Disappointed

[Drathe]

Ok, I am a great half life fan all the way back to the first walk in the reactor chamber, even slogged my way across the battle fields of France in day of defeat. The games have always been of quality and brains as well as brawn, fun in short.

So I spent out my hard grafted wages got myself Episode one, lovely. Settled down to play it and… oh what… that’s it… I’ve completed it in …looks at the clock… about 3 hours.

I felt a little disappointed it was so short in comparison to any of the pervious half-life games. It felt it took longer to install than it did to complete. I think I will just borrow a mates copy for the next one and play that.

And while I am at it, how comes Counter strike source comes free and I have to pay for Day of defeat!

 

[Cormeh]

Episode 1 is shorter than your average game because... well it's an episode. Valve have decided to continue the Half Life story through episodic content, as far as we know they have a total of three planned.

As for being disappointed, you get three to four hours of quality gameplay for twenty sheets, which is not bad by my estimation.

 

[Double_Blade]

Just to cheer you up, why don't you play source-engine games? Like No More Room In Hell and all kinds of Source-engine games, they are fun.

I also agree that HL2: Ep1 also disappointing.

 

[bbson john]

Valve didn't spend that much time on constructing Ep:1. As you can see, the interval time between Half Life2 and Ep:1 was quite short. Valve could not make a lengthy game in this short period of time, unless they forgot about the quality of the game, of course this was not what we wish to see. Yes, Ep:1 is short, so we must focus ourselves on the quality of it, like what had Valve been focusing on. Though the gameplay of Ep:1 is disappointing, the sophisticated AI of Alyx and the impressive implementation of HDR do worth the price, which we have no doubt about it.

Anyway, can I buy DoD alone? It seems that it always sticks with CS:S. And the prize is pushed up because of that.

 

[Cormeh]

I also agree that HL2: Ep1 also disappointing.

Disappointed in duration or actual gameplay? I thought Ep. 1 was great, and have yet to replay it on hard mode.

I don't get it, so many months we've waited and so long has it been confirmed that the episodes won't be full games. I'm still bamboozeled by a lot of the so called disappointment.

 

[Asknoone]

I'm pretty sure EP1 is one of the best FPS's I've played. Funnily enough, it is called Episode 1, and therefore it is obviously going to be pretty short because it is exactly that. An Episode.

I finished it in about 4 hours, which is definately short, but I'm not bothered - the quality was so high it didn't matter.

 

[Vass]

It took me around 6 hours (I know, I've always been a slow gamer...) but I thought it was well worth $20. Yes, the gameplay was pretty similar to HL2 becasue of the same/similar setting, but it had to be that way, they weren't going to change the plot because it would to similar to HL2. Besides, with the commentary feature and Alxy being such a good sidekick, which most games can't admit to creating, it was awesome. I felt like elevator scene was so good, the way you had to fend for yourself and Alxy, where she depended on your light. It was hard, it was scary dark, it had spooky sound. Brilliant game. The only thing I wish is that we got the crowbar sooner.

 

[Atomic_Piggy]

PLay it on hard, and explore everywhere. Then it takes about 5hours.

 

[Max35]

Though the gameplay of Ep:1 is disappointing, the sophisticated AI of Alyx and the impressive implementation of HDR do worth the price, which we have no doubt about it.

I completely and utterly disagree about the gameplay. It was superior to HL2 in nearly everyway. What people don't seem to realize is, EP1 isn't going to have new textures, enemies, weapons, because there is really no need for them in the exact same setting. Especially with the storyline bascically stating that all teleports have been temporarily closed. They have focused creating all this new content on EP2, which features an extremely different setting, with new enemies (Hunters, which seem pretty detailed with having emotions, and better AI) and new weapons (Strider Busters), and that's what they have told us so far.

Some people don't appreciate the quality put into this game and concentrate solely on the length. No other game recently has been able to match it in atmosphere and story, while the physics and gameplay still remain unmatched.

 

[Asknoone]

Truth.

