Ten Reasons Why...I Haven't Played Half-Life 2

Fantastic post, but I'd like to go ahead and point something out that you touched on, and one of my biggest problems with the change between Half-Life 1 and 2. To quote:

"08 – I didn’t play Half-Life One
I’m a sucker for continuity in story. There was a point where I wouldn’t play a game unless I finished the previous one first. Dark Cloud. Zone of the Enders. Onimusha. Even now I still do that, although I’m a lot better. I did go back to play the original half life once. I don’t know if it was computer problems or age, but it ran like crap. Glitched up and kept me from continuing."

Half Life 1 and 2 share nothing in common, except for the name of the main character, Vortigaunts, and genre. There is no continuity, or if there is, it's minimal. I understand that it's perception that matters with this, but really, it's no reason not to play the second game. In effect, it'd be like playing Final Fantasy VI before playing Final Fantasy. You're not really losing out on anything, let alone deep plot elements.

The same is also true of another game you mentioned in that paragraph, that being Dark Cloud, except that the only real carry over there is the Georama mechanic.

I'm not saying that you should play the game because of this, I just think it's a bad reason not to. Still, nine other reasons ain't something to shake a stick at.

I agree with pretty much all of those, David. I haven't finished Half-Life 2 yet, I always get bored around half way through it.

I haven't played HL2 either. I have played Episode One, and I loved it, but now I feel like HL2 can't top that experience. It is a silly argument, but I'd rather keep on going forward with the story from the point that I started from, than go back and play HL2. Also, I love Firefly too :D

I must say that I disagree partly with you when say that Gordon has the personality of a dead fish. I disagree with you because YOU are Gordon Freeman, and showing anything other than what Gordon sees would break the illusion. You can't see your own face in real life, unless you have a mirror or something like that. However, I agree with you because Gordon ISN'T you. He has a name, history and "personality". When you play the game people talk to you, referencing things Gordon has done, and commenting on the things that make Gordon a character, like his past. This reminds you that you are somebody else. Does this make sense?

David... suck it up, stop whining and play the god damn game. Its like 8-9 hours of your life, im sure you could have skipped a little final fantasy to play a great western game. I am not saying asian games sucks, im saying they are weird and ... well they do actually suck because I hardly like them, and whatever I say goes on the internets!

Anyways I am sure you could manaja twa it into your ''busy'' scheduel. You know... a little bit of david, gordon and alyx. Bow chika bow wow! Id pay to see that, allthough I could do without the 2 prunes and go 1 on 1 with that fine pixelated ass... Gordon's that is.

Seriously just play the game, I mean you obviously got the time to write a long-ass whiny post about why you dont or havent played a game, when on the other hand you just could have used the time to actually play it, and probably would've been through it already.

You make a good point, but I think that this game is something that everybody (that like videogames) should check out. I have not played hl 1 and will probably never play it, but the story in hl2 (and also the episodes) got me hooked and I played thru the The orange box on a weekend. I hope you will give this game a chance soon, just pick up The orange box (so you dont have to play it on pc ;P) it´s not that expensive and I can almost promise you that you will like it :D (not the entire game but most of it)

I hope you find the time to play it David. It's really one of my favorite games and like you I am not really into shooters. I really only play a shooter if it has something interesting to offer, for example, plasmids in Bioshock, class based systems like in Team Fortress 2 and time manipulation in a game like Singularity. I think Half Life 2 and its episodes offer a lot in terms of story and characters. Also the physics based environment puzzles sprinkled throughout the game break up any monotony of just killing dudes. As for not playing Half-Life 1, you shouldn't really worry about it all that much. I, myself have only played to about halfway through Half-Life 1 and I had no problems enjoying HL2, but if that's what you have to do in order to play HL2 then I say it's worth it. Hope you enjoy it.

Half Life was made for the PC gamer. I have asked many if they have ever played Half Life, and they usually look at me wide-eyed and ask me if I am talking about an isotope.
What I've seen is that many console players do not enjoy PC exclusive games, or console players just jump the bandwagon and play whatever everyone else is playing.
Really, you have to be a fan in order to get into the Half Life series. I've played the first one twice, on a PC and then on a Dreamcast. And I am looking forward to future episodes of the series.

I never got the Alyx Vance love. The idea of someone developing a romance with a mute was cute when Zelda did it, but it came off as unnatural in Half-Life. (especially when I would whack her with the crowbar or just watch her struggle with a Stalker instead of helping her in Episode One)

One of the overhyped elements in Half Life 2 was the gravity gun. Besides a few puzzles and the Ravenholm chapter, the gravity gun wasn't used that much during my playthrough. It is a pretty neat weapon but it was just easier to kill enemies with my regular weapons, rather than fling boxes and toilets until something dies.

The upgraded gravity gun in the last chapter makes up for its lack of usefulness though.

Those are some pretty damn good reasons for passing out HL2. Even I've passed out games like Counter-Strike and Halo 2. But I'm a little against the grain when saying that Gordon is a blank character while it's not necessarily true. Yes, Gordon feels like a uninspired character, but Master Chief is also a generic, faceless hero; we see him do stuff that show him as such and we hardly see him showing any emotions. Gordon is just an average build man, who is actually smart (Ph.D. from MIT). Now what exactly separates him from the others? You ARE Gordon Freeman.
When you don't show Gordon doing or saying anything (considering the fact that he might be a mute), that creates an opportunity for the player to mirror himself as Gordon and rather than passively watching the story while the main character does things for you in cutscenes, you are actually involved in the story with everything happening around the player in real-time.

