Recommended Posts

Ugh, it's this blind worshiping of the HL series as some kind of holy grail of gaming when it's not and doesn't deserve it that really bugs me. The series may not be terrible but to act as it's some kind of pillar of gaming is kinda laughable.

They were incredibly innovative games and had unmatched storytelling and gameplay for their time. They were highly praised by both critics and gamers alike and pushed the genre forwards. The same just isn't true of games like Call Of Duty, RAGE or Crysis, which have their merits but failed to go the extra mile needed to become classics. Far Cry did a great job technologically but had a pretty poor narrative. Battlefield 3 had exceptional graphics but the singleplayer game was on-rails and had a clich?d narrative. The only games that have truly competed with the Half-Life franchise over the years - narratively, technologically and gameplay wise - are Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Bioshock. That's just in terms of singleplayer games though. Multiplayer is an entirely different affair, with classics like Unreal Tournament, Quake 3, Borderlands, etc.

When saying that I must ask what difficulty you played it on. The game should only be played on Delta (the hardest). That is where the game really shines.

Let's not go down this tired excuse of defending games. Most people are going to play on normal difficultly - hence why it's called "normal". More importantly, people should play a difficultly that reflects their gaming ability - if you think a novice gamer is going to enjoy Delta difficulty in Crysis then you're delusional.

If you say the gameplay of Crysis 1 is poor, you have not played the game properly. The gameplay is what sets it apart from other fps games.

Gameplay is only one aspect of a singleplayer game. It has to be combined with enjoyability, storytelling, pacing, interactivity, etc. Some parts were well done but it certainly wasn't even close to the quality of Half-Life / Half-Life 2.

They were incredibly innovative games and had unmatched storytelling and gameplay for their time. They were highly praised by both critics and gamers alike and pushed the genre forwards. The same just isn't true of games like Call Of Duty, RAGE or Crysis, which have their merits but failed to go the extra mile needed to become classics. Far Cry did a great job technologically but had a pretty poor narrative. Battlefield 3 had exceptional graphics but the singleplayer game was on-rails and had a clich?d narrative. The only games that have truly competed with the Half-Life franchise over the years - narratively, technologically and gameplay wise - are Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Bioshock. That's just in terms of singleplayer games though. Multiplayer is an entirely different affair, with classics like Unreal Tournament, Quake 3, Borderlands, etc.

Let's not go down this tired excuse of defending games. Most people are going to play on normal difficultly - hence why it's called "normal". More importantly, people should play a difficultly that reflects their gaming ability - if you think a novice gamer is going to enjoy Delta difficulty in Crysis then you're delusional.

Gameplay is only one aspect of a singleplayer game. It has to be combined with enjoyability, storytelling, pacing, interactivity, etc. Some parts were well done but it certainly wasn't even close to the quality of Half-Life / Half-Life 2.

I really think that Call of Duty 1-4 should be on that classic list. Its take on telling multiple narratives from different points of view and a handful of different characters was truly unique.

He said CoD 1-4, which wouldn't include MW2.

I know it's an opinion, but even if he was talking about CoD 1-4... that's like saying Transformers is better than Space Oddisey.

Lets be honest, they're probably shopped, this type of discussion arises as often as anticipated sequels are announced (remember halo threads specifically as example). Regardless, Crysis will look fantastic and have a boring story and basic shooter elements...imo same as crysis 2. Also, yes the continuity does mean PC users will get visually screwed; however 'HD texture packs' are always possible..wouldn't be the first time..

please look into the HL series before making a comment like that.

HL is with no doubt what started the modern fps genre. it introduced story based fps like no one had before. Also the first game to use sceleton animation. In addition it established the WASD keys as a standard in fps games.

HL2 also have some brilliant tech, but is not as revolutionary as the original. Despite that they are brilliant in terms of story telling and game design.

Umm, no WASD was used as standard before HL. I also find no evidence that HL was first to use skeletal animation or rag dolls.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Posts

    • Opinion. All you did was blame Democrats for everything. You offered nothing but a hit piece to support your pro Trump, anti union right wing ideology.
    • Excuse me for having an opinion, fella'... (Why am I not surprised?...) Congrats on your very informative post however...
    • By the sounds of that wall of Fox News propaganda gibberish attacking the Democratic Party you've already had plenty of "juices" flowing this morning. You've ruined what could have been a productive comment thread.
    • (Topic to get the juices flowing this Sunday morning!...) Actually, the situation has almost nothing to do with "lack of skills", especially since assembly-line skills can be taught to anyone, including Americans, certainly. Rather, the inadequacy-to-impossibility of large-scale tech manufacturing in America today, and the reasons why America finds tech manufacturing completely onerous in the 21st century, has to do with politically driven laws amid a plethora of non-scientific, utterly politicized "science-fact" that is patently false, punitive business taxation at every turn, an array of judicial fines of unimaginable scope and complexity, and, last but not least, American unionization strictures that serve to actually slay job creation and hobble all such manufacturing endeavors in America before they can get off the ground. Globalism emerged, they tell us, as the needed answer to American hubris and an unholy American drive to excel. Unless one is buried under mounds of political propaganda, it's easy to see the absurdity of labeling the employees of SpaceX, for instance, as "unskilled labor"... Etc. ad infinitum. At one time in the recent past, American manufacturing prowess was the envy of the world in a wide variety of technical fields! The current federal and state government roadblocks against America becoming competitive globally in tech manufacturing are considerable, it's true, as anyone with a working brain knows. But remarkably, that is only half the story! The other half of the story is, of course, the corporations themselves... Chinese tech manufacturing is simply unassailable in terms of profits, because the Chinese government wants to see its tech manufacturing second-to-none globally so that no companies/nations can compete in terms of ROI, and China has completely succeeded in that goal. Let's tic-off a few things: *Chinese tariff policies are set according to what is considered best for Chinese business, Chinese employees, and the Chinese people. Huge difference with how things are done with tariffs in the US--as the US government (SCOTUS in this case, Congress in others) plainly feels that tariffs are "unfair" for the limited number of citizens who may pay them, whereas nothing is "unfair" when Congress considers the Personal Income Tax rates to be infinitely hike-able, along with infinitely enlarging annual budget deficits. *The Chinese government boldly subsidizes Chinese companies to artificially amplify their profits. *The Chinese government deliberately refuses to avidly demonize Chinese businesses and does not consider Chinese businesses "the enemy", so very unlike American (D)s these days. *Chinese labor laws and businesses are allowed to set their own labor policies according to what Chinese companies consider is best for companies and their employees... Simply put, American workers in tech manufacturing are not allowed to set their own labor policies! * One additional problem corporations have that I also do not sympathize with is they don't want to pay to train their American employees. They could easily do so, but would rather not have to pay for it. I find that pathetic, actually. It is the height of hypocrisy for Americans to decry working conditions in China while simultaneously ensuring that American products are manufactured in China, not in the US, simply to maximize profits. There is nothing wrong with making a profit, of course, absolutely nothing. But there is plenty wrong with attempts to normalize hypocrisy of this kind! But rank hypocrisy and the (D) party in the US are longtime bedfellows... The current government in Washington is working overtime to see if it can toss out the horribly poor, failed economic policies of the past, while the (D)s still in Washington work very hard to bring back the stupidity whenever possible. With the right policies in place, America can be an infinitely competitive manufacturer.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Conversation Starter
      jessse3334 earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • Reacting Well
      JuvenileDelinquent earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • One Month Later
      Excellence2025 earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      Excellence2025 earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Week One Done
      flexorcist earned a badge
      Week One Done
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      508
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      198
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      152
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      73
    5. 5
      FloatingFatMan
      62
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!