 

[ktimekiller]

average of 5 hours to beat for a regular person, for 20 bucks, 3 episodes, thats 15 hours, for 60 bucks, hl2 was about 15 hours for 60 bucks, sounds right.

 

[_Z_Ryuken]

Back in the SNES days, you could get through the average shooter in 45mins to an hour.
Food for thought.

 

[kupocake]

So I spent out my hard grafted wages got myself Episode one, lovely. Settled down to play it and… oh what… that’s it… I’ve completed it in …looks at the clock… about 3 hours.

You paid 1/3rd of the price of Half-Life 2 and got a game 1/3rd of the length. Additionally, you didn't have to wait until you started developing arthiritis before it was released. All is well with the world, and if you go back and try not to race through the game so that you can be the first one to break the ribbon at the end of the course, you may actually realise that what is there is actually pretty damned fun.

 

[Vass]

I still think HL3 will come after the Episodes.

 

[Drathe]

Gentlemen, please don’t get me wrong here. As said the game is a marvel in many ways, the continuation of the story is intriguing as the atmosphere is encpativating. The game reeks of hard work in all the right places. That I am not disputing, nor would I even try to better another game against its pole position.

BUT, as said my disappointment was in its length, and the cost. Something not many of you agree with me on (which is fair point.) I just happened to feel that games wise £20 for 3 hours in comparison to the other previous releases is a little shy of duration Episode or not.

Previously on halflife expansion titles you were getting what, on average of say… 8-9ish hours of game play? (Don’t quote me on that as we have found duration varies on player to player) for £35. So to spend £20 for 3 hours of what is an extension of the back bone of Half-life 2.

So for half-life 2, episode 1-3 that’s over £100 for not even close to the same amount of game play IF the next releases are just as short. It’s not a brand new game and I am sorry but doe's not require the same degree of base work per say… meh, I’m just having a whinge *holds his hands up* cart me off.

*In comes the Sheppard’s crook* But again, why do I have to pay for Day of Defeat when Counter strike comes FREeeeeee……

 

[99.vikram]

I just happened to feel that games wise £20 for 3 hours in comparison to the other previous releases is a little shy of duration Episode or not.

That was 2000, this is 2006. If you consider the average FPS today - FEAR, Doom 3 etc. , all of them give ~9 hours of play for ~40 dollars, which is far less than back then.

So in comparison, Ep 1 offers a higher quality experience with proportional length. I'm not expecting you to suddenly say Ep 1 was well worth it, but you shouldn't leave the HL series before it's conclusion for this reason.

But again, why do I have to pay for Day of Defeat when Counter strike comes FREeeeeee……

Porting DoD:S, as I understand it, took a lot more work than CS:S. Also, CS:S was originally treated as the multiplayer component of Half-life, so it's part of that package.

 

[bbson john]

The game is quite inexpensive in Hong Kong-- a piece of pizza for four is even more expensive.

Yet, we must accept that the game is short. Even though Valve does it deliberately, I am still upset by the length of the game. It is not because the game is short and does not worth its price. The woe is that if the future episodes are as short, the whole half-life series will be ended within 12 hours. I will surely be so sad since my dream of Half-life is ended within half of a day. So if Valve makes the coming episodes as short, I wish they can actually make more episodes to compensate so. Or even consider making a Half-life 3 (4 if you'd like to say) so you and I can continue our life in Half-life.


p.s. It seems that I cannot buy DoD:S without buying CS:S. So I have pay for both. But I've already bought CS:S and I don't want to pay for CS:S, AGAIN.

 

[kupocake]

I just happened to feel that games wise £20 for 3 hours in comparison to the other previous releases is a little shy of duration Episode or not.

If you purchased this game for £20, you were ripped off not by the developer, but by the shop you got it from. The game costs $20. $20 is barely £11. £20 is $36. You paid way too much for the game and that's your fault for not searching around where to get it from beforehand. Change where you shop. Especially consider getting via Steam because you really don't need a pissily designed plastic box with a tiny leaflet telling you how to play the game.

Previously on halflife expansion titles you were getting what, on average of say… 8-9ish hours of game play?

