Will you be able to play HL2 episode 2 without buying episode 1?

[Neil]

Any idea?

[CoinReturn]

Wasn't episode 1 playable as a stand alone game? I know the 360/PS3 versions come with Half Life 2, Ep. 1, Ep. 2, Portal, and Team Fortress 2.

[MinionZombie]

If I'm not mistaken, you should be able to play Ep2 without owning Ep1 - you'll need HL2 of course, but I don't think you need to have Ep1 in order to play Ep2 - but I'd check that with Valve or see their forums or something just to make sure.

Did you play Ep1? I downloaded it myself, no way was I spending £20 on a 6 hour game. It was good, but just more of the same, Ep2 on the other hand looks like it's offering a lot of new stuff, just watching the videos online makes it look kick ass - hopefully it actually will be (as well as being a bit longer! :eek:)

[Neil]

If I'm not mistaken, you should be able to play Ep2 without owning Ep1 - you'll need HL2 of course, but I don't think you need to have Ep1 in order to play Ep2 - but I'd check that with Valve or see their forums or something just to make sure.

Did you play Ep1? I downloaded it myself, no way was I spending £20 on a 6 hour game. It was good, but just more of the same, Ep2 on the other hand looks like it's offering a lot of new stuff, just watching the videos online makes it look kick ass - hopefully it actually will be (as well as being a bit longer! :eek:)

Sorry you "downloaded" EP1? Does that mean you "backed it up"? I thought it was protected by Steam?

[CoinReturn]

There are plenty of "backed up" versions available of Episode 1 that dont require Steam to run.

[MinionZombie]

*ahem* Yes I "backed up" Ep1. :lol:

There was no need for Steam at all, it was completely taken out so you just double clicked a .bat (or something) file and it loaded the game, a bit slower loading in general, but as Ep1 certainly wasn't worth 20 hard-earned quid I didn't have to spare anyway, it's all good.

Just copied the files into the specified folder and bingo-bango.

It always makes me laugh when companies do something "unbreakable", because it's blatantly false as there is a way around absolutely everything - likewise this "national database" of all our information for Tony Blair's bastard ID card scam - "totally secure" ... er, yeah right, it'd get hacked and you'd have ID theft on a biblical scale.

Everything has a way in...even Steam. :D

I will add that I bought HL2 (back when I had the magic that was a student loan cropping up in my account every semester), because it actually was worth the £30 and lasted a damn sight longer than 6 hours (five complete play throughs thus far).

[capncnut]

Valve should forget these new conversions and get Half Life 3 on the go.

PS: It's a bit quiet on the Deus Ex front, I think I'm gonna give up hope totally!

[Danny]

i loved half life 2 but csince part excahnged it for dead rising and a silent bob bobblehead:D

im gonna wait for the big package for the 360 with all 3 ep's and portal with the second game, now thats value for money.

[MinionZombie]

Meh, it's what Valve do - make about 80 billion add-ons for their game, then 5 or 6 years later they come out swinging and blow everybody's socks off again. I'm just surprised there haven't been more add-ons for the game, it certainly took long enough for Ep1 to come out ... but then again, I suppose HL2 isn't as open to multiple add-ons for new threads of gameplay. HL had the likes of Opposing Forces and Blue Shift, but then again (again) HL2 could have one where you play Barney again - find out what he was up to when Gordon was off on his own.

We need a kind of "what happened when Gordon wasn't there saying nothing as usual yet somehow having a full conversation with people" add-on ... that'd be cool.

As for HL3, I remember someone from Valve saying that the Episodes were HL3 ... pfft, lol, yeah right - they're add-ons ya mook!

Ooh! Another add-on you could have - something that takes place between the first and second game, not involving Gordon, but showing a bridge between HL's beginning of chaos and HL2's dystopian sh*t-hole crumbling city - perhaps action in an earlier City, like City 3 or something...

If only Valve would crank some more out like they used to, Ep2 isn't even coming out for Xmas anymore - talk about dragging their asses, the majority of the structure for Ep2 is already pre-existing, it's essentially like making a modification for the game - enough with the lag-assing, Valve!

[capncnut]

What's happening with the HL2 zombie mod 'No More Room In Hell'? That was one tasty looking game!

[MinionZombie]

Still in development last I heard...there's another called "Zombie Panic", I think, but don't know what was going on there either...*ach* waiting for zombie mods is a pain in the ass, we need HL2 zombie mania!! :eek:

[capncnut]

We need HL2 zombie mania!!!

I listened to the radio broadcast the other day and was well impressed. I don't wanna be jumped on here but as much a I loved Dead Rising, I wasn't really 'blown away' by it. I want a serious hardcore zombie FPS that throws me in the apocalypse as opposed to an arcadey situation job with gimmicks.

[MinionZombie]

I know exactly what you're saying, while I'm still waiting to get my mits on Dead Rising (money is a tough thing to find for a 360), a full on zombie FPS would be so much fun - and not in a gimmicky way - in an "oh sh*t, they're busting through the barricades and I've only got three shells left - head for the attic!" kinda way.

Full on zombie horror FPS - that'd kick balls.

[capncnut]

Just checked out a bunch of trailers for the new HL package on the 360. All 5 were from Ep2 and as someone who hasn't played this chapter yet, OMFG! How hard does it look?

[Danny]

ah yes i thought we dont go to ravenholm was scary but then a few months back mz got rantin' and bitchin' bout those dern zombines:D

[MinionZombie]

Oh fudge me, We Don't Go To Ravenholm was scary ... I still get creeped out by it - more of a subtle build up of fear. Just Alyx looking scared and saying quietly "we don't go to Ravenholm" as you pass the junction creeps you out - then in the chaos you're forced to go there, daaaayyyyyuuum.

And yes, the Zombine are a bit much at times, they run in a zombie like fashion with grenades and just scream and go nuts. Get a bunch of those charging at you down a dark corridor and it's scary.

Also, waiting for the damn elevator in Ep1 when there are no fudging lights on - that is tense stuff, you're attacked from all sides in the dark ... oh joy. :scared ass wimp smiley:

[capncnut]

Ravenholm made me proper s**t my pants! Those zombies are just relentless. When I finally figured out the rooftop walkway, I kept falling off and landing in packs of the b**tards, "Arghhgedoffame!". Yet to play Eps 1+2 but looking forward to it, the 360 version looks ultra-polished!