DescentBB

You know you're writing way too much to try to settle a silly dispute about which game is better.

Mess:

It was directed at Beowulf. Not you.

hl2 has the worst ending...ever...bleh

i;m done with offline gaming.

Here's why I enjoy playing Halo 2 and other xbox games soo much

http://www.korrupted.net/images/messyfrontroom.jpg

Forgive the mess, but here's what your seeing as far as what relates to xbox gaming

57 inch wide screen Sony Projection TV
2 Xboxes
Sony Dolby Digital reciever
5.1 digital surround sound setup.
Linksys Router (For Xbox Live)
Michelob Ultra Beer
Big Couch
Multiple Controllers for Friends to get smacked down.

watch the spoilers Max_T. you've already told me more than i wanted to know.

Hook your PC up to that Thrawn. You can use a game pad too if ya like.

Nice setup btw.

TW- Sorry man, heh, just wasn't sure if someone was taking my stuff as an offense. I didn't mean to offend in any way. Just stated my own thoughts on the game.

Thrawn- You are my DADDY, I want that setup

Sadly my buddy has a big screen like that and an X-Box but he never uses the big screen for some odd reason. :
Tet- yup, time for me to get back to schoolwork, gaming, and working on my mods heh.

I have been spending too much time recently on this. Guess I've been tad bit depressed recently. Time to get some sun again. Not until I kill some more zombies though

Most of what I've seen is like claiming Wing Commander 3 beats out Descent because it doesn't have walls...

But anyway.

Both games are good, but they cater to different audiences. Halo 2 is for the X-Box players who are more likely to be younger; HL2 is more for PC players who are likely to be (possibly quite a bit) older... there is a difference in focus basically.

Actually Descent beats out Wing Commander because it has walls. Not to mention box dodging, tri-chording, barrel rolls, and you can fly on the ceiling.

Wing Commander is just another space sim. I pretty decent one though. However, it is a lot better than allready been done over and over and over and over and over ground pounders.


Also, most X-Box gamers I know are married and have kids. Or are in college. Thus, most I know are older players. There are a lot of younger players though because the older players like to play the game with younger crowds as well.

Now I'm on the POS dune buggy.

Sirius, the point to this is that I was hoping for something that was a lot more unique from other games.

Max_T, i thought that Half life 2's ending rocked; as did half-life2's storyline in general. however, its much, much more subtle than halo2's; maybe that's mob's problem?

and mob, i don't know what you're talking about, because ive been playing through halo2 and i haven't ever needed to do anything more than hold down my trigger button towards a baddy.

ok; so using physics to your advantage in intuitive ways got old for you. i guess for me alternating between holding in the R1 button and strafing around an enemy tank, going up to it and holding in "x" got old too.

i fail to see how halo2 is unique and yet half-life 2 somehow isn't.

p.s.

mob-messenger wrote: I'm in a weird prison camp called City 17.
Apparently some weird radioactive experiment caused mutations happened and I kicked butt in the first game.
Now I escape the city and cause havoc kicking a lot of butt.
I go back to where the experiment happened and get a gravity gun....
The story continues Razz

Wrong. Did you even play HL1?

Vertigo 99 wrote:Max_T, i thought that Half life 2's ending rocked; as did half-life2's storyline in general. however, its much, much more subtle than halo2's; maybe that's mob's problem?

What do you mean by subtle? Meaning it's harder to spot? I really haven't figured out where the story is....

So.... does Half Life have 3 novels to back it up? Over probably roughly 1400 pages of text?

and mob, i don't know what you're talking about, because ive been playing through halo2 and i haven't ever needed to do anything more than hold down my trigger button towards a baddy.

Ummmm you are either playing it on easy mode or telling a direct lie. There is no way you can take down multiple elites just by pressing the trigger button. If this is the case, you missed the entire point of playing Halo 2 and really need to play it again.

It isn't just holding down the X button to board a vehicle. It is taking any seat on a vehicle you want. Getting in a multiplayer game and joining 2 buds on the same vehicle with each guy taking on a specific role that is to his own likeing. It is also having the ability to choose between taking a warthog, a ghost, a human tank, a Banshee, a turret, a Wraith, sitting up on a hill with a sniper rifle or chargin in with a rocket launcher, or dual magnums, or an assault rifle/plasma gun combo. You have a choice in how to approach the enemy. Makes it much more interesting than the run with guns blazing all the time with no other choices on how to take an enemy out HL2.

