Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2:Episode 1
Half-Life 2:Episode 2
Team Fortress 2
Portal

...all in one box.

With all the Halo 3 talk, I'm sure this game is going to get over looked, which is a shame because it's fantastic game. Better than the single campaign offered by Bungie (so far). And my brother swears by Team Fortress online.

It's worth checking out:

http://www.whatistheorangebox.com/tf2.html

I think it drops on 10/9.

Other than xangeluvr and myself, who's gonna be playing?

I'm not even gonna buy Halo


-------------------------------------
http://www.myspace.com/therealnopayne
http://www.last.fm/user/nopayne/

i thought it came out in november. october 9th is just around the corner. i can't wait.

and you are right, campaign-wise halo doesn't even come close.

>
>I think it drops on 10/9.
>
>Other than xangeluvr and myself, who's gonna be playing?

almost suicidal over it

seriously, you're not the only one anticipating it.


FREE CHAI VANG!

YOU'VE READ MY FILE NIGGA (c) Jack 'Mufuckin' Bauer



www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

I dont like the cartoony look they gave it. Half-Life is always amazing and am looking forward to it.

But by now there are tons of games that have that same look and feel. So I can't be mad at them for switching up.


-------------------------------------
http://www.myspace.com/therealnopayne
http://www.last.fm/user/nopayne/

-------------------------------------
http://www.myspace.com/therealnopayne
http://www.last.fm/user/nopayne/

There are 99 achievements with a total of 1000 points:

Bone Breaker (5 points)
Kill 30 enemies with thrown physics objects.

Deadly Harvest (5 points)
Kill an enemy by planting a hopper mine.

Hack Attack! (5 points)
Kill five enemies with a Manhack.

Hot PotatOwned (10 points)
Kill a Combine soldier with his own grenade.

Conservationist (5 points)
Kill five enemies with the same energy ball.

Think Fast! (10 points)
Kill an Elite Soldier with his own energy ball.

Grave Robber (5 points)
Steal a Zombine's grenade.

Zombie-que (5 points)
Use flares to light 15 zombies on fire.

Malcontent (5 points)
Escape the apartment block raid.

What cat? (5 points)
Break the mini-teleporter in Kleiner's lab.

Trusty Hardware (5 points)
Get the crowbar.

Barnacle Bowling (5 points)
Kill five barnacles with one barrel.

Anchor's Aweigh! (5 points)
Get the airboat.

Heavy Weapons (5 points)
Get the airboat's mounted gun.

Vorticough (13 points)
Discover the hidden singing vortigaunt cave in chapter Water Hazard.

Revenge! (10 points)
Destroy the hunter-chopper in Half-Life 2.

Blast from the Past (10 points)
Find the HEV Suit Charger faceplate in Eli's scrapyard.

Zero-Point Energy (5 points)
Get the Gravity Gun in Black Mesa East.

Two Points (2 points)
Use DOG's ball to make a basket in Eli's scrapyard.

Zombie Chopper (25 points)
Play through Ravenholm using only the Gravity Gun.

OSHA Violation (5 points)
Kill 3 enemies using the crane.

Targetted Advertising (5 points)
Pin a soldier to the billboard in chapter Highway 17.

One Man Army (5 points)
Destroy six gunships in Half-Life 2.

Keep Off the Sand! (20 points)
Cross the antlion beach in chapter Sandtraps without touching the sand.

Bug Hunt (10 points)
Use the antlions to kill 50 enemies.

Flushed (5 points)
Kill an enemy with a toilet.

Warden Freeman (10 points)
Survive the second turret standoff in Nova Prospekt.

"Radiation Levels Detected" (5 points)
Get through the toxic tunnel under City 17 in Half-Life 2.

Plaza Defender (10 points)
Survive the generator plaza standoff in chapter Anticitizen One.

Counter-Sniper (5 points)
Kill all of the snipers in City 17.

Fight the Power (10 points)
Shut down the supression device by disabling its generators.

Giant Killer (10 points)
Survive the rooftop strider battle in the ruins of City 17.

Lambda Locator (15 points)
Find all lambda caches in Half-Life 2.

Watch Your Head! (5 points)
Make it to the bottom of the Citadel's main elevator shaft in one piece.

Containment (5 points)
Contain the Citadel core.

Pacifist (10 points)
Contain the Citadel core without killing any stalkers.

Car Crusher (5 points)
Use the cars to squash 15 antlions in Episode One.

Elevator Action (10 points)
Survive long enough to get on the parking garage elevator.

Live Bait (10 points)
Help Alyx snipe 30 enemies in Episode One.

Attica! (5 points)
Destroy the gunship in the hospital attic.

Citizen Escort (15 points)
Don't let any citizens die when escorting them to the escape train.

Escape From City 17 (20 points)
Escape City 17 with Alyx.

The One Free Bullet (40 points)
Beat Episode One firing exactly one bullet. Grenade, crowbar, rocket, and Gravgun kills are okay!

Acid Reflex (5 points)
Kill an acid antlion worker.

Get Some Grub (20 points)
Squish every antlion grub in Episode Two.

Pinata Party (5 points)
Find and break every web cache in Episode Two.

Into the Breach (5 points)
Help Griggs and Sheckley hold off the antlion invasion inside the mine shaft.

Hit and Run (5 points)
Run over 20 enemies with the car in Episode Two.

Puttin' On a Clinic (15 points)
Defeat the chopper in Episode Two without any misses.

Cache Checker (10 points)
Find every radar cache in chapter Under The Radar.

Gordon Propelled Rocket (5 points)
Unlock the rocket launcher lambda cache in chapter Under The Radar.

Pedal to the Metal (5 points)
Beat DOG in a race to the White Forest base.

Little Rocket Man (30 points)
Send the garden gnome into space.

Neighborhood Watch (35 points)
Save all buildings outside the missile silo from destruction.

Payback (10 points)
Kill a Hunter with its own flechettes.

Lab Rat (5 points)
Acquire the fully powered Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device.

Fratricide (5 points)
Do whatever it takes to survive.

Partygoer (5 points)
Make the correct party escort submission position decision.

Heartbreaker (10 points)
Complete Portal.

Terminal Velocity (5 points)
Fall 30,000 feet.

Long Jump (5 points)
Jump 300 feet.

Cupcake (10 points)
Beat two Portal advanced maps.

Fruitcake (20 points)
Beat four Portal advanced maps.

Vanilla Crazy Cake (30 points)
Beat all six Portal advanced maps.

Basic Science (10 points)
Earn bronze medals on all Portal challenges.

Rocket Science (20 points)
Earn silver medals on all Portal challenges.

Aperture Science (40 points)
Earn gold medals on all Portal challenges.

Turret (5 points)
Accumulate 10 turret kills with a single turret.

Nemesis (5 points)
Get five revenge kills.

Hard to Kill (10 points)
Get five kills in a row without dying.

Master of Disguise (15 points)
Trick an opposing medic into healing you.

With Friends Like these... (10 points)
Play in a game with seven or more players from your friends list.

Dynasty (10 points)
Win 20 games.

Hardcore (15 points)
Accumulate 1000 total kills.

Powerhouse Offense (5 points)
Win 2Fort with a shutout.

Lightning Offense (10 points)
Win Well in 5 minutes or less.

Relentless Offense (20 points)
Win Hydro without giving up a capture.

Impenetrable Defense (10 points)
Successfully defend Dustbowl without giving up a capture.

Impossible Defense (30 points)
Successfully defend Gravel Pit without giving up a capture.

Head of the Class (5 points)
Play a complete round with every class.

World Traveler (5 points)
Play a complete game on every map.

Team Doctor (5 points)
Accumulate 25000 heal points as a Medic.

Flamethrower (5 points)
Set five enemies on fire in 30 seconds.

Atomizer (10 points)
Disintegrate 15 soldiers by throwing them into a Combine ball field.

Follow Freeman (10 points)
Gain command of a squad of rebels in the uprising.

Grey Matter (5 points)
Get 25 headshots as a Sniper.

Camera Shy (5 points)
Detach security cameras from the walls.

Friendly Fire (5 points)
Knock down a turret with another turret.


