somehow ended up looking like a dog turd while being 6 years newer. You can hate HL2 all you want, but calling it overrated is too much. It sold plenty of copies to prove that it isn't overrated, not to mention all the copies that people pirated. You played it, you didn't like it, we get it. No need to write a whole holy bible.

Simply selling a lot of copies doesn't necessarily automatically make it great literature piece. Plenty of popular games with an unbelievable amount of issues/controversial mechanics (Fortnite, COD if you will) all sell bucket loads. Doesn't mean that they're excellent and that's fine. Also exists barely know games such as Zero Escape/Danganronpa that have great plot/characters. And how do Skyrim/Fallout look bad compared to HL2? FNV had a similar style, which it arguably at times did better, and although somewhat bland with greys Skyrim still looked solid, definelyy not worse then HL2.

You really need glasses mate. New vegas looked so bad I thought it was early 2000's game not 2010. Half life sold well because it's a good game, not promoted through bunch of ♥♥♥♥♥ on Twitch like Fortnite. But you do you buddy, play whatever fits you best.

[Sergeant Poultry]

If the game is so perfect, then please explain to me why it couldn't fulfill some of the above roles? Granted it's a linear FPS, so maybe it would have been better of as an RPG that utilised FPS mechanics. Would have kept all of the so called "greatness" about it and would have been even better as a result. As it stands, still hardly worthy of any recognition of the GOAT FPS/Century GOAT, just doesn't fulfill enough criteria in my opinion, apart from a decent physics console which it barely utilises to its full potential.

[Alin.]

Originally posted by Alin.:

Originally posted by Sergeant Poultry:

You can literally make this argument with just about any game that has you play a character as a protagonist. You are the character, you play him. Fallout, Sky, Fable and any other RPG also arguably fulfill the exact same role. It's just with HL2 I never had any meaning to it being the smartest scientist (probably in the world). You don't solve tech puzzles, Alex does them for you, where you have to argue what's her I.Q? If Alex is so good at tech puzzles but I'm supposed to be smarter than her, why does she do them for me? Otherwise, why not just centre them game on Alex and just say Gordon died or something. Likewise with guns. Supposedly Gordon got military grade training (game couldn't even be bothered to confirm this, would have made a nice moment) and yet we need to escort Alex around the whole time? Why? Everything she can do, Gordon should be able to do better, hence IMO she doesn't really serve a purpose. Even terminal hacking would have lent a nice bit of worldbuiling and perhaps she'd the greys of the world, as opposed to "Combine bad, man good". You know, show some Combines helping each other/the citizens, only to be attacked by drug crazed psychos. The game is only black and white, no greys. Better games show you this, such as FNv. With Gordon, you don't have freedom of play. Stealth basically doesn't exist, that moment with the Combine turned doesn't count. You couldn't take him out sneakily with a one shot from the crowbar or even choke him, so it's not stealth in the slightest. You can't change up the way you save the resistance, i.e in one play through everyone survives because you helped them out, but in another you literally call every essential/non-essential NPC you meet. You can't even kill/harm the nobody, random NPC's you meet! Literally nobody would know that I killed them, yet I can't do it. Whereas in New Vegas for example, yo could do just that. In one playhtiugh you're good helping fellow man, in another you leave everyone an exploded corpse. You can't do that in HL2, thus you arguably can't become Gordon, or a sick twisted version of him (better game would have left that decision up to you). And for supposedly being an iconic weapon, I found the crowbar downright useless. Can't one shot enemies/crates, can't throw it. Very limiting overall.

Sorry that i ask, but are you mentally ret@rded?

Gordon is not the smartest scientist. He was just smarter than the rest of his colleagues at Black Mesa. He is not smarter than Eli, or Kleiner. And he doesn't have expertise in hacking, like Alyx does.
Also, her name is Alyx. Not Alex. I cringe everytime you say that. So please stop.
You are not supposed to be smarter than her, lmao. What are you talking about? Alyx knows better about hacking, Gordon never had to hack anything in HL1. So, he doesn't know about that. She does them for you because she has the tools, and she learned from her father.
Gordon doesn't have military training, the HEV suit gives him informations on how to use them.
You don't escort Alyx, she just is with you. She isn't useless in combat. She carries her weight. And you need her with you because she helps you with hacking. Without her, you wouldn't progress. What are you keep talking about? Combines are about control. They are like nazis. The nazi didn't help people, they didn't even helped their own. Same with the combines. They are here to enslave the human race, not to help them. It's not that combine good, and man bad. The Metro cops are humans, who wanted a better life, than being slaves. As for combines, they were humans, but modified to become slaves. So yes, their memories have been deleted, they only know that they serve Breen. That is all. Why should be stealth in every game? You think you are in Hitman or AC? No. Stealth is great in some games, but in some just doesn't work. Yeah, the last thing we need in half life 2 is a crowbar scripted kill animation. Dude, you ain't in dishonored here.
Why should you kill NPC's that are important characters, essenstial to the story? What's the purpose? In Dishonored if you kill someone important you get game over.
Stop comparing New vegas with half life. New Vegas is an rpg. A game with multiple choices, and endings. Half life is a liniar game. The crowbar 1 hit kills all the headcrabs. It's iconic, because it's original. Other games have guns, half life has a crowbar.

