It is on sale now, and 80% off! GO GET IT, YOU FOOLS!!!

I've never seen that game before. O_o

I think I'll give Episode 1 a try at least. I forgot about Portal as well...I hear it's a puzzle game though and I'm not real good at those, prefer shooting and blowing things up.

Portal is indeed a puzzle game, it's a really good one though.
I prefer Portal 2 but Portal is pretty good.

It helps that Portal 1 is pretty short.

I did enjoy the first Half-Life game (I found it just OK, not great), but I didn't like Half-Life 2 either (I didn't enjoy the infinitely-spawning enemies, driving segments, or zombies... I actually quit during the zombie segment).

Nevertheless, I did give Episode One a try, but quit that one too because it was too linear/scripted and relied too much on using the gravity gun.

Episode 1 is not all that great, but I really love Episode 2 - that game has a lot of great moments, an intense final battle, and a lot of atmosphere. Without doubt, I'd say that Episode 2 is the best entry in the franchise. So, if perhaps have a go at that before writing the whole franchise off.

Episode 2 is still on my list to try someday. I will admit though that after my experience with Episode 1, Episode 2 got bumped down the list a fair distance...

Half-Life 2 is one of those games that is more noteworthy as a tech demo than as a game. I think people in the industry at the time were so blown away by the whole gravity gun/physics mechanic that they forgot to check on whether the game was actually fun to play (it is in short bursts but then it gets really monotonous).

Finished episodes 2 & 3 of Hector: Badge of Carnage. It was ok but not that great.

Full list here.

Hard Reset Redux

I didn't know what to expect since I haven't played the original before but boy, was I in for a treat! HRR is an awesome looking, great sounding, adrenaline pumping old school FPS in a modern package. Fans of Painkiller, Serious Sam, Doom and the likes, will be right at home with HRR.

The game is divided by levels instead of a continuous world ala Half-Life, with each level having it's own secrets, a sh!tload of mechanical enemies and stuff to break. Lots of stuff to break, plus you can use the environment to your advantage (shooting explosive barrels, aircondition units explode too etc).

The graphics are stunning, textures, models and dynamic lightning are top-notch, the art design reminds me of Blade Runner, the sound effects are great too and the dynamic soundtrack is fitting and compliments the game. Overall, the game has a very nice, sci-fi atmosphere that I found quite depressing at times.

To sum up:
*** Pros ***
• Stunning, gorgeous visuals. Optimised engine, runs flawlessly at maximum settings on my ATI5830.
• Solid gameplay
• Nice comic book videos between levels
• Lots of awesome weapons to use
• Great enemy & level design
• No inventory, puzzles, platforming - Just old school FPS fun!

*** Cons ***
• Some rebinding problems (if you rebind the keys, you won't be able to exit the various upgrade stations. Fix: rebind them to your liking but set as secondary keys the W,A, S, D and use them each time you want to exit the upgrading kiosks)
• Slight overheating issues? (the only game I saw my GPU reaching 69ºC). Not a problem for me but other cards may overheat.
• Overall duration (I finished it in two sessions, around 5-6 hours I guess). I'll definitely replay it and try the other modes as well but still, the game is somewhat short but fun otherwise.
• Too many achievements notifications got on my nerves because they distracted me when I was spraying bullets to the robots. May be good for those who like achievements though.

TL; DR. If you enjoy simple, oldschool FPS like Painkiller or Serious Sam or Doom and stuff like that, give it a try.


List of finished games 2016 >> http://www.gog.com/forum/general/games_finished_in_2016/post229

Legends of Eisenwald
Trying for the third time to post this without losing it. So, shorter synopsis this time..

I guess I'm done with this one, although I didn't get to finish it.

Basically, I liked the game overall, but didn't like the fact that you build up your squad in each chapter only to lose them and all their kit when you transition to the next one. Every time. As well, I didn't like that you sometimes have an NPC join your squad for story reasons, which (if your squad is full at the time) means you lose a random squad member as well as all their gear. Not sure if they get parked somewhere to pick up later, but if so I never found it.

But my biggest disappointment (not sure if this is a bug or not) is that when I was transitioned into Chapter 8 (which I think may be the last), I was alone and chased down by a guard squad of 5. Playing as an archer, I could not defeat these guys. No way to evade them (can't bypass them), no way to outrun them (they're faster than I), so it's game over every time, as they wipe me out in the first turn. I found no way to cheat my way through so I could continue, either. I don't have the ambition to start over and play a different character right now. Maybe another time, but I'm worried I'll just run into the same issue.

Unfortunately, I can't recommend this one. It's too bad, because there are a lot of very good things about this game, but this impasse that I find myself in is a terrible disappointment. If this is just a bug, then beware if you play the game. If this is just poor design, then avoid the game.

*sigh*

Full List

Portal 2

Bought this game in the Steam Xmas sale in 2011 with Orcs Must Die, and Skyrim.

Finally got around to playing it, and on the whole it was pretty great.

Pros:
Single player has 60 levels of varying difficulty
Some amazing fun levels and features - the various gels in particular were a nice extra layer of puzzle-dom
Voice work, dialogue, and story are first rate

Cons:
I'd say 2-3 levels had puzzles that were a bit too obscure for me. Required anticipating how some feature would work, or brute force trial/error on every possible combo.
10ish levels were mind-numbingly easy, to the point they seemed like excuses to keep you doing something (anything!) while the dialogue played.
The only real complaint I had was that, of the 9 chapters, 1-4 were great, as were 7-9, but parts of 5-6 dragged quite a bit. The level designs tended toward more vast terrain with fewer interactive surfaces.

Still, this game is an absolute recommend.

The end of game sequence was amazing/funny, and even sitting through the credits/prose poem for the bonus scene at the end was well worth it.

To be honest, I really enjoyed Half-Life 2 (and the original too) more than any other FPS. I also dig most of the features that other folks hate like the driving segments, the pass through Ravenholm (the zombie level), the episodes etc. I still play both games in a yearly manner (although I prefer Black Mesa instead of the first HL because of the infamous Sierra Utilities bug) and i prolong each gameplay session by experimenting with the weapons, buggy car etc so I guess there is no question about monotony or boredom from me.

Ha, I figured someone would disagree with me :) I quite like the zombie level, but yeah, those driving sections just go on too long for my tastes. Video games are almost inherently repetitive so I guess it depends on how much you like the primary gameplay. I know some people didn't like Binary Domain because it's nothing but mutilating robots for like 10 hours but I couldn't get enough of it, for instance.

Bravo, exactly this; it's all about gameplay & whether you enjoy doing it for x hours. :)