I know, I know. But it's hilarious nonetheless that this is still in the public consciousness.
The half life series are very story focused games with a lot of characterisation so people are invested in the characters. The last game, Half life 2: episode 2, ended on a huge cliffhanger with several of the characters in very troubling situations so people want to know what happens next and they've had to wait 10 years.
I tried the second one, and frankly did not like it much at all. The story seemed interesting enough, but the FPS format just did not make it enjoyable for me.
Did you play it when it was new? When it was first released it was a great game compared to the other games of it's day; however, the games of today have of course become better. So it probably wouldn't be that great played today, because FPS games are the worse when it comes to age. (In my experience.) You have to remember that Half-Life 2 came out in 2004.
No, not when it was new. I think it was a couple years back. I'm sure as a new game it would have seemed much better, but the FPS genre has never really enjoyable for the storyline to me. It had some really enojyable elements though, but not enough to keep my intrest. It is a solid game for its time, I agree, but not as good as it is hyped to be.
Critics praised Half-Life 2 for it's advanced graphics and physics. The Guardian gave praise especially to the environment design throughout the game. Most of the interest came from it's engine, and not particularly the gameplay. It's also seen as having a good storyline as most FPS games during that time lacked such a particular feature. It also has a unique character that everyone loves-- Gordon Freeman.
The environments were actually one of the things I enjoyed most of the time, especially Ravenholm. The graphics and physics did feel a bit outdated though. Have you tried the Black Mesa mod though? If it's good, I might try it, and see if I can get in on the story a bit better.
I only have Half-Life 2 for Xbox 360, and I've never actually finished it.
Oh alright, I had it on the PC. Never really got all that far through it.
Given its influence on the genre, it probably doesn't hold up terribly well against modern standards. If you consider it in context though, it was released alongside DOOM 3, Fable, GTA: San Andreas, Star Wars: Battlefront, and Far Cry, making it much more appreciable. It's definitely worth playing if you haven't already. As for the original Half-Life, you can buy it fairly cheaply on Steam or you can play the fan-developed remake Black Mesa, which gets the gist across in a modern framework. Bear in mind, though, that Black Mesa requires that you own at least one Source game (Counter-Strike: Source, Half-Life 2, etc. Not sure if TF2 counts).
It's kept Valve in the news all those years, and Valve is a great company.
In my opinion what made the original half life great was the effort Valve put in to give you that immersion feeling while playing, it was simply ahead of its time and changed how fps games tell interactive stories that the player can connect with. Also the mod community and all the great games we have now that started as HL mods also contributed the hype surrounding HL.
From what I understand this is an intent-to-use trademark. At the onset, they're given six months to use the property, at the very least compelling them to announce something. However, they can apply for a 6-month extension and that extension can be applied for up to 5 times. Essentially, we should be guaranteed to see something about Half-Life 3 within the next 3 years.
It does kinda make sense that they'd take this, I mean, even if the game doesn't get released for years now, it's going to sell a lot on launch day, and I can't imagine they've just stopped making something with this many fans. Although, I haven't played either of the first two so I don't know if it's actually worth making a third or not.
Honestly I'm sort of conflicted, I have played the the series before and I'm interested in seeing where they take the next game (if it ever comes out), but... The game is so hyped that it is bound to be an disappointment for many. People on the internet is hyping it up to be some sort of singularity that will change the course of history. I'm more interested if comes with a new Source engine.