Half Life 2 Reviewed! - Updated with a score

[Eco-Logic]

:!:



As soon as any of you read or find out what PC Gamer gave it, please post it here

[th'FOOL]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!

sorry.  needed the release...

[AgtFox]

Woo!  A review for a game that may not come out for another 6 months if Vivendi has its way.

[Purge]

Woo!  A review for a game that may not come out for another 6 months if Vivendi has its way.

And I thought the 3 week advance for Fable reviews were bad. It seems like Valve is putting pressure (pun intended) on their publisher. Sure, they can't release the game; but they *can* give out review copies to sites to hype their product.

Go Valve! (but give vivendi their dues; they DID pay your rent for the past few years).

[Fellow]

Waiting for the release...

Waiting...

Waiting...

[jessie]

i have a source close to the situation and he says that the game is in internal testing at VU games right now. he's played it through already and said it's "a very intense experience."

[whiteboyskim]

How long does normal internal Q&A testing for a game like this go for? A month? Two? I'm curious also whether a company like VUG would prioritize based the importance of the title.

[Kevin Grey]

Go Valve! (but give vivendi their dues; they DID pay your rent for the past few years).

Supposdely, Valve funded all of HL2 themselves.

[Knightshade Dragon]

I have a source in VU too...hehhe.  Yea, they do have an RC candidate.  Sometimes it can take a week, sometimes it takes a month.  If I had to make a guess I'm saying around Oct 15th for a shelf date.

[whiteboyskim]

Payday. Figures.

[Balshazaar]

Go Valve! (but give vivendi their dues; they DID pay your rent for the past few years).

Supposdely, Valve funded all of HL2 themselves.

That doesn't really matter, since they're working with IP owned by Vivendi.  Yeah, it's stupid, but it is Vivendi's property.  If Vivendi wanted to (which they wouldn't do in a million years), they could just cancel the project now and never release it.

[Knightshade Dragon]

This is probably why we will get CS via Steam but not HL2 yet.  Its a mad mad mad mad mad mad world.

[whiteboyskim]

So Ron, has your source mentioned what internal VUG testers think about HL2?

[Knightshade Dragon]

Nah, that is a tightly held secret thus far.

[whiteboyskim]

[Fellow]

"Do you like my hat?"

[Bullwinkle]

"No, I do not like that hat."

[Eco-Logic]

PC Gamer UK gave Half Life 2 a 96%, the highest score they have ever given a game.  The only other game that received a 96% was Half Life.

"It was all in that moment when I laughed. I couldn’t believe it was quite this good. I chuckled in muddled disbelief. My nervous fingers reloaded the level, knowing that I had to see that breathtaking sequence one more time. It was then I knew for certain: Valve had surpassed not only themselves, but everyone else too. Half-Life 2 is an astounding accomplishment. It is the definitive statement of the last five years of first-person shooters. Everything else was just a stopgap. Half-Life 2 is a near perfect sequel.”

From Half-Life2.net (Icarus is one of the site admins):

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today I was able to get a World Exclusive Interview with the man that reviewed Half-Life 2 first, Chuck Osborn from PCGamer. So let’s just get straight to it.


Icarus: What was your reaction when you found out you would be the first to review Half-Life 2?
Chuck Osborn: It was a mixture of excitement and trepidation, because of the responsibility of being the first one to review it.

Icarus: Was Half-Life 2 what you expected?
Chuck Osborn: More

Icarus: Was it worth the wait?
Chuck Osborn: Absolutely

Icarus: How long is the review?
Chuck Osborn: Nine pages, plus we have a four page story telling you what you need to know about running Half-Life 2 on your system.

Icarus: Did it seem dated?
Chuck Osborn: Not at all.

Icarus: Are there any spoilers in the review?
Chuck Osborn: There are some mild spoilers, because you can’t review it without giving away something. I say very clearly when to stop reading if you don’t want to know anything. If you read the entire review, there are a lot of surprises I don’t talk about, because I want you to be surprised. This is not a spoiler review.

Icarus: Does it have multiplayer, if so what are they?
Chuck Osborn: Counter-Strike Source is the multiplayer.

Icarus: Only CS:S, no Deathmatch?
Chuck Osborn: Only CS:S

Icarus: Has it (CS:S) changed any from Beta?
Chuck Osborn: It’s what they say it’s going to be, but with a few surprises

Icarus: Who did you get to play it with?
Chuck Osborn: Valve as well as playing in within our own offices

Icarus: Did you get to play HL Source?
Chuck Osborn: Yes.

Icarus: Can you tell me anything about HL:Source?
Chuck Osborn: Nope

Icarus: Is it (HL:S) included in the review?
Chuck Osborn: Yes, it's discussed in a sidebar along with a few screenshots.

Icarus: Anything you want to say the users before I go?
Chuck Osborn: I'm just glad I don't have to keep my playing Half-Life 2 a secret anymore! It was killing me. Trust me...you won't be disappointed.

I absolutely can't wait.

[Dimmona]

"No, I do not like that hat."

Go, Dogs, Go!

[ElijahPrice]

HalfLife 2 + Halo 2 = new guiness book record for not blinking

[whiteboyskim]

Has anyone actually found the review on-line anywhere legal? I haven't had time to look for it, but I'm curious about this.

Also, has anyone heard anything reliable (keyword here) about HL 2's status?

[AgtFox]

Reliable is that it is still being tested at Vivendi.  I would guess an early November retail release is not out of the question.  I think a lot rides on the court appearance this month (forget the day) of the Vivendi vs. Valve thing.

[Siljanus]

Reliable is that it is still being tested at Vivendi.  I would guess an early November retail release is not out of the question.  I think a lot rides on the court appearance this month (forget the day) of the Vivendi vs. Valve thing.

I've seen this mentioned.  What's the beef between Vivendi and Valve?

[yeyeman9]

Well I really can't wait to read this review, and I am pretty sure most of you can't either but what we do know from this is that Half Life 2 is probably going to be released this year.

[Mookee]

It got a 98% and in the closing said, "Arguably the best game ever."

Edit: The review itself was kind of fanboy'ish (which may be justified, we'll see when we can play it ), but definitely got me pumped to play the game.  Sorry, I would scan if for you guys but I left the mag at work.

[Al]

I've heard from someone under NDA and isn't the type to gush that HL2 will live up to the hype, at least more than Doom 3 did. Reports from people who've played with Counter Strike: Source are so far very positive as well.

[SirReal]

CS:Source is pretty much like CS 1.6, except much better looking.

Gameplay-wise, the physics don't do much difference except when people dump cabinets in doorways to impede progress. The netcode can cope with more ppl than before, which is pretty impressive considering that the physics data takes up bandwidth, too.

Playing 40 people on cs_office was insane. As in insanely fun. There was so much shooting going on, there was no point in trying to sneak; noone could hear anything anyway.

The only other notable difference is that some maps reconfigure themselves a bit between rounds. Like, a pair of doors that used to be open now can't be opened.

On the downside, there's no gun shield for the CT's, and there's currently only one T and one CT model in the game, so everyone looks exactly the same.

/SirReal

[archipelago]

Luckily I've avoided CS for the past however many years up until a couple months before CS:S - so, for *me* it's a fresh new game with a fresh new paint job!

Amusingly, however, it seems my teammates are often more interested in watching barrels flail about in the new physics engine than eliminating the other team, heh. I suppose this will pass soon enough..

fun game - and everyone looking the same makes it easier on us "n00bs"