Half-Life

[Jife_Jifremok]

I recently bought the first Half-Life for the PS2 and didn't take very long to beat it. I remember taking a LOT longer to beat the PC version some 5-10 years ago. Was the PS2 version shortened or did I just get so much better? If it helps, I played on Normal difficulty. (Actually, I know the PS2 hazard course has one extra tacked-on room and the normal game seemed to have the ruined entrance missing.)

That being said, I was very surprised at how much fun this port was. I can't remember how the PC game graphics were, but the PS2 graphics were certainly good enough. (I will say I was dsappointed in the lack of dead bodies staying and being ready for me to crowbar into pieces. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif) Not only that, the game freaking zoomed like faster than TimeSplitters or something.

The thing that got to me the most though was the control. I could bind anything to whatever button I wanted, leave things not bound to anything, use whatever dual-analog configuration I wanted, and change the look/turn speeds! Really, something like this shouldn't be so amazing, but I don't think this is standard procedure for FPS games on consoles yet...sad.

The only thig I didn't like was that I was forced to have a crosshair on the screen. That, and there's this stupid diamond thing that turns red and lets me know where an enemy is. It's thrown me off several times and made me miss when I would have gotten clean shots without a crosshair, or had only a crosshair and no target diamond. I'm not sure if this was supposed to be a targeting system, because that diamond likes to stay on enemies and if my aim is even slightly off I still miss.

But...yeah. The game blew my mind, again. It doesn't treat console gamers like pussies. Now if only the HL2 Orange Box would go to the Wii...

[Sexy_Raine]

you could always get the orange box on PC. I will eventually get HL2/OB when I decide to buy a PS3.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Sexy_Raine on 2007-08-22 21:25 ]</font>

[Jife_Jifremok]

That simpl,y won't do. I played HL2 on the PC and didn't like it all that much. Part of it may have been the level design not being quite as kickass as Black Mesa, but it's also the control. I hate using keyboard/mouse controls, and using JoytoKey to play with my PS2 controller doesn't allow me to have the sort of analog control that I need for this type of game. I can play it, but it aint fun enough to keep me on it. Plus, after seeing the port of HL1, I'm sure they would keep up the high quality in the HL2 Orange Box console version.

[Blitzkommando]

I have the PS2 version of it and while the graphics are nicely improved over the original PC graphics, the load times made it painful to play. Things that would take my PC that's over 4 years old to load in a second or two (literally) would take ten to thirty seconds to load on PS2. I did like how I could use a USB mouse and keyboard to play, but the load times were what did the PS2 port in for me. As for the red diamond rectile, it is designed for the auto-aim system (which made the PS2 version hella easy, especially with mouse and keyboard). I will admit, HL was one of the best console shooters I've ever played, even if it were a port because unlike most console shooters I was able to play with a controller (but I fixed that quite quickly anyway). Still, it was quite dumbed down from what I remember.

[KodiaX987]

Hey Norv, I challenge you to beat HL on the Dreamcast. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif

It was a rather stuttery experience! Worst of all, I actually beat it.

[Blitzkommando]

On 2007-08-24 04:55, KodiaX987 wrote:
Hey Norv, I challenge you to beat HL on the Dreamcast. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif

It was a rather stuttery experience! Worst of all, I actually beat it.


My Dreamcast is around 800 miles from here and hasn't been touched for a couple years now.

[Jife_Jifremok]

On 2007-08-23 21:02, Norvekh wrote:
I have the PS2 version of it and while the graphics are nicely improved over the original PC graphics, the load times made it painful to play. Things that would take my PC that's over 4 years old to load in a second or two (literally) would take ten to thirty seconds to load on PS2. I did like how I could use a USB mouse and keyboard to play, but the load times were what did the PS2 port in for me. As for the red diamond rectile, it is designed for the auto-aim system (which made the PS2 version hella easy, especially with mouse and keyboard). I will admit, HL was one of the best console shooters I've ever played, even if it were a port because unlike most console shooters I was able to play with a controller (but I fixed that quite quickly anyway). Still, it was quite dumbed down from what I remember.



Load times didn't seem very painful to me. I was using a slim PS2. Does that matter at all? Maybe I was just blind to them for the duration of the game.

Wow, I didn't know it had a mouse-and-keyboard option. While I hate using that kind of control, I still think console FPS games need to be more open to it.

Auto-aim system? I don't recall one being there, although the manual did mention one. Was this the lock-on function that is bound to a button (or in my case, not bound at all http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif)?

And yeah, Half-Life's PS2 port was definitely done with GOOD console gamers in mind, leaving the lockon/autoaim pansies as afterthoughts. (Without even saying fuck you to the mouse-and-keyboard gamers, no less!) I rather like that.

I don't remember much of the PC version, but I will take your word for it on the dumbed-down-ness. I could have sworn I needed a few more handgun shots to take down a Barnacle in the PC...and aren't some areas missing in the console?

[Blitzkommando]

No, the PS2 version is simply a prettied-up port with easier aiming. There was even that little 'bonus' game included with Dr. Green and Dr. Cross as a co-op. I will admit, that was one of the best co-op games I've ever played and it actually helped a bit with the canon of the series. As for the load times, I've just become so used to the very quick loads on PC that console games seem to take forever to load, especially PS2 and PSX games. But, again, I'm primarily into PC gaming today so there are a whole slew of things that bug me with their console counterparts that most people probably wouldn't even notice.