Half-Life 2

Half-Life 2

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Tighty-Whitey 23 Thg08 @ 10:11am
18
2
Half-Life is not revolutionary.
There is a growing myth, a misconception that Half-Life, a classical title with a loud name in Steam community, despite it’s popularity and an interest among its members and followers, had a significant impact on videogames in general. A franchise that sold millions of copies, won many awards and essentially shaped Valve’s future as a corporation, had not actually been as popular in the recent years. It is no secret that the following Half-Life series possesses, fades on the background of more popular titles pushed by modern generations such as Minecraft, Roblox, as well as numerous Battle Royale titles such as Fortnite, Apex Legends and PUBG. The only echo of Half-Life that still remains to this day is ultimately only prevalent in Garry’s Mod and is mixed up with silly animation videos such as Skibidi Toilet saga, distorting Half-Life’s aestheticism beyond recognition. There is little meaning left in the specific and direct concepts Half-Life was known for. Half-Life series is a shell of it’s former legacy and nowadays does not compete with the industry giants and falls flat on many aspects compared to modern titles.

As far as "influence" of Half-Life itself goes and how it affected the gaming industry, the reality behind statements of the franchise’s obsessed fanbase, contrary to the volatile market convoluted by tens of thousands of other products, differs substantially despite uneducated claims that the Half-Life still remains prevalent or has any sort of severe impact on games themselves. It is easily proven by the statistics, player numbers, ever changing culture and trends that suppress the minority that is the Half-Life community. By looking at the actual situation behind the popularity of the game, it is easy to develop a conclusion that the only reason why Half-Life seems popular is because people who have never played that game never even talk about it. That is more than 99% of humanity. That leaves the Half-Life community in an echochamber where they lie to themselves about the game’s popularity attached by Valve’s desperate attempts to dwell on the past, figuring that they, as workers of said company, have nothing better to do or develop than documentaries about Half-Life, as well as maps no one asked for. Unsurprising, considering Valve’s games’ titles being micro-level in scope and quality compared to bigger games such as modern takes on Grand Theft Auto. The size of Valve’s development teams is fairly small compared to that of makers of GTA.

That leads us to the next point. Where exactly is the influence everyone in that community talks about and where does it fall in the gaming industry? It is known that tens of thousands modern titles draw inspirations from entirely different games, have completely different genres and do not actually draw any inspiration from Half-Life game design. Most games that even remotely have stylistic similarities do not actually have much in common with Half-Life, as even the developers themselves who claim to be inspired by Half-Life don’t actually understand what Half-Life itself is about. All games are essentially just individual takes of different people on many different concepts and despite what interests the developers of other games have, their results will always be significantly different to their initial believed inspirations. That means that the end-product itself will likely never resemble or follow it’s initial suggested inspirations. That leaves Half-Life at an uncertain spot, meaning that other titles that mostly only stylistically and remotely resemble certain Half-Life elements had never been real derivatives of Half-Life as an inspiration, despite the claims otherwise. It is nothing but a result of chaotic choices natural to a human being.

Games that share remote similarities with Half-Life do not iterate, improve or advance Half-Life’s concepts in any meaningful way and ironically don’t share as much popularity as other games. Speaking about other games, most of market’s industry products have nearly nothing in common with Half-Life, stylistically, design-wise, gameplay-wise, story structure wise, there isn’t anything that follows an exact or even remotely same concept in it’s full form. Games that in theory supposed to replicate Half-Life’s formula, never end up replicating it in any way, not to say, that many naive supposed Half-Life "inspirations" tend to fail. This is the result of not Half-Life’s outdated design, but the inability of such games to follow the same design foundations Half-Life was supposed to establish. Those games that supposed to take a new spin on a classical Half-Life-esque concept turn out to have no direct influence by Half-Life and even if they do, those games aren’t very popular and do not influence the industry’s trends.