Only if you smoked some serious s**t before playing them. Or you were just bad at the games back then. I know I was, but I still coasted through Opposing Force in about 5 hours. Had that game been released yesterday, I would have got through it in 3 to 4 hours, same as Episode One. Anyone who believe they took 8-9 hours to complete Blue Shift has the rosiest tinted spectacles I've ever seen. BS is 2 hours gameplay tops, 4 hours is you struggle or get lost. It is certainly a shorter game than Episode One.

(Don’t quote me on that as we have found duration varies on player to player)

That doesn't give you immunity from outright lying, and if that's the case, why should you criticise a game that took many of US 4, 6 or even 10 hours to complete? Furthermore, you can't compare how long you took to play the games back then to now, because you are effectively a different player than you were back then. You've had up to 8 years to be a better gamer since you played Half-Life.

for £35.

Actually, Opposing Force was £20 and Blue Shift was £15. Pricing hasn't changed, except that you can legitimately pick up Episode One for less than both of them, even though opposing force is probably only marginly longer and Blue Shift is easily half the size.

 

[bbson john]

Opposing Force is a long way to run, but EP:1 has a lot to be explored. And combine soldiers finally know how to jump.

 

[Asknoone]

Previously on halflife expansion titles you were getting what, on average of say… 8-9ish hours of game play?

But sadly, those weren't of any real quality. I finished Opposing force in about 3 and a half hours, and Blue shift in 2.

 

[Drathe]

Kupoartist, you are sharp cutting with your blunt words, but I don't see how I am a lier? As for MY fault I paid £20 for it, that is the going price for the game in the shops right now. I would hardly say that I was ‘ripped off’ for paying that sum as said just disappointed it was so short.

'Furthermore, you can't compare how long you took to play the games back then to now, because you are effectively a different player than you were back then. You've had up to 8 years to be a better gamer since you played Half-Life.' - A fair point I take that on the chin.

As for the 'pissily designed plastic box with a tiny leaflet telling you how to play the game' as you so put it, is good to have a hard copy and as I am sure some would agree, to have the box on the shelf with the other titles.

Just out of curiosity where exactly did you purchase the game from? Steam for $20

99.vikram, thanks for the DOD source answer

 

[Max35]

Not so sure, but I think that the Steam version was very near $10 dollars. EP1 was revolutionary in several ways: character interaction, atmosphere, Alyx AI, etc. Well worth it regardless of the price. Don't blame Valve for the inflated price, blame EA, they are just evil gnats.

 

[jimmyjam]

steam version is $19.95
preorders were fifteen-ish

 

[kupocake]

Kupoartist, you are sharp cutting with your blunt words, but I don't see how I am a lier?

You said: "Previously on halflife expansion titles you were getting what, on average of say… 8-9ish hours of game play?". That's saying something that contains not an ounce of truth to strengthen an arguement, which is lying by my standards.

As for MY fault I paid £20 for it, that is the going price for the game in the shops right now.

Pardon my ignorance, but I had honestly begun to believe that everyone had had the sense to forsake high-street shops by now. Going rate online is £14-£16 if you want your entirely redundant box.

As for the 'pissily designed plastic box with a tiny leaflet telling you how to play the game' as you so put it, is good to have a hard copy and as I am sure some would agree, to have the box on the shelf with the other titles.

Buying Half-Life 2 retail on release opened my eyes to how little it matters. That box had clearly been lying in design-storage for over a year, as the screenshots on it pre-date the E3 2003 videos. It's an entirely different game on that box. The game described by the blurb is not the game I played, and you need a microscope to determine that you need the internet to even play the damned thing! Bad, bad design. In the end it's just a flimsey plastic box with a useless insert. If I really wanted to, I can design a passable cover, buy a blank DVD case and backup the Episode One CD. But you know, I don't want to. When people walk into my room, their eyes do not wander to my shelf and go "my, is that a copy of Half-Life 2 you have there?". Bottom Line is, the plastic case, piece of paper and a blank DVD cost you £9 more than I spent on getting exactly the same experience (legitimately and giving the developers more money directly), minus a 1.5x18.5cm rectangle of space saying "Half-Life 2 Episode 1" on my shelf. Your disappointment should factor in the fact that nearly 50% of the price you are appalled at went towards a box you really didn't need to buy.

edit: so basically, it's a case of misdirected anger. Be angry at EA and the retailer you brought from for adding £9 more than necessary to the price, and be angry at yourself for letting them take it from you.

