For all the Russians and foreigners out there...

[Chronos]

Hey there,

Just in case you did not know, FYI, you can get localized version directly from Steam. To do it, just go Steam->Settings->Languages->Russian... (or pick any language you want), then restart Steam, then click on to play Half-Life 2. The game will download the localization pack and start completely translated (with voices and all the writings, and stuff)

I give Russian translation quality a strong 'B', or 4/5. Sometimes the dialog/intonation seem a bit unnatural, and the male voices are too similar. Alyx sometimes messes up 'you' vs. 'thou' (does not exist in English any more, I am talking about Russian analog:
'vy' vs. 'ty'), perhaps she is not still sure how to address Gordon.

However, still one of the best Russian Localizations I have seen, I was pleasantly surprised. I wonder who did that? To lazy to look through all the credits.:hmph: Not sure if correct lip-sync is automatically applied, hard to tell, I guess they were advertising for it that it would, but that's not something actually too important.

To other foreigners: Does Half-Life 2 has your language, if you set it in Steam? Is the quality of localization good?

 

[Dead-Inside]

Automatic lipsync is applied.

Edit: This goes for all characters, even with the original "english" sounds.

 

[Solver]

I heard the Russian translation is decent (unlike the crap Russian pirates put up), but I'd still never want to play a game in any other language than English. If it's made in English, it's to be played in English.

The one thing that interests me, though, is how the G-Man sounds in Russian, if he gets that cool manner of speech or not...

 

[pomegranate]

Good on you for such a helpful post, sir!

 

[wilka91]

I won't even try to run the game in Russian. I mean what's the point of that?

If you are Russian and that you have the opportunity to read a book or watch a movie in its original version, why would you want to have a translated version?

That's why I won't try Russian.

 

[Beserker]

Right, there is no way that I can have finnish texts ingame. I don't want to, even try *shiver*

 

[Chronos]

I won't even try to run the game in Russian. I mean what's the point of that?

If you are Russian and that you have the opportunity to read a book or watch a movie in its original version, why would you want to have a translated version?

That's why I won't try Russian.

Completely Agree with you, I always play English, however I was just curious if they had done a localization properly, and they did, so it means they respect Russians as potential customers, which cannot be bad. I hope that my friends back home will thoroughly enjoy it, or turn to russian version if they cannot understand some of the plot points.

And yes, many of russians localizations are crap.

 

[Chronos]

The one thing that interests me, though, is how the G-Man sounds in Russian, if he gets that cool manner of speech or not...

The G-man intro speech is made very-very cool in Russian, intonation is done well, and the tranalsation uses real russian expressions, like "Rise and sing", which is a good Russian analog for "Rise and shine!.. "

However, I have found one pretty bad flaw: when you try to talk to NPC's on the train station, the lines are mixed!!! Which means the guy on the trains says line about "Don't drink the water!" instead of "This is my 2nd transfer" and the guy right by the fence before you go into customs line says "I got normal migration card" instead of "I wouldn't say that, that's his base of operations", and so on and so forth!... The flaw is not critical, but it takes a lot of charm and environment from the game, as those lines from NPC do not make sense at all!!!

Seriously, goddamit, why do you have to put up with all the good efforts, produce realy neat Russian localization, and then mess it up badly by something like that?!.

I mean, come on!...

 

[shelob]

These Valve guys never cease to amaze... they did translations!? How cool is that?

 

[Guus345]

i speak english only, but i would like to hear it in German, imo, the German language has a powerful sound to it

 

[Maxi]

Aww no finnish or swedish version Would be cool to play the game in finnish, haha.

 

[Solver]

Oww... so the Russian version DOES have something messed up. As always .

 

[Chronos]

Yeah, and that's the whole pity... They really did a good job for translating the lines, like the food lines and stuff, Combine speech, etc., but that detail of mixed up lines is annoying.

 

[Solver]

I'm feeling tempted to download the Russian GCF for Steam just to hear GMan's voice acting in Russian.

 

[deekey777]

i speak english only, but i would like to hear it in German, imo, the German language has a powerful sound to it

German localization is terrible, I have no idea, whom Valve let speak Barney.

But the russian translation is really good, funny sayings (Barney:"If you see Breen, say him 'F*******!'")

G-man's russian voice is not bad, but Father Gregori rocks in russian as good as in english. What is really terrible, that's the female voice of Gordons suite.

 

[ALEXDJ]

Did anyone noticed a huge sign on a tall building that was in russian and said "Technology"?

 

[Shakermaker]

Anyone play the Asian versions? G-Man in Thai would be pretty cool.

