WhO_KnOwS

Read The Review Here
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Half Life games are quite possibly amongst the most revered PC titles of the recent years. And how could they not be? Both the original and its sequel pushed forward the boundaries of FPS story-telling, making players experience the story first hand, not through directed cinematics. That was not all they did however! With great AI, graphics engines that were amongst the prettiest of the generation and some of the most memorable scenes in gaming the two defined what PC gaming was all about. As if all of this wasn’t enough, Valve decided to push the boundaries in content delivery as well, bringing forward Steam and inevitably episodic games. HL2 Episode 1 was not amongst the longest games of last year, but it was without doubt one of the best shooters we had the pleasure of playing. Valve are also well known for learning from their mistakes, so let’s see what Episode 2 has in store for us!

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bug77

Is the review saying that if you want Ep2 you must but HL2 and Ep1 again? (Maybe they figured the price is for Ep2, Portal and TF and then went and bundled HL2 and Ep1 as free extras?)

OmegaRED

Don't forget the 360 gamers couldn't play Ep2 without Ep1 and Half Life 2. I think the big package may have been due in part to enticing the console crowd into purchasing the series.

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ptsigas

well atleast i can marvel at the screenshots- well hopefully it works...

i have had this problem for over a year now- sound hitching and stalling...oh man (game stalls..) it is very annoying! i was lucky enough to enjoy hl 2 and ep1 (both bought versions) without ANY problems for the couple of months i owned them...then it all went down the crapper.

updated drivers, os, beyond system requirements (oblivion runs at 55fps with 4AA and performance AAA) - plus maxed out details! what gives- fear runs amazing, bioshock ran incredibly fast.

now here i have half life...and it stalls...ANY source game i have does not work- i have tried the big fix that the majog dude figured out or whatever their names were..this blows

valve- stick hl on cryteks engine just do it- apparently there is some flaw or memory leak in source for many players- also something to do with vram...well i have 2 1900's and they run great with everything else- but source games (dark messiah cant get passed menu)- all set to lowest crappiest graphics possiblE!@!


anyways congrats to valve for the release- i hope it turns out-

im waiting for crysis (i know that wont mess up!)

calidan

What are your computer specs? I had that same problem but ever since I've upgraded it doesn't happen anymore.

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Steam Community :: ID :: calidan



"Don't try to be like Jackie. There is only one Jackie.... Study computers instead." - Jackie Chan

ptsigas

amd athlon X2 4400 @2.60ghz

asus a8r32 mvp deluxe socket 939

OCZ 2gb 4000

2- 1900 radeons (not overclocked at all)

xtreme gamer creative soundcard

system is virus free - xp is sp 2 and fully patched - all drivers are up to date.

i tried game without crossfire- doesnt help- i tried with all low settings doesnt help- all settings in catalyst - off- doesnt help.

i tried older drivers- doesnt help

i tried all of the guideliness from tweakguides- doesnt help

basically the game is fragged to hell.

all other games i have (unless it is source) runs amazing- bioshock, oblivio, fear +exp, condemned, and a whole lot more!



so it is annoying- very annoying. amazing game- best fps story (for me!) - and i cant enjoy like some people-

game on. thanks for any insight or advice!

ptsigas

oh and hard drive is defragged twice a week. all clean up is done every 3 days.

i also tried the -heapsize 512000 (i know it is another number i just put this for example)- that helped a little bit but the game still messes up.

even the -dx70 or 80- same crap.

OmegaRED

I finished Episode 2 last night and am on board with those who think it was the best in the Half Life series. If only there had been a teaser for the next episode... I can't shake the feeling that it will be 2009 before we get to play the final installment.

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BoroVC

I'm gonna probably gonna finish Ep2 tonite and I have to agree this is definately the best installment of the series so far. The cinematics are awsome and the graphics are lush and varied. Ran smooth on my aging system too!

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topbob

Honestly I thought Eps 2 has better game play then even HL2, I thought it was as good as the original, which is saying a lot, because I loves me my Half-Life 1. The story and character dev in this episode was superb, Valve is still improving their ability to do amazing character and story work you normally would only see in good TV series you like. Its all about character development. Killed me when I saw the HUGEEEEE cliff hanger at the end, apart of me died that moment knowing I wouldn't be able to go
[SPOILER]



on that ship, which if any long time HL fans would know, came out of the original HL2, but Valve took it out of the final game, you can still find the level of it in the leaked HL2 pre-alpha, which I still have
[/SPOILER]

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12090 in 3DMarks06 on current system, 5001 on old system, 4164 on older, 1587 on oldest

thomasabarnes

I just finished Episode 2 last night, as well! I really like this game. I was wondering why I didnt see a thread for Episode Two comments. I really loved the graphics in EP2.

And those Hunters are a pain in the Butt!!!!!!!!!!!

They have got to make another game for this series because the ending sucked!!!

I'm gonna install Half Life and play all these Half Life games! These games are really very good stuff!!!

EDIT:

Oh, by the way, HL2 EP2 can be purchased by itself over Steam, that is for U.S. residents. I think the Orange Box release date for those in Europe is Oct. 19th.

Anyway EP2 is well worth playing IMO!!

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Zardon

HL2 EP2 is available on steam to people in europe as a standalone title too. and it was all released in europe on steam at the same time.

its only those who want the retail store pack who have to wait.

MIG-31

First of all a very good review indeed.

Secondly i went ahead and bought E2 a couple of days ago.I have only just finished the game within the last 15 minutes.

As im an avid half life fan,i have to say this was bar far the best installment of the series.Im now intrigued how this is going to end.

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thomasabarnes

Ah, Ok Zardon. I was reading somewhere that European residents were complaining that they had to wait for the release of EP2. It wasnt clear to me if they meant retail or purchase over steam. Thanks for clearing that up for me.

BTW Zardon, Bitc*ing new avatar and Sig pic you have! hehe

Cya all around.

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May a song always touch you in a positive way.
Sonar 6 Producer Edition, Win XP Home Edition (SP2), Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro, 250 GB HDD 7200 rpm, 80 GB HDD 7200 rpm, Lite-On DVDRW LH 18A1P
My Music Production: Top 40, Contemporary Christian, Pop/Rock, Decent Rap, Inspirationals, and Children Songs

BWX

Sounds like a pretty good game, although longer would have been better. I cannot believe the sound stuttering is still there either- Oh well, I guess that is a given for HL2 series. I'll probably buy it anyway.

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rig