• Why Half-Life ruined videogames for me forever: a Christmas story
    96 replies, posted
ah I remember when we first rented an n64 and super Mario 64. It was insane! But u felt that same jump again when playing Smash Melee on the GameCube, my parents thought the graphics were absolutely insane
I echo a lot of the same sentiments only for me it's not Half Life for some reason, nah mine is Medal of Honor: Allied Assault a game i played 4 years later. Nothing has ever made me feel the same scale of epic as Mission 3 Level 1,i honestly havent played it for over a decade and yet i still remember the whole experience vividly it was bloody amazing and had a profound effect on me. What I'd give to be 14 again to experience the first time i played it, running up the beach reenacting my then favorite film. While iv'e enjoyed many games over the years, a lot of them being down right better in every conceivable way, the fact is that they just don't beat that 'first' time. Now days it really saddens me that very few games get me interested, i like to credit a lot of that with the games industry being full of soulless fucking assholes ruining games i use to enjoy, but I'd be lying if me being older did not have a say in it all. What I'd give to experience that beach level for the first time again.
I know exactly what this author is talking about, the holy trinity for me is half life 1, jedi academy and allied assault. I have never enjoyed any pc games more than these three.
[QUOTE=Karmah;49387280]I don't agree with the quote at the end; the games that I enjoyed to that degree still hold up for me when I go back and play them[/QUOTE] The first game i fell in love with was gta vice city, i can say that it has not aged well, but my other two all time favourites Civilization 2 and jazz jackrabbit 2 do have.
I really miss the wonderment and joy I had as a kid. Now, being an adult, almost nothing fascinates me the way stuff did when I was a kid. I feel jaded, really.
[QUOTE=Tmaxx;49387499]I really miss the wonderment and joy I had as a kid. Now, being an adult, almost nothing fascinates me the way stuff did when I was a kid. I feel jaded, really.[/QUOTE] Everything that was actually really shit felt really, really good too, being a kid is kinda like being high
Just find a game that you enjoy. I just found this type of love in my playthrough of fallout 4. I fell into the world and really truly enjoyed it. I got caught up in building settlements and talking to companions and just exploring the world in a similar type of amazement. I feel like it's easy to just be jaded as you age and say "oh well this game isn't x, it doesn't give me the same feeling." There's probably a good reason why games today don't give the same feeling as half-life.... they aren't half-life. We aren't making quantum jumps from pixels to 3d models anymore; today we have games that look close to reality. You aren't going to be amazed in 2015 if you're one of the people who haven't moved past 2006.
For me that game was the entire orange box. They were my first 3D pc games and damn, they really did blow my mind and broaden what I thought games could be. But for me there are still games that keep me interested in games. Just this year there was undertale, MGSV, and mario maker. Undertale did things I thought I'd never see in games, eg compelling pacifistic "combat" and amazing characterization solely through gameplay. MGSV feels like a real, lived-in world of an insane scope and density where nearly every interaction works as it would irl. And mario maker is a lifelong dream - a legitimization of the romhacking and modding I've always done for fun, but with a much nicer interface.
[QUOTE=Daniel Smith;49387441]I know exactly what this author is talking about, the holy trinity for me is half life 1, jedi academy and allied assault. I have never enjoyed any pc games more than these three.[/QUOTE] I guess my most memorable PC Games would be in the order I discovered them as follows, Jedi Outcast/Academy- The Former was the first real video game I remember playing. I remember nagging my dad to play it after I watched him play it. The Latter was the first single player game I myself, completed. Counter-Strike: Source This was the first multiplayer game I played. (not counting games like Battlefield Vietnam when my Dad and his coworkers had LAN Parties) This was my first experience playing with people I didn't know online using custom maps. I remember worrying about my computer getting infected after downloading maps that sounded interesting from servers that no one was on, so I could play them with my brother offline. (I haven't stopped playing this occasionally at college either) Half Life 2 This was the first game I felt involved with the characters. I played this later than most in 2009 on the orange box for the 360 at 6' in the morning on weekends before my brother would wake up and play black ops. After playing all of HL2 and episodes 1 and 2, I kept bugging my dad to get me the goldsource era games so I would understand the "Black Mesa" the characters mentioned so often. (My Dad and I are still waiting to find out how it all ended.)
I think the problem is that once you experience it once, you can't go back to not knowing that experience. I can't go back to Half Life being a really scary and awe inspiring game, I know how it and by extension all FPS games play now. Lego Island to me was the game that I have the most fond memories of. I remember how cool it was to walk around the island, and see all my "toys" be alive the way they were in my imagination. All the characters walked around town, and said things and did funny things. Once in a while I get it working and I play it and I still giggle at the scenes.
