Half-Life 2

[Usivius]

Dang, that water bit just never ends, does it?!
OK, it does, and never a dull moment. And finally got to give that helicoptor a little medicine! HA! (nasty)...

And now I have that gravity gun thingee! Woo hoo! double nasty!

And now I enter Ravenwood (?) Oooo, silent Hill kinda stuff. Stopped and saved after the first undead guy got up... <shudder>

[Reave the Unjust]

Circular saw-blades!

That's all I'm saying....

[Usivius]

Yah! they are certainly fun! And propelling those gas canisters is great too! But, sheesh, you have to get them in the head or those walking-jumping-carnivourous turkey things take a bite out of ya... hate them...
Have jumped a couple of times already...

Man this whole Ravenhelm/wood/vaile (whatever) place is very, very creepy. I haven't felt this must fun and tension since playing Doom way back in the day for 11 hours straight! (yah, I'm that old). This is GREAT!
And then I just saw that crazy old guy in the distance who preaches some weird stuff and. That was a great creepy moment: burning bodies, fire, decay and this silhouette of the guy up in the building talking about anouther one coming for redemption....
great stuff...
Can't wait!

[Usivius]

Whew! Ok, I got through Ravenholm ... man! there were some really hard and intense parts in that! wow. Great fun, And finally got to meet the priest guy... pretty intense waiting for the lift to come while fighting off those jumping demon guys,,,
sweeet!

Totally ran out of ammo at one point in there. Was using the grav-gun (but not too effectively... ) Did a bunch of running for a while.

[Reave the Unjust]

Have you got through the mines yet?
I foolishly thought it would be a bit easier than the dead town first time I played....

Bloody headcrabs everywhere!
And then it still doesnt end!

If you think the air-boat bit was long.... wait for the beach buggy. Just got to the end of that after a long time. Lots more exploration to do there!

On another note, I just found out that you can take the big robot Dog's "ball" through Ravenholm. It's great when you run outta ammo; just throw it with the Grav gun!
It attacks the zombies by itself and can only be destroyed if it gets in an explosion. I lost it at the end, at the mine entrance droppy down bit.

Can anyone beat my record?

More replay value to be had by blocking stairways and doorways with furniture etc. and then triggering the combine attacks. Very funny to watch them running about in a confused manner. Shame there's no animation for scratching their heads! (Combine soldier: "WTF?")

[Usivius]

Yah, I should really do more piling, but some of those undead guys are strong and started knocking the stuff back at me!
No, I didn't take "Dog's" ball. I can't imagine retreiving the darn thing every time I shot it off the roof at something...

The mines were pretty cool, although it was around there that I was VERY low on ammo for a second time and was doing a lot of running, especially on the catwalk part with the "head-crabs" everywhere!

And, yah, I am just at the beach-buggy place... Are those insect things like the ones from X-men?... the "scrag" or whatever they were called?
Coooool

[Reave the Unjust]

Just finished it again and I must admit I didn't expect to still be enjoying it after all this time!
Many people complained it's a short game, but WHAT a game!

Shame HL Episodes 1 & 2 won't be out on the old Xbox.
That's what I get for being an antique collector.....

Best quote from Barney (which I only noticed this time through):

Spoiler

If ya see Dr Breen, tell him I said [***loud clanging noise***] you!

[I'm Murrin]

Playing this game for the first time now, though I watched someone else play through most of it a while back. A lot of fun; I think knowing what happens already helps, because I'm usually not so good with FPS games (I get nervous, ha).
I'm just about to enter Ravenholm, which I'm not really looking forward to...

[Worm of Despite]

Ravenholm is easily the creepiest part of HL2. On the bright side, it's not nearly as bad as Doom 3.

I remember being frightened by the original Half-Life back in 2000. The graphics were still amazing then. You had dim lighting, scripted explosions, lunging headcrabs--yikes!

The very first headcrab in the game was especially claustrophobic. You're in a tight space, the little thing crawling toward you, and then to my utter surprise it launched itself through the air, directly at me. I didn't have the crowbar yet, so I just tried to get out the room and run like hell.