BTW, David. If you are any interested to learn about the storyline of Half-Life universe, head to http://www.members.shaw.ca/halflifestory/timeline.htm for the full timeline so far.

well, they are pretty good reasons. dont much agree on that last one because (this is, i think, the third time someone said this) YOU are gordon freeman. sorry to repeat it to you, but i believe it was needed (not really).
another thing is that boh half life 1 and 2 arent that connected. there are hints here and there of past endeavors from the first installment, but its not that connected. i played half life 1 when it came out...and that was a pretty damn while ago. i remembered nothing from the first, except the g-man and some main points from the first. believe me though, valve is smart enough to not leave newcomers walk blind amongst their games.

This was a great read, David. I played and finished Half Life 2 ...about 3 months ago! It is one of my boyfriend's favourite games and he gave me The Orange Box as a gift. I still didn't play it right away though, and for the same reasons you listed under "The Alyx Vance Effect". Once people keep raving about something you immediately lose interest, but when you pick it up on your own time and pace I'm sure you'll see why this game is such a big deal in gaming history. Enjoy!

You know, everyone is up in arms about david not playing half life 2, but the point you are ALL missing is the fact HE has played some landmark games some people decide to never pick up. And please, who the hell WANTS to beat a game in an hour and a half. Even if he wanted to, that time is a RECORD time, not a casual sit the fuck down and enjoy the game time. So shut up. Play the games you enjoy and don't hate on others for their reasons not to play a game you enjoy. Its allll subjective people. Thats what gaming is.

I wouldn't worry so much about nr. 4.

Half-Life 2 is a particularly easy shooter, it's actually possible to play through it without taking a single point of damage.

Anyway, your biggest problem is probably going to be the pacing and load screens. Episode 2 is much improved in those areas, so I hope you will last through HL2 and Episode 1.

although this may be a your list of cons to playing this game, i assure you the pros of playing it will greatly outweigh it. just the simple fact that half life 2 has still some of the best level design despite being older than current games. The fact that it doesn't have newer shooter mechanics in it does not mean it is worse in any way, its just different. personally i despise the shield and recharging health mechanic in new games, why do you think they brought health packs back in halo reach. On your point about gordon freeman's character not being interesting, i think its more of your personal preference to play games where the story revolves around an interesting and pre-designed character. whereas gordon freeman is interesting because you are him, there is no preset information. This makes him arguably more accessible to players. its like saying books written in first person are better or worse than books written in third person, they're just different.

The games age doesnt really show in half life 2, and is still in my opinion the best FPS ever made.

Oh and galaxies came out in 2003 :P i played galaxies up untill WoW came out.

I will only acknowledge one of those 10 rules, number 9, which I feel is enough of a reason, if its not your thing then it doesn't matter.

but the other nine all applied to me in one way or the other, but I still played it and loved it.

but If you don't particularly want to play it, then don't. I mean anyone who thinks less of you because "its not your cup of tea" should get over themselves anyway

Gee David. I don't know why you feel compelled to make a post like this. It seems kind of counter-productive.

There are plenty of reasons why people dislike/haven't played many games...but not everyone has to justify why. If it is your opinion then who cares? It's not like people are forcing you to play this game with a knife to your throat.

The point is I honestly feel like this post is just taking up blog-space on your website when it could have been time used to play something you like or something new. I know this is your website so you can do as you please but, still I think your time was better spent doing something else.

I, myself, find the Half-Life series to be one of my favorite shooters of all time. However, I am very aware of all it's cons and that it is clearly not a game for everyone.

Have a pleasant day.

Because od this post, I'm starting half life 1 lol. I never played any of em and now that I have a pc capable of running them I shall. I hope they are as good as people say.

HEY! I played Half-Life 2 on the 360 and loved it!

David, can't say I blame ya here. I meen I've played HL2 (not the first one though). I don't honestly know if the story has anything to do with the first one because the extent of my HL1 knowledge is the first 9 episodes of Freeman's Mind and that's it lol. Though I play games a LOT, I have some pretty shameful games on my haven't finished list as well. Bioshock and Mass Effect 1 come to mind xD. So each to his own, and hope ya enjoy the game! (sorry haven't been watchin the feed lately so dunno if you iz or if you ain't)

I totally unterstand why people dont want to play hyped games, it just happens.
But as a huge fan of Hl/Hl2, i have to say something about these:

"01 – Gordon Freeman has the personality of a dead fish."
Yeah, but that's the whole point. Gordon isnt supposed to be anything special, because _you_ are him in the game. You are the one going trough everything from killing headcrabs with a crowbar to asking yoursellf "who the f*** is this guy with a briefcase?"
But this is also something that some people just dont care about, so I understand that you may not like the whole "being the hero" thing.

Darknezz: I strongly disagree with "here is no continuity, or if there is, it’s minimal." What about you starting the whole mess in the first game and then coming back in second one and realising what has happened? If that's not continuity then im not sure what is.