 

[Drathe]

kupoartist my hero, thank you so much. I was never angry but… now I find I am at myself… For not being more like you. I do so wish I had your pazaz and intellectualism and rather insulting tone. I wish I had seen the light you had at such a young and tender age to forgo materialistic values, just as I wish to repent for my uncouth and slanderous lying. I think I have seen the error of my ways and do very much take back what I have previously posed. Last but not least, don’t give up the day job to become and artist.

 

[_Z_Ryuken]

Senseless arguing. He is not satisfied with paying 20 quid for a 3 hour game. That's his perogitive.
Mine too.
That's why I didn't buy it.
I mean, Valve gave us fair warning to it's length and price, so there's nothing to discuss really.
They also do not have to give us anything for free. DOD:S for example. It's their game, not ours.

Finally, if you are blasting through games at 100mph, you are not playing them for the right reasons. They are meant to be an experience in which you can have fun and pass time. They are not meant to be bought, defeated, then tossed away as you search for a new challenge, though developers would have you think differently.
If you can't justify paying a small amount of money for a short game then don't. Easy as that. reevaluate your investment strategy.

If you've ever bought a movie this argument is self-defeating. 17-20 dollars for what, 1-2 hours of sitting on your ass?
Think about it.

 

[Rennmniscant]

What I do as think of it like movies. Around here, we have to get Ep 1 for ~$25 (damn exchange rate). We also get movies, the really new ones can be as much as $100 if you look in the wrong place, but you can get most for $20-$50. Those movies last a specific time, which is often about an hour or 2. And they're the same each time.

Now, for the price of a short crappy movie on DVD, Valve's given us an interactive experience with:

-a better plot and more action than many Schwartznegger-esque/action movies

-lasts for more than 4 hours if you play through at an average rate.

-Infinitely variable replay value (no rewind button though...)

-And if you squint hard enough, it's easily as realistic as the movies going around today, and it's only gonna get better!

For value for money, I think Ep1's a marvel.

EDIT: Aand... I think I just accidently repeated what _Z_Ryuken said... just shows you should read all the posts in a thread. Oops.

 

[dogs_ball]

kupoartist my hero, thank you so much. I was never angry but… now I find I am at myself… For not being more like you. I do so wish I had your pazaz and intellectualism and rather insulting tone. I wish I had seen the light you had at such a young and tender age to forgo materialistic values, just as I wish to repent for my uncouth and slanderous lying. I think I have seen the error of my ways and do very much take back what I have previously posed. Last but not least, don’t give up the day job to become and artist.

He picked holes in every aspect of your argument, and you go into sarcastic mode? gg :dork:

 

[colson]

But sadly, those weren't of any real quality. I finished Opposing force in about 3 and a half hours, and Blue shift in 2.

Are you joking? I thought both of them were just as good as Halflife. Short but sweet. I loved how the story plays out for blueshift and opposing forces. You don't need to have a long drawn out game if it is high quality. I loved how right of the bat you were thrown into the shit [in opposing forces] and I loved how in blueshift it started like any other day on the job until all hell brakes lose. I think gearbox did a excellent job of filling in the gaps in the halflife story except for putting in the barnacle weapon. That thing was pretty gay but even that was put into the story tastefully. [Reseach log] The lizard gun was kinda stupid too but either than that no complaints.

 

[bbson john]

I loved how right of the bat you were thrown into the shit [in opposing forces] and I loved how in blueshift it started like any other day on the job until all hell brakes lose. I think gearbox did a excellent job of filling in the gaps in the halflife story except for putting in the barnacle weapon. That thing was pretty gay but even that was put into the story tastefully. [Reseach log] The lizard gun was kinda stupid too but either than that no complaints.

