>first game is set in a cool new mexico science lab that gets double butt-fucked by aliums and some CIA spook PMC
>second game is set in sewers, roadways, and waterways
What the fuck were they thinking

>>716501974 (OP)
It's cool tho

>>716501974 (OP)
they got bored of the og setting

>>716501974 (OP)
>Zombie Infested city
>Breaking into a Prison D-day style
>Being trapped in the middle of a civil war
>Infiltrating a giant alien mega-structure
HL2 had a lot more gameplay variety over HL1, which goes to shit the moment you reach Xen

>>716507089
Having more variety of something bad doesn't make it good. HL2 is just dull to play

>>716507627
I Disagree.

>>716507627
Half life 2 shines when you're not in the "THAT PART" segments (see: half the fucking game(seriously, who thought we wanted dune buggy and hovercraft gameplay))

>>716507845
Highway 17 is comfy, the hovercraft segments can go fuck itself

>>716501974 (OP)
Because the original game was basically set in one location and they wanted a big epic adventure for the second one and the compromise was a trek across Eastern Europe. The fact that they now had a shiny new engine with better physics that could handle proper vehicles was just a bonus.

>>716508003
>bonus
Science labs are kino, 1984 is cringe

>>716507939
I have no problem with the hovercraft section, whereas having a second vehicle section so close after the first is a fucking awful idea

>>716501974 (OP)
i like both
>>716507089
xen is ok but this

Post favorite parts from both games
>The canyon crossing from HL1
>The bridge section from HL2

>>716501974 (OP)
I'm glad they did. Eastern Europe settings are mega comfy.

>>716508819
Xen is terrible. I will never not laugh that
>Black Mesa devs refuse to do Xen because "Xen suxxxx"
>get bullied into doing Xen
>they "redo" Xen to "make it more enjoyable"
>Its fucking worse than HL1s Xen complete with a cinematic chase sequence and even worse platforming

the citadel is worse than xen

>>716501974 (OP)

>>716501974 (OP)
Dude, fucking science bunker is most generic setting for a game.
One LEVEL from Duke Nukem 3D may be more varied than ENTIRETY of HL1.
Setting-wise HL2 is brilliant, while HL1 is merely okay.

>>716509067
That's because Xen was only ever terrible in a vacuum. In the context of the game, Xen was a necessary capstone that tied the story together and fully showed off the intergalactic scale of it. The fact that Xen has a different feel to the gameplay and level design was to sell the idea of it being an alien world. Had it been longer - say, as long as BM's Xen - that might have been a problem, but it ends long before it gets frustrating and instead feels like the last desperate struggle to end the adventure. Without Xen, Half-Life would have been a worse game

>>716509067
I liked BM Xen. There are some missteps, but in general it's cool alien place.

>>716507089
Honestly, Residue Processing is where I zone out when replaying HL1

>>716501974 (OP)
shut up kid or you will pay

wepon