Saw this on steam and became curious. Is there a noticeable difference graphics wise?

no, it is a lame update. I played for 5 mins and saw no improvement

you are better off waiting for the source 2.0 update or download that fake factory mod

you don't have to use their character models, the rest of the mod is apparently pretty good. I am gonna download it over the weekend. These vids were enjoyable. I want to replay this game

interesting. Are you gonna upload more vids of this update?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI9aSFHJRO0

This game still provides a better experience than most new games.

Absolutely. It's a very well designed game.

just played some more. I love this game! It needs a remake!!1

I must have played this game through 4 times over the years. Be it out of boredom, or just to see if I missed something. And I still don't understand the fandom behind it. I truly don't. When it was originally released, it was pretty much agreed that it was simply a sensationalized engine test. Now, I can't help but read this or that pertaining to an obsession over it or dying to have a number 3. I really don't get it... Is it some merged, perverted fascination between Valve and Gabe Newell, or am I just an old fuck?

Why do you care? You don't have to like every single critically acclaimed game ever made, let alone playing through them 4 times...Bullshit.

It needs a sequel is what it bloody well needs. How long now was Ep2? Shocking behaviour from Valve.

Oh, and if HL2 was just an engine experiment (which is absolute bollocks btw), then I'd love to see what the game would have been like if they'd actually tried.

Best Game Ever but Half-Life the 1st is way better.

No. It was considered that by pretty much all the major review sites and players in 04/05, "GamersydeVideos". I didn't just pull that out of my ass... I attended that fucking e3 for christ sakes. I specifically remember a, "Best game engine test of the year" headline, with no substance.

And I care, because it's all over the place and causes cognitive dissonance.

It would of been amazing.

I truthfully believe (now), that the masses who are in love with Half Life 2, were not PC gamers prior to 2001 or played HL2 long after it was released, having very little frame of reference to be able to maybe contemplate the era. It sort of makes sense when you think about it, only because at the time when they showed the presentation of HL2 at e3, it was mind blowing, all of the features of the source engine were shown off (I still remember the water blocks and the faces in the crowd). It was mind blowing because the only current comparison at e3 was what they were doing with Unreal, Doom 3, World of Warcraft, etc. And the Source engine was a major step forward in model, texture, etc advancement in its own right. But, when the game was actually released, everything that was in the test was in the game, and the story and game play seemed to rely on these engine quirks rather than the core gameplay like in Half Life.

I think this what caused the initial, "Oh my God" reactions from the media, then that reaction turned to, "the final game is just an engine test". I remember feeling the same way, that there is no gameplay here, just a bunch of different engine gadgets to fuck with through a linear plot as it progressed, and being able to compare it to the first, it was a huge let down. Being able to look back at in hindsight now, I can see how the major engine improvements at the time have had an affect on the players feelings about the game now, because that is what gamers base most games off of these days. I also think there may have been an expectation of HL2 being better than HL1, but wasn't. And that caused the negative affect.

I personally didn't know one person who cared for HL2. This was when I was working in the industry, dealing with publishers, columnists and all those pretentious hypocrites in the media. Being online was a major part of my life, my world (like it is for a lot of people here). So, I knew a lot of gamers. I just think times and tastes have changed so much that the standard has shifted too far towards eye-candy than substance (like the movie industry) that it's taken this long for the shift to change in a positive way towards what HL2 offered in terms of candy. And you be damned if you go against the hive-mind.

Ah, well. It really doesn't matter now and I'm too old for this fickle shit. If there is an HL3, I'm sure it will be game of the century and a statue will be erected of Gabe Newell in Times Square, followed by a movie of it by Michael Bay and everyone will be happy for life. The end.

So you don't think HL2 deserves the praise it has gotten, that's a fair opinion, but you should know, your message is close to getting lost amongst all that pessimism and bitterness. Just to give you some frame of reference, you sound like you're 85 years old and sided with the losers during the great war.