The only thing HL2 has that is different from any other first person shooter is that you have a different weapon.... the gravity gun.... wow.

It's just Red Faction crossed with Dues Ex crates, crowbar, and similar AI.

Wrong. Did you even play HL1?

Actually, no I didn't. Never figured it worth my time. I'm not a fan of ground pounders period. Halo was the only acception to this. Yet I have played through multiple ground pounders in my life because my brother happens to be a fan of them.

If there is a story, it is very well hidden for those that are new to the series. I guess it's the way it was presented to me that I hate the most....


I played the game, I spent $60 on it. I think I gave it a fair chance.

Oh and I've spent from about 10:00 last night until 9:45 A.M. playing it. I still think that it is just a pretty average ground pounder. Fun for a once through. Most people around here also feel the same about it.

Why would a good game need novels? Maybe because the franchise is wholy non-originial. You are letting the novelity of Halo2 destroy whatever objectivity you had.

Vechicals with seats with unique roles: the Tribes series got there first.

Cortana isn't unique for Bungie, tho she is the first sane AI they've actually used in a game. Neither is the Master Chief, nor are the gun fodder marines(call them bobs). Elelments used in previous Bungie games.

Everything else in Halo is standard ground pounder.

The plot of HL2, you need to spend more time listening to your surroundings the next time you play thru. However, its not laid out for you like a novel or a movie, because HL2 isn't either.

ok, for us who haven't bought eather yet.... i got only enought to buy one or the other! For me, i like a good single player but what i'm really looking for is the game with the best multiplayer...

Also, what diffrence is there between halo 2 and halo 1 for the pc(seeing as how halo for the pc has multiplayer)

mob messenger, that is the most biased review ever.


Half Life 2 is not supposed to have movies, its all through Freemans EYES. You should count the character interaction parts as movies, and give it a 10.

Halo 2 can not POSSIBLY have better graphics than Half Life 2. That's a fact. the Xbox does not have the hardware to power what Hl2 does.

The story line in Hl2 owns Halo 2's. What's Halo 2's, these funny looking aliens try to take over the world with funny looking guns and speach?

In Half Life 2, the world is already taken over, and you and a large other called the Outlook resistance struggle to fight against the Combine and OPRESSION. There is NO other game that has such good sub-plots during the game. Yeah, the whole plot together is not THE MOST ORIGINAL THING EVER, but it's the small things that make it new and different.

Also, gameplay. It's not just run and shoot, open your eyes. Want to shoot the hell out of everything with your mp7? Go ahead. Want to sneak around? Go head. Want to bash in their skulls with a radiator ripped out of the wall? Do it. Want to run around poking people in the eye with beer bottles and crowbars? Go ahead. Want to cut a zombie in half with a buzz saw blade and the manipulator? Go ahead.

Also, the people...they are so immersive...gettting into peace and talking to people is so...it's hard to explain.

The AI is incredible. The enemy hides around corners and ambushs, flanks, traps, and so much more. When I played Halo 2, I saw them dodge slow moving bullets and run behind walls. That's not near as brilliant as Hl2's.


HL2 is a game that you need to THINK to really feel how good it is. You need to look around and try. Don't just walk through without looking around.

HL2DM is coming also.

And so are plenty of mods.


I know I seem very bitchy, but I'm sick of seeing all these comparisons that are totaly false. Yes, it's opinion, but you can have a false opinion. The true word is ignorance, but, that seems mean to say in a post like this.

I got HL2 working on my friends computer tonight, waiting to hear what he thinks of it.

Half-Life 2 is very nicely done and far outclasses Halo 2.

Sorry gentlemen, but I have to come to the defense of my black box of joy. I'm not posting this to rag on the pc or on Half Life 2, but some of you guys really have a biased and prejudiced opinion on Halo just because it's on a console.

No matter what, there's going to be somebody that hates something, no matter how good it is. Their going to have their own biased opinions and prejudices on games, ESPECIALLY if it's on a competing platform. We have Gamecube, Xbox, PS2, and pc fanboys all over. That's not going to change. The PC boys love their mouse and keyboard and high resolutions and the console gamers love their joysticks, surround sounds and friends on the couch.

