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Anyone Not Played Half Life (the original)?

Huntn

Huntn

macrumors Penryn
Original poster
May 5, 2008
24,775
27,853
The Misty Mountains
I'm about half way through the original Half Life for the 3rd or 4th time, and if you have not played it, you should give it a peak. Especially if you like shooters, a most outstanding solo survival setting, a viable gaming experience even 10 years after the original release, and one of the most influential games in video gaming history (my opinion).

At the Black Mesa Research Institute, a little experiment goes awry opening a dimensional riff, allowing bunches of aliens to fall through. Priority one becomes escaping the facility alive as you crawl though tunnels, access ducts, the underbelly of this immense facility. Then you discover the military has been called in to "take care" of anyone exposed. And there seems to be some kind of sinister government involvement. It's still fun! :)

If you have access Windows, say via Bootcamp and install Steam, you can buy it for $10 or the entire original anthology for $15.

Wiki link.

Steam Link.
 
Schmittroth said:
I don't have windows. Not getting windows. Still haven't played HL. Still haven't beaten HL2 on my console. I've got my rut and I like it.
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Well, you'll just miss out. :)

Regarding HL2- lack of interest? HL2, Episode 1 or 2? I assume Episode 1 and 2 were offered as $ downloadable content on both XB and PS.
 
Schmittroth said:
I don't have windows. Not getting windows. Still haven't played HL. Still haven't beaten HL2 on my console. I've got my rut and I like it.
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Buy a boxed copy cheap from ebay, then play it with crossover/parallels/etc... No windows required!:)
 
capoeirista said:
Buy a boxed copy cheap from ebay, then play it with crossover/parallels/etc... No windows required!:)
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As I recall it was released in the day before dedicated video cards were required so it should run well. In Windows world, I've verified it won't run on XP. Did not bother trying it on Vista. I first ran it in Windows 98.
 
HL2 is part of orange box.

Would like to play it but it's really buggy on steam / Vista 64.

-----
Physics of HL1 just looked too dated when I tried to play it.
 
I would love to play... but sadly I get motion sickness after playing for about 5 minutes. It's not just half life, but any first person shooter where you see though the eyes of the player. I can only play the godlike games (starcraft, age of empires, civilization) where you look down on the action.

i can't blame my screen as I have a very nice 24 incher.
 
I played it when it first came out but I can barely remember how it all plays out. Bought it on Steam for 99p a couple of years back, got a few hours in but then my HDD failed and I had to start from scratch :mad:. But yea it's a fantastic game. When I was last playing it I just couldn't stop thinking about how old it is, but still how playable and brilliant it is. Which usually isn't the case for old games.

Got the 2 expansion packs for it too but they're on hold till I finish the main game.

The series is just phenomenal. Hands down the best FPS series.
 
Huntn said:
As I recall it was released in the day before dedicated video cards were required so it should run well. In Windows world, I've verified it won't run on XP. Did not bother trying it on Vista. I first ran it in Windows 98.
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Yup it plays very smoothly on GMA950, and I have got it to work in XP. It really is great. Sadly though, there was a bug when I played it through Crossover Games, and it froze repeatedly for me, just as you jump through the portal to meet the final boss. I would have been upset, but I've beaten it once or twice over the last ten years... I really should get round to playing HL2 but my 1st gen Macbook isn't cutting it. Maybe when I upgrade my laptop next year I'll get a chance.

As I recall, the PS2 version had an extra campaign unreleased on PC (although it may exist in mod form), where you played two women scientists from Black Mesa, in a story parallel to Gordon's. The PS2 version requires patience however as loading times are terrible and the 'quicksave' is anything but....

On another note, I've never gotten Blueshift to work in crossover. YMMV.
 
xlii said:
I would love to play... but sadly I get motion sickness after playing for about 5 minutes. It's not just half life, but any first person shooter where you see though the eyes of the player. I can only play the godlike games (starcraft, age of empires, civilization) where you look down on the action.

i can't blame my screen as I have a very nice 24 incher.
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I get the same exact problem I really like these kind of games but have never been able to play more than 5 mintues without getting sick. That is our curse i guess.
 
