Halo 2 vs Half-life 2

For some reason, a lot of people were very disapointed with Halo 2.  (I think they thought it would be Halo 1.5 and overhyped their expectations.)  It seems most of the people who go around saying Halo 2 sucked say Half-life 2 is by far superior.  Even though I mark up all such comments as mastabatory self-praisal by PC fanboys, I'm still wondering.  Why should it be better than Halo 2?  Halo 2 is damn near perfect, if you ask me.  Some of the multiplayer issues need work, but that's more of a gamer issue (quitters, cheaters, whiners) than a gameplay issue.  All I ever hear from the Half-Life proponents is that it totally kicks Halo 2 in the ass.  Yet they can never come up with a reason why.  Anybody want to share?

I myself haven't played Half-life, nor do I have any desire to.  Halo 2 fully satisfies all my FPS interests.  Not that I don't think it's a good game.  It looked okay, and probably is fun to play.  But I have yet to hear anything good about it.  What does it have?  Better graphics?  That I can answer myself: NO, unless you have the absolute brand new top-of-the-line PC.  But what else?  Innovative play?  Balanced weapons?  Greater freedom of movement?  Better controls?  Adam West? 

Tell me soon, or I'll think everybody who likes Half-Life 2 is just a fanboy who just sucks at Halo 2.

I have not played either, but Halo is boring and overrated. The only reason it's any popular is because it's the only decent FPS the XBox has.

>>2

Thanks, did you even bother to read the post?  Your arguement (or rather, lack thereof) really carries weight when you say it's boring even though you haven't even played it.  I'd like to know about what makes Half-Life 2 good.  It seems like it's just a runner up to Halo 2 so far, promoted by PC fanboys.  Somebody, prove me wrong! 

>It seems like it's just a runner up to Halo 2 so far

>I myself haven't played Half-life, nor do I have any desire to.

>Your arguement (or rather, lack thereof) really carries weight when you say it's boring even though you haven't even played it.

So much for your argument too.
OK, I'll bite. But note I am not saying Halo 2 must inherently suck if it is surpassed in some areas by other games. A game can be good without being the so-called best.

HL2 does have better graphics than Halo 2, even on a midrange PC if only by virtue of higher monitor resolutions and more RAM for  more detailed textures. But that's a virtue of any PC FPS. If you throw out the 3D card eye candy, the facial animations are the best ever seen in a game outside of pre-rendered cutscenes.

Which brings up another point, the immersion. HL is known for never breaking the first-person view. There are no "cinematic" movies breaking the action like in nearly every other game or showing what some other character is doing elsewhere. You don't play a character, you /are/ Gordon Freeman.

>Innovative play?
Yes, thanks to the gravity gun and Havok physics. Pick up anything that's not bolted down and toss it at anything or use it as a shield.

>Better controls?
Mouse+keyboard vs joypad. But again, that's part of any PC FPS.

When Halo 2 is put against PC standards for first person shooters, it is at best an above average game.

Did you see any of the HL2 movies when they came out?

I haven't played Halo 2 so I can't pass any judgement on it.  I did play Halo for the PC, at least, I played if for about 3 days and got sick of it.  Very repetitive, difficult to tell where you're going, no great bonuses or rewards.  The level design in HL and HL2 is very clear about where you should be going.  Normally this would be a bad thing but in the context of an FPS it works.  At least the Doom games had a map to follow, and Quake's level design was simple enough.  Wolfenstein 3d was intentionally maze-like.  But in Halo amny locations are identical.  It might be more realistic, you could argue, but it doesn't work in an FPS.

Back to the subject though, Half-Life 2 has more content variety to offer than Halo 2.  While Halo is strictly sci-fi Half-Life 2 has some parts that are reminiscent of horror-survival (Ravenholm, with the zombies and headcrabs at night) and the choice of an East European setting gives it some kind of reality that "future city/spaceship" doesn't deliver.

The monster AI in HL2 is nice, certainly very complex, but I don't think it's anything revolutionary.  It just has a lot more code in it that previos FPS's had.

Played both and each is good in its own way.  Halo 1 was not bad and Halo 2 builds on it making it a richer experience.  It is like Doom 3, it doesn't give you nothing new ( beside dual weilding, which makes it very interesting to make weapon choices and adds a bit more strategy ) but it gives you what you want if you liked the first one.  Now I'd say, you have to be more open minded and try HL2 for yourself and see why every body talks about it.  The joy of using the gravity gun is very interesting.  Just the Idea of taking everything you see and shoot it at the enimies gives it a whole new dimension.  There are tons of ways to come out of a tough situation.  The boat level is amazing and has better action than most movies.  The battle agianst the tripod enemies whas also very good.  Both have nice moments and both are good games. To my understanding Half life 2 cannot be a runner up to Halo 2 sinds its been in development for ages.  Id say try them both, they are both good titles for different systems and both offer a solid gameplay.  You should appriciate both for what it is especially in this time where there is alot of junk that comes out and are being praised for their mediocracy.  Id gave them both a two thumbs up.

For me it's like this:
Half-Life 2 - Amazing singleplay.
Halo 2 - Amazing multiplay.

'nuff said

I'm so tired of this argument. Each is a beautiful, well-crafted, and exhilirating work of art, but despite their similarities, the gameplay in each is quite different. so it kind of seems wrong to compare them to each other. moreso since they're both five star gaming experiences.

Why can't we just love them both?

fps on console = bad

nothing else needs to be said

>>9
Truth

You know what?  I didn't think half life 2 or halo 2 were that great.  Half life 2 has a better engine than it does gameplay.

