The ULTIMATE Half-Life Retrospective
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- Опубликовано: 1 июн 2024
- Today we'll be looking at the entire half life franchise, critically analysing all the elements which are included, comparing and contrasting the changes made throughout the series, and ultimately discovering what makes all these games so innovative and revolutionary.
Half-life: 0:00:00
Half-Life 2: 1:03:11
Half-Life Alyx (Why Current VR Will Always Be Niche) 2:37:47 
Игры
Can't believe you have the gall to call this an "ULTIMATE" Half-Life retrospective when you haven't covered in depth the real star game of the IP, the critically and commercially acclaimed Hideo Kojima-inspired 2018 hit first person shooter Hunt Down the Freeman, made by a current Activision Blizzard developer and which truly revolutionized video games as an art form.
It's impact on the industry and even our culture will not be apparent until the 2030's
Critically acclaimed for its nuanced characters, superb pacing, and absolutely brilliant storytelling.
Commercially acclaimed for its immense creativity
had us in the first half not gonna lie
The creator of Hunt Down The Freeman has a game award because of COD Mobile. Think about that.
You fucked up my face!
1:00:10 "Hey bro who's your favorite half life character"
" *Barry Callahan* "
It was really bothering me that he kept messing up Barney Calhouns name. I'm not sure if it's intentional or not but damn it grinds my gears lmao.
I would like to turn your attention to the fact that GLaDOS has kept the combine and who knows what else out of aperture for an ungodly amount of time. Such a badass
There is no guarantee to what the scope of understanding GLaDOS does or doesn’t know about the combine. We can’t guarantee we’ve ever really seen the outside of the facility
While being dead
The Deagle in OpFor has a laser sight that drastically improves the accuracy but slow in fire rate, but if you turn off the laser sight, you have a much faster fire rate but poor accuracy. From the looks of it, you didn't turn on the laser sight.
I was about to comment this too.
@@pinroshan020 can you help me? I saw an ad about a cartoon microphone that was an ad for a voice over online college on this video and I can’t find it again.
Nevermind, I figured it out, it’s called, “On the mic training.”
1:00:10
B A R R Y C A L L A H A N
benry connorhan
Yeah what the fuck. MIght as well call him Benadryl Carry-on.
@@MasterCrumbleHe also called the Combine soldiers aliens...
Gordon always had a character, he has a backstory, we even know the title of his thesis paper.
mad how he says gordon never even met barney, but they were like best friends at BM
The guy misunderstands a few aspects of the game, but the important thing is that although he does have a defined character and backstory, it really acts as a template/vessel in which the player can fill in the blanks.
It's about implementation. Take the modern Fallout games for example, where you technically create your own char, but the game tries to dictate so much of your backstory and identity that it's arguably actually more restrictive than something like HL, where there's just enough backstory for context but still plenty wiggle room for the player.
@@WK-47 it fills in the gaps of your immersion for why you're in a situation, but thats just the platform for you to imagine what you would do if you were this guy, at this time, being in that situation. its perfect!
26:00 if you hold forward you will land on the table healing before you take the fall dmg, you are the only person I've seen not do that
31:00 the pistol can be used underwater
Yeah but it sucks
I have the impression that some update must have broken this part. I remember when I played it for the first time ever (WON version) I landed on the table right away and found it a hiliarous joke, not annoying at all. You would always slide perfectly onto the table.
While 99% of the game seems intact, there are some other minor things, mostly scripted scenes, I remember worked but are broken now.
For example, in blast pit the animation where the tentacle grabs the scientist seems somewhat out of sync with the scientist floating next to tentacle rather than actually being grabbed by it. Or the security guard was supposed to run into the room, pull his gun and shout the line "hey, eat this you outer space octpus" before shooting his gun and getting killed (which is supposed to teach the player that shooting that thing is pointless and you are supposed to silently sneak past it), while now he gets insta-killed by the tentacle before he can say anything.
to be fair I've died at that table many times by not paying attention
@@wulf2121 The Blast Pit animation being scuffed is, IIRC, due to the game running at 60FPS when the animation script was designed for 30FPS.
