Half-Life 2: Episode 1 To Be Stand Alone Game

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Gameguru Mania News - Feb,24 2006 -

Half-Life 2: Episode 1 To Be Stand Alone Game - briefly
(hx) 05:34 PM CET - Feb,24 2006 - Post a comment / read (8)
Valve's Doug Lombardi confirmed to Eurogamer that Half-Life 2: Episode 1, the upcoming first single player expansion pack for Valve's best selling first person shooter sequel, will in fact be a stand alone product and will not require the purchase of Half-Life 2 itself:

Half-Life 2: Episode 1 won't actually require Half-Life 2 to play, Valve's explained, and although the game will be "four to six hours" long, marketing director Doug Lombardi reckons it's "markedly richer" in terms of content quality. The change from Aftermath to Episode 1 was "simply a name change" he says, when asked about the shift to episodic content - which wasn't a shift at all, he adds, since "the format of episodic releases was decided before Half-Life 2 was made available".

As to pricing and content: "For HL2: Episode 1 we're targeting four to six hours of new single player gaming plus HL2 DM and HL DM: Source for $19.99 - HL2 not required," he confirms. "For Episode 2, we're planning a similar offering at the same price."

The Episode 1 will be released on April 24th through Steam.

last 10 comments:

yessum

(02:21 AM CET - Feb,25 2006 )

I don't like this one bit.

It's like they're justifying the price by making it a standalone with mp compatibilities. That's rather... stupid. I'd understand a 10 dollar price (they need to make more money) but 20 dollars sounds a bit greedy. HL2 was really nothing special and it cost 49, 59, 69$ with bull shit content for 59-69 deals.

It would've been awesome if more info about the new content were available. The prior news article (which I skimmed through) talked about how alyx will be more important than any weapon, which pretty much made me think that they've just added new levels and in some where you have to make sure Alyx stays alive.

I really hate that. I just hope I’m dead wrong and they introduce a new bunch of weapons that really take the engine by the horns. If it becomes another tech-demo (HL2) then I will be really disappointed and will illegally download the continuous episodes in cracked format. :roll:

JDR13	(05:31 AM CET - Feb,25 2006 )
What? You're whining about it being $19.99??? Everyone thought it was going to be a lot more than that. $19.99 is a nice surprise. ..................Remember Blue Shift?

Jarhad	(05:49 AM CET - Feb,25 2006 )
$10 for a game? You sound greedy.

yessum

(06:25 AM CET - Feb,25 2006 )

19.99 is a high price.
For an episode.

Seeing how it will be a continuous story 19.99 is a very high price.

At the end of the series you would’ve spent well over 300$ dollars. 20 seems like it’s nothing now. But after it all accumulates you’d realize you could’ve bought a new computer, paid your last payment for your car, upgraded to a new graphics card.

Valve made millions for HL2. Do they really need more money?
They should’ve released these episodes free of charge. Seeing how it really took them couple of months to make an additional episode, and it will take less to make another… they could’ve made HL2 a lot longer than it was.

Valve is really greedy. And I hate it when people fail to see that.

Then again; if this episode includes new content not just new levels and a continuous story then it might be worth the money.

Jarhad, 10$ for a game doesn't sound greedy, it sounds just if all you're getting is extra levels and another cliff hanger storyline.

It's not like a console where you have to appeal to a new audience and advert the hell out of the product. Valve has its audience. Couple million. They know their product will sell no matter what. Bad press/good press people will want to know what happens next. (human nature) Valve isn't spending money on advert charges, valve isn't spending any extra money to make these episodes happen. They aren't taking a chance.

20 dollars is a very high greedy price.

Again; we're in the dark, if there really is new content then 20$ price is just. They've done their work. But if all you're getting is shitworth of nothing, then we’re being anally raped and we dare not to do one thing about it.

JDR13

(07:11 AM CET - Feb,25 2006 )

That was a nice long post that said absolutely nothing.

That average price for expansion packs the last couple of years has been $29.99-$39.99. The expansions for Call of Duty, Doom 3, and even MOH were all $39.99 when they first came out AND they required the original game to play, where EP1 will not. Most ,if not all, of the games I just mentioned only took me 5-6 hours to finish.

So $19.99 for an expansion that doesn't even require the original to play is not a bad deal in these days.

Jarhad

(07:35 AM CET - Feb,25 2006 )

yessum> 19.99 is a high price.
For an episode.

Seeing how it will be a continuous story 19.99 is a very high price.

At the end of the series you would’ve spent well over 300$ dollars.They call it an episode because it's shorter than an expansion, but do you think that HL2's episodes are part of a 30-episode season or something? Most expansions are 6-9 hours long, how is having the same amount of content and costing 2/3 the price bad? The expansion for Doom 3, that was raw greed. Did anyone ask for it? No, Doom 3 was a dissapointment for many and had no reason to have an expansion; no compelling story, very similar gameplay, etc. Hell, id had Nerve do all the work and sat back as they enjoyed getting more income for an expansion they didn't create. In the end, the expansion was horrible.

They announced Aftermath in 2005 and released in 2006, a year afterwards. It was renamed to Episode 1 and everyone thinks it's a 30-