Secret Achievements


Secret Achievement (5 points)
Continue playing to unlock this secret achievement.

Secret Achievement (5 points)
Continue playing to unlock this secret achievement.

Secret Achievement (5 points)
Continue playing to unlock this secret achievement.

Secret Achievement (5 points)
Continue playing to unlock this secret achievement.

Secret Achievement (25 points)
Continue playing to unlock this secret achievement.

Secret Achievement (5 points)
Continue playing to unlock this secret achievement.

Secret Achievement (10 points)
Continue playing to unlock this secret achievement.

Secret Achievement (5 points)
Continue playing to unlock this secret achievement.

Secret Achievement (10 points)
Continue playing to unlock this secret achievement.

Secret Achievement (5 points)
Continue playing to unlock this secret achievement.

Secret Achievement (20 points)
Continue playing to unlock this secret achievement.

Can you tear yourself away from Madden to play?

>Can you tear yourself away from Madden to play?

The Call Of Duty 4 beta became available shortly after madden's release.
I've only played a handful of games of madden 08. The COD 4 beta is the only game I've been playing.


But yeah, I'm getting The Orange Box.

i played the first part, and the second one where you are evaporating cats w/your gravity gun...but i thought that was it...

I am anticipating Portal more than anything else on the Orange Box.

That shit looks great.

Okay so I've never played Half Life 2... or Team Fortress.

Its Portal's gameplay thats getting my intrigued.

But I dont wanna get it just for that tho. So can you all let me know what you think of Half-Life 2 and what to expect.

...is one of the best single player campaign FPS games I've played. It's very deep and the enemy AI is some of the best I've ever seen. I like Halo, but I love Half Life. I haven't played Episode 2 yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

For me, I'm not really hyped for Portal. I could take it or leave it.

HL2 is easily one of the best FPS games ever. I just replayed Ep 1 the other day in preparation for Ep 2, I can't wait to see what they've got in store next. The end of Ep1 was a cliffhanger.

Valve knows how to treat its fans. So excited for this

Valve are experts on programming for computers obviously... no matter how you look at it, the Xbox 360 version is a port of the computer version... the keyboard mouse duo is better then the xbox controller for first person shooters in general, and the way Valve does their default button placements and sensitivity, its perfect... also the online is going to be better on computer, due to the fact that if you dont already have Half Life 2 with Counterstrike and Half Life 2 Deathmatch... that's 2 additional online games that will come with the Orange Box...
so basically... if you have a dope computer and cop for Xbox, you are missing out on the true experience of what Half Life is.





'THE GOOD WORD' on 88.3 FM in Pittsburgh
Saturday @ Midnight till 3 AM
www.myspace.com/thegoodword883

I always thought it was weird that they were porting HL2 to console. I have been playing the Half Life series since the original version on PC 10 years ago, it's hard to picture it being played on a console.

Also, consoles definately miss out on GMod :P

So my only option is on the 360.

the same way a lot of people on here can't imagine playing games on handhelds.

Playing a game with a keyboard and mouse? lol, I'm good.

its a million times better

you cant compare having the analog stick to an actual mouse for your look/head movement ... its not even close ... the online shit is so much more smooth too, I mean I dont play a lot of computer games because I prefer the HDTV wide screen TV for my games, but for this game, its gonna be a more satisfying experience playing on the PC guaranteed



'THE GOOD WORD' on 88.3 FM in Pittsburgh
Saturday @ Midnight till 3 AM
www.myspace.com/thegoodword883

it's the way FPS ought to be played. only reason i stopped playing games on PC was that i was tired of upgrading my shit to be able to handle the next game. if the 360 would allow you to play with a mouse and keyboard, i'd drop my controller in an instant. i was one of the many who'd be playing CounterStrike for days =X

I didn't like it because I had to sit at a desk and couldn't lean back and relax. I damn sure wouldn't plug that shit into the Xbox. I can barely adjust to using wired controllers now...I can't even imagine having to sit at some sort of flat surface with a bulky ass keyboard and a mouse pad.

Also, how do you move slowly with the arrows?

Yea, can't do it man. PC gaming just ain't for me (works out fine since I'm a Mac user anyway).

It's a whole different animal.

Especially those who snipe...ha ha.

-------------------------------------
http://www.myspace.com/therealnopayne
http://www.last.fm/user/nopayne/

My PC hooked into my 46" Sharp Aquos via HDMI at 1920x1080 res looks ridiculous, otherwise its on a 22" widescreen monitor at 1680x1050 res. You've got a lot of people playing their consoles on 720p sets, or through component/analog cables, looking nowhere near as clean as it would in high res on a PC.

Other than that, it's more about controls being so much more precise and feeling more natural for FPS games on keyboard/mouse rather than a gamepad, especially in a game like HL2 where the native control scheme is based on keyboard/mouse.

It's all about preference, I prefer sports games and 3rd person shooters on console, and first person shooters on PC.

It's called state of the art Console Graphics are TRYING to look like mid-end PC Graphics.

Plug a high end gaming PC into a HDTV with a high-end Video Card, get a nice comfortable Chair, buy one of those little platforms for working on laptop (or just eating) at said chair.

Run that S*** through your high-end A/V system, hell, go nuts and use outboard sound cards.

Now play a FPS which are always watered down for the console.

Have fun with the Mods and what not

Watch console gather dust.


Peace,









M2

Half-Life was made for the computer, I played Half-life 2 on my computer but I don't know if episode 1 and 2 have steeper requirements.

FPS will never be as good as FPS on PC. I remember when Halo was getting 10's and 9's on the xbox then it went to PC and everyone who played shooters on PC was like whats the big deal with this game?

Yep, PC gamers for the most part had games of Halo's calibur (in terms of FPS combat) for a long time. Halo was nothing new to us. That said, I would cop Halo 3 on PC if it came out tomorrow, because I am a sucker for online shooters...

I am praying that they dont port Crysis to consoles, let the PC gamers have this one treasure for ourselves. I am playing the MP beta of Crysis right now, and it is fucking incredible.

I want to play shooters on the PC again

While I was doing some 'research', tryin to catch up with what Half-Life 2 is all about... I discovered that Episode 3 is already in production.

Its going to be the final episode. So reading this, kinda puts me off on getting the Orange Box now. I'd rather wait until they release it into on a complete edition.

Portal calling my name tho... damn it. If i dont convince one of my friends to get it, i'll probably end up renting this.

:\

Episode 2 was in production for well over a year (feels like two years). By the time the next one rolls around I'm sure Portals and TF2 won't be nearly as popular.


-------------------------------------
http://www.myspace.com/therealnopayne
http://www.last.fm/user/nopayne/

well it cant be worse than TF2.

I just read that the game was announced way back in '98. "DAMN."

There were screenshots and everything. Of course the version that's coming out now looks nothing like what they were originally planning.


-------------------------------------
http://www.myspace.com/therealnopayne
http://www.last.fm/user/nopayne/

i'm copping an 8 series video card.
and i have a cool reseller bundle deal on the way.

- orange box
- 8800 GTS 320MB
- some random apps

- 295 bucks.

i'm def coppin.

------------------------------------------
Do you think you have what it takes?
To run 5000 miles for rabies awareness?

...on Nvidia. I had been strictly ATI up until I got my 8800GTX. This thing handles everything I throw at it at max settings.

The kiddies on Halo have pretty much banished me to just deathmatch with tv volume off just cause I can't stand having to actually work with a team with any of them.

I figure with the timing, there's going to be a much more mature crowd with TF2

I feel ya though. I keep having to mute 12 year olds and racists.

Team Fortress 2 is going to be on point.

cuz I can't deal with the youngins.

My Demoman skills will return to strike fear in the hearts of all who oppose. Too bad, I just started to take a liking to Halo 3 but theres no comp in terms of control (as stated above). Mouse + Keyboard+TF2=Halo 3 on hold indefinitely.

PS. Does TF2 have Punkbuster integrated at all? Im worried about H@x.

Cain the Conqueror: Master of many arts.

My Space
http://www.myspace.com/23686466

Soundclick
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=279862

Steam has punkbuster integrated in the system.