I don't like the part where I have to fight the big bug. I have to turn the "Valve" and "Gearbox" on. HARD SALE

 

[Asknoone]

Are you joking? I thought both of them were just as good as Halflife. Short but sweet. I loved how the story plays out for blueshift and opposing forces. You don't need to have a long drawn out game if it is high quality. I loved how right of the bat you were thrown into the shit [in opposing forces] and I loved how in blueshift it started like any other day on the job until all hell brakes lose. I think gearbox did a excellent job of filling in the gaps in the halflife story except for putting in the barnacle weapon. That thing was pretty gay but even that was put into the story tastefully. [Reseach log] The lizard gun was kinda stupid too but either than that no complaints.

Filling the gaps? They absolutely ruined it, they created plot contrivance after plot contrivance throughout. They really add some cheap b-movie stuff in there.

 

[Double_Blade]

Disappointed in duration or actual gameplay? I thought Ep. 1 was great, and have yet to replay it on hard mode.

I don't get it, so many months we've waited and so long has it been confirmed that the episodes won't be full games. I'm still bamboozeled by a lot of the so called disappointment.

I was disappointed in the game, which always crashes. I had rest my case for Half-life 2 and no longer and not ever going to touch that game anymore. I will use Half-life 2 as a shield so that I can play fan-made source engine games like Resident evil and so on. The most source engine Resident evil game I am very looking forward to is Resident Evil: Twilight.

And oh, I say again, Twilight is now currently on Internal Alpha and they are testing out the game right now.

I think I should release a hordes of zombies from the gates and eat up all the Half-life 2 series to end it all. And we can play source-engine games all along way down.

 

[Dr. Zoidberg]

^No.

 

[Asknoone]

^No.

-

 

[99.vikram]

I think gearbox did a excellent job of filling in the gaps in the halflife story except for putting in the barnacle weapon. That thing was pretty gay but even that was put into the story tastefully. [Reseach log] The lizard gun was kinda stupid too but either than that no complaints.

D: Surely you jest? Gearbox took a good, simple plot and smacked it repeatedly with a sledgehammer till holes the size of Texas appeared. RaceX? Displacer? Barnacle gun? Black Ops? Gman putting Shephard in stasis?

All this could be explained with contorted theories, but Half-life had a self-contained plot which needed no elaboration.

I had rest my case for Half-life 2 and no longer and not ever going to touch that game anymore.

Good for you.

 

[Double_Blade]

Good for you.

Thanks for the tip though. Any fan-made source engine games you wanna introduce?

 

[bbson john]

I was disappointed in the game, which always crashes. I had rest my case for Half-life 2 and no longer and not ever going to touch that game anymore. I will use Half-life 2 as a shield so that I can play fan-made source engine games like Resident evil and so on.

What crashes? Like handicap because of your out-dated graphic card? Or the AI disability problem?
I come across no problem 'cos I use up-to-date display card and bought retail vision.

 

[Double_Blade]

What crashes? Like handicap because of your out-dated graphic card? Or the AI disability problem?
I come across no problem 'cos I use up-to-date display card and bought retail vision.

I had my own new graphic card and it still crashes, I don't know why. Pardon my ignorance though, but if you think that I am trying to lame around, sue me then, besides, everyone has their own opinions.

 

[bbson john]

I had my own new graphic card and it still crashes, I don't know why. Pardon my ignorance though, but if you think that I am trying to lame around, sue me then, besides, everyone has their own opinions.

Just a joke. No one gonna sue you

 

[Ludah]

Hahaha... fanboys.

All you morons crapping all over Gearbox's work and "OMG TEH PLOT HOLES" should really shut your holes already. Marc Laidlaw wrote the storylines for Blue Shift and Opposing Force. You know what that means? You can't blame Gearbox for any ****ing inconsistencies in their games.

Pardon the insults, but I'm sick of reading this shit.