You can avoid damage by just holding backwards since the pipe can be used as a surfing ramp
One thing I do respect and love about Valve, is how they tell the lore in their games. Especially with L4D and L4D 2, environmental story telling is top tier
Absolutely love the environmental story telling in L4D 1/2. No matter how many times I’ve played it, I always enjoy reading the scribblings on the wall from survivors
about that map in Interloper you no-clipped through, You're not supposed to fall into the holes that launch you (you're better off avoiding falling in them at all costs). There's a cave/tunnel system in the map that leads to a pillar that rises and lowers (there's some stuff you need to break in order to use it). You ride the pillar up and then plan your jumps accordingly until you can jump upon a manta ray airship and ride it to the teleporter. Not that this is at all obvious but it's a lot easier than what you were doing.
...20 years...for 20 years i absolutely hated that part because of how stupid it is...and now you're telling me i've just done it wrong all this time...wtf :(
@@Buttersaemmel Pretty much, but dont worry brother, now that you know that there is easier path, it wont be so annoying
It's been over a decade and that ending of ep 2 still hurts. The burn from never getting episode 3 really set in me a feeling to never trust game studios the way I used to in 2007.
trust game studios? wtf are you talking about. Valve has released nothing but good games, and your lack of trust came from because they didn't release a third game? LMAO.
First off; you shouldn't of even had trust in the first place and second, the fact that game studios rip you off should've made you not trust them. but no, the thing that makes you not trust game studios is literally the thing that should be making you trust Valve; they only release top quality games
@@pyropulseIXXI k
Some thing to note on your thoughts on Opposing Force, the reason why the Deagle is innacurate is because you probably havent turn the lazer on using right click.
The reason the flashlight was a separate thing in episode 2 was because during the cave section with the ancient guard players kept running out of sprint because they were using the flash light to see which ment they kept dying so value had to make it two separate things
Maybe it's just me but I actually think all of the moments when characters just start talking about stuff and chill around are great. Not only you can immerse but also you can feel the character development. It can also serve as the "silence before the storm" or a moment of rest after combat. I never felt like I need to say something, NPCs were doing a fantastic job for me with their fantastic dialogues.
It's Barney *Calhoun*, and his opening line in HL2 is in reference to the security guard lines in HL1 that say ""Hey, catch me later, I'll buy you a beer." Has nothing to do with Blue Shift. I just wish you did a bit more research on some of the very available info about the games and the development before making this.
One thing to note about "robotic AI" that "they do not care if they live or die," in Half-Life 2, Combine soldiers do not care if they live or die because their humanity was destroyed. They can't really suffer like normal people can which makes them perfect foot soldiers. They are drugged up and ready to fight to the death at any moment.
One could say that the Combine was so obsessed about removing their humanity, that they did not even think that MAYBE a sense of self-preservation is needed for a soldier who is constantly fighting.
The 9mm can also be used underwater in the first game but it's practically useless so... yeah the only viable underwater weapon is the crossbow.
Fun fact: You can actually just spray your SMG to destroy the landmines in Surface Tension, no satchel charges wasted!
Over half way through and can honestly say it’s an amazing video, aside from a few petty nitpicks, like you forgetting to mention the scariest enemy, the poison zombie, and Barney “Callahan”. Other then that, good shit. Look forward to what you do next.
he called him barry callahan at one point
Re: the Combine troops AI, a charitable reading is that they're meant to be surgically altered humans who are being manipulated into compliance with exogenous hormones. They're essentially lobotomized and completely incapable of thinking about self-preservation.
That being said it's still a bit of a shame that they're less impressive than the parlour trick AI for the soldiers from the original game (in HL1 I think that the soldiers have specific points that they can go between which had to be specified room by room (with the chatter announcing one of several canned responses) whereas HL2 gives them more actual decisions but ironically ends up making them seem less impressive. I think in theory that the soldiers wouldn't have been able to navigate the more open environments of the sequel without it either becoming obvious that they only move between a couple of places or getting lost completely.)
Just the Combine troops are surgically altered. Civil Protection is comprised of regular blokes who enlisted under the promise of better living conditions, which could be used to justify their questionable AI as well, as they're essentially Average Joes wearing masks and not an elite military force like the HECU.
yeah they arent aliens
Another lore reason that the combine troops are less effective than the marines is because they’re just cannon fodder. The marines were highly trained soldiers. The combine are just brainwashed.
Also, the CP aren’t modified at all. It’s only the soldiers.