I have a similar "problem" because of Dark Souls. I keep comparing the combat of all other games to DS' combat and I always feel that Dark Souls does it better, even going back to games I used to love for its combat mechanics. I used to be a huge Elder Scrolls fan, but it's difficult to go back after Dark Souls has done pretty much everything better.
[QUOTE=BenJammin';49387357]the game industry has sucked since like 2006. I hate people who are in denial of this and just say "oh you're just a hipster" or whatever or "oh you are just growing up". No.[/QUOTE] Uh, no it's completely down to taste. It's funny you say it started sucking after 2006 when 2007 was one of the best years ever for games. With shit like writing taking massive strives nowadays, Steam, Indie golden age, MUCH MUCH better support for games beyond launch outside of expansion packs only on PC, MUCH better online gaming for everyone even outside PC, way bigger and better production value and fuck tons of other stuff, it's not denial to think gaming is improving. It really is just down to your own taste. Games like Bloodborne, Witcher 3 and MGS V are fucking amazing and they came out this year. Also people should look at what gaming was like in the late 80s and 90s.
[QUOTE=Stizzles;49388984]I have a similar "problem" because of Dark Souls. I keep comparing the combat of all other games to DS' combat and I always feel that Dark Souls does it better, even going back to games I used to love for its combat mechanics. I used to be a huge Elder Scrolls fan, but it's difficult to go back after Dark Souls has done pretty much everything better.[/QUOTE] I do this with CSGO, I play an FPS and I'm just like "well it's not as good as CSGO" and end it there. RPG open worlds and the Witcher 3 too, the Witcher did open world narrative so well that everything else in comparison just seems crsp. Probably doesn't help that Skyrim's narrative actually is crap though.
[QUOTE=Stizzles;49388984]I have a similar "problem" because of Dark Souls. I keep comparing the combat of all other games to DS' combat and I always feel that Dark Souls does it better, even going back to games I used to love for its combat mechanics. I used to be a huge Elder Scrolls fan, but it's difficult to go back after Dark Souls has done pretty much everything better.[/QUOTE] my dream game is a straight morrowind clone with a barebones ds combat system
I can't enjoy RPGs as much anymore after playing through Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines like 10 times. I just want to feel like I actually am my character and no game has really provided that feeling since Vampire. I still go back and play malkavian every once in a while because it has some of the most entertaining dialogue I've ever seen.
There's a large lack of singleplayer FPS with amazing storylines.
[QUOTE=Map in a box;49391113]There's a large lack of singleplayer FPS with amazing storylines.[/QUOTE] not many seem to really be trying, and the ones that do are like... Far Cry 3 and Bioshock Infinite eh
[QUOTE=cdr248;49391322]not many seem to really be trying, and the ones that do are like... Far Cry 3 and Bioshock Infinite eh[/QUOTE] Wolfenstein? Metro? Fallout? Dishonored? Deus Ex? Likely more out there and if your loosen the constraints a bit you can add in Alien isolation, Dying Light. All of those were at least good, if not great to fantastic.
[QUOTE=Fr3ddi3;49387413]I echo a lot of the same sentiments only for me it's not Half Life for some reason, nah mine is Medal of Honor: Allied Assault a game i played 4 years later. Nothing has ever made me feel the same scale of epic as Mission 3 Level 1,i honestly havent played it for over a decade and yet i still remember the whole experience vividly it was bloody amazing and had a profound effect on me. What I'd give to be 14 again to experience the first time i played it, running up the beach reenacting my then favorite film. While iv'e enjoyed many games over the years, a lot of them being down right better in every conceivable way, the fact is that they just don't beat that 'first' time. Now days it really saddens me that very few games get me interested, i like to credit a lot of that with the games industry being full of soulless fucking assholes ruining games i use to enjoy, but I'd be lying if me being older did not have a say in it all. What I'd give to experience that beach level for the first time again.[/QUOTE] Its a shame we'll never get a decent new MoH.
[QUOTE=Fr3ddi3;49391346]Wolfenstein? Metro? Fallout? Dishonored? Deus Ex? Likely more out there and if your loosen the constraints a bit you can add in Alien isolation, Dying Light. All of those were at least good, if not great to fantastic.[/QUOTE] Do Fallout and Dishonoured really classify as great 'stories'?
When I was a kid playing Quake 1, I didn't think of the game's graphics at all. I literally thought of Quake as another world, and the monitor was a window looking into it. That being said, idk I still find games that make me feel that way sometimes. I was an adult when I played STALKER and yet it gave me feelings of immersion rivaling when I was a kid playing HL1. Maybe I'm just different? Or maybe I'm just lucky, idk.
[QUOTE=Rossy167;49391415]Do Fallout and Dishonoured really classify as great 'stories'?[/QUOTE] Well I'm one of the few people that does not like Fallout nor played more than 10 mins of 3, so i can't really comment on that one, but given the popularity of it I'd say probably. Dishonored on the other hand i would say yes without a doubt, especially the Knife of Dunwall and Brigmore witches dlc.