...but VAC (Valve Anti-Cheat) which is the same concept obviously, it's just developed by and proprietary to Valve. Those who do get caught cheating on VAC enabled can end up with their Steam accounts banned from VAC enabled servers.

just called and will be in store tomorrow. can't wait to play HL2 again.

-------------------------------------
http://www.myspace.com/therealnopayne
http://www.last.fm/user/nopayne/

9.5 Presentation
The menus are slick and there's developer commentary for four of the five games. Only the hideous box art and some annoying load times keep this from perfection.
9.0 Graphics
Half-Life 2 was given a resolution bump, but little else for 360, but Ep. 2 is absolutely stunning. Best facial animations ever. The art style of Portal and Team Fortress 2 are unique.
9.0 Sound
Excellent voice acting, good music, and stellar sound effects combine for an audio feast for the ears.
9.5 Gameplay
Half-Life 2 and its subsequent episodes feature excellent level design and fun gameplay. Portal is inventive and TF2 is one of the most fun multiplayer experiences around.
10 Lasting Appeal
Playing through all three pieces of Half-Life 2 and Portal is at least 20 hours. Then add in the extra Portal challenges and TF2 and it's likely you will have The Orange Box in your 360 for a while.

9.5 Overall



And i never even played half life 2? man between this and halo...FUCK COLLEGE

Okay, so I got all excited about this and was originally gonna get it on the 360, but after getting more and more amped about Portal, I switched my reserve to the PC version.

So I'm up late tonight (day off, tomorrow), and I'm checking out some videos of all the Orange Box stuff and then it hits me... can my computer even run this shit??

You all got me so caught up in the hype and glitz of HL2:OB on the PC and it's inescapable greatness that I forgot to think about my systems specs.

I really don't want to play it on a console. I remember Half-Life 2 for XBOX being greatly hindered/crippled by the controller setup and didn't want to be trying to whip around with the controller trying to shoot portals all over the place.

I mean... I'm able to run Half-Life 2 just fine, but what about all this new stuff???

Oh man, I can't return or trade a PC game. FUUUUUCK!

I got a laptop with a GeForce 7600 Go, a 2Ghz Intel Duo, with 2GB of DDR ram. Will that be okay, you think?

playing on PC since it came out last night 12am PST, and its amazing... I havent tried Portals yet but if you ran EP 1 alright, I dont see why you wouldnt be able to run the other games.

'THE GOOD WORD' on 88.3 FM in Pittsburgh
Saturday @ Midnight till 3 AM
www.myspace.com/thegoodword883

I thought it was all on one disc ?

The PC version has a seperate product key for each game, and if you already own HL2 and HL2:Ep1, you can give away the duplicate keys to someone else rather than them being completely useless.

I just opened up my Orange Box. There are 2 discs and one serial key

That's how I thought it worked originally, as I explained it. It turns out you get a "gift" of HL2 and HL2:Ep1 to give give to anyone who registers a Steam account. It shows up in your games list as a gift, just click on it and you can donate it another account.

Same thing really, you still end up being able to give away the extra copies.

i wouldn't have offered it if i hadn't seen "gift" in my steam account this morning before work.

I'm just telling you what's in MY copy of the Orange Box for PC. I opened it up and all that was inside was the 2 DVD-ROM discs and one serial key. Oh snap... am I missing stuff??

Although I just realized, if you already had Steam and a copy of that stuff registered, I don't see why you wouldn't be able to gift out the keys to friends.

That's actually REALLY cool of Valve to do that. So basically, you're not double-dipping on a game purchase. You can share it with a friend, who will, in turn go out and buy Orange Box for the Episode 2, TF2, and Portal and then have some serials of his own to gift on.

I like Valve, man. Good people so far.

for any duplicates you already had on your PC before installing orange box.. you dont actually give them a disk, what you do is click on the GIFT link next to the game in the Steam software and follow the directions


'THE GOOD WORD' on 88.3 FM in Pittsburgh
Saturday @ Midnight till 3 AM
www.myspace.com/thegoodword883

Actually, this is REALLY cool how Steam works. I was aware of what it was and that it was primarily digital distribution, but this is really refined. I'm wondering why don't they distribute with JUST this and by-pass the publishers and retailers?

Or brick and mortar stores will have a fucking fit.

I know that Brick and mortars will pitch a fit, but that's the whole point of moving away from brick and mortar business. The retail system, while solid, is not without its flaws. Packaging costs, shipping costs, warehouse costs, storage costs, sales tax, retailer markup, increased theft, etc. etc.

There are simply not enough positives to selling in a brick and mortar other then the fact that your product is available through another channel and to those a tad less tech-savvy.

You'd think that the idea of a software company was to produce a product so well-known that you wouldn't need retail chains to distribute it and could distribute it yourself.

*sigh* ::takes a breather::

I'm not sure what I'm getting at, really. I mean, the Steam system seems like an extremely well-built revenue/distribution system, and it seems to cut out the ability to pirate the software so easily, too. It's absolutely naive to think that someone will phase out retailers and brick & mortar revenue streams from their business model. I mean, I didn't buy it off of Steam, but I like how Steam works and would probably buy games through Steam in the future. It's the same reason why the iTunes Store hasn't replaced buying DVDs.

I'll shut up, now.

They might not have broadband
They might not want to purchase things online
They enjoy the browsing experience (think impulse buys)
They want to own the physical manuals or DVDs for some reason
etc, etc

Personally, I think Steam is great.


-------------------------------------
http://www.myspace.com/therealnopayne
http://www.last.fm/user/nopayne/

...but I still like owning the box. Not for everything mind you, just the good ones. I have purchased a few old school titles through Steam, but for newly released stuff I usually buy in store. It's the same as going out and buying a DVD or CD that I want instead of ripping it off (not like digi-distro is ripping anyone off), I just like having the original copy.

name is "nahlidge"


'THE GOOD WORD' on 88.3 FM in Pittsburgh
Saturday @ Midnight till 3 AM
www.myspace.com/thegoodword883

.

http://steamcommunity.com/groups/okp

Man, this game gets really tough after a while. Although, it's so awesome. I love puzzle games and this whole portal game mechanic is fun to play with. I like when I have to solve it by throwing a portal on the wall, hopping through a portal on the floor and having to quickly shoot another one to land in to keep building my momentum.

I honestly don't see how the rapid-fire portal-throwing is gonna be on the console, but I'm glad my PC can handle this game.

Any of y'all getting stuck?

Totally agree, this game is tough enough at parts with a keyboard/mouse, I can't see it being played at its full potential with a gamepad. I don't want to post any spoilers, but lets just say I wasn't gonna let that robot bitch bake my ass. That part was fun :)

I just jumped back into the game and I'm at the first map with the guns. I accidently ducked behind a wall and noticed a bunch of crazy writing all over the place and "help" written on the floors in blood as well as some pots and stuff like someone was sorta living back there for a while.

Any thoughts??

I kinda want to start over and look for hints like that throughout the levels. I know the game is supposed to take place within the Half-Life universe, and you're supposed to be the test subject for some company within the HL-'verse, testing some new technology.

Man, I haven't even touched TF2 yet.

Those hints come back later on, my first take on it was other test subjects for Aperture who have figured out the "rat in a maze" game that you are being put through, and are trying to warn you. The female robot voice promises cake for your completion of the tests, but "the cake is a lie" according to those warnings. I was creeped out by that part, but it gets even creepier once you complete all 19 tasks and start to unravel the truth about Aperture.

Good shit, this game kept me up pretty late and helped induce some fucked up dreams last night.

i kept telling myself that i'd just finish one more task, but i just kept on going and going.

I hate the maps where you gotta do like a million things in 10 seconds.

I'm on this map now where you have the 4 turrets on the platforms. You knock 'em out with the energy ball thing and I got the platform activated. Now the hard part is trying to hit the switch and then get BACK across the map to launch myself off the diagonal wall. If that makes any sense.

Hit the switch, place an ORANGE (colors dont really matter, they could be vice versa) on the diagonal wall, then place a BLUE in the area behind the switch. Pass through, then jump off the ledge on the left side of the diagonal wall and drop a BLUE on the platform below to pass through as you are falling. The momentum will shoot you across to the upper room that has the cube.

I hope that helps/makes sense.