"They're waiting for you, Gordon. In the test, chamberrrrrr..."
It was almost as if G-man himself was saying that line.
Holy crap you are pumping these things out at such a fast rate with such high quality, excited to watch this!
Agreed! Very nicely done
That was a stellar watch, thank you for this video!
Only thing I wonder is how you can call this the “Ultimate” Half-Life retrospective without even mentioning Uplink, Decay and Lost Coast. :P
This video is great so far! Can't help but notice Barney Calhoun has an alter ego: Barry Callahan! 1:00:10
About the topic of Blueshift not introducing any new mechanics or having the improvements opfor made was due to the cancelled Dreamcast port of Half-Life. Blueshift was intended to be a Dreamcast exclusive port, but due to hardware limitations with the Dreamcast, Gearbox couldn’t change much about the game besides simple model swaps and minor textures replacements, leaving the lacklustre additions and lack of improvements that opfor had. But as we know, the Dreamcast would fall through as a viable platform, leaving Blueshift in its current state to instead be ported to PC without anything “revolutionary” about the game since they couldn’t change anything or add anything complex. If Blueshift was intended to be a PC expansion like opfor, then I’m certain that it would have been on the same caliber as opfor.
TL;DR : Blueshift came out lacklustre because of the Dreamcast. Don’t blame Gearbox for Sega going bankrupt
GoldSrc is a heavily modified licensed version of the Quake 1 engine, not Quake 2.
You do not have the option to kill all scientists you see without consequences, some are mission critical and if you kill them or they die you will fade to black and get a “Failure to save mission critical personnel” type screen text. An example of this is the scientist on the gantry who helps open the lambda complex teleportation chamber portal just before jumping to Xen.
There is one cutscene… when you get captured by the HECU marines and cut to a player POV non-playable cutscene being dragged down the hall as they decide your fate.
On acquiring health- not only are there medpacks and health charging stations (and Xen healing pools), but scientists can also sometimes inject you with healing serum on occasion too if you are low and interact with them. In addition you can also acquire health through the cans of drink (1pt per can) that are dispensed from the vending machines when you interact with the machines’ buttons.
The DEagle in Opposing force has a laser sight if you right click while using it, it actually makes the gun a lot more accurate
Any downside to using it? After all these years i still havent played HL1s expansions
@@zeallust8542 If I remember right, the rate of fire is reduced.
@@erragodofmayhem8549 ah thats not too bad at all
55:28 im pretty sure if you turn on the laser with right click it makes it more accurate
I noticed that with the rpg too.
@@ahmadbassam2898 the rpg is not more accurate with the laser.
without laser they are just flying a straight line, but with laser you can guide them while they're flying.
@@Buttersaemmel I'm referring to the fact he's not turning it on and off and the accuracy thing.
@@ahmadbassam2898 ye i literally realised that after writing my comment but was to stoned to delete it...lol
The vortigaunts will actually let you go straight to the top in Interloper if you don’t shoot at them. They seem to have caught on that you’re there to save them.
2 hr 40 min video essay from a channel I've never heard of for a game I've only heard talked about? Yeah let's go
1:46:05 There's actually is a bit more tactical depth here than you might think, though I doubt it was intended. Like several other scenarios in the game, once you realize what you can do with the physics engine, heaps of new avenues for how to approach a situation open up. For example: in this case, you can use the furniture in the room to create barricades for the stair wells.
There are healing pools and/or healing booths and/or teleported supply pads literally on every stage of Xen section.
Came from the CoD Zombies video, you were at 9.98k when I viewed that, I subbed there and came to this where I saw it go up to 9.99. There I watched half the video and went to bed, now we’re here the next day where I’m finishing it and you’re at 10k. Congratulations on that achievement and I really hope the algorithm keeps blessing you
Thank you for being someone who actually talks about the small details in the gameplay, as well as the story. It’s kinda rare I see people talk about the combat itself of HL
I find the Alyx-Gordon shipping to be weird.
Gordon was friends with her father. Sure Gordon's been missing for 20 years and is probably around the same age as Alyx _technically,_ it doesn't change that Gordon is from a generation completely above her and has a weird fathery-uncle power over her.