Existence of games like Quake revolutionized the genre and it’s influence is still felt in many fast-paced shooters that draw direct inspiration from that game. Half-Life, however, did not revolutionize anything or especially the genre it’s in. Culture would have found it’s way to get to that of Fortnite and talking about culture specifically, Half-Life was not a seed for any serious modern trends. Even Dark Souls revolutionized and influenced more games that Half-Life ever could. Half-Life’s influence is not felt and if we are talking about the influence at environmental storytelling or the story itself, games like Grand Theft Auto affected cinematic storytelling, while games like Fallout and the like influenced environmental storytelling. Half-Life wasn’t the first, it only took existing gaming features and put it’s own spin on it. The only reason why people think Half-Life is revolutionary is because they are fans of the game, but they can’t back up that for a fact. Thinking that Half-Life revolutionized genre is like saying someone’s parent revolutionized something for having children. It is no revolution. Parent that would have a child who would lay the foundation to something, that "something" was influenced not by the parents specifically and parents specifically did not influence that "something", the foundation to that "something" was laid by their child.

But did Quake really revolutionize anything if games would have found their way to be fast-paced shooters anyway? Inevitable "revolution" is not a revolution, it is only a natural process. That only means Quake’s influence wasn’t as significant as people think either, but it was still more than that of Half-Life. Games, where they are at, were not influenced by Half-Life specifically, while the influence it had is not massive enough, therefore "influence" is written off.

Is Half-Life legendary? Not really. Though if we say that Half-Life is a legend like those old pamphlets no one cares about, then we can assume it’s legendary. Legendary as in outdated and forgotten. Is Half-Life revolutionary because Counter-Strike and Steam exists? Are Gabe Newell’s dad and mom revolutionary because they had a son? No, they are not.

Counter-Strike would exist still, even if Half-Life 1 wouldn’t have been in the state it is now. If the game would have followed it’s beta concept and wouldn’t do too well, it would still have Counter-Strike developed on GoldSrc for it. Half-Life is not revolutionary, it’s success has nothing to do with existence of Counter-Strike.

Half-Life simply hasn’t achieved a revolution in the industry, there was nothing revolutionary about Half-Life. It being a good game at the time does not make it revolutionary, just like with some of the modern titles. If we base "revolution" in modding terms, then modding existed before Half-Life. Again, no revolution there.

The so-called "influence" of Half-Life was so "influential" that the majority of the gaming community never even heard of Half-Life. The Half-Life’s "influence" as if almost had never even been there in the first place. It wasn’t, as Half-Life was only popular for a narrow public back in the day, it did not however have any serious influence. It is important to remind gaming community that the majority of humanity aren’t even gamers, so culture hasn’t yet been severely impacted. Just something to think about for those still living in a tank.

If we are talking about another scale of influence that makes connections too large, then it is easy to say that anything influenced anything, but the existence of something even if it is successful does not revolutionize much if anything at all. That way we can make a chain reaction out of anything and think that everything was influenced by everything, but we are talking about direct and substantial influence which Half-Life did not plant. A game like Half-Life could not revolutionize anything if games themselves don’t truly follow Half-Life’s advancing game-design techniques. If we say that Half-Life was influential in any substantial form which is what influence actually means in a modern sense, (a micro-level influence is not an influence) then it is easy to say that 1958's Tennis for Two revolutionized and influenced all genres and games just because it was a first video game or that System Shock 1 influenced Half-Life because of one of the statements from a developer. None of it is however true when we are talking about a direct influence and any sort of direct revolution. An influence and inspiration in words doesn’t represent realities of an end-product, which is why Half-Life was never that influential. Half-Life’s influence is as "large" as that of Call of Duty, but even less so.

Trends of a current industry differ to those the gaming community came to know decades ago. It is now about completely different genres, especially styles and approaches to any selected set of elements Half-Life series used to have. Half-Life series had not impacted the industry in any serious way and the success of Counter-Strike has no relation to a success of Half-Life. Half-Life itself having no serious alternatives to make a modification for, would have a Counter-Strike mod created and ultimately acquired even if Half-Life’s success wouldn’t have been as massive. Modern videogames focus on aspects that contradict Half-Life’s linearity, pacing, combat and nowadays have an online only focus. Times change and your "legendary" title will simply be forgotten and if mentioned, shrugged off.

In case someone still thinks Half-Life is anywhere near popular and is in denial, it is important to take a look at how modern titles perform compared to Half-Life games. Let’s take a look at how many sales have the most popular and influential titles made.