So far so good on console btw. I haven't run into any situations where aiming/shooting has been a problem, and I'm novice at best on console games.


-------------------------------------
http://www.myspace.com/therealnopayne
http://www.last.fm/user/nopayne/

I'm definitely towards the end. I called it a night in order to have a little more left to play over the weekend, but I must say this game was short, but rather difficult at times, which made the game last a little longer.

I really loved the twisted sense of humor.

I don't want to ruin any of the ending or the events that occur at the last puzzle that start off the last "chapter" of the game, but the whole thing feels really creepy. And not in a good way. Fantastic environments and all the elements came together perfectly to sort of weird you out, while making you feel compelled to progress.

Can't wait to check out the bonus stuff.

Can't wait for Portal 2 or even a Portal multiplayer (could you imagine co-op Portal?)

and, without giving up any spoilers, the ending was GREAT. i woke up this morning still chuckling to myself...

this game was perfect for me since i don't have a lot of time to dedicate to playing (and finishing) games.

FREE CHAI VANG!

YOU'VE READ MY FILE NIGGA (c) Jack 'Mufuckin' Bauer



www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

The TF2 and the Half Life stuff *IS* the majority of the Orange Box. So your decision is not that bad. BUT... just wait until you try that Portal, mayne. You're gonna be throwin' your controller around, I promise you.

the controller worked fine for me?

i played HL2 on it but it wasn't very pretty or smooth.
i have a pentium 4 1.8ghz, about 1gb of ram, and its been
so long i forgot what kind ofgraphics card i have.
i've got boatloads of harddrive space though...

should i cop fo PC or fuck my crappy comp and get the PS3 version?

i'd go w/ the ps3.

But I'm still a little stuck on portal. Started the Half-Life 2, but haven't touched the other episodes. I sorta wanna play them in order.

Man, I need an hd tv.
______________________________________________________________________________

http://cscpov.blogspot.com/

"There's a fine line between persistence and foolishness..."
-unknown

"To Each His Reach"
-George Clinton

cainmarko is the name, add me to your friends lists.


Cain the Conqueror: Master of many arts.

My Space
http://www.myspace.com/23686466

Soundclick
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=279862

i haven't fucked with anything but portal. the concept is dope..can't wait to try tf2

Portal as a stand alone... but i dont see that happening. :(

$19.99 on Steam

i meant on 360, maybe via a download on XBL, but i dont have my hopes up.


i think i'm finally caving in and getting a copy next week (payday). I was thinkin of holding out til Episode 3 hits, but things have since changed...

way too short. i didn't have a problem in any of the rooms. maybe i'm just a genius ;)

which was a major disappointment to me and is holding me back from rushing to get this.

dont get me wrong, its a great package, but ive played 2 of the 3 halflifes, portal is short and TF2 im sure is great, but I got Halo to fill my online multiplayer needs sooo..

well that's too bad because i bet if they made this into a full fledge game rather than put it in this bundle it could have had some really great levels. i seriously beat it in 45 min to an hour. i never got stuck on a level.

i haven't played HL ep1 or 2 yet so this package is a treat for me.

>which was a major disappointment to me and is holding me back
>from rushing to get this.
>
>dont get me wrong, its a great package, but ive played 2 of
>the 3 halflifes, portal is short and TF2 im sure is great, but
>I got Halo to fill my online multiplayer needs sooo..

It's tons of fun just running around in the levels seeing what kinda other shit you can do before moving on.


-------------------------------------
http://www.myspace.com/therealnopayne
http://www.last.fm/user/nopayne/

still trying to unlock the terminal velocity achievement...

Great game. Short and to the point and VERY enjoyable. The AI super computer was ingenius.

You go through the bonus levels, yet??

Okay so I'm done with Portal and was trying to figure out how I can pass off Portal to my Dad while I knocked out the Half-Life 2 games.

Will Steam let me give him my username and password info and then let him play Portal while I'm playing Half-Life 2???

Or do I need to buy a whole new license for Portal for him??

My Dad's a 30mile drive south so I was thinking that Steam's downloading setup would be perfect.

Thoughts, comments, ideas?

You will be booted from friends if someone signs on you Steam account from another location. Obviously account sharing is a TOS breaker, but I don't think it will risk your account being banned or anything like that. I'd say it shouldn't be a problem. He could always uncheck the box that automatically logs into friends when starting steam, this way it wont ever interfere with anything you are doing on Steam.

I have multiple machines in the same house with Steam loaded, I even use the same account to play LAN games on HL2DM, GMod10, etc. LAN games will work on the same account, but online matches won't.

Sounds like I should just get him his own Orange Box for Christmas or gift him a Portal key

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/404612

A good way to get your Portal fix in while at work.

Thanks for this btw, I've been playin this since u first posted it.

After I beaten it, I gotta say level 38 was the hardest for me.

Although I can't say I gave it much effort before giving up, I most definatly have ADD.

Personally I've all but stopped playing Halo 3, I spent over 6 hours in TF2 on Saturday night. I dont know why for the life of me 2 Fort never gets old lol. Demoman is my main class but I've been spending time experiementing with the Spy (I am falling in love with this class), they really balanced it out nicely from the TFC. Classes like Scout, Pyro, Medic and Engineer got balanceed out very nicely opposed to how they were before. My sniping skill has been improving at a geometric rate :).

Cain the Conqueror: Master of many arts.

My Space
http://www.myspace.com/23686466

Soundclick
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=279862

I've been playing Scout the most so far, but I really like how well the classes work together. I did have to turn off the voip though, people get on my fucking nerves trying to run the show, I can't stand listening to grown ass men whine like babies.

I'll probably get into it more once I finish the other parts of the game.


-------------------------------------
http://www.myspace.com/therealnopayne
http://www.last.fm/user/nopayne/

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/10/18/the-best-thing-youll-see-today-portal-gun-in-half-life-2/

I've read that they plan on implementing the portal gun in Ep. Three.

Speaking of HL2 mods, Insurgency is about to release their 2.0 update soon.

www.insmod.com

It's worth the download if you like tactical shooters.

thanks!

i finally decided to go out and get it during my lunch break.

i plan on playin Portal and TF2 alot, before I dive into HL2

I got to Ravenholm playing it on the pc (my cousin has it and a PC that can run it effectively....but whenever im there, there's rarely time to play it). But now on the 360, gotdamn is the game addicting....I just finished the canal sequence with the chopper chasing you.

i'm toward the end now. only thing that sucks is the mid level loading. i haven't played ep 1 or 2 yet so i can't wait to get to them.

prob like 10-15 seconds tops....and what like every 15 mins or so? Not bad considering how great the game looks.

wow. the main game is great, we know that. ep1 was good, short, but good. ep2 is badass. i'm about halfway through and they really did a great job so far. the graphics are nice, voice acting is still strong, but where i feel they really improved is the environments. theres a few spots so far where i was just sort of in awe of the grand scope of this game. they really created an amazing immersive game.

>prob like 10-15 seconds tops....and what like every 15 mins
>or so? Not bad considering how great the game looks.

busy ass weekend combined with Halo 3 co-op taking up the time I did have for the 360 = limited advancement in HL 2.

And was still just so drawn in and amazed by the game

aside from less than stellar vehicle control, this game is just awesome.

this is probably my favorite fps besides bioshock on any console.yah i know how pc gamers are always raving about how mouse and keyboard is more precise and what not, but i have my own personal beefs about using computers to play games. this is the first time i've played HL2 on any platform so it's fresh and exciting. the graphics, the environments, the sense of urgency, the light puzzles...halo will be collecting dust for a while. can't wait to play the episodes

the rest of the game is great too and EP 2 will absolutely blow your mind. i just finished it and i can't wait to play it again. its really that good. EP 1 isn't too shabby either.

>this is probably my favorite fps besides bioshock on any
>console.yah i know how pc gamers are always raving about how
>mouse and keyboard is more precise and what not, but i have my
>own personal beefs about using computers to play games. this
>is the first time i've played HL2 on any platform so it's
>fresh and exciting. the graphics, the environments, the sense
>of urgency, the light puzzles...halo will be collecting dust
>for a while. can't wait to play the episodes

Im just happy to be in the light again...Ravenholm was disturbing the first time I played through it, and no different this time lol.

