shit for brains wrote:

If I wanted to play the original Half-Life, I would. I was expecting some sort of innovation in the intervening 6 years. Instead there are no substantive improvements.

I don't care about graphics. I don't care about story. I don't care about characters. I don't want scripting, cutscenes, or boss fights. I just want fun gameplay. So far (just finished the boat sequence, which reminded me of The Library in Halo), HL2 has fallen pitifully short in that regard.

One of my clearest memories of the original HL was the "On the Rails" section (or whatever the name of that was), where occasionally you would come across marine checkpoints. You would have barricades, gun turrets, and marines in fortified positions. Getting past those areas was fun and absolutely the high point of the game for me. So far, HL2 has had nothing remotely as good as those sections.