Hah, look at this n00b who didn’t even play HL as a toddler
/s
Comment on Let's discuss: Half-Life
knokelmaat@beehaw.org 6 months ago
I adore this series. I especially have very fond memories of the original. I did not play it on release (I was still a toddler then), but I got it through the Valve Bundle on Steam and played it through at least 5 times. I’ve had multiple times in my life were I didn’t have access to a powerful computer, but similar to DOOM, Half-Life will run on about anything. I remember one of my playtroughs being on a horrible windows 8 tablet, and still it looked and played amazing :).
Half-Life 2 then just perfected and already strong original. There is something just so satisfying about the environmental design and linearity of the levels. You just push through and know that you will find enough in your surroundings to make it. I find it strange that there haven’t been that many clones since (first person exploration action games). Most games either are to linear (COD) or completely open world or become a full-on immersive sim.
If you have any recommendations, please share them. Dishonored gave me similar vibes, but I miss the simplicity of Half-Life.
ReplicantBatty@lemmy.one 6 months ago
jcarax@beehaw.org 6 months ago
TLoU scratched a lot of the same itches, for me.
Fizz@lemmy.nz 6 months ago
Maybe Dusk? It doesn’t have a puzzle element like half life but it’s got fun gunplay and movement and the art style is cool.
cafuneandchill@beehaw.org 6 months ago
Black Mesa is an obvious recommendation, since it’s a modern take on the original Half-Life. Another game that I thought was similar to Half-Life in progression and physics emphasis was Prey (the 2007 Native American one)
Cyv_@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 months ago
I really enjoyed black mesa, they added some new stuff to the zen areas if I remember right.
SteposVenzny@beehaw.org 6 months ago
Too much new stuff. I think the fact that Xen existing was the difference between the free version and the paid version pushed them to pad Xen out way too far for fear that snappier pacing would feel like a ripoff.
JohnEdwa@sopuli.xyz 6 months ago
Xen was really rushed and shorter than originally intended in HL1, and part of the idea with BM was to flesh it out properly. Might have gone a bit too far, but it was also one of the few places in the project where they could truly come up with something new and unique, and not just redo what Valve had made before them.
TachyonTele@lemm.ee 6 months ago
I was a huge HL fan back in the day. I recently bought Black Mesa… and had it refunded pretty quickly. I played the demo… ten years ago? And enjoyed it then. But imo it just doesn’t hold up at all.