Best FPS weapon ever.

There is nothing more satisfying than punting that big ass saw blade into a line of zombies and watching their bodies be severed in two, only for the head humpers to jump off of their hosts and attack you.

they just put the gun on my speedboat

no matter where you hit the enemies, it splits them in half from the torso. I would hit them in the heads, only to see them get cut in half at the torso and those fucking turkeys jump at me. Considering everything else is so realistic, I was kinda dissapointed by that. Imagine the saw actually cutting through them at the point where you hit them....heads rolling, legs coming off, turkeys split in half.

That shit is hilarious.

if you hit them in the head the turkeys should die too. but yes they still split at the torso.

>no matter where you hit the enemies, it splits them in half
>from the torso. I would hit them in the heads, only to see
>them get cut in half at the torso and those fucking turkeys
>jump at me. Considering everything else is so realistic, I
>was kinda dissapointed by that. Imagine the saw actually
>cutting through them at the point where you hit them....heads
>rolling, legs coming off, turkeys split in half.

only to see these jive-turkeys springing up at me.

cuz i'd say 80% of the time they die for me. if in doubt, throw an exploding fuel barrel at 'em.

>only to see these jive-turkeys springing up at me.

I'm going to cop this for the 360, what order do you guys recommend playing these games. The most I've dealt with HL ever is Counterstrike.

Which multiplayer on Live is everyone on?

Game is exceptional...and then fuck around with portal inbetween sessions of that

ha yeah so through extensive and extremely advanced research, i figured out fortress is the only live enabled game. Thoughts on it?

I have played the original but for some reason my live isn't working so I haven't been able to play it...working on it though

finally played my first TF2 and way better than I expected. took me a min to figure it out, but my teamates were very helpful, so i caught up quick.

overall i thought it was really fun and addictive. this has officially replaced H3 in my 360.

I've already beaten Portal, but still havent touched Half Life 2...

:\

hit me up on steam, my steamid is blazin.

Maybe I'll try this Half-Life thing. Do you need to know any back story from the first one to understand it?

why didn't you wait and cop this on ps3? with the power of the cell & blu-ray its guaranteed to be better.


FREE CHAI VANG!

YOU'VE READ MY FILE NIGGA (c) Jack 'Mufuckin' Bauer



www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

Is that really necessary?

that you've sworn you're close to getting rid of. why not get it for the more reliable console you plan on keeping?


FREE CHAI VANG!

YOU'VE READ MY FILE NIGGA (c) Jack 'Mufuckin' Bauer



www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

because of the red light nonsense and I was going to just trade in whatever MS shipped me back to help pay for a PS3. Now I own every system and it would be pointless to do that. For the time being, it's a perfectly good Halo/PC port machine and there's no need to get rid of it.

Shit, we’re halfway through its lifecycle, anyway. Might as well just ride it out.

------------------------------------------
joe namath, son.

........and figure out the puzzles.

Little nuances you learn as you play the series.

Other than that, it's just a FPS - seek cover, be tactically smart and remember, you have the Gravity Gun:

- Someone throws a Grenade at you? Pick it up and hurl it back.

- A hunter is chasing you, find a Gas Drum and hurl it a him

- You see a Zombie coming? Pick up a Saw Blade and chop his ass in half.

:)



Peace,









M2

Gordon Freeman, the main character was a scientist at the Black Mesa testing facility. An experiment went wrong and he opens up a portal type deal that lets in all these aliens and you have to get out.

Later you go into their dimension or w/e it is and kill the big boss or w/e it was. Then you are given a choice by a strange man in a blue suit and thats where half-life 2 picks up

Half-Life was an excellent game, my memory is a bit fuzzy on the specifics though.

Is he an alien? How come he talks all funny like that?

I saw him once randomly in a level early on, then he just sort of disappeared when I tried to chase him down.
_________________________
Help me raise fund to fight MS!:
http://tinyurl.com/2n53wu

Philly, check this out:
http://livefromphiladelphia.blogspot.com/

he actually appears throughout the game. he's always observing you. it's like a "where's waldo" thing and you really have to pay attention to spot him.

other than that, i don't think there's much info on him.

where u can't touch the sand or the bugs gang rape u...there was this big ass monstrous bug that was like...grasshopper queen and shit....man....i jumped up and turned the console off. fuck that the bug won

http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/9831/medicssmallerhx6.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29RE0blCV84

Medics are fun to backstab. There is something fun about tricking someone into healing you only to shank them in their neck afterwards.

http://www.catzeyes93.com/tf2costumes.html

The spy pics are hilarious.

I never played the first one but Im a little underwhelmed so far. Im about to escape to the canal so it's WAY early. Does it get better?

I played Portal and was blown away. I turned to HL2 and that shit was like "what?".

I have heard it starts slow and I'm *trying* to stick with it, but FF Tactics kinda stole my attention.

Even when I put in Orange Box, I get the urge to play Portal a whole lot more than HL2.

just when shit was getting hard it ended though?

The length worked well because you never got sick of any parts of it.

This HL2 shit just seems really bland.

The controls are weird, the gunplay is wack, the “puzzles” (who the fuck puts puzzles in a shooter?) are dumb…the only thing I can really say is cool is the production values. Entering that city is interesting and the story seems cool, but from a gameplay perspective it just feels a little off compared to other shooters.

I'm forcing myself to take my time with it in hopes that it picks up, but right now I would have prefered just Portal for $20 or $30.

but come on...two hours. think of the endless posibilities this game could've had. Those were a great two hours though. I personally enjoy the puzzles, only because it's a nice switch up from the run shoot run shoot that everybody is used to from a fps

I've been playing games since I was little and I remember having a ton of fun with shit like Sonic, Shinobi, Streets of Rage 2, etc.

All those games were two hours and costed about what Orange Box costs now.

I have no problems whatsoever with something that's three hours and fun the whole time. Shit, I wish more games were like that.

My only beef is that the 360 version doesn't have any user created levels like the PC version. Not that I have a PC to play that kinda stuff on, but it would have been nice if we could have gotten that stuff somehow.

damn i was roundin up fams...by up i mean way up...haha...yah i hope they continue on with it though it definitely has its own following

Some of these sections are dumb as shit. I keep just absolutely SLOGGING through certain HL2 areas HOPING that the next section will actually be fun. I'd say about 1 hour of it has been cool as hell, but all these fucking face huggers right now are making me want to slit my fucking wrists. Just makes me want to kill shit in Halo.

I went through it again in commentary mode.

Those little turkey monsters or whatever kinda turned me off from HL2. Like wtf even are these things?

once u get a certain gun things really start pickin up. i think it's one of the best fps i've ever played on any console

but there is some cool stuff later on as you control an army of 'antlions' while storming a fortress, and lots of nice staged battles

what bugs me is all the fucking puzzles. as if building a see saw using hte physics engine is some sort of giant leap for gameplay

how many puzzles did Halo have in the entire series? NONE. because they're pointless

Step 1: Shoot enemies
Step 2: Move to next batch of enemies
Step 3: Repeat


Throw an ugly cut scene between any of those steps and you got most of the Halo single player experience. Not saying I didnt have a good time doing it but these are 2 very different games.

