I didnt like Half Life: Alyx

[RN SCP] Mr "X"

[RN SCP] Mr "X"

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I spent +3000 euros for uprgrading my computer and steam vr. I didnt like the game. It felt very limited compared to hl2 where you have bigger levels, vehicles and more weapons, slow paced and boring. The fact that its in VR doesnt add much to the experience to me and it wouldnt hold on its own if it wasnt a non vr game. Mods that allow you to play like this show it. My biggest complain BY FAR is the story. Mark Laidlaw not being the writer really shows at this game. The game lacks the subtle worldbuilding that hl2 had and the general tone is more comical than ever before, which is at least for me, not funny at all and immersion breaking. Combine soldiers for example are always saying stupid things when you overhear them and I cant help to dislike them. And entering spoiler territory: The Gman doesnt feel like the Gman anymore. Its far too revealing and uncharismatic. Its voice acting is somehow worse and him being more expressive feels weird in a bad sense. In hl2 the only moments you stopped being in control were when the gman appeared and it meant something. And the ending... It felt cheap and fanservice. Im disappointed with the writing in general.

Am I the only one who feels like this with the game? I've seen lots of praising for this game but I cant help to not like it and maybe I have some kind of problem which prevents me from liking this game as much as I should.
 
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Charlie

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[RN SCP] Mr "X" said:
My biggest complain BY FAR is the story. Mark Laidlaw not being the writer really shows at this game.
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HL was never really about story. It was about seeing how far the benchmark of technology could go. Back when HL1 came out, barely anyone had the proper PC to play it - same with HL2.
 
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[RN SCP] Mr "X"

[RN SCP] Mr "X"

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Charlie said:
HL was never really about story. It was about seeing how far the benchmark of technology could go. Back when HL1 came out, barely anyone had the proper PC to play it - same with HL2.
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Its curious how HL was never really about story and we play in a HL roleplay server which suposedly is focused on narrative.
 
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Zappericus

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To be fair, there are roleplaying communities involved in just about every fiction you can imagine and it is a matter of personal taste. I think Charlie's point here is that while Half-Life has grown to become a beloved franchise containing a universe rich with lore, it was never intended to be. It was, as stated, just Valve's efforts at pushing game tech to the limits with each new release.

In any case, it was good either way to get a new game as it brought about some much needed nostalgia in this otherwise rancid turd-shower of a year.
 
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Just like many other people are saying, I think this was kind of intended to be a sort of test to see what kind of envelope Valve could push int he future. It was a fun game, but from the beginning I've always been far more hyped for whatever mods and content will eventually come out of Source 2 (such as S&box)
 
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[RN SCP] Mr "X" said:
I spent +3000 euros for uprgrading my computer and steam vr. I didnt like the game. It felt very limited compared to hl2 where you have bigger levels, vehicles and more weapons, slow paced and boring. The fact that its in VR doesnt add much to the experience to me and it wouldnt hold on its own if it wasnt a non vr game. Mods that allow you to play like this show it. My biggest complain BY FAR is the story. Mark Laidlaw not being the writer really shows at this game. The game lacks the subtle worldbuilding that hl2 had and the general tone is more comical than ever before, which is at least for me, not funny at all and immersion breaking. Combine soldiers for example are always saying stupid things when you overhear them and I cant help to dislike them. And entering spoiler territory: The Gman doesnt feel like the Gman anymore. Its far too revealing and uncharismatic. Its voice acting is somehow worse and him being more expressive feels weird in a bad sense. In hl2 the only moments you stopped being in control were when the gman appeared and it meant something. And the ending... It felt cheap and fanservice. Im disappointed with the writing in general.

Am I the only one who feels like this with the game? I've seen lots of praising for this game but I cant help to not like it and maybe I have some kind of problem which prevents me from liking this game as much as I should.
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€3000+ computer to play VRChat and Boneworks

Where do I sign up? Is it even possible in Spain?
 
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wasn't the biggest fan either

it's a good game but it was full of plotholes and
eli's resurrection felt cheap. not to mention gordon being replaced with alyx which is pretty condescending to his character that's been built up since 1998 as godlike and irreplaceable. if they make a hl3(which it looks like they are) it should've been focused on the borealis/continuing where ep2 left off, not looking for alyx or trying to kill the gman like eli suggests

but it is a good game technology/gameplay/entertainment wise, just not fond of the storyline
 