I'd probably still play halo 2 if you didn't have to pay for xbox live.

The only first person shooter to come out last year that I still play on occasion is Far Cry.

OH BUT FARCRY AIN'T AS GOOD AS DOOM 3 COS IT'S NOT MADE BY ID OR JOHN CARMACK AM I RITE?

For the most part >>10 agreed.

HL2 was a good looking game, mostly for the use of DX9 effects and high res textures. The shadowing and lack of dynamic lighting and half assed old engine kinda sucks, but it made the game playable on more machines than otherwise would have while still looking good. The single player story line is good, the multiplayer isn't too bad but nothing ground breaking.

The problem with Halo 2 is it's a console FPS and it's made to play for a console. The gameplay sucks horribly because of that, the movement speed in both halo's suck. Halo 2 amplified the problem by having faster weapons while still maintaining insanely slow movement. It looks only marginally better than the first one, which didn't look too hot anyhow due to crappy textures.


HL2 was more a generic shooter with a only slightly better than average story and a modified engine to make it look above average. It's immeriveness was great as mentioned. It's multiplayer is average except for modability which is great.

Halo 2 is a below average shooter, with an average story, a more or less than average engine. But it was made for a console and that makes all those work for consolers.
If they even bother to port Halo 2 to PC it still won't be worth it since the gameplay is too slow and unbalanced to be worth anything, and still uses a crappy engine.

Good point, >>13.

I noticed that many console shooters are rather "slow" regarding player movement.  Is that due to the limitation if the Joypad?

Only console FPS I liked so far was Timesplitters, mostly for the weirdo touches like lighting yourself on fire and collecting health powerups while igniting everyone else, the wacko characters, and some nigh-impossible challenge stages. I'd let whoever made a UT conversion take me in the ass with a spiked dildo if they ported it. (I failed miserably myself, I made three halfway decent models, {Ash, Chinese Chef, and the float alien} but was disheartened by being unable to rip sounds from a PS2 dvd, not to mention I kept botching the death animations. I'm just not experienced enough to port it.)
The rest aren't as hectic and don't have enough things to try and unlock.

>>3
This is really old, but I love how the guy who's never played the game he's arguing against gets all mad at >>2 for arguing against a game that he's never played. Good /v/tards, you look kinda cool.

I'm torn...Btards always try and claim they're the stupidest...But dammit man, I think they're consistently outdone by /v/ and /t/ almost every goddamn day. WORK HARDER.

>>15

Hell yea, Timesplitters series is a cult classic! I've played the first one and the second one. Saving up for the thrid game. In a budget here. I think Timesplitters is the ONLY Console FPS that I really like, and I'm the type who hates FPS games on the console. The song and the whole game design is outstanding plus it's fater then Halo. Like >>2 said, Halo is only a "great" game cause it's the only desent FPS for the "all mighty" Xbox. Yea, I've played both Halo 1 and 2 for Xbox and Halo 1 for the PC. It's okay games, Halo 1 and 2 has great online game.

If only Timesplitters came on the PC.

Dumb arguement

Halo 2 = Superior multiplay and accesibility.

Half Life 2 = Superior single play and more progress for a FPS.

Dont forget all the mods that ll b generated by the hl2 engine........

I've played both Halos and Half-lifes. To be truthful, I really don't like Halo. I played it's multiplayer way back the original goldeneye, unreal tournament and to a few extents CS. It's nothing we haven't seen before, except that it's online for a console. But even then you have to pay for the service. Half-Life 2 isn't really any better. Although the game is mounds better graphically (I'm always surprised when someone tells me Halo has great graphics) it's still piss poor as far as replayability goes. It rides soley on the gimmick of it's engine and to be honest, that gets tiresome. Regardless the comparisson between these two games is pointless because neither of them deserve the merit they garner from weak fanboys of XBOX etc. You really can't be a PC fanboy, most people who own a pc also own a console. So enough of this bullshit.

Oh and Timesplitters is fantastic

Never played either, but Halo looks gay

Halo is horribly uninspired and mediocre, which is probably why it's so popular.

Halo for the PC feels so much better. I absolutely abhor Halo 2. It's a beautiful looking game, but the controls are awful. Everything feels sluggish, weak and unresponsive. Even the action felt toned down. I enjoy the Halo multiplayer. The PC version is much, much, much better, it's pure chaos when you get 16 people on any of the maps. Halo 2's maps are too big, and with the slug-like movement, it takes forever to get in a good skirmish, the battles are long, drawn out, and boring.

Get Halo for the PC, with Teamspeak, it makes the game experience memorable.

>>24
The only problem is I can pwn you with my pistol. CONEFIRE BITCH

Halo 2 and Half-life 2, both are overrated, just like doom3 is, personally i want another Quake.

Gaylo 2 sucks.

Halo2 is just retarded and way overrated. Half Life 2 the game itself is rather repetive, but the DM and Counter Strike is great.

Battlefield 2 is better then both of them hands down.

>this thread

>mfw this thread was made over a half a decade ago

The fuck.

its like im in a time machine,

>>29-30
Go back to /b/.

So "PC Mastah RACE" fags aren't just a new thing?

HL2. H2 is shit compared to the rest of the series.

>>35
>compared to the rest of the series.
odst

I didn't know you could discuss video games without misusing greentext and image macros.

Why λ2 is better

>Carry more than two weapons
>GMod
>Online isn't full of kids and "mature gamers"
>Working physics
>Gravity Gun
>Better graphics
>You won't get called a Halofag

7 years later niggas still mad!

Fighting spam, one bump at a time!