The story line in Hl2 owns Halo 2's. What's Halo 2's, these funny looking aliens try to take over the world with funny looking guns and speach?"

You should read the fall of Reach and First Strike. Two novels detailing the events up to, and after the first Halo game. Also Halo's story is VERY well done, especially considering the formation of the covenant, why they hate humans, the forerunners, etc...

I haven't played Half life two yet, but if it's anything like 1 it has a pretty decent story. But what makes Halo's story so good is the story OUTSIDE of the game. Once you have read it and know it, then a LOT of the events within the game make a huge amount of sense. Everything from the covenent caste system, the role of the Helljumpers, the military command, AI's etc... To include all of that story within the game would give action gamers information overload. Bungie did a pretty good job balancing action and the storyline in order to appease everyone.

Halo 2 can not POSSIBLY have better graphics than Half Life 2. That's a fact. the Xbox does not have the hardware to power what Hl2 does

Don't let the hardware specs fool you. Along with the custom chip and developers ability to "code to the core" on the xbox, that thing can put out graphics that can match and in a lot of cases, exceed the visual quality of games on the pc. As far as Half Life 2, it takes advantage of directx 9, whereas the custom xbox hardware solution uses an API very close to Directx 8.1 in comparison, which is not too shabby for a console. In comparing the xbox games to games that fully utilize direct 9 features, then the answer is NO. But on games that don't take advantage of Directx 9, then the answer is yes, with the exception of resolution, which is another matter on the xbox because it actually "downscales" the resolution so it's playable on a TV. Take a look at game screenshots taken directly from the xbox's game buffer before it's downsized and you'll be quite surprised. Here's an example

http://www.bungie.net/images/Games/Halo ... ackals.jpg

And yea, the game looks GOOOOOOD on my bigscreen.

In Half Life 2, the world is already taken over, and you and a large other called the Outlook resistance struggle to fight against the Combine and OPRESSION. There is NO other game that has such good sub-plots during the game. Yeah, the whole plot together is not THE MOST ORIGINAL THING EVER, but it's the small things that make it new and different.

Hehe, I won't go there. People who have played and beaten Halo probably laughed that that statement.

Also, the people...they are so immersive...gettting into peace and talking to people is so...it's hard to explain.

Another thing about Halo that makes it so popular is the dialogue between the NPC's. I admit though, the dialogue in Halo 1 was a lot more hilarious during combat, but in Halo 2 it's still pretty good.

The AI is incredible. The enemy hides around corners and ambushs, flanks, traps, and so much more. When I played Halo 2, I saw them dodge slow moving bullets and run behind walls. That's not near as brilliant as Hl2's.

When it comes to Halo 1, Halo 2, and Half Life 1 and 2, I have to give credit to all for their extremely kick ass AI. You won't see the AI at it's fully glory in Halo unless you bump it up to heroic or legendary, at which case, you'll be cursing at their brilliance. I also remember those enemy soldiers from half life 1 that were pretty nasty on tactics too.

HL2 is a game that you need to THINK to really feel how good it is. You need to look around and try. Don't just walk through without looking around.

I would have to say the same thing on your evaluation of Halo.

know I seem very bitchy, but I'm sick of seeing all these comparisons that are totaly false. Yes, it's opinion, but you can have a false opinion. The true word is ignorance, but, that seems mean to say in a post like this.

Yea, opinions are free and everyone has them, including me and you. For the record, some of yours were pretty ignorant too and I'm quite sure that mine will seem ignorant to the next guy that posts here. What I'm trying to say is that your boo boo doesn't smell like roses either and nor does mine.

With all that said, I'm actually looking forward to picking up Half life 2. The last pc game that I picked up was Doom III and while it looked good, I wish there was more of an intellectual element to it. I just don't have the funds in order to bring my pc up to spec in order to play the game the way the developers wanted it to play. It's hard for me to justify ripping out that GEforce 4 TI for another expensive card for just one game. I've heard rumours that half life 2 is coming to the xbox though, so I might wait for that and then check the reviews from both gamers and the review sites to see if it's worth picking it up or just getting it for the pc. Until then, I'll try my best to keep from saying anything about Half life 2 until I get my hands on it.