Half-Life 2 might be overrated but it's eons ahead of Halo in terms gameplay, level design, pacing, and story.

these are two VERY similar games. frantic shootem'ups with occassional use of vehicles plus allies assisting

there is lots of variety in the Halo games... in fact they are probably the best balanced FPS campaigns ever. you've got your wide outdoor skirmishes, corridor sections, full scale battles, one vs. a hundred fortress assaults. then you've got hog-driving sections, different ways to use the vehicles, drive tanks, ghosts, all integrated better than any other FPS with vehicles, then there's the flying sections, stealth sections. in terms of the actual combat you can play cautiously or you can just charge in (most games don't let you charge unless you play on the lowest difficulty)

Half Life 2 is basically the same deal except the vehicles aren't as well integrated, and every so often the gameplay gets held up by some INANE physics based puzzle like 'use the gravity gun to stack some boxes.' even when you try and do something outside-the-box, like build a ramp to jump your car over something or build a platform to jump out of hte canals, it doesn't work. at least in Halo you can drive the hog inside buildings though you're not really supposed to

storywise, all half life 2 did was AVOID being cheesy, and they did this by basically REMOVING the fucking story. most of it apparantly was told via radio broadcasts you're too busy shooting stuff to pay attention to

plotwise Halo is far superior. although i admit the cutscenes were often cheesy

if you can even compare the two thats insane.

save it

he accused Halo of having no variety

------------------------------------------
major win.
http://irreverentbastards.blogspot.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/irreverentbastard/

-----------------------------
http://renegadefrenchfry.wordpress.com

the story line is way better, and its actually more scary... Half Life 2 starts to get into the deep mechanics of why everything is happening, overall from HL1 thru the end of Episode 2, its an amazing epic story the whole way thru, but the first Half Life is the most engaging story wise as a single game, tho Half Life 2 is a bit more fun


'THE GOOD WORD' on 88.3 FM in Pittsburgh
Saturday @ Midnight till 3 AM
www.myspace.com/thegoodword883

i never played it all the way through. i was definitely engaging from the start when you walked into the research facility in pedestrian (noncombative) mode and got really deep inside the compound via the shuttle, before the whole place goes to hell

the storyline in HL2 was curiously submerged and basically didn't tell you anything

hopefully the Episodes will explain a lot

like coming off the elevator and all u see right away is the a guy being choked and pulled up by his neck into the ceiling shaft by some weird alien

HL in general just feels like a real crisp first person shooter, like its really clean, if that makes sense at all


'THE GOOD WORD' on 88.3 FM in Pittsburgh
Saturday @ Midnight till 3 AM
www.myspace.com/thegoodword883

Portal was GREAT !

Half Life 2 ......I dunno, i guess with all the hype I expected more. I do love the environments though. But im not BLOWN away.

THE FUCKIN MARINES ARE TRYING TO KILL YOU.

------------------------------------------
major win.
http://irreverentbastards.blogspot.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/irreverentbastard/

I just beat episode 1 and it's more exciting than half life 2 than what i remember

try just woopin everybody ass with the gravity gun

i've seen many a speedrun in my time but this is easily one of the most amazing ones and probably the most incredible video i've seen in years. i literally shouted "OH MY GOD!!" @ the boss fight

if you haven't played the game DON'T WATCH THE VIDEOS! also kill yourself for missing out on the most sublime gaming experience in years

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koB2cEYjx8w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfBe5WtrQG4

.

This was a triumph.
I'm making a note here.
HUGE SUCCESS.
It's hard to overstate my satisfaction.

ever?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWUcVj31QaM&eurl=http://kotaku.com/

that was just amazing.

Holy crap... I had to rewind the last part just to see it again.

http://features.cgsociety.org/story_custom.php?story_id=4338&page=1

http://www.gamevideos.com/video/id/16540

The one with all the red trip lights?

been stuck on this for too long

all you have to do is dodge the first couple trip lights...go up the left to the top of the boxes and jump over the last ones...then turn off the trip lights...there's also a health station right at the door. If you can't dodge the triplights than take a shield-like object and block the lasers. I think thats actually the last generator room, you can clear another one before that.

the 2nd one is in that room with the maze and the red light beams close the two doors and a bunch of machine gun things open at all sides of the room.

This room doesn't have the generator but it is connected to it

thanks

>The one with all the red trip lights?
>
>been stuck on this for too long

its just the last set of trips lasers that are tricky.

fighting the stryder boss now w/ the new and improved gravity gun

yes HL2 has a decent length to it and yet it manages to stay fresh the entire way through, imo.

aaaaannnnnndddd you still have ep1 and ep2 to look forward to. ep2 is something fantastic!

...

not as much as i used to but it still gets burn

I'm on there, seems like its the same 25 people every time.

took me forever.

i've been playin unranked matches for awhile now, even then theres never that many people on.

i wish way more poeple would play this game.

New TF2 PC Maps, Achievements and 'Large Scale' Gameplay Shift Within 2 Months

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/50709

http://www.theleetworld.com/2008/01/18/portal-a-day-in-the-life-of-a-turret/

Had it for the XBOX, but never got a chance to beat it.

Now on the 360, I'm enjoying it all over again. I know I'm a bit behind everyone, but I just got the Magnum (damn I love how the bullets knock dudes off their feet), and I'm excited about getting home tonight after work to play.

If I had to pick one aspect of the game that I enjoy the most (and trust there are a lot to choose from), it's the atmosphere and level design (let me lump those two together). I really love the overall pale color palette they use through the game. And the lighting effects in those tunnels and dark fortress like dungeons great.

I haven't touched episode 1 or 2 yet cause I want to go in order, but it's hard to stay true to the story when I keep hearing all these great things about episode 2.

With those games alone, the replay value for The Orange Box has shot through the roof. With this, College Hoops 2k8 and NBA 2K8, I'm set.

The second to last level is probably one of the best to have ever graced a gaming console.....it's just too epic, and so fun.

If I wasnt in the middle of Mass Effect, I woulda started on ep. 1 already.

He was talking about the last few levels like it was the season finale of Six Feet Under.

"Dude, call me when you get there! Stuff is off the chain!"

i thought the design was amazing

ep. 2 is the best 6 hours of FPS you will ever play. trust. do not skip on ep. 1 though because it adds alot to the characters, mostly alex.

ep. 2 is just amazing. i need to play that again when i have the time.

I'm a veteran of the PC game, its pretty fun but lack of grenades kind of sucks, especially concs. sentry guns are WAY TOO strong especially since no one has nades to throw at them. wouldnt be so bad if they had class limits, like a max of 1 engineer per team. overall its pretty dope though, i can spend hours as a scout raping snipers on the battlements

to reiterate in this sum-muh-muh.

TF2 is DOPE...

i just got UT3....maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan
TF2 just got dethroned in my household

I think I got frustrated initially because it seemed stupidly hard and twitchy, which is why I can't stand most PC shooters. I still kept playing, trying to figure out why people like the game so much.

I got kinda hooked at the point you get the gravity gun and I ended up beating HL2 and both episodes. Funny enough, I realized halfway through Ep 2 I had been playing the whole thing on hard because of those universal Xbox settings, and that kind of made me forgive the game for being so difficult initially (although I kept it on hard at that point since I figured easy would probably be boring since I was used to hard).

I do wish the games told more complete stories. They kind of end abruptly, especially the third episode.

I still liked the Halo games a bit better for the gunfights, but this has it beat as far as atmosphere (although Bioshock is better in that regard).
_________________________
Help me raise fund to fight MS!:
http://tinyurl.com/2n53wu

Philly, check this out:
http://livefromphiladelphia.blogspot.com/

the HL series is still my favorite FPS. there's been other great games like Halo 3 and Bioshock, but i think without HL's influence those games wouldn't be as good.

There, I said it.

I was actually going to make a post about this, but changed my mind.

I've played both. I've tried to play Halo3 extensively, but I always end up going back to TF2. And I know Halo 3 is the online multiplayer game of choice across the world, but I can't get in to the "everybody's the same" aspect of the game. I like the different classes TF2 provides. Each character checks and balances the next, and it's great.

Do you guys feel the same?

i dont really ever get tired of it, even if its just 2fort, there are so many choices of how you can play the game, offense, defense, what class, how the opponents are playing, etc

tons of variety and replay value. i wish i had videos of some of the crazy shit i've done. if anyone is still playing on PS3 holla at me

I almost had 10 kills with a century before the other team hit me w/ a spy and a demo man all at once.

I'd say we should play sometime, but I'm on the 360.

if you want any tips though shoot me an inbox. i used to be an elite level clanner in TFC back in the day.

i pretty much play soldier and scout. i've had some sick rounds/games. my record for kills in one round(which on ps3 is just one life) is 35. that was mostly on defense in the ramp room on 2fort, sometimes on defense i dont die at all during the round. i've had offense runs where i've killed their whole team of 6 or 7, plus 2 sentries, dispensers and teleporters, picked up the intel, and killed 3 or 4 of them again on the way out lol. people are horrible, and not because they don't have good aim or reflexes, but they just don't understand and think about how to play the game and how to adjust to what the enemy team is doing

i wanna give it a shot, but i'm a little worried that i'll get frustrated cuz i have no idea what im doing

what's a good class to start out with?

