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[Chara]

But you cant play it. =/

https://www.llamabreeders.net/no_lies_at_all.jpg

E-mail recieved when tried to activate:

Hello,
We noticed that you just registered a Half-Life 2 key. Where did you come across a copy of the game?

You're not in trouble or anything, but you're registered pretty early, and the game isn't activated just yet.

Thanks,

Erik Johnson
Valve

[dan da man]

Released already but you can't play it? I like the easy way of popping the disc in and playing.

[kupoartist]

Yeah, I heard about this. I'm really getting the distinct impression that Valve are on to something with Steam (You register your CD key through it - you can't play HL2 until it's released). The leaks of Halo 2, GTA: San Andreas, Doom 3 and the leak of the HL2 Beta (Or was it an Alpha?) contrast amazingly with the total lack of a full pirated copy of Half-Life 2 appearing, with only 4 days to go until release. Steam once seemed like a scary invasion of my privacy when I first heard about it... I wonder now whether this is the future of Games distribution.

I'm hoping that my copy of "Raising the Bar" will be here soon... though knowing my luck, I'll open it up and find out the ending of HL2 or something ^^

[Bogart]

You should thank god you didn't a=have a phone call from the FBI. What a week... MGS 3, Half-Life 2 (my first true Half Life experience!)... amazing!

[Chara]

Ok, I just got around to playing the game. It is so awesome, I love the level of interactivity. I knew they would put advanced physics into the game but wow, I didnt expect you could do things like pick up the phone, or get trash from the trash can. At the beginning, a guard told me to throw away a can that he tossed on the floor. I picked up the can and tossed it in his face. But then he slapped me a few times with his shock stick.

I also love how much they put into the characters. Thier expressions are amazing, its really like a real person is talking to you. It isnt just the way they move thier body but rather thier facial expressions. Like, Alyx was arguing with this scientist and her eyebrows were crunched up like they would be with someone that was arguing... and then if you looked over to her father, he had that look on his face like "here she goes again...". Man, the detail is way too awesome. It isnt really something that ou can see in a screenshot, you have to be playing it to really take notice.

I am really hooked on this game. The buggy... the gravity gun... the aintlions... man I love it all.

[kupoartist]

6 years of waiting for a sequel, one and a half years of immense hype... And somehow, it's living up to it all. No scratch that, It's exceeding my expectations. First impressions: I seriously feel that playing the first five missions or so, I was having the kind of fun I haven't had with a new game for years. Everything just came together amazingly... the realistic characters, their facial expressions, the absolutely amazing graphics (which run well on my PC at very high settings - a triumph of technical engineering), the phenomenal design and the spot on pacing. The entire sequence involving escaping the city was just... wow. I don't think I've ever got that feeling of having truely achieved something in a game until I took that hovercraft down the canals... Personally, I thought that the 6th Chapter (Ravenholm) was probably my least favorite: Headcrabs and Zombies are pretty annoying really. That said, it certainly had some great moments. Traps, Physics Weapons and Mad Shotgun toting priests

I am currently on Chapter 11: "Anticitizen Zero", when the sh*t really hits the fan. I've also just witnessed what is probably the most memorable scripted sequence i've ever seen (you'll know it when you see it). 11 Chapters in 2 days isn't bad... shame it'll probably all be over in another 2 days... what is weird, is that It all feels exactly the right length. Each chapter feels just long enough; not too long and tedious, not too short and forgettable. A definate 5 star game, if not more... the Presentation of everything is through the roof... audio, visual, gameplay whatever. My only worry at the moment is that I'm not entirely sure whether I'm convinced by the AI: The combat is so amazing, that it's hard to notice that the things you're fighting against aren't as revolutionary as was once hinted in hype. I'm not I really care too much though. I don't have as much time for games anymore, But I know that this is one of my "Play through once a year until you die" games ^^

[Chara]

Just a few funny screens...

Look closely, there's a headcrab on the cutting board.
A fort made from random crates and junk
Alyx pissed off - SPOILER WARNING
Gman is always watching you

You know, about Gman, he pops up quite often. You just have to have quite an eye to spot him. I only saw him twice, the one in the screen above, and another time at the start of the game when he flased on the big screen for like half a second. Only reason I spoted him in the screen above was because the action died down and I had to find a way to get out of the area. Then once i spotted him, he walked away in a cool manner.

And man... I love the fact that there is next to no clipping in this game. In that screen above, with Dr. Breen grabbign Alyx's face, his hand doesnt even go through her where in most games it would. Objects that are affected with physics dont even clip at all either.

[kupoartist]

Originally Posted by Chara

You know, about Gman, he pops up quite often. You just have to have quite an eye to spot him. I only saw him twice, the one in the screen above, and another time at the start of the game when he flased on the big screen for like half a second.

He's a hard one to spot in this game isn't he! I think i've seen him 3 times... First time, he was on a little bridge along the canal (I only saw him because I crashed the hovercraft thingy - Gamespot have a screenshot of this one). Second time was on the Coasts when you look through a pair of binoculars (he's chatting with someone at a Resistance encampment) and the Third time was on one of the security screens in Nova Prospekt.

Edit: Just a warning, but you should probably mark the "Alyx Pissed Off" shot as a spoiler. It didn't spoil it for me (I'm not at that point but I've seen the shot before), but It does reveal a key event in the game - I wouldn't want anyone to have this game spoilt.