Welp, back to Halo 2. Going back through it on Heroic and then legendary and getting my butt kicked. Oh, and speaking of which, I discovered that the Marines now take the inititive and drive Jeeps on their own after you get out. I knew that they drove, but I didn't think that when I got out to take out a sniper that was pesturing us, that they would get out of the passenger seat, get into the drivers seat and proceed to wreak havok on the convenent and distract the sniper while I snuck up from behind. That was a VERY surprising bonus.

Right... originality is something FPSes have lacked for a long, long time. They come up with new, cool features, but the basic concepts change very seldom; Tribes' introduction of vehicles was probably the most major recently, and not everyone likes them.

Although, on the other hand, JKA's dynamic is pretty unique. It's not strictly first-person, but a shooter with lightsabers is still quite amusing.

What really gives these games potential is the add-ons. It's hard to say what someone will come up with. And as far as good FPSes, even if not much -new-, go, you can't go wrong with either.

what i'm getting is that halo's storyline sucks unless you read the books.

that's like saying that Doom 1 had an awesome storyline, so long as you read the books that come with it

and i wasn't playing halo2 on easy, mob. but for the most part, i stand by my statement: i get behind cover, shoot at an enemy, strafe around to next cover, continue.

Admiral Thrawn wrote:I haven't played Half life two yet

oops; there goes your credibility.

man, i think this debate is more heated then Bush Vs. Kerry

Vertigo 99 wrote:what i'm getting is that halo's storyline sucks unless you read the books.

You could say the same thing about LOTR. Unless you read the books, you can not fully appreciate the movies.

As far as the story line, Halo 2's story was written as part of the books.

The farther I got, I can say that Half Life 2's AI is pretty decent. Not as good as Halo's but it is good.

I never said the game is bad. It is a good game and a lot of fun. My point is that I'm tired of people claiming that Half Life 2 is better than Halo. I believe it is directly the opposite.

BTW, I don't feel heated at all. No biggy. We have apposing views but at least I have something to back my statements up with being that I spent $60 on the game and have spent 2 nights playing it.

mob-messenger wrote:My point is that I'm tired of people claiming that Half Life 2 is better than Halo. I believe it is directly the opposite.

..............


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...

Not having played either one of them, I'd rate them as a tie.

HL2: 0
HL2: 0
D3: 10

Not having played either one of them, I'd rate them as a tie.

HL2: 0
HL2: 0
D3: 10

Yes, HL2 would indeed tie itself.

But you forgot
H: 9.5

(its Halo not Hey Low )

Vertigo 99 wrote:oops; there goes your credibility.

I love it when idiots take a few words out of someone's sentence and try to make a big deal for you. Since you don't like to read, here's the full sentence

I haven't played Half life two yet, but if it's anything like 1 it has a pretty decent story

I don't see anything in that statement that implies that I'm thinking I have credibility. Next time, use common sense before you address me newb

Gooberman wrote:

Not having played either one of them, I'd rate them as a tie.

HL2: 0
HL2: 0
D3: 10

Yes, HL2 would indeed tie itself.

But you forgot
H: 9.5

(its Halo not Hey Low )

PWND!

I really don't see WTF is so great about Halo. I've played both Halo 1 and 2...and Halo PC..all multiplayer...Halo 1 single...

Halo's always seemed quite 'dumbed down' to me. Very simplistic play. I can probably see why the kiddies like it.

Half-Life was and is a MAN's game.

Counter Strike, HL's multiplayer component, also has wide appeal for the kiddies- probably for the same reasons that Halo is.

Suncho wrote:Not having played either one of them, I'd rate them as a tie.

HL2: 0
HL2: 0
D3: 10

Now THERE's something I can agree with. It's 6DOF or nothing, baby!

Thing is, HL2 probably has 6DOF capability.

thrawn, that's like if i said that ive played the hell out of halo 1's single player, so i assumed that halo2's single player was just as bad.

btw, no matter what you say, halo1's single player was far from enjoyable / new.

Bet if I had cable I could beat you guys at Counter Strike easy.

Now if it was Halo 2.... that may be a different story.

Point, shoot, run..... point, shoot, run..... point, shoot, run... point shoot, run....

Now if you said HL2=Halo 2.... then I "might" somewhat agree with you.