I agree wholeheartedly. I can see Alyx having an attraction to Gordon (in the context of the game's events) but I don't like the idea of Gordon reciprocating when he's already seen her as a baby. And why did Eli of all people have to be a shipper, ugh (answer: desperate measures in universe and in real life people just don't care)
@@DaReelSlimN80 Yeah, the shipping by Eli in Episode Two was weird. Yes, technically, Gordon was in stasis so he didn't age... but no one knows that aside from Gordon himself. So from everyone's perspective, Gordon should be about 47 years old (unless Eli KNEW about the stasis, since he seems to know a few things about the G-man. This could be a good headcanon thing).
Or, like you said, desperate measures.
@@cubescihist6737Pretty sure he knew Gordon was in stasis.
He said at the end of HL:Alyx (spoilers btw)
“She’s gone, Gordon! That son of a bitch and his unforeseen consequences!”
Implying he knows that the G man put her in stasis or at least took her.
I honestly don’t think the shipping is that weird.
This is exactly why it was so uncomfortable to see her relentless simping + the other characters trying to push it also lol. Plus, Gordon doesn't even reciprocate in any way.
Can't wait to watch another one of your certified masterpieces! Found you from the zombie video and have watched all your game reviews. Have to say you are doing excellent work my friend!
On the point of the Combine AI being bad (of which I completely agree), Breen actually mocks them in-game for their inability to take down a scientist with no covert or military training.
When?
@@Axolotl720 During Nova Prospekt he can be heard giving a speech about it
@@mrmimeguy imma mod the game with text to speech to replace the audio file with a 21st century roast
The Half-Life series is just fantastic. I haven’t had a chance to play Opposing Force or Blue Shift, but I’ve played everything else and yeah this is absolutely one of my favorite game series. HL2 and it’s episodes are some of my formative childhood games, and I adore the world and it’s characters so so much, and playing HL1 was so surreal to see where it all began. And then there is Alyx, which for me, is one of the greatest games ever made. The feeling of being fully and completely immersed in City 17, fighting zombies, head crabs, and combine by physically aiming, shooting, and reloading my weapons was fucking amazing. I desperately need more HL games and I cannot wait for more (even if I have no choice :,) )
EDIT: Also, I totally get your complaints and thoughts on VR, and I do agree I think VR needs to get pushed a lot further AND become a lot cheaper before it reaches a mass audience. For me specifically, I’m playing on a meh PC rig with a Quest 2, and hardly any space to play. This means there are stutters and performance dips because my PC just isn’t good enough, compression and delay in the video feed to the headset (likely the main cause for your motion sickness cuz I experience none when using dedicated PC VR headsets), and being tethered to the PC with a cord all bogs down my experience, and I desperately need a powerful standalone VR headset that can run Steam VR games with no issues. However, Alyx to me was so good to me that most of the time I was so immersed in the experience that they weren’t even at the back of my mind, on my first playthrough of course. Obviously my experience was interrupted when I tripped over my cord or noticed a stutter or whatever, but yeah most of my time spent with the game has been great. Like I said though, I desperately need want a way to play the game with no compromises both graphically and physically, and I’m hoping Valve’s next headset does that for me at a decent price. I say at a decent price, but I’m willing to drop whatever it takes on that thing, since I couldn’t afford an Index but I can now, but don’t have the money to get a brand new computer
This guy is my new favourite YTer. I know these retrospectives must take a lot of time, but I’ll be anxiously waiting for the next one lol. He’s gonna blow up.
I have no doubt that if G-Man could give Chell from Portal an... OPPORTUNITY, he would.
Reason 1: Incredibly resilient
Reason 2: Intelligent and durable for almost any task.
Reason 3: IS ALSO MUTE.
I enjoyed this retrospective and respect your thoughts on and issues with Half-Life: Alyx, though I suppose it's a bit of a misnomer to call this the "Ultimate" Half-Life Retrospective since that section was mentioned but handwaved. Thank you for your efforts though and I wish you well with your future videos.
"Ultimate Half-Life Retrospective" but you miss the whole point of the Latest game (Alyx) which is that Half-Life is about innovation and Niche Innovations more than just the game itself
Criminally underrated. I can't wait to enjoy this analysis!
1:20:23
"Remember when enemies in the first game had that radio chatter"
Enemies in HL2 also have radio chatter.