[Paul.]

Originally posted by Sergeant Poultry:

If the game is so perfect, then please explain to me why it couldn't fulfill some of the above roles? Granted it's a linear FPS, so maybe it would have been better of as an RPG that utilised FPS mechanics. Would have kept all of the so called "greatness" about it and would have been even better as a result. As it stands, still hardly worthy of any recognition of the GOAT FPS/Century GOAT, just doesn't fulfill enough criteria in my opinion, apart from a decent physics console which it barely utilises to its full potential.

Or maybe some people just prefer simple things. If I wanted RPG then fine I'll play Fallout or whatever, but If I want a linear Fps I'll play Half life. The stuff you cry about some game which is 15 year old makes you look like Gabe stole your toys or pissed in your cereal. Just move on and play games you like, no need to be so salty about it.

[Alin.]

Originally posted by Sergeant Poultry:

If the game is so perfect, then please explain to me why it couldn't fulfill some of the above roles? Granted it's a linear FPS, so maybe it would have been better of as an RPG that utilised FPS mechanics. Would have kept all of the so called "greatness" about it and would have been even better as a result. As it stands, still hardly worthy of any recognition of the GOAT FPS/Century GOAT, just doesn't fulfill enough criteria in my opinion, apart from a decent physics console which it barely utilises to its full potential.

Your opinion. If you are more into RPG games. Some of us aren't.

[Sergeant Poultry]

Regardless of wether or not I've been "spoiled" by actually good games with solid, thought provoking plots and well thought out characters, I'll never understand why so many people believe this title to be so good as it is. It may have been back then, but that hardly means anything nowadays if you ask me. I also grew up with the original Xbox (Halo CE, Fable 1, Crimson Skies etc) and mid 2000 pc games, so I know what to expect from older titles. If you want to so proudly defend a game with glaring issues in the mainstream belief that it is perfect and that you are considered the odd one out if you disagree, be my guest.

[Saul Goodman]

Originally posted by Sergeant Poultry:

Regardless of wether or not I've been "spoiled" by actually good games with solid, thought provoking plots and well thought out characters, I'll never understand why so many people believe this title to be so good as it is. It may have been back then, but that hardly means anything nowadays if you ask me. I also grew up with the original Xbox (Halo CE, Fable 1, Crimson Skies etc) and mid 2000 pc games, so I know what to expect from older titles. If you want to so proudly defend a game with glaring issues in the mainstream belief that it is perfect and that you are considered the odd one out if you disagree, be my guest.

The game surely means a lot to me. :<

[Alin.]

Originally posted by GhostBombKaBoo:

Originally posted by Sergeant Poultry:

Regardless of wether or not I've been "spoiled" by actually good games with solid, thought provoking plots and well thought out characters, I'll never understand why so many people believe this title to be so good as it is. It may have been back then, but that hardly means anything nowadays if you ask me. I also grew up with the original Xbox (Halo CE, Fable 1, Crimson Skies etc) and mid 2000 pc games, so I know what to expect from older titles. If you want to so proudly defend a game with glaring issues in the mainstream belief that it is perfect and that you are considered the odd one out if you disagree, be my guest.

The game surely means a lot to me. :<

Dude, just because YOU think the characters aren't "well thought", doesn't mean they aren't. It's just YOUR opinion. That doesn't really matter. You want to hate the game, go ahead, but you didn't find the right place to do so. Tell you what, i'd rather play the same HL1, rather than get into the Fallout series.
It's ok if you don't understand. Half-Life is a very complex game, that not everyone gets it.
Well, thank god i don't ask you. But if you ask anyone, they will say otherwise. HL still means a lot. To the community, to gamers. Even the slightest HL related news get plenty of views. Especially on YT and reddit. So, it's pretty ignorant to think that the game doesn't mean anything today. It's the legacy it carries.
Doom created the FPS genre, Half-Life inovated it. Because through HL, CS was born. A game that most mainstream FPS today were highly inspired from.
You may have your opinion, and hate the game. But these are the facts. It's ok if you don't like it.

[Sovereign]

I'm not going to bother reading through all the bickering that this has inevitably devolved into but I do want to ask the OP one question:

Why does it matter to you if other people you don't know like a game more then you did? Is this really such a big deal for you that lot's of people like Half-Life? I'm genuinely curious.

[Paul.]

Originally posted by Sergeant Poultry:

Regardless of wether or not I've been "spoiled" by actually good games with solid, thought provoking plots and well thought out characters, I'll never understand why so many people believe this title to be so good as it is. It may have been back then, but that hardly means anything nowadays if you ask me. I also grew up with the original Xbox (Halo CE, Fable 1, Crimson Skies etc) and mid 2000 pc games, so I know what to expect from older titles. If you want to so proudly defend a game with glaring issues in the mainstream belief that it is perfect and that you are considered the odd one out if you disagree, be my guest.

You're starting to sound as if Half life was some sort of a crime. SOMEONE ENJOYED A GAME AND I DIDN'T, HOW DARE YOU ! Instead of writing ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ here go and do so on Fallout or Skyrim forums. Spoiled by actually good games, HA. Now Skyrim would definitely fit the overrated category, a steaming and broken POS just like any other game released by Bethesda (Fallout 76 a real gem there).