But as far as it comes to things you can do with the game and the engine.... Halo 2>HL2


I'll bet Halo 2 is possible of 6 degrees of freedom. Take a look at the Banshee.... it does loops, barrel rolls... etc.


The Half Life guy sure has some big@ssed pockets....

Lets see.... gravity gun, crowbar, lots of grenades, 6 shooter, 9 MM, assault rifle.... I hate magic pockets.


BTW, Half Life 2 isn't exactly friend friendly. Try inviting some friends over to play Half Life 2 with you. One person at a time on a 13" monitor!! vs. 2-4 players on a 60" BOX OF JOY!!

Personally I thought Half Life 2 was a letdown as did many others in the community.

Interesting point... Halo didn't need mods to keep it alive. Yet it still had bigger lines where I lived than I even saw for the opening night for ROTK.

n Half Life 2, the world is already taken over, and you and a large other called the Outlook resistance struggle to fight against the Combine and OPRESSION. There is NO other game that has such good sub-plots during the game. Yeah, the whole plot together is not THE MOST ORIGINAL THING EVER, but it's the small things that make it new and different.

There you have it folks. Generic story line is what ties this game together.


Halo 2's generic storyline....

[spoiler]John 117, a 6 year old kid is taken by the military in a secrete project called the SPARTAN II project. He and a group of children are flash cloned and trained as soldiers at the age of 6. When they are old enough they are augmented and only about half survive and others are so messed up so bad that they can no longer perform or dead. A group of aliens called the Covenent seek to destroy humanity and to find Halo in order to seek out what their prophets call the Great Journey. Captain keys, the first person to take down a covenent ship is given a ship called the Pillar Of Autumn. Cortana an AI created with a life-span of maybe 10 years is created after a certain person to be the smartest AI in the human fleet. Nearly every human world along with Reach is completely destroyed. Keys, Cortana, and the Cheif discover Halo a strange massive ring that has it's own atmosphere built by what is only known as the Forunners. and go aboard it where the Flood, sn unstoppable alien parasite that can only be destroyed by destroying it's food chain. This parasite kills Keys and all the marines aboard Halo. They discover a robot called 343 Guilty Spark who controls the sentinals and seems to be great at the art of deception forgetting to mention the important details. His objective is to destroy the ring which would in effect destroy everything in exhistence. Master Cheif uses the wreckage of the Pillar Of Autumn which the Helljumpers mission is to defend and to destroy Halo and disable it. Master Cheif and Cortana escape. However, so does 343 Guilty Spark who is now seeking assistance.<---- just the tip of the iceburg. [/spoiler]

BTW, I found out that those cinematics in Halo 2 were all in-game. I thought they were pre-rendered videos. Interesting. I guess they were in fact all in-game.

mob-messenger wrote:Bet if I had cable I could beat you guys at Counter Strike easy.

hahahahahahahahaha

But as far as it comes to things you can do with the game and the engine.... Halo 2>HL2

This statement is just ignorant. The fact that you can buy Half Life 2, CS: Source, DOD: Source, CS: Condition Zero, and Half Life: Source as a bundle package on Steam (all using the same engine, mind you) apparently means nothing to you. Not to mention the fact that Valve will no doubt be licensing the engine for use in other games. What other games today use the Halo engine?

n Half Life 2, the world is already taken over, and you and a large other called the Outlook resistance struggle to fight against the Combine and OPRESSION. There is NO other game that has such good sub-plots during the game. Yeah, the whole plot together is not THE MOST ORIGINAL THING EVER, but it's the small things that make it new and different.

There you have it folks. Generic story line is what ties this game together.

Halo's generic storyline: Run around, kill aliens. Whoop de friggin do.



Also Mess, [spoiler]the monitor didnt want to destroy Halo. It wanted to activate it (weapon, remember).[/spoiler]

disclaimer: I have played both Halo2 and Half Life 2, and they both own.

LOTR story line.... run around kill monsters.... whoop de friggen do.

Look deeper than the cover. You can make a statement like that about anything.

Apparently you didn't read what I stated.

HL2, run around kill zombies.... whoop de friggen do.

Red Faction 2, run around kill zombies.... whoop de friggen do.

Doom 1-3, run around on space station and kill zombies.... whoop de friggen do.

Quake 1-3, run around kill zombies, whoop de friggen do.

