How similar would you say this game is to Half Life 1?

[Wilsonator]

There are certain similarities, the weapons all feel the same, the music is pretty similar and in some places reused from Half Life 1, there are a few new enemies but most of the ones in the first were cut. The wide open areas are a far cry from the claustrophobic vents and passages of Black Mesa. The Combine are a lot more stationary than grunts, in Half Life the grunts would be continually moving and trying to outwit you, the combine in this game seem more stationary and don't do much more than stepping round corners.

The trademark atmosphere is all there though, opinions?

 

[pr0nking]

to me it feels like a continuation. But on a different form. It is obviously a different game. But to me it feels afresh.

 

[pomegranate]

I'd say it's not very similar at all...the pace of the action is much more varied, for one thing. The sense of place wasn't as effective, for me.

 

[sfc_hoot]

I've found a few things that I beleive are little homages to HL1.

1. At the beginning of Route Kanal, just after you kill the metrocops that roll the exploding barrel at you, you can go under the stairs for supplies. We had the same thing in HL1, On a Rail.

2. In Sandtraps, just before Nova Prospekt, on the cliffside, a Fast Zombie jumps at you out of an open pipe. Kind of reminded me of the Surface Tension cliffside, when you had a headcrab leap at you from a pipe.

I'm sure there was something else that I can't remember right now.

 

[hi_ted]

Oh oh oh, i know i know. Is it because Half Life 2 is a sequel?
Why, that's right, Billy. That means that the developers wanted to give the player the feeling of direct continuation and so gave him familiar weapons and characters.

 

[Reginald]

Oh oh oh, i know i know. Is it because Half Life 2 is a sequel?
Why, that's right, Billy. That means that the developers wanted to give the player the feeling of direct continuation and so gave him familiar weapons and characters.

I think what the threadstarter was trying to get across was the fact that although it is a sequel, the game feels different and has a different atmosphere.

I think what Valve were trying to do was create a game so different from the first one that it didnt feel like a hash-out sequel with better graphics and a worse storyline.

 

[BigBrother]

not too similar but with connections, about 50-50

 

[gazoox999]

I never actually completed HL1 but the atmosphere was very different between the 2 games. It's probably because there are no cut-scenes in either so you never really make the connection that you're playing as the same guy in both games. The characters in both games look different so you never really make that connection either.
Plus, after HL2, I went back to give HL1 a go and, I found it just all seemed wrong without the amazing physics and graphics.

 

[unique]

Plus, after HL2, I went back to give HL1 a go and, I found it just all seemed wrong without the amazing physics and graphics.

Ye, i must agree with that. Today I installed hl1, which i have never finished, and it felt really dull. It's just no fun when almost all people look the same, they never talk anything interesting, and the graphics, physics are just dreadful ;(

 

[beam]

It's too bad you guys never got to play it when it first came out. Truly a great game, yes the graphics are dated and ugly but that was like Doom3 when it first came out.

I remember saying "Wow everything looks sooo real"

 

[BigBrother]

hl1 is the greatest game ever made....not even I could top/pwn something better than valve did with that game

 

[Kryton]

What do you mean it's like HalfLife1, it is completely different in all aspects. Same developer, same characters - similarities end.

 

[BigBrother]

same name as well except for the 2

 

[justmatt]

I honestly think the game is easier. I beat HL2 on easy in just under a week, and I still have never been all the way through HL1 on easy.

In HL1, I always felt like I truly had no idea what the **** was going on. I mean I had a rough idea of it. Portal...aliens, marines killing everything, I got all that. But in HL2 it feels like there is an overall story that has been introduced. I liked that a lot more.