Title Sales Minecraft 300,000,000 Grand Theft Auto V 190,000,000 Tetris (EA) 100,000,000 Wii Sports 82,900,000 PUBG: Battlegrounds 75,000,000 Mario Kart 8 / Deluxe 65,470,000 Super Mario Bros. 58,000,000 Red Dead Redemption 2 57,000,000 Overwatch 50,000,000 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 50,000,000 Tetris (1989) 48,000,000

As we can see, Half-Life is nowhere to be seen. Other games had a much bigger impact on the gaming industry than Half-Life. Here’s how Half-Life series compares.

Half-Life Title Sales Half-Life 1 9,300,000 Half-Life 2 9,500,000 Opposing Force 1,100,000 Blue Shift 800,000 Episode One 4,400,000 Episode 2 3,000,000

Half-Life is clearly not as influential as people claim it to be. Not many people care about this franchise nowadays and it’s "legendary" status is simply nothing more but a fairytale from the old days. Realities of the industry are fundamentally different.
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July 23 Thg08 @ 10:17am 
tremendo
R U N E 23 Thg08 @ 1:42pm 
4
1
Wow, it's obvious you don't understand why Half-Life even existed in the first place.

While it's true that games like Minecraft and Fortnite dominate today, it's important to remember how much Half-Life changed things when it first came out. The way it told its story—without cutscenes, fully integrated into gameplay—set a new standard for how narratives could be delivered in games. These ideas are still being used in modern game design, which shows how influential Half-Life really was. And then Half-Life 2 took this even further with its introduction of physics-based gameplay, which was groundbreaking at the time and continues to influence game design to this day.

Before Half-Life, most games separated the story from the gameplay with cutscenes or text. HL changed that by making the player part of the story, with everything happening around them in real time. This kind of immersive storytelling has inspired countless games since, like BioShock and The Last of Us. HL2 added another layer by introducing the Gravity Gun, which wasn't just a weapon but a tool that allowed players to interact with the game world in entirely new ways. So, to say the Half-Life series didn’t have a big impact on game design doesn’t really hold up.

Your post downplays HL's cultural impact, but it’s hard to ignore how it helped shape the modding community. Counter-Strike—one of the most influential multiplayer games ever—started as a Half-Life mod. And then there’s the Source engine, which powered games like Garry’s Mod, Portal, and many others. The Source engine, introduced with HL2, became the backbone for countless mods and entire games, further cementing Half-Life's influence. The Half-Life series didn’t just influence games; it helped create a whole culture of modding that’s still alive today.

Valve’s success as a company is closely tied to Half-Life. Without it, Steam—where you're playing your games and posting this now—most likely wouldn't exist. Half-Life’s success gave Valve the foundation to build Steam, and that’s a massive contribution to the gaming industry that you can’t ignore. HL2 also played a crucial role in popularizing Steam, as it was one of the first major games to require the platform for activation, fundamentally changing how digital distribution works.

It’s true that Quake was a big deal for fast-paced shooters, but Half-Life took the genre in a new direction by focusing on story and atmosphere. Quake was all about speed and precision, but Half-Life showed that shooters could also be immersive and story-driven. And HL2 advanced this even further with its detailed world-building, deep characters, and innovative use of physics, setting a new standard for what could be achieved in a first-person shooter. These are two different kinds of innovation, and Half-Life’s approach set a precedent for a lot of games that followed.

The argument that HL hasn’t influenced modern games because they don’t copy it directly misses the point. Influence isn’t just about replication; it’s about inspiring new ideas and approaches. Half-Life made developers think differently about how to design games, and that inspiration has led to all sorts of new directions in gaming. HL2 continued this trend by pushing the boundaries of what could be done with interactive environments and NPCs, inspiring countless games to rethink how they approached AI, level design, and environmental interaction.