Unreal 1-3 and tournament, run around kill aliens, whoop de friggen do.

mob-messenger wrote:LOTR story line.... run around kill monsters.... whoop de friggen do.

Don't make me biatch slap you with 4 pages of whoop ass like I did the last time you said something stupid like that

Tyranny, you missed the point. I'm saying that, that you can say that about anything you want. You're only stating the cover without looking into depth.


I really haven't seen any valid statements against Halo 2 said yet. I've been laughing my head off at most of it along with a bunch of other Halo 2 fans.



I guess the best way to rate games isn't really by numbers. That can appear to be biased.

I've been blazing through Half Life like it's nothing. It's a very easy game.

As for Counter Strike, if I had cable or DSL I would challenge you to a game right now. I beat my bro in Quake who has played it for years over and over after only about 3-4 hours of playing. He plays against clans in Q3A.

H2 on the other hand is a challenge for me just as Descent 3 is a challenge.

So, here is a better way to look at my ratings:

Descent 3- most unique multiplayer
BF-1942- Best multiplayer overall.
Dues Ex- Best single player RPG/story
Freespace 1 and 2- best space sim.
Mechwarrior 2- Best mechwarrior game.
Splinter Cell 1- Best stealth game.
MGS2- Most complex and long story. Best cinematics.
GTA: San Andreas- Most unique single player game.
Jedi Knight Academy- Best sword fighting game.
Tomb Raider/HL2- Best ambience.
Best Physics- HL2
Most Unique Weapons- HL2
Best Soundtrack- Halo 2
Best overall story line- Halo 2
Best game machine- PC, X-Box, PS2, Gamecube, they are all equal in my book being that each has it's advantages/dissdvantages. Just depends on what you want.

The thing is, I will admit that I was closed minded when it came to LOTR. I was going through a bad time in my life at the time.

So in other words, Vindicators statement is about as dumb as my statement about LOTR.

Since then I have learned. I respect it in it's own place.

Now, HL2 has it's place. It is a great single player game. I have said that probably in nearly every reply in this post. It's physics are supperior. However, I think the vehicle physics are better in Halo 2.

At first before I got the gravity gun I figured in Halo 2's physics as superior. However, I do like Half Life 2's environmental physics much better. The fact that you can't drive the dune buggy in water is cool. I still like the 3 seated Warthog with the anti-aircraft gun better but that is my preference.

Any vehicles in multi by chance? Any co-op? Didn't think so. That is also my preference because I like to go outside too even though I enjoy developing games, you need to know what the outside world likes too in order to drag them into a game.

Half Life 2 is mod compatible.

Halo 2 isn't mostly because they won't release any modding tools and they won't make it for PC. This is it's downfall. However, it is best suited for X-Box anyway.

I prefer those S-Type controlers to the Mouse/keyboard any day BTW. I used to think the stick was stupid but now I like it much better, much more comfortable, and much more fun to use than a mouse. Maybe not as simple but in comfort and fun, I like it much better. I like the rumble as well. Wish I could find a controller like it for PC. :\

BTW, one of the story writers of the Halo series stated that they have written about 100 or so years of Halo history not just what you see in the games.

Most of the best sci-fi/fantasy writers always have a massive in-depth plot.

Tyrrany, if you read the Halo novels, you would understand that there was a lot of human sacrifice in involved in these books. Lots of character work.

One thing I will also say for Vindicator, you were correct about the spoiler. I miss-typed that. That's actually what I ment to say.

I'm not here to rag on Half Life 2, I'm just putting it and Halo 2 in their own arenas.

The way I put it at first was a tad bit biased. It was going from a first few hours of play review. It became much more impressive as I went on through the game. However, I still feel that Halo 2 was excellent and is at least it's equal. But I feel it's story line was much better as do at least 175 million other people out there.

mob; for the last time, i dont care about the external stuff about halo's storyline; it doesnt matter because none of it is even in the game.

and although half life 2 doesnt currently have those options, its only a matter of time.


i read somewhere (on this website, the DBB) that a mod crew is already working on a half life 2 total conversion with a space combat game, where there are commanders that control the battle from an RTS perspective, there are people actually PILOTING the ships they command (think freespace 2, it looks VERY similar to it), and, there are soldiers that board ships and duke it out, FPS style.


Halo 2, eat your heart out.