4 ms·

Yeah, it never would have lived up to the hype. Explained nothing.

Lewton 9y ago
> it never would have lived up to the hype. If this had been released as episode 3 a couple of years after episode 2? Sure it could
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
justsayinyaknow 9y ago
Has any entry in the Half Life series really explained anything? We get little glimpses into certain events, some from different perspectives (like the Black Mesa incident). We never get the whole picture and what we, as the player, know is told to us by other characters or shown through events we experience.
- wbillingsley 9y ago
  Yes, in that HL1 & 2 played on such well known tropes that it only needed to show you the scene and you knew the story. The opening was laden with every disaster movie signal (up to and including "Nothing will go wrong" said in emphatic tones). The lift doors in Office Complex open to archetypal zombie horror. The scientist getting gunned down by the military cover up in We've Got Hostiles hits any number of movie tropes while clearly signalling the next bit is Rambo-style action... It's fairly similar to the first Star Wars movie, in that because it is hitting the tropes quickly and clearly, and jumping from setting to setting, it can tell the story very efficiently.
  - justsayinyaknow 9y ago
    My point was there are no arbitrary narrative components like computer terminals where you read a dead guy's email that explicitly explains the set up in text format. Or whatever, that seems to be a really common (lazy) way to tell a story. I would argue that what you said is all about show vs tell. Which is a good thing for visual media.
    - brianpgordon 9y ago
      I love those terminals and books in the Deus Ex series. They flesh out the world with much more detail than could ever be shared in cutscenes or NPC dialogue.
sweezyjeezy 9y ago
Did people love the Half Life series because of the story? I was never that interested in it personally, I played because of the exceptional game mechanics and level design. > It was impossible to hold a coherent thought, given the baffling and paradoxical timeloops, which passed through the ship like bubbles. I would have loved to have seen what Valve would have done with this.
- dom96 9y ago
  > Did people love the Half Life series because of the story? Yes, or at least I did. Very much so. I loved the story so much that I would probably be quite happy watching a Half Life 3 movie.
  - klondike_ 9y ago
    You may soon get your wish: http://www.businessinsider.com/jj-abrams-portal-half-life-movies-still-in-development-2016-9 http://www.businessinsider.com/jj-abrams-portal-half-life-mo...
thearn4 9y ago
Yeah I was hoping for at least a bit more on the Gman's motivations.
adamrezich 9y ago
I used to have this perspective on media, and I think LOST broke it for me. I don't need everything explained anymore, I just want to enjoy an engaging and entertaining story. Sometimes leaving some stuff to the imagination is the right move. Fun fact: there IS no "Half-Life story bible", so it's not like they're witholding story from you, they just literally haven't written it: https://twitter.com/marc_laidlaw/status/899511161145573376 https://twitter.com/marc_laidlaw/status/899511161145573376

> it never would have lived up to the hype. If this had been released as episode 3 a couple of years after episode 2? Sure it could

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

justsayinyaknow 9y ago

Has any entry in the Half Life series really explained anything? We get little glimpses into certain events, some from different perspectives (like the Black Mesa incident). We never get the whole picture and what we, as the player, know is told to us by other characters or shown through events we experience.

wbillingsley 9y ago
Yes, in that HL1 & 2 played on such well known tropes that it only needed to show you the scene and you knew the story. The opening was laden with every disaster movie signal (up to and including "Nothing will go wrong" said in emphatic tones). The lift doors in Office Complex open to archetypal zombie horror. The scientist getting gunned down by the military cover up in We've Got Hostiles hits any number of movie tropes while clearly signalling the next bit is Rambo-style action... It's fairly similar to the first Star Wars movie, in that because it is hitting the tropes quickly and clearly, and jumping from setting to setting, it can tell the story very efficiently.
- justsayinyaknow 9y ago
  My point was there are no arbitrary narrative components like computer terminals where you read a dead guy's email that explicitly explains the set up in text format. Or whatever, that seems to be a really common (lazy) way to tell a story. I would argue that what you said is all about show vs tell. Which is a good thing for visual media.
  - brianpgordon 9y ago
    I love those terminals and books in the Deus Ex series. They flesh out the world with much more detail than could ever be shared in cutscenes or NPC dialogue.

sweezyjeezy 9y ago

Did people love the Half Life series because of the story? I was never that interested in it personally, I played because of the exceptional game mechanics and level design. > It was impossible to hold a coherent thought, given the baffling and paradoxical timeloops, which passed through the ship like bubbles. I would have loved to have seen what Valve would have done with this.

dom96 9y ago
> Did people love the Half Life series because of the story? Yes, or at least I did. Very much so. I loved the story so much that I would probably be quite happy watching a Half Life 3 movie.
- klondike_ 9y ago
  You may soon get your wish: http://www.businessinsider.com/jj-abrams-portal-half-life-movies-still-in-development-2016-9 http://www.businessinsider.com/jj-abrams-portal-half-life-mo...

thearn4 9y ago

Yeah I was hoping for at least a bit more on the Gman's motivations.

adamrezich 9y ago

I used to have this perspective on media, and I think LOST broke it for me. I don't need everything explained anymore, I just want to enjoy an engaging and entertaining story. Sometimes leaving some stuff to the imagination is the right move. Fun fact: there IS no "Half-Life story bible", so it's not like they're witholding story from you, they just literally haven't written it: https://twitter.com/marc_laidlaw/status/899511161145573376 https://twitter.com/marc_laidlaw/status/899511161145573376