The claim that HL is outdated and forgotten just doesn’t hold up. People still talk about the game, and it’s been kept alive through things like the Black Mesa remake. Plus, when Half-Life: Alyx came out, it got a lot of attention and praise, showing that the series still matters to a lot of people. And let’s not forget that HL2 is often cited as one of the greatest games of all time, with its impact on both players and developers still being felt. The Half-Life series isn’t just a relic of the past—it’s a cornerstone of gaming history.
Lần sửa cuối bởi R U N E; 24 Thg08 @ 2:52pm
TL:DR They're trolling.
Someone's tighty-whitey ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ is trolling again lol
Nah bro pulled the yap card and the nerd card
Chat-gpt clown bait

classic
as expected, only one post had the commendable sympathy to tackle the op's essay. which honestly i don't believe is deserved considering the bad faith i smell from it.

now to be actually constructive, i do think the enthusiasm about hl's legend could be curbed.
in documentaries and stuff, hl's portrayed as the fps cornerstone of 1998. but when i look at shooters contemporary to the franchise's installments, i'd say it comes in waves more than one game in particular bringing revolution.

hl 1 and 2 certainly weren't the only one pushing more narration or some tech advances. you had games with similar features releasing around the same time period, if not earlier. i can't believe so many devs who were already working on games before hl's release would all go to valve hq to take notes. it's not like valve could be the only one to figure out the concepts of narration, worldbuilding, more complex ai etc.
if anything, this wave feels like the fruit of a natural evolution. noticed how shooters younger than doom but older than hl are also kind of in-between in the narration department? it's not "there" yet, but it's still an advance. same for better physics and even more narration in the early 2000s.

really, questioning a franchise's reputation is legit and interesting, but man do i wish it was broached more by intellectually honest people instead of arrogant ♥♥♥♥♥.
Cat 24 Thg08 @ 5:06am 
He made countless troll posts and was banned here before. In fact, this same exact topic he made was locked in the Alyx forums.
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/app/546560/discussions/0/4030222382925711012/
nacho 24 Thg08 @ 6:17am 
mucho texto
Nguyên văn bởi calembredaine:
as expected, only one post had the commendable sympathy to tackle the op's essay. which honestly i don't believe is deserved considering the bad faith i smell from it.

now to be actually constructive, i do think the enthusiasm about hl's legend could be curbed.
in documentaries and stuff, hl's portrayed as the fps cornerstone of 1998. but when i look at shooters contemporary to the franchise's installments, i'd say it comes in waves more than one game in particular bringing revolution.

hl 1 and 2 certainly weren't the only one pushing more narration or some tech advances. you had games with similar features releasing around the same time period, if not earlier. i can't believe so many devs who were already working on games before hl's release would all go to valve hq to take notes. it's not like valve could be the only one to figure out the concepts of narration, worldbuilding, more complex ai etc.
if anything, this wave feels like the fruit of a natural evolution. noticed how shooters younger than doom but older than hl are also kind of in-between in the narration department? it's not "there" yet, but it's still an advance. same for better physics and even more narration in the early 2000s.

really, questioning a franchise's reputation is legit and interesting, but man do i wish it was broached more by intellectually honest people instead of arrogant ♥♥♥♥♥.

It’s based off of facts though of where the industry was at the time. Sure, other games had their impacts but this thread was obviously created to troll on HL’s success. So why not defend it?
soso 24 Thg08 @ 10:14pm 
Yawn
Nguyên văn bởi de_ghost:
It’s based off of facts though of where the industry was at the time. Sure, other games had their impacts but this thread was obviously created to troll on HL’s success. So why not defend it?
op's post can stay in the dustbin, where it belongs.

imo it's far more interesting to broach the topic properly than try to interact with an op who doesn't sound cooperative at all.
and well, i'd say the topic itself is legit. there may be a few shades to draw on hl's success.
Jesus Christ this person's profile is just indescribable. Even the profile comments are unreal. I can't tell if this is bait, years in the making or if they have a serious disorder.
Rumi 25 Thg08 @ 4:44am 
in half life 2 you can use the gravity gun to cut zombies in half... life... you can't do that in other video games. technically that proves the premise that half life 2 hasn't been influential, but only because other videogames refuse to step up to the plate and be as good.
Lần sửa cuối bởi Rumi; 25 Thg08 @ 4:44am
Nguyên văn bởi FunkyPandaHD:
Jesus Christ this person's profile is just indescribable. Even the profile comments are unreal. I can't tell if this is bait, years in the making or if they have a serious disorder.

most likely farming for -rep and serious disorders; just going based off of his profile.
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