Half-Life 2

[InsaneSingingBlender]

it looks like source supports cel shading! you see some at the end, although it doesnt have the cartoonish look

[OL]

i noticed that lol

[Campaignjunkie]

well i just beat it: this is spoilers so just hilite if you wanna read.

but definately overall the game was superb, 10/10 easily. everythin was perfect gameplay wise!

Well, they don't tell you much outrightly, you kind of need to analyze it yourself and interpret it (unfortunately for some). In the beginning, G-man mentions something about Gordon being at the right place at the right time making all the difference. Well, turns out that day is the specific day when they test the teleports and they take Gordon along. Naturally, Gordon's presence screws everything up for some reason and he's teleported into Breen's office. Combine goes crazy, sends drones out, etc. Then they hunt you down, you and Alyx teleport away in Nova Prospekt, triggers city-wide Resistance movement against Combine, leading to Gordon infiltrating the Citadel and blowing everything up. All because Gordon "magically" appeared that day in the train.

Everything so far seems to be for the purpose of furthering G-man's and the benefactor's aims. Whatever those are. I agree about it feeling a bit rushed. I'm sure people much smarter than me will pick apart the game and pull out some story elements anyways.

On another note, what's the significance of the title of Chapter 2: "Red Letter Day"? Is it a reference to some movie or something? Or am I thinking too hard or not enough?

[OL]

The term "red-letter day" originates with the tradition of marking holy days in a church calendar in red. We use the term here to designate days of special significance in each month -- holidays, astronomical happenings, anniversaries of historic events, and days with memorable folklore attached

[Nazul]

spoiler :

In the End you hear Dr. Breen talking about a host body cause he would be vaporized if he didn't and shit , did anyone LOOK what he was talking to ? cuz there was a screen there which seemd to have like a BIGASS cocoon on it , it's strange NOONE mentioned that yet ...

so , replai !

[Duff-e]

alyx almost definitely dies....which sucks....and prob all the people on the ground too.....i wish they would have explained more about the combine as well as who the head "benefactor" is (the one you see dr.breen talking to twice in the game....once when gordon is being transported in the beginning and in the end when breen is running away)

[TomWithTheWeather]

I just beat it. I was a good game, but not as cool as the hype led me to believe. The ending was kind of disappointing, but it looked cool so I guess that's all that matters.

[InsaneSingingBlender]

what was that cat that barney said he had nightmares about. i never saw any cat, unless he meant lamar

[Duff-e]

they try to transport a cat and im guessing it "turns inside out and explodes"

[DD]

Just beat it, I thought it was fucking awesome. The graphics, animations, and tech really gave this game an A+ imo. Story and gameplay B. I think it lived up to the "hype", at least all the valid hype created from marketing and valve not the fan boy hype which is totally invalid anyway.

Long story short, GIVE ME HL2 EXPANSION OR HL3 NOW! And wheres my TF2! Good job valve, take less than 5 years NEXT TIME.

[FrieChamp]

Finished it last night. Well....what to say about the ending..."HALF-LIFE3" maybe??? So many unanswered questions

The game is very good though, I had lots of fun.

[JynxDaddy]

Did you guys read the poster board in Eli's Lab, it has newspaper cuttings that talk about a world war against the combine, and earths surrender. Hope that clears a bit of the story up.

Also for you that are finished I have some fun for you....

Play the novaprospekt levels again, but take all the turrets you find with you, you can end up with 5 turrets in the area where you have to hold off against wave after wave of combine dudes and 8 or something turrets in the final stand off at the teleporter. It might not sound like fun, but play on Hard and make a barricade out of barrels and boxes. Its lots of fun.

Be creative, try putting some turrets up top or in weird places.

[-Stratesiz-]

(Spoilers)

Where is that hydra thing? Where are my beloved bullsquids and zee itchiosaur? Where did all the new aliens go that were seen in the concept art?

The striders weren't as cool as in the trailer as they didn't do much other than hang around and shoot.

[Mazy]

i love that sound of a strider going down

makes my legs wiggle

[FrieChamp]

Where is that hydra thing?

I was expecting to see that too! Blue tentacle hydra thing catching Alyx, apparently it hasn't made its way into the game.

Also have you guys seen those big, kind of frog like "vehicles" (another one of those things the combine use, like the striders etc.) which were walking on a catwalk (while you were hovering through the citadel). I could just catch a small glimpse but I haven't seen them anywhere else in the game and I don't think I mixed them up with something else. I think it was shortly before those 2 helicopters in the citadel take off and leave the building, you can see the "skyline" for the first time then. Dunno, maybe somebody else saw something like that...