I'd start out with the soldier. He's pretty simple. Once you know the maps you can venture out with other guys. There's a way you can do a super jump with him by firing at the ground and jumping, but it's timing thing.

My brother plays a lot more than I do, so I learn by playing with him. That being said, I've been playing TF2 for months, and I still don't have a grip on the spy.

The engineer can get addictive too (although everyone uses him).

Here's a tip that can earn you some points/respect on your team.

Somebody is always the engineer. So whenever I look at my team and there's like 4 guys already playing the engineer, I pick either the Heavy or the Pyro. Engineers are always worried about Spy's zapping and destroying their sentries. Help them out by standing near their sentry guns and just firing away. That way if a Spy is invisible, your bullets or fire will make him appear. It's a good way to keep his sentry lasting a long time. If the engineer is smart, they would set you up with a dispenser right by their sentry. That way you can just fire non stop.

just trying to kill other peole...i think i'd like that to start out with...and like you said, i could learn the maps.

me, you and LB should play. i haven't gotten into it yet either.

my tag is PokeEmAll

I mean, 70% of the time, nobody talks and people just play. It's still fun, but it's so much better when you're playing with people who know each other and are willing to work together.

That's why when possible, I try to link up with my brother. He'll set up a sentry gun and I'll protect it. We've won mad games with him as the engineer and me as a Heavy or Pyro.

Unfortunately, I'm in the middle of a move. I won't be online for another two weeks. I'll let y'all know when I'm back and we'll play.

i hopped on TF a few weeks back but didn't have much fun because i didn't know what the hell i was doing and every team i was with didn't help.

i'm tired of Halo 3. i've come to the conclusion that i really hate the shield system. i'm also taking a break from COD4 because of the lack of new maps. R6V2 is fun, but i usually have been playing co-op rather than deathmatches and such.

i've pretty much just held off from TF because i've always felt that the whole reason for online is to play with friends or people you know rather than randoms, but absolutely NONE of my friends have it outside of a few OKPs. definitely let me know when you are back on, till then i'll get some games in to try and familiarize myself with the maps.

i think we've try to play before, but wasn't it our schedules that didn't match up? i'm west coast.

...i'm moving to the west coast...ha ha.

But yeah, it's better to play with people you know at first just to get the hang of it. Once you do, it's really fun.

if you can learn soldier you can play pretty much any other class without too much trouble

on offense a soldier clears the way for faster, lighter classes to go thru and do their thing. on defense a good soldier can lock down a whole section of the map. if you give me a good engy who knows where to put his sentry, he and i can lock down the flag room or ramp room and withstand 4-5 steady attackers

I tend to pick my class based on what the team is made up of. If there are 4 soldiers already on the team, try being a medic. If you're charging up a soldier (or anybody for that matter) and they kill someone, you get points too. That's why you'll see so many Heavy and Medic collaborations.

If you offer some balance, the team will have a better chance at winning (depending on the game/map you're playing).

See, now I'm mad I can't play..ha ha.

I saw my buddy playing on the 360 version of this and it seems like nobody ever plays the medic. On PC it's a lot different, with some very skillful combat medics. Bonesaw!

At least that's what I've seen playing. And this is on the 360.

It's a crap shoot really.

I've never played the PC version, so i really have nothing to compare it to. But I've played a ton on the 360 and the good teams I've played against always have at least two, and they're a pain to defend against.

I'm more annoyed at people doing the sky walking on 2 fort. It's some glitch in the game that allows engineers to build guns way up in the sky and it's difficult to knock them out. Just annoying as hell.

i've kinda stopped playing TF2 since early Feb, i need to go back at it sometime soon...

now it's neck and neck with Bioshock for a single-player FPS (a strong nod goes to Portal too).

i'm not big on FPSs, but the Orange Box is definitely the best game purchase i've ever made. every game was best of the year level.

first time round the physics puzzles are somewhat entertaining, second time just seem... pretentious

i haven't played the other eps yet because i wanted to replay hl2 with the good graphics. but the puzzles were killing me

most are bullshit to me though.

not that i never got stuck, but instinct had me stumbling on to the right path more often than not, which worked great for me because i constantly felt like i was on the run.

i'm sure that won't be duplicated on the second time around, but that's the way it is with most adventure games.

which worked great for
>me because i constantly felt like i was on the run.

Exactly! It's that feeling that kept me playing long in to the night. I'm not much of an explorer. Ya know, trying to uncover every little thing, that's not me. The games pace is fast, almost like you're looking over your shoulder constantly.

...I finally got back to playing the single player portion of HL2.

Man, I forgot how sick this game was.

Naw, I still haven't beat HL2 yet, but as I get further and further, I realize the genius of this game.

I'm currently on this bridge dodging bullets from this helicopter type thing. I don't have enough rockets to take it down currently, but I'm sure there are some laying around somewhere. I gotta finish this cause my brother has already moved on to Episode 1, and I hate being behind.

GTA seems to have weeded out the casual/bad players, seen a lot of decent players online the last couple of days

http://www.gamevideos.com/video/id/19496

celery
universally
xangeluvr

all y'all.

This Saturday.
Let's get on it.
(I might have to make another post)

i canceled it awhile ago, since i hardly used it.

as long as you don't mind me sucking it up. i still haven't touched it simply due to school, gta4, ng2, and mgs4. in fact, i haven't been playing ANY multiplayer games lately.

>celery
>universally
>xangeluvr
>
>all y'all.
>
>This Saturday.
>Let's get on it.
>(I might have to make another post)

I tend to get on TF2 on the PC from time to time. If anybody's down, hit me up! Maybe I'll pull myself off of MGS4 long enough to go a few rounds.

lemme know when you'll be on

------------------------------------------
http://irreverentbastard.wordpress.com

I think my Steam ID is Smokey McGanja.

My steam account gets alot of action. Lil V loves Team Fortress, and i stay jumping between CSS and HL. I don't know if i'd want to play those games with a controller though. Alot gets lost in translation. ...



...wassup though man!?!

Yo, it's been a minute.

I wish I had a PC that could take advantage of Team Fortress cause y'all get all the updates and new maps. The 360 hasn't seen anything since the release about a year ago. Horrible.

Man, seeing you reply makes me want to order a pie from Art Of Pizza.

i've been finally jumping into tf2.

add me: dnegative

------------------------------------------
http://irreverentbastard.wordpress.com

let's play some TF:2 this weekend.

gamertag is kanino.

FREE CHAI VANG!

YOU'VE READ MY FILE NIGGA (c) Jack 'Mufuckin' Bauer



www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

got nil to do.

Target right by the house got it for 20 bucks.

I heard ep 2 is off the hook.

hell yeah.

Ha ha ha.

I'm like a lil' more than half way through (i think).

I just got to the part where guys are following me, and we're back in city center.

xangeluvr, don't hate me...ha ha.

I've been loving this game though, I just don't have the time to play it. I sit down and go through a bit at a time ya know. It's been what, a year and a half since I made this post? Anyway, this is the best shooter video game out there. I have yet to play something that has satisfied me like Half Life 2. I could have jumped to the other episodes, but I really want to complete it in order.

So yeah, maybe in another year I'll make it to EP:1 and 2..ha ha.

get that cake?

Didn't do anything for me.

I'd highly recommend you push a little farther.

and its not a cake.

because you missing out on the best FPS there is in Ep. 2.

shits vanglorious.

-----------------------------

but he don't wanna listen. Ep 2 IS THE SHIT!!!

Half Life 2 has one of the most satisfying endings on a videogame.

that was an honest 34, too (player match, but still) as an engineer on Stage 2, Cap 1 of Dustbowl. I had a good Pyro that kept the spies off me, and a team that actually responded when I told them about demos and soldiers coming for me.

All the new players are kinda easy to whoop on, actually.

I just got 23 kills and 32 points attacking on Dustbowl Stage 3, Cap 2, actually. Killed the whole team, what, like 3 or 4 times there before dying? Damn that was satisfying. I think we took both caps without me losing a life actually.