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Merlinsclaw

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Mesa said:
wasn't the biggest fan either

it's a good game but it was full of plotholes and
eli's resurrection felt cheap. not to mention gordon being replaced with alyx which is pretty condescending to his character that's been built up since 1998 as godlike and irreplaceable. if they make a hl3(which it looks like they are) it should've been focused on the borealis/continuing where ep2 left off, not looking for alyx or trying to kill the gman like eli suggests

but it is a good game technology/gameplay/entertainment wise, just not fond of the storyline
Click to expand...
Alyx was supposed to replace Gordon in Epistle 3. It's been built up since Episode One that Gordon has gone rouge, and Episode 2 has built up that Alyx is supposed to be his replacement. Continuing where episode 2 left off would be cheap in my opinion, because it would fuck with the ending Marc Laidlaw wrote. They wrote themselves into a corner, and it was a huge task to tackle for the longest time. Eli's resurrection makes sense, and it respects Laidlaw's work and gives them a new path to take instead of copying/following along with Epistle 3 which things like Project Borealis are working on. The next half life game will obviously follow up on Episode 2, the borealis, and gman.

[RN SCP] Mr "X" said:
I spent +3000 euros for uprgrading my computer and steam vr. I didnt like the game. It felt very limited compared to hl2 where you have bigger levels, vehicles and more weapons, slow paced and boring. The fact that its in VR doesnt add much to the experience to me and it wouldnt hold on its own if it wasnt a non vr game. Mods that allow you to play like this show it. My biggest complain BY FAR is the story. Mark Laidlaw not being the writer really shows at this game. The game lacks the subtle worldbuilding that hl2 had and the general tone is more comical than ever before, which is at least for me, not funny at all and immersion breaking. Combine soldiers for example are always saying stupid things when you overhear them and I cant help to dislike them. And entering spoiler territory: The Gman doesnt feel like the Gman anymore. Its far too revealing and uncharismatic. Its voice acting is somehow worse and him being more expressive feels weird in a bad sense. In hl2 the only moments you stopped being in control were when the gman appeared and it meant something. And the ending... It felt cheap and fanservice. Im disappointed with the writing in general.

Am I the only one who feels like this with the game? I've seen lots of praising for this game but I cant help to not like it and maybe I have some kind of problem which prevents me from liking this game as much as I should.
Click to expand...
Any VR title striving for a good amount of detail is going to limit level sizes, vehicles, weapons, etc. etc. You forget that HL:A is the first AAA VR game, and I think it did fairly well. The game, in a way, is meant to be smaller and more slow paced. That's the trade off with the detail, you are meant to spend 5-10 minutes per room, searching and the like. Do I believe in the future we'll see things like larger levels, vehicles, more weapons, and the like? Of course! You just have to give it time.


I somewhat agree with your statement about the world building. HL2 in my opinion was a bit more direct with its worldbuilding, huge broadcasts in the background and all of that. HL:A takes a different approach on it. Newspapers which you can actually read this time around, billboards and posters, and the like.

I can't agree with the sense of humor though, I enjoyed it. It wasn't to up in your face, in my opinion, and the soldiers didn't really say anything stupid - The only thing I could think about is the strider.

Gman seems fine to me, I enjoyed the time freeze aspect of it but VR just opens up a potential for gman to do some crazy stuff like appearing in other spaces around you. I don't understand how gman reveals to much and is uncharismatic. The ending? Just look at the other spoiler, I don't think it's horrible.
 
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Merlinsclaw said:
Spoiler: Ending Alyx was supposed to replace Gordon in Epistle 3. It's been built up since Episode One that Gordon has gone rouge, and Episode 2 has built up that Alyx is supposed to be his replacement. Continuing where episode 2 left off would be cheap in my opinion, because it would fuck with the ending Marc Laidlaw wrote. They wrote themselves into a corner, and it was a huge task to tackle for the longest time. Eli's resurrection makes sense, and it respects Laidlaw's work and gives them a new path to take instead of copying/following along with Epistle 3 which things like Project Borealis are working on. The next half life game will obviously follow up on Episode 2, the borealis, and gman.
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all your opinion chief and i respect it
 
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never really liked any of the half life games, watching videos and such was always really boring for me and I forced myself to play through it to learn the story
never really quite got attached to any part of the previous games, all felt really mediocre for me

but watching HL:A?? that evoked more out of me than anything else in the series. I actually want to download the non-vr mod, if I had the time. whereas with hl2 it took three attempts, where I dropped it each time and stopped all together, and my friend taking months of convincing me to play it via Synergy with him. only really enjoyed it because it was my bud, once I finished it with him.
imo, from someone who could give a shit less about half-life and expects absolutely nothing out of it, overall seems like a pretty good game that improved just about everything over the literal decade old previous games.
it was a decade old game at that point so is it really that surprising at the quality? I don’t think so, especially because it’s just another tech demo
 
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