[QUOTE=Rossy167;49391415]Do Fallout and Dishonoured really classify as great 'stories'?[/QUOTE] New Vegas was pretty good.
My big three are Unreal Tournament 2004, Oblivion and Stalker, honorable mentions to Republic Commando, Half-Life 2 and Diablo. Unreal was my first real multiplayer game and i loved it to pieces, still do. Oblivion gave me that childish sense of absolute wonder and joy every time i played it, despite it literally melting my old graphics card the day after i got it. Stalker was special because it was super difficult to young me and at the time, i was absolutely fascinated by the Chernobyl Incident, so being able to walk througb Pripyat and the Sarcophagus like i did tickled me pink. The problem, imo, is that nobody really cares anymore. We live in a world of sequels and pumping out the next game to make more money and there are so few new ideas. Even companies like Bioware, who had groundbreaking games in the first two Mass Effects and Dragon Age: Origins fell from grace, Valve being probably an even better example, going from essentially the golden child in gaming to an almost despised company. I dunno, i guess i'm just disappointed with the industry now. I just want to be a kid again. I want to love things for all their flaws, instead if avoiding them because of them.
[QUOTE=Fr3ddi3;49391346]Wolfenstein? Metro? Fallout? Dishonored? Deus Ex? Likely more out there and if your loosen the constraints a bit you can add in Alien isolation, Dying Light. All of those were at least good, if not great to fantastic.[/QUOTE] The games you listed aren't that amazing in terms of their writing imo. They aren't huge standouts like Bioshock or KOTOR 2 or MGS 2. Not to say they're badly written, but I'm mostly talking about games that try to have [I]exceptional [/I]writing. Probably the best out of those is Fallout NV, but even that [I]just [/I]misses the mark imo. But really? Dying Light and Metro? As much as I love those games, they aren't really that well written. Dying Light especially is filled with stupid cliches, emotionally flat moments, and one-dimensional characters [I](and the ones that aren't really fucking like to tell the player that they're ~deep and conflicted~)[/I] [editline]25th December 2015[/editline] i love italics [editline]25th December 2015[/editline] But if you're talking about just the singleplayer experience [I]in general[/I]. Then yeah I can see why you picked those games.
[QUOTE=DeVotchKa;49391513]My big three are Unreal Tournament 2004, Oblivion and Stalker, honorable mentions to Republic Commando, Half-Life 2 and Diablo. Unreal was my first real multiplayer game and i loved it to pieces, still do. Oblivion gave me that childish sense of absolute wonder and joy every time i played it, despite it literally melting my old graphics card the day after i got it. Stalker was special because it was super difficult to young me and at the time, i was absolutely fascinated by the Chernobyl Incident, so being able to walk througb Pripyat and the Sarcophagus like i did tickled me pink. The problem, imo, is that nobody really cares anymore. We live in a world of sequels and pumping out the next game to make more money and there are so few new ideas. Even companies like Bioware, who had groundbreaking games in the first two Mass Effects and Dragon Age: Origins fell from grace, Valve being probably an even better example, going from essentially the golden child in gaming to an almost despised company. I dunno, i guess i'm just disappointed with the industry now. I just want to be a kid again. I want to love things for all their flaws, instead if avoiding them because of them.[/QUOTE] Fuck, ut2004 was my jam. I didn't even get that deep into it as a kid, I just kept downloading custom assault maps and characters and playing them over and over with my brother on the lan. That assault map where you assault the mothership from space fighters blew my mind, and I haven't quite found casualized space or flight combat quite like that mission since.
[QUOTE=Durrsly;49391484]New Vegas was pretty good.[/QUOTE] The gameplay was good but tbh the story is pretty shite. same with 3,4, and skyrim.
To be honest I loved how the old games like 'Return to Castle Wolfenstein' or 'Half-Life' didn't have fancy graphics and enhanced realism, what made those games for me was the gameplay and storyline. It's probably a nostalgic thing.
Honestly I think the graphics kind of play a part in how you are able to "remember" and go back on those games. For the life of me I can't really picture newer games in my head due to all the fine details but older games really leave an easy and lasting impression somewhere in your mind. That's my theory on it anyways.
[QUOTE=Toyhobo;49391678]The gameplay was good but tbh the story is pretty shite. same with 3,4, and skyrim.[/QUOTE] Probably taking your post too seriously but hey you never know: NV is probably one of them more memorable RPGs I can think of. Its plot was very clearly a self-referential [I]narrative[/I], but the factions, companions, and the way the game handled choice in general was good enough to pass for the 'moderately well-written RPG award'.
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