"would actively try to flank you"
It's fully within their AI to flank the player and it's not impossible for this to happen, although they don't get a lot of chances to show it off.
"set up traps"
What does this mean?
"and run away if damaged"
The Combine also move to cover if damaged enough, but you don't see it much since they have too little health so chances are you just kill them.
one of the most underrated channels i'm subbed to, keep up the great videos :)
I feel it’s very unfair to say that the price of Alyx is that high while yes it is still expensive using the MOST expensive headset as the baseline is dumb especially when there are much cheaper options which work just as well
I played it on a Quest 1 and tbh i dont think I missed out on much at all. When I get my Index im sure ill see its a bit nicer, but the game itself was just fine with the quest
This channel is underrated af. Subbed. Great vid :3
YES! an almost 3 hour video about half life as soon as my half life obsession came back
I wouldn't call this the "Ultimate" retrospective on half-life, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
Did you really never turn the laser on for your deagle in opposing force?.. it's objectively a better weapon than the magnum.
1:53:19 That building was designed in the same way as the Assembly of Serbia
5:42 it was not Gordon Freeman's first day working there on the day of the resonance cascade
I never understood the issues with Xen, ive never once ran into the issues I see in every review talking about I always find it really smooth
yah i can see why it can be anoying but i feel like i ahd fun taking ymtime with xen
@@themusicboy9766 same
I really hated the puzzles because the interrupt the shooting but I also enjoyed Xen alot. It was a different place unlike black mesa in every way. It feels more alien compared to the mundane square hallways.
Just finished your zombies retrospective- ty for this lovely long content
This is sick, keep up the good work
I absolutely love to see retrospectives like this and shadow so many of the loves and hates of the series .
I can remeber playing the half life 2 port on the xbox as a kid and still loving it to death because it showed me a game and company that i would hold dear for many years to come.
Actively playing HL2 to the retrospective i had to literally put down a game i love so dear because i honestly had to hear in its entirety the retrospective i love it and it goes to show someone doesn't need hundreds of thousands of subs to make an impact.
Thank you .
And keep doing what ya do
You got my sub among my respect
On that bit where you fall through the pipe, you're supposed to keep running forward and land on the table, picking up the health kits and crushing the table, subsequently killing the headcrab
I know; this part is super obvious; he reviews are always really good except for some super weird nitpicks or super weird areas of pure ignorance that don't make any sense.
one of things that have aged like wine over the years is how good and impactful the gunplay is
both from a gameplay standpoint and sound design, specially today that most games go the route of weak gun sounds, the meaty sounds and well-designed gunplay make the gameplay never feel repetitive
shooting the shotgun felt like you're gun rip apart whoever you're shooting at
maybe the real half-life three was all the alyx rule34 we made along the way
Apprehension is not just a spoiler since it has a double meaning. You can be apprehensive or apprehended.
8:53 "YOU SHOULD HAVE BROUGHT YOUR PASSPORT, GORDON!!!!"
The Overwatch Nexus is actually based on/inspired by the national assembly of Serbia. Besides visual resemblance, apparently the in-game files refer to it as parliament. Although a pretty good retrospective I was bothered by some of the details that are misconstrued. I can't get over the way you recall Barney's name. 🤣
*Talking about the crane* "No one finds these things fun."
Meanwhile me: *Swinging the buggy* I CAME IN LIKE A WREEEECKING BAAAAAALLL
the desert eagle is a fantastic weapon. you gotta right click to turn the laser sight on and it basically functions as a magnum with more ammo
55:25 Bro didn't know about the lazer sight 💀
the ULTIMATE Half-Life retrospective was made by Liam Triforce. Period.
First video I saw,subscribed
1:45:02 Why is he saying "apple" so much?
In all seriousness, I found it so cute for some reason how just starts doing those hops as soon as Alyx shows up
i also think that a honorable mention at the half-life part is the standalone remake of the game, ''black mesa'' by crowbar collective. The game is a true masterpiece of remakes. it made the bad parts of Half-Life good and the good part close to perfection. And what they did to ''Xen'' in my opinion perfection. They went above and beyond with that section of the game. All love to Half-Life, to the foundation Valve set for the future for FPS games, However if you never played Half-Life before. ''Black Mesa'' is the way to go.