Huntn said:
I'm about half way through the original Half Life for the 3rd or 4th time, and if you have not played it, you should give it a peak. Especially if you like shooters, a most outstanding solo survival setting, a viable gaming experience even 10 years after the original release, and one of the most influential games in video gaming history (my opinion).
Click to expand...

I agree - I don't necessarily rate HL 1 or 2 as the absolute pinnacle of the FPS genre that some do (particularly #2), but they are *really* excellent games.

Earlier this year I replayed most of the 'class of 97 and 98' for shooters on my Netbook (for a series called 'netbook gamer' I'm doing at GearDiary)and it is amazing how well it has withstood the test of time in terms of gameplay.
 
whooleytoo said:
It's out on consoles too, isn't it? Probably can pick it up for a few euros.
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I'm referring to the original Half Life and I'm not sure if it came out on consoles. In Half Life you spend your time escaping the Black Mesa Research facility. In HL2, it's a brilliant shocker when you discover spoiler: the Earth was conquered by the aliens! :end spoiler and you spend your time escaping a European city. Episodes 1 and 2 are continuations of the story.

HL2 came out for both PS and Xbox I believe.

shadowbird423 said:
Dont hold your breath untill late next year... At the earliest. :mad:
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I wonder what happened. Valve seemed to be chugging along quite nicely with their episodes.
 
Lost Coast was originally a level from HL2 that was removed, Valve used it as a testing ground for new tech. It basically is a demo and not an expansion pack or anything.

Huntn said:
I'm referring to the original Half Life and I'm not sure if it came out on consoles. HL2 came out for both PS and Xbox I believe.



I wonder what happened. Valve seemed to be chugging along quite nicely with their episodes.
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The final stages of L4D1's development (since it was originally made by another studio), the continual TF2 updates, L4D2's accelerated development... I'd put the blame around there :eek:. And I don't think HL2 was released for the PS2, it made it to the Xbox and 360. HL1 was on the PS2, maybe Dreamcast too.
And it's not a European city, it's Russian ;) well from what I read years ago. Also: Why do all the best games start off with trains? HL1, HL2, FFVII. (don't even dare mention Max Payne and Blood 2 :p)
 
So after posting earlier today I totally remembered about the fan remake of HL1.

http://www.blackmesasource.com/

Looks like it's been worked on for over 5 years though... I guess I wouldn't expect it anytime soon, although the forums on the site claim maybe next year...
 
capoeirista said:
So after posting earlier today I totally remembered about the fan remake of HL1.

http://www.blackmesasource.com/

Looks like it's been worked on for over 5 years though... I guess I wouldn't expect it anytime soon, although the forums on the site claim maybe next year...
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Wow, I just played through all the levels the trailer at blackmesasource showed until you get outside. The human modeling is outstanding as compared to what I'm playing on Steam, (orig HL).
 
I'll go one step further. If you haven't played HL2, AND you have a steam account. PM me a reason why you deserve / want to play HL2. The one that I like the the best will get a free copy of HL2. I happen to have a gift code for it attached to my steam account, I can send it to anyone who I want. :D
 
CylonGlitch said:
I'll go one step further. If you haven't played HL2, AND you have a steam account. PM me a reason why you deserve / want to play HL2. The one that I like the the best will get a free copy of HL2. I happen to have a gift code for it attached to my steam account, I can send it to anyone who I want. :D
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Oh that's awesome, you'll make someone very happy :D.
 
I completed Half Life 2 last month. It's the best computer game I've ever played. I can't believe I haven't played it until now! We Don't Go To Ravenholm isn't a fun level to play late at night though :)

Now I'm playing my way through the first game. It's really great too, but I should have played them the other way round. HL2 is just more immersive. I love how you can hear the Combine soldiers' heart-rate flatline when you take them out :) And that Combine Dispatcher voice gives me the creeps (this voice)
 
Huntn said:
As I recall it was released in the day before dedicated video cards were required so it should run well. In Windows world, I've verified it won't run on XP. Did not bother trying it on Vista. I first ran it in Windows 98.
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I'm running the original Half Life on XP. I got it off Steam though, which is designed for XP - Seven.
 
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