When the CompUSA across the street from the Beverly Center went out of business, I stopped by there and bought a couple PC compilations on the cheap. I picked up Half-Life 1 Anthology, and an Ubisoft Collection with the first Splinter Cell, the first Prince of Persia, and Beyond Good & Evil (none of which, I'm ashamed to say, I ever got around to installing).
I made a good faith effort to play Half-Life at that time. I got a few hours in, but then around the time where the giant claw-tentacle thing is thrashing about and you have to sneak around it, I stopped. For whatever reason, I just wasn't having any fun.
When The Orange Box came out, at first I didn't get too excited. Then the praise for Portal started rolling in. Soon I couldn't turn around on the internet without something telling me "the cake is a lie." Joystiq even named it their game of the year.
I made a good faith effort to play Half-Life at that time. I got a few hours in, but then around the time where the giant claw-tentacle thing is thrashing about and you have to sneak around it, I stopped. For whatever reason, I just wasn't having any fun.
When The Orange Box came out, at first I didn't get too excited. Then the praise for Portal started rolling in. Soon I couldn't turn around on the internet without something telling me "the cake is a lie." Joystiq even named it their game of the year.
I thought, if I'm going to get The Orange Box, I should at least try to finish the first Half-Life before I do, and I fired it up again. I went another 4 or 5 hours before I quit, this time for good. Yeah the "mine cart" levels were pretty neat, but after a while I couldn't bring myself to walk into the next area and fight another bunch of soldiers.
But I still wanted to play Portal, so I rented The Orange Box anyway, and you know what? Portal is a really amazing game. I even put "Still Alive" on my Zune to listen to in the car. And hey, the disc is already in the tray, right? Half-Life 2 deserves a fresh chance. This time I only made it 90 minutes before I found myself swimming around some sewer puzzle wishing I was doing anything else. Bye bye Orange Box, back to Gamefly you go.
I like first-person shooters. I'm not a fanatic but I like them. The No One Lives Forever titles (except Contract J.A.C.K.) are some of my favorite games of all time. Still, there's something about the Half-Life series that doesn't do it for me at all.
Is it me?
But I still wanted to play Portal, so I rented The Orange Box anyway, and you know what? Portal is a really amazing game. I even put "Still Alive" on my Zune to listen to in the car. And hey, the disc is already in the tray, right? Half-Life 2 deserves a fresh chance. This time I only made it 90 minutes before I found myself swimming around some sewer puzzle wishing I was doing anything else. Bye bye Orange Box, back to Gamefly you go.
I like first-person shooters. I'm not a fanatic but I like them. The No One Lives Forever titles (except Contract J.A.C.K.) are some of my favorite games of all time. Still, there's something about the Half-Life series that doesn't do it for me at all.
Is it me?
2 comments:
No, it isn't just you. I got Half-life also on an impulse buy. I should have rented it like you and now ever time I see the game on my shelf, I get a hollow feeling in my gut. The game-play feels 10 years old. I'm tired of the "one-man" army aspects of first-person shooters. Why am I always alone. At one point in the beginning of the game I meet Barney. After the story unfolded, Barney was to show me where to go. The next thing I see is him above me on a balcony stating that he can't come with me, even though apparently the world's future is resting on my shoulders. Bah! I like games where I'm fighting with people, or bots, like Halo 3, Call of Duty 4, Resistance Fall of Man,etc. Half-life just didn't cut it for me. I tried the multi-player, but after overdosing on Call of Duty 4 and to a extremely lesser extent, Halo 3, Half-life's Team Fortress sucks. Not only is it not fun, but at the time of my playing, it was laggy. Things might have been patched up, but at this point, I really don't care.
So, no...you are not alone. I've also played my share of FPS (I loved No One Lives Forever because it was so funny!), but as I've matured, my tastes have matured also. Half-life is still stuck in the 90's but for some unknown reason, the nerds are eating it up!
We're not alone. Half-Life doubters unite! The guys on the Giant Bomb podcast have both said that Half-Life isn't really there thing either.
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