5 ms·

I think the praise for Half Life was the story telling. The story itself is pretty generic scifi action, but the fact that you discovered it through the player

I think the praise for Half Life was the story telling. The story itself is pretty generic scifi action, but the fact that you discovered it through the player rather than a paragraph of exposition or a cutscene was pretty novel for that genre

eterm 5y ago
Absolutely this. In half-life you were exposed to a world and left to figure out what was going on from that. You were rarely directly told to do anything. For the first hour or two you were implored to, "Get to the surface" because it was your and your fellow scientists hope of being rescued. When you run into the marines you aren't told they're bad, they just start trying to kill you and you figure out that you're not getting a rescue. World-building wise it was leaps ahead of anything that came before it and the in-game (rather than FMV) dialogue was fantastic and immersive. It didn't have "level screens", the level transitions were natural rather than forced with loading screen hints and title cards. While that's all completely standard now, the other competitor titles at the time were games like Quake 2 and half-life's predecessors were games like Duke Nukem 3D and Quake, which while both ground-breaking in their own way weren't a touch on the visceral world of half-life. The only other FPS games that came close to lore was rainbow six, but that was the "set pieces" style of choosing levels and going through rehearsed action rather than what felt like an emergent world in half-life. While replaying half-life now it feels far more linear and scripted, that's because we have nearly 15 years of gameplay improvements built on top of where it lay the foundations. For players at the time, going from games like quake to half-life it really did feel like it was genre defining.
- watwut 5y ago
  > When you run into the marines you aren't told they're bad, they just start trying to kill you and you figure out that you're not getting a rescue. That is not exactly subtle nor needs much figuring. Them trying to kill you is game telling you they are bad in very straightforward way.
  - nkrisc 5y ago
    That’s the game showing you they’re bad with gameplay instead of telling you with a cutscene or text.
    - mcphage 5y ago
      That sounds like it’s still a cut-scene, just one done in-engine. Does the player have any control over the encounter, like shooting the marine or the scientist, before the scene begins?
      - crtasm 5y ago
        Here's the moment, unclear if you have full control but I don't think it locked you in to watching..? https://youtu.be/nHXtv11ZAH4?t=184 https://youtu.be/nHXtv11ZAH4?t=184 yes here's a clip of someone saving the scientist: https://youtu.be/e_l84_7jDoU?t=163 https://youtu.be/e_l84_7jDoU?t=163
        mcphage 5y ago
        That works—I wish the game had responded, but at least it's not a cutscene you're locked into.
    - watwut 5y ago
      Games were showing rather then telling long before half life. That was not something special. I don't know whether people here did not played games other then half life back then or half life is only thing they remember. And the difference between full cit scene and what happened in half life was really really minor.
      - crtasm 5y ago
        But not in first person, you-are-present-in-a-3D-world games? At least I'm not remembering any that felt like Half Life 1 did. The difference between a cut scene and embodying a character while things happen around you isn't a minor thing for many of us.
- gary_0 5y ago
  Half-Life is the "Seinfeld is unfunny" of FPS games.
- MomoXenosaga 5y ago
  Half-life opening tram ride and test chamber were revolutionary. Nobody else had done something quite like that. Other games gave you the backstory in the manual and dropped you straight into the action.

eterm 5y ago

Absolutely this. In half-life you were exposed to a world and left to figure out what was going on from that. You were rarely directly told to do anything. For the first hour or two you were implored to, "Get to the surface" because it was your and your fellow scientists hope of being rescued. When you run into the marines you aren't told they're bad, they just start trying to kill you and you figure out that you're not getting a rescue. World-building wise it was leaps ahead of anything that came before it and the in-game (rather than FMV) dialogue was fantastic and immersive. It didn't have "level screens", the level transitions were natural rather than forced with loading screen hints and title cards. While that's all completely standard now, the other competitor titles at the time were games like Quake 2 and half-life's predecessors were games like Duke Nukem 3D and Quake, which while both ground-breaking in their own way weren't a touch on the visceral world of half-life. The only other FPS games that came close to lore was rainbow six, but that was the "set pieces" style of choosing levels and going through rehearsed action rather than what felt like an emergent world in half-life. While replaying half-life now it feels far more linear and scripted, that's because we have nearly 15 years of gameplay improvements built on top of where it lay the foundations. For players at the time, going from games like quake to half-life it really did feel like it was genre defining.

watwut 5y ago
> When you run into the marines you aren't told they're bad, they just start trying to kill you and you figure out that you're not getting a rescue. That is not exactly subtle nor needs much figuring. Them trying to kill you is game telling you they are bad in very straightforward way.
- nkrisc 5y ago
  That’s the game showing you they’re bad with gameplay instead of telling you with a cutscene or text.
  - mcphage 5y ago
    That sounds like it’s still a cut-scene, just one done in-engine. Does the player have any control over the encounter, like shooting the marine or the scientist, before the scene begins?
    - crtasm 5y ago
      Here's the moment, unclear if you have full control but I don't think it locked you in to watching..? https://youtu.be/nHXtv11ZAH4?t=184 https://youtu.be/nHXtv11ZAH4?t=184 yes here's a clip of someone saving the scientist: https://youtu.be/e_l84_7jDoU?t=163 https://youtu.be/e_l84_7jDoU?t=163
      - mcphage 5y ago
        That works—I wish the game had responded, but at least it's not a cutscene you're locked into.
  - watwut 5y ago
    Games were showing rather then telling long before half life. That was not something special. I don't know whether people here did not played games other then half life back then or half life is only thing they remember. And the difference between full cit scene and what happened in half life was really really minor.
    - crtasm 5y ago
      But not in first person, you-are-present-in-a-3D-world games? At least I'm not remembering any that felt like Half Life 1 did. The difference between a cut scene and embodying a character while things happen around you isn't a minor thing for many of us.
gary_0 5y ago
Half-Life is the "Seinfeld is unfunny" of FPS games.
MomoXenosaga 5y ago
Half-life opening tram ride and test chamber were revolutionary. Nobody else had done something quite like that. Other games gave you the backstory in the manual and dropped you straight into the action.