Half-Life 2 for a Friend

[AAA]

I recently purchased the Orange Box and I must say that Episode 2 is the best game I have ever played!

Anyway, I now have 2 copies of HL2 and Ep. 1 since they came with the Orange Box and I want to give HL2 and Ep. 1 to a friend of mine. However, I would like to know if anyone has played Half-Life 2 without first playing Half-Life, and if that has a big impact on playing HL2. (Considering you first arrive on a train with some weird dude in a suit talking to you).

I personally played Half-Life first, so I knew what was going on. Should I try to explain some stuff to him before he plays it?

 

[yakuruto]

Some background helps to understand what's going on, but I don't think it has some major impact on enjoying or not HL2. My cousin played HL2 without knowing anything about HL and liked it a lot, gameplay-wise, but it prevented him for understanding important parts of the story.

You can recommend your friend to read a little about what happened in HL, if he likes the game he may even buy the previous releases (HL, HL: OP, HL: BS)

 

[Operational]

I don't know anyone who has played HL2 without playing HL1 first. I don't think it is a good idea to go straight into HL2 but if your friend is against playing HL1 first (its very cheap to buy) at the very least he should read a plot summary, wikipedia's is nice and detailed. I wouldn't mention Opposing Force or Blue Shift (unless he plays and likes HL1), they will most likely just confuse the issue and aren't needed for HL2 anyway.

 

[AAA]

Thanks for the advice guys. I really think the story is amazing in the series and I would like for my friend to experience it and appreciate it as much as I do. I'll ask him what he would rather do. He isn't all that into games, mainly because of time. However, I think he'll like the story, which is why I am recommending this to him.

 

[Houndini]

just read up the story on wiki if you cant get a hold of half life 1

 

[smurfy]

I played Half-Life 2 without playing Half-Life and understood it, but then I did look up the entire plot Half-Life, Half-Life 2 and a lot more about the series on Wikipedia.

 

[Gordon_X]

You will appreciate the story more if you play HL1 first.

 

[Herr Mike]

Just tell him to play Half-Life Source. It's free.

Or just give him a brief summary. Gordon worked at Black Mesa, they had an experiment go bonkers and it created a portal and Xen things came through and killed people and soldiers came and killed people then you killed the Xen dimension in the part of the game nobody liked and Black Mesa got nuked.

 

[alex13_a]

I actually played half life 2, episode one and two without having ever laid my hand on half life 1.
I enjoyed the games immensely and filled the gaps when I needed to.

 

[Herr Mike]

You can find way more info online than you can from HL1.

If you ask me, you should play HL1 first, because going back from HL2 would be jarring. HL1 is a great game, sure, but it seems a bit wooden these days.

 

[AAA]

I agree that there is a lot more information online than from HL1. I was glad to have read various wikis and what not to fill in some of the gaps (although I wouldn't recommend reading a lot until one has finished Episode 2). I haven't heard from my friend, yet, but hopefully he won't be opposed to playing HL1. If he doesn't want to, maybe he'll play Black Mesa Source when it is finished. I'm sure that would be less jarring.

 

[Omnomnick]

I originally got Half Life 2 to play Garrysmod, I enjoyed playing Spacebuild so much at my friends, I went out the next day to buy Half Life 2. After playing Half Life 2, I decided to see what Half Life 1 Source was all about, and I enjoyed it. Then, a few months ago, I decided to buy the original Half Life, so I bought the Half Life 1 anthology pack, containing loads of old games like Blue shift and Opposing Force. After replaying Half Life 1, I played Blue Shift and Opposing Force for the first time, (i knew about the events, just hadnt played the game).

Then I bought the Orange box etc...

(BTW, half way through the HL2 nd Original HL1 bit I bought EP1, about 1 week after completing HL2)

 

[Homeless 2.0]

I love the majority of the Half life series (including the mods) and all that really disappointed me was the fact that Blue Shift and Opposing Force seemed out of date, which they are. I would have liked them if I had gotten them earlier, before HL:S.

 

[Iron Kat]

I started playing HL2 about ten years after just watching my dad play HL1 (I was six then) so I didn't remember anything from the original but it didn't make the slightest bit of difference.