XKCD from the other day...
True, they do don't they?
Yep, so far. . .Their next challenge is to make people play both Left 4 Dead 2 and Left 4 Dead and the same time. Can they do it? Knowing Valve, they will pull something to keep people playing L4D.
The only games that pretty much died through time was Day of Defeat: Source, and HL2: DM (People do play the puzzle servers tho.) People still play Counter-Strike: Source and even Counter-strike 1.6. I might be wrong, I just can't find any public servers to play on on those games. .
The more you give, the less appreciated it will be received.
I was amazed to find out even Half-Life 1 was enjoyable nowadays. The graphics are horrible compared to today's standards, but the gameplay is as solid as always. Not even Half-Life 2 has a mix between combat and puzzles as good as in Half-Life 2.
"Duct Tape is the answer."
I think the puzzles in HL:2 were my favorite part. The part with the airboat where there are supplies if you move the cinderblocks out of the other side of the lift, genius!
A few people have raised some good points. While I don't own HL2 (pure Portal for me), I did the chance a while back to play through the first few maps at a friend's house. I know I'm in the minority here, but I dislike straight combat FPS's (such as Halo, Call of Duty, etc...); you know, mindless shooting games. Some will argue that there is a great deal of strategy involved in these games, which I don't have a problem with; I simply think it's about time that more credit is given to real brain-crippling, puzzling, off-beat games. I also think Valve does an excellent job with all of its games because they are, more or less, all part of a story. I mean, come on--take Portal and HL2:EP2:
Both storytelling and production of perspective-changing games really defines what Valve stands for, in my opinion. They might not always put out a game on schedule, but no matter the graphics quality, they always put out all around great games.
Sorry for the rant; just thought I'd add my two cents.
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I have to agree about not liking FPS, but mainly single player ones. I'm a pretty big fan of online FPS games. I like HL2 and these games because the enemies aren't stupid. They'll throw grenades, duck behind cover, and even flank you!
I hear you. I used to play Star Wars Battlefront I and II alot, and the AI controlling enemies could be rather dull at times. Often, I'd find an enemy trooper continuously running into a corner without even realizing I was there; you were torn between just letting it go out of pity or putting it out of its misery.
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Never played battlefront. It's not really my kind of game.
I like SWBFII a bit more because it integrated a fair amount of flight and flight-based combat. Pulling up into a ninety degree turn to avoid the wall of a star cruiser was always a bit exhilarating, especially with surround-sound headphones. I also loved to play Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds. That one isn't so much combat as strategy; you're more omniscient than first-person. You have to build a society in addition to protecting your civilians. Come to think of it, I might put that back in and play it some more.
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