[I'm Murrin]

Yeah. I was particularly jumpy the first time I tried HL1, and that headcrab you can't defend yourself isn't a great introduction for someone who's already nervous about things jumping out at him, heh. I've never finished HL1; the last time I tried, a few months ago, I got as far as the point when the soldiers start showing up.

[aTOMiC]

Okay. Finally got Half Life 2 (awesome by the way). I've already worked myself into a corner.
I'm in the early going. I just worked my way through a drain pipe and I hit a spot where I just wiped out several guys in a gun nest where I was able to end up firing the mounted machine gun myself. There is an armored personnel carrier that is lobbing rockets at me every time I walk into the open. I can't find a way out although there is a little hole behind the machine gun that looks as if its the only way but I can't crouch enough to make it though and the APC really begins hammering me when I'm trying to go that way. Any suggestions? Probably missed something critical on the way in or I need to pile some boxes. Heck I'll probably have this solved before anyone can help.
Anyway I've played for a total of 30 minutes so far and am really liking the game.
I've also tried out the multiplayer mode. Its all really cool although I'm not a fan of having to use two keys to run and only in short spurts. I guess it keeps you on your toes. I finally got to see what the HL 2 version of Killbox is like. Pretty nifty. I can't wait to get home and hit it again.

[I'm Murrin]

I think I remember the spot you're talking about; I'm not entirely sure, but I think there's a ledge over on the far right (when facing forward from the turret) that runs across to the other end of the section; you might have to shoot down some ledges to bridge a gap or two.

[aTOMiC]

I think I remember the spot you're talking about; I'm not entirely sure, but I think there's a ledge over on the far right (when facing forward from the turret) that runs across to the other end of the section; you might have to shoot down some ledges to bridge a gap or two.

That makes perfect sense, Murrin. You are right about the ledges. That's probably all the clue I need to get out of there. Looks as if once I get up to street level again the APC will have a really clear shot at me but I'll take my chances with that as opposed to being bogged down in the game.

Thanks for the advice.

[I'm Murrin]

No problem.

I'm currently making my slow way through Ravenholm, which is nerve-wracking but quite fun--you get to burn and chop zombies with traps that have been laid out all over the place. Something to look forward to, as is the very long "Water Hazard" chapter you've got coming up.

[aTOMiC]

you get to burn and chop zombies with traps that have been laid out all over the place.

Heheh. I look forward to that. Sounds creepy in a cool way.

[Queeaqueg]

The great thing about Ravenholm is that there is not much ammo(especially on hard) and you have to use the environment, traps and the Gravity gun to get through the level. Bit like Resident Evil.

[I'm Murrin]

Yeah. Circular saw blades! And the fire trap was fun.

The poison headcrabs, on the other hand, not so much.

[Nav]

I'm a bit stuck in HL2 as well. I think I'm still on the Water Hazard chapter, I'm on top of a factory-type building and there's a helicopter chasing me. I can't seem to find a way to a) escape or b) shoot down the helicopter and groups of combine keep showing up so ammo is in short supply.

[aTOMiC]

Hey Nav, Thanks to Murrin's suggestion I just blasted my way through all that.
First tip: Don't try to shoot down the helicopter. Not with your pistol anyway. I save alot and in one instance I gave standing and firing away at the chopper a try. Just gets you dead. All I can tell you about getting out of there is that you have to snake around quite a bit in and around wreckage and into back doors and sewers. At one point you'll get your first machine gun which will come in handy right away.

[I'm Murrin]

The only way to kill the choppers during "Water Hazard" is using the Combine guns like the one aTOMiC was stuck at--or the turret gun that eventually gets installed on the airboat. Takes a lot of damage, though. There's a part at the end of the chapter where you face off against the chopper with the airboat in a wide open area.

I'm not sure about which section you mean, Nav; there are a few different places where you have to get off the boat and go looking for a switch to open gates, I guess it's one of those but can't say which. What does the area look like?