 

[dimalife]

so if i wanna play in english again..?

i just wonder, it'd be fun to see how the game is in russia, but for all other purposes i'd rather have it in english. Does switching the language in steam allow me to switch back?

 

[guchi]

would it be possible to play halflife2 with french speach, but english subtitles? and if so, how?

 

[deekey777]

would it be possible to play halflife2 with french speach, but english subtitles? and if so, how?

It wouldn't, but it iss possible. Open your Config.cfg and look for cc_lang "", than write eg cc_lang "english". Do not forget to enable subtitles.

I hope, it's true, what I wrote.

 

[guchi]

nope, didnt work i thought valve said that you could though...

 

[Chronos]

i just wonder, it'd be fun to see how the game is in russia, but for all other purposes i'd rather have it in english. Does switching the language in steam allow me to switch back?

Sure, just switch the STEAM back to English, and it will all be changed back again.

 

[Chronos]

What is really terrible, that's the female voice of Gordons suite.

Yeah, they just had the woman speak the classic robotic old-sci-fi shows-robot voice, which is not exactly how it sounds like. Original suit has emotional intonations to it

 

[Chronos]

Did anyone noticed a huge sign on a tall building that was in russian and said "Technology"?

Which one do you refer to? Could you post a screenshot pls?
I have seen building on the left of the plaza, right after train station, that says "XCC.." and the last letter is G, but in cyrillics. REminded me of CCCP, but that's not it, I guess it's there just to make it look soviet.

There was also a sign of "THT", which means "TNT", later in the game whe you are fighting on the streets.

 

[Victor2]

It´s easier to rain shit than for me to see this game translated into portuguese.......

 

[Fighter]

I am Russian, but I always prefer to play the original granted it is a language I can understand.

I beat the game in English now playing through in Russian for a different experience. So far so good. Barney sounded weird at first before I got used to the new voice. G-man's voice is almost identical to the English version.

I am especially impressed that the lipsynking is different for both languages.

From seeing localization of other games I know they dont always bother to translate properly. Same with movies. Often the translation carries a totally different meaning from what it was orriginally meant to, they are lazy bastards those translation people.

 

[Tynan]

I played the French version for a little bit, it actually seems pretty good. The lip synching is perfect, and the words follow the facial expressions too. Breen's voice is really weird though.

I wouldn't know if they're saying everything perfectly because my French isn't quite there yet (native English speaker in Canada) but overall I'm impressed.

 

[pAiNtHeAsS]

does anyone know if the simplified or traditional chinese is in mandarin or cantonese?
im guessing mandarin because its chaina's official language

 

[Soulray]

OMG! i speak russian and when i get the game, im just gonna play in in Russian 1st, man i cant wait...

 

[Coren]

Darn, I just noticed this thread wasn't dated november this year, but november LAST year. Terribly sorry for digging up this old thread. I'd delete my post if I knew how. My questions still stand, though, so if you don't mind, you can read on anyway...

Sweet...

So if I get this right, this means that if I get the French localized version (which I incidentally found at about half the price of the original version here in Belgium), I still will be able to play the game in English. Right?

But once I download a certain localized version from Steam, will I be able to switch between versions without having to re-download anything?
How big is the download anyway? (yah, my monthly download is limited >.<)

BTW, I'm new, nice to meet you. :E

Coren

 

[Boogymanx]

Darn, I just noticed this thread wasn't dated november this year, but november LAST year. Terribly sorry for digging up this old thread. I'd delete my post if I knew how. My questions still stand, though, so if you don't mind, you can read on anyway...

Sweet...

So if I get this right, this means that if I get the French localized version (which I incidentally found at about half the price of the original version here in Belgium), I still will be able to play the game in English. Right?

But once I download a certain localized version from Steam, will I be able to switch between versions without having to re-download anything?
How big is the download anyway? (yah, my monthly download is limited >.<)

BTW, I'm new, nice to meet you. :E

Coren

Belgium FTW! I think it is possible, I don't know, I always play in English, but you'll probably be able to download the English language pack.

 

[ríomhaire]

What are Breen's and the g-man's speaches like in the other languages compared to English?

 

[15357]

Korean: (compared to english) Even BETTER voice acting for Breen, overwatch, and G-man, Alyx is just awkward.

 

[Apocalypse89]

Too bad that there is no Arabic localization.

 

[Ti133700N]

I enjoyed the Russian version better, maybe because it seemed more like I was in a foreign place.

 

[DoctorWeeTodd]

I enjoyed the Russian version better, maybe because it seemed more like I was in a foreign place.

Well technically you are in a foreign place, it's just now everyone speaks the regular local language. I played it again in Chinese just for fun but it's in Mandarin and not Cantonese, which is hard for me to understand even with repeated listenings.