Wake up babe Munt Chunk uploaded a video essay
So cool that you can just avoid the sand to not have to fight the ant lions, I had so many chasing me leading up to that segment, I didn’t even realize the guy trying to tell me we had to stay off the sand, eventually leading to his death as I tried to fight off the ant lions unknowing they’d just keep coming regardless
This is top class work
11:10 There are failstates if you kill all scientists at certain points.
Nice retrospective dude, i love half life, it really expanded my horizons to pc gaming, and now half life alyx with VR, i don't do VR much, but i absolutely love half life alyx, and other VR games like Boneworks were really good, helped me get into VR as Boneworks's museum level is all about interacting in VR, more of a play space. VR is a niche audience, and its understandable why people were upset when half life alyx was VR exclusive.
31:30 bruh, this sound effect you decide to play actually fucked with me lol
black mesa is lowkey the fictional version of Area 51
Good video, some of the commentary was strange at points but the criticisms were refreshing to hear
the glock is very useful for killing barnacles, 4 hits dead
21:45 I'm genuinely furious you didn't use that opportunity to make an opposing force joke with your wording lol
2:17:00 that was the moment when i felt like some god of war, that and the lobby ambush in black mesa. right soundtrack can do real wonders to the feeling of the game
In my friend old rust bases he used crouch jumping to enter so people would struggle to raid his base
1:22:15 is mayonnaise an instrument
despite disagreeing with your "player agency above all" opinion, I really enjoyed the video good job.
Thanks for this video
Half-Life 2 is one of my all time favorite games, Valve has truly made a a timeless classic, the story is so deep, even after all these years still new things to be found, hidden details that add to the lore, the world building is on another level, being immersed in the world, it truly feels like you are in it, The G-Man such a deep, mysterious character, we don’t know who how is, his motives, the fight against the Combine, the gameplay is top notch, the use of the Gravity Gun, environmental physics, just a masterpiece game, Valve are among the best developers in the industry, really hope they make a part 3 some day 👏👏👏
47:26 it's actually not as hard as you may think. There is a hole on this map, that takes you into undeground cave, with healing water, and a pillar that takes you all the way to the top, so you can snipe, and platform down easy.
The force recon Marines in the game are so realistic. Like so specific bc alot ppl don't know about them. Its pretty bad ass
Everyone always forgets about Decay.
It's hardly the "ultimate" retrospective on half life.
Truly feel like he played the series for the first time or something, but I guess I should cut him some slack since he's still got a low subscriber count. It was otherwise very well made.
holy shit what a small and great channel
• The combine soldiers are human.
• It wasn’t Gordon’s first day.
• It’s Barney Calhoun, not Barney Callaghan.
I like how people complain about the Indexs "nightmare of a set up"
When, in reality, you plug 2-4 base stations into outlets. Steamvr does the rest
Actually, Half Life being Gordon's first day on the job is a massive misconception. It's mentioned multiple times in the later games that Gordon was at Black Mesa for an extensive amount of time.
This video reminds me Pyrocinical for some odd reason.
This is a ridiculously minor nitpick, but the enemy mentioned at 30:50 is not based on a dinosaur. Ichthyosaurus, the animal the enemy is based on, is from a different branch of the reptile family tree. It was completely unrelated to any other group of reptile alive today, especially birds.
15:16 this entire thing is skippable, just jump down and hold S
Time for another nostalgia trip
barny did meet gordon, if you press the red button under his desk he will get pissed, if not he will offer you a beer when the shift is over
the hardest enemies in the game are the black ops women assassins that are invisible, hit hard and hide away, they have great A.I but in a way its almost underwhelming how much harder they are compared to the aliens
25:50 actually if you play it like a new player you would propably react to late for the breaking of the vent.
and in that case (so in the intended case) you land on the table on top of the healthpacks.
so ususally you would fall on the healthpacks, get healed to max, and then hit the table (which breaks) which gives the impression that gordons fall was "coushoned" by the breaking table.
why the shade on the snarks man come on now :) well done mate loved this review
Uh-Muh-Guh
I just noticed that the Nihilanth's atrophied legs look kind of like the ones on the Stalkers in HL2. After 18 years I'm noticing this...
Damn! You're right!
You actually met Barney beforehand. He was the security guard at the very start that said "traitor" for cutting your ponytail