Love, love, love this game.

Any Live players feel free to get at me if I'm online.

I jumped on Dustbowl for a second and swore I saw about 5 jeeps jammed in the entrances by the first check point.

And if they did add cars, what else did they update?
Are people still playing?

it's not hard to fill up a game at all.

It seems like there's plenty of people who just scooped it up at the discount price, because there's not too hustlers like there were a few months ago. Most rooms I'm in, there's only one or two seasoned players, either on my team or the other team, and the rest are setting up weak turrets they don't know how to properly defend or camping with demos or being terrible spies or stuff like that.

My buddy just got a copy, which is what inspired me to jump back online, and I forgot how much I completely love this game. Best multiplayer game I've played by a fair margin.

I've stuck to being an engineer.

but I really wanna get back to being a spy, it just sounds so kick ass.

defensive soldier on 2fort, at one point they stopped coming to our base, so i went to theirs, killed 6 or 7 of their team, took the intel out, killed 4 or 5 of them on the way out and brought it back to our base. i havent played in a few months, mostly playing resistance2 now

when i stopped playing people had definitely gotten better but most people are really horrible at this game(i think its actually pretty hard to be good at, takes a lot of skill imo)

i really need people to play with in this game

add me too, ht: hellbox9

only games i got for ps3 are resistance 2 and mgs4

Great great great game!
YES, xangeluvr and PlanetInfinite...I finally beat it.

Favorite moments:

- Although, the last two levels (using the gravity gun) were only OK. I liked FOLLOW FREEMAN better. Running around chasing and picking off the columbine around those war torn buildings was fun.

- And taking down those big insect looking things w/ the missile launcher was tight too.

- I remember reading in this post that someone didn't like the beginning. I loved it. Just running from the columbine w/o a weapon was cool.

- WATER HAZARD took forever. I got tired of driving that buggy.

- Capping zombies in the head w/ the shotgun or picking off the Columbine from 100 yards away w/ the sniper. I don't know which was more satisfying. They should have given you more opportunities to do some sniping.

- HIGHWAY 17. Great level. Yeah, the driving got old, but stopping off at these, what I would call "shanty towns" and fighting the columbine was great. I especially liked running them over. Then the end w/ those ships in the big tower? Great. Oh, and the crane too.

- I also liked any part of the game where I had to set up the turrets. Great stuff.

That's about all I can remember for right now. I started Episode One. I know it's short, which is good cause I want to get to Ep. 2 (y'all done built it up). But yo, I might go back and play HL:2 under hard. I really enjoyed it that much. Maybe by the time I finish ep. 1 and 2, episode 3 will be out...ha ha.

http://card.mygamercard.net/lastgame/rjcc.png

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

its been a while since i played but there are a parts that are just amazing that i haven't forgotten..

it's an awesome experience.

they need to hurry up with episode 3.

>- And taking down those big insect looking things w/ the
>missile launcher was tight too.

uh, that final battle is beyond amazing. The highlights of this game are always when you're getting rushed and have to defend. The setups are perfect.

when is Ep 3 comin?

- the story was a major disappointment. it lacked the direction of HL and you went from point to point without much context -- basically one long rescue mission. if the star of HL was the plot, then the star of HL2 was...

- ...the physics engine. granted, I've only played it recently so there's been a lot of advances in five years, but the way seemingly everything can be moved around and react realistically to any environment is impressive.

- I played on the PC, but damn did most of those jumping sections SUCK. the problem is that the keypad is not analog. you cannot move with the precise direction of a console 3-D platformer, even with mouse-aiming.

- the vehicle sections were also a little blah. I preferred Water Hazard, but that dragged on forever and became repetitive. the controls on the buggy sucked (even taking in the fact they wanted it to be a little stiff), again for the reasons of keypad limitations I mentioned before.

- overall it was a fun, engaging game that I didn't want to stop playing. several of the rocket launcher battles were amazing (the bridge was insane, even with the jumping) and I loved the post-Apocalyptic world of life after Black Mesa. there was just a little too much deja vu (the alien enemies had lost the shock value from HL and endless Combine soldiers = Marines) without the story elaboration of HL.

I'm gonna download Episodes 1 and 2 soon...

I literally have no fucking clue what's going on. I just know the briefcase dude is bad n I send some shots his way whenever I see him even though nothing happens.

>- the vehicle sections were also a little blah. I preferred
>Water Hazard, but that dragged on forever and became
>repetitive. the controls on the buggy sucked (even taking in
>the fact they wanted it to be a little stiff), again for the
>reasons of keypad limitations I mentioned before.

You're right about WATER HAZARD. The only part I enjoyed was when I had to park the boat and do other things (aka, the barn).

Episode 1...well, nothing really happened and it was over very quickly. kinda pointless, just a lot of deja vu as they take you out of the city.

Episode 2 was a lot of fun though. the Hunters were a much needed addition to enemy variety. defending White Forest from the Striders was by far the best part of either add-on. infiltrating the antilion cave was also cool.

unfortunately, the story is just a complete afterthought in all parts of HL2, including the expansions, and the gameplay ends up being very repetitive: get to here -> kill zombies -> gravity gun puzzle -> kill combine soldiers -> find vehicle -> get to here

I mean, I've now played 20-30 hours and there's been not a single engaging story device. "the combine oppresses us, we're the resistance, aliens are coming." wow.

youre buggin.. I loved the story. I also have mild ADD and for a game to keep me interested for 25-30 hours is saying something..


Best FPS value in console gaming.

the first part of HL2 is cool because you're getting used to new surroundings and such.

but nothing happens after that. the whole Judith double betrayal was so cliched, it was nearly comical.

there's ambiguity and then there's lack of storytelling -- HL2 falls on the latter side.

and I'm being extra harsh on the story because that's what separated the first one from everything out at the time.

Dude the game is just sick from the varied levels to the graphics/physics and yes even the story. yea maybe the judith betrayel was a bit cliched but what isnt cliched in videogames? it obviously kept you interested enough to sit through 25-30 hours of a game.

doesn't mean they were good.

did you play the whole game on mute?

-----------------------------
http://renegadefrenchfry.wordpress.com

Gordon reawakened in Combine-overtaken world some decades later, nice start. oh shit, we've got to escape...this is sick. meeting old Black Mesa members, another great touch. But then:

- OK, Dr. Vance is kidnapped. we'll spend the next 1/3 the game trailing him to Nova Prospekt.
- OK, it took forever and a bunch of repetitive dune buggy missions, but we got to Nova Prospekt! oh wait, now let's spend the next 1/3 the game trailing Dr. Vance to City 17.
- the Resistance fightback in City 17 near the end was almost the same as the Vortigaunts and Marines in HL.
- as mentioned, Judith's "betrayal" was one of the corniest and most predictable things ever.
- G-Man ending, nearly identical to HL, loses it's novelty.

it was two long chase missions framed with no real context. it's like they copied the HL story template, except it was much worse and not 1999 anymore.

I upped like three Steam posts trying to find a OKP handout last month

it's taken almost 2 months for me to get internet access here, otherwise i'd have seen those ups. i've been trying to give that motherfucker away since OCT 2007. it looks like you copped the whole orange box though, anyway.

if you on pc, my steamid is "etfp"

-----------------------------
http://renegadefrenchfry.wordpress.com

you're going to go nuts.

the payload race is fucking amazing (two payload tracks going opposite directions or in the same direction).

i've started to get busy with the new sniper unlocks (the huntsman is a beast at close to medium range, as evidenced by my numerous deaths by arrow to the face).

also the little changes they've made to certain maps are pretty good.

but you gotta build a pc man.
these custom maps are genius.
found a jount called "great heights".

http://www.fpsbanana.com/maps/73905

-----------------------------
http://renegadefrenchfry.wordpress.com

I hate you and all PC/Steam owners with the hate of a thousand suns (whatever that means).

From what I've read, the 360 isn't getting any of the updates.

Like...none.

I think it's coming down to charging for the update.

Steam wants to give it for fee.

M$ is like..."Ha. You're kidding right?"

So...we're stuck.

I tried playing it the other day and just gave up.
One, people aren't playing. Two, knowing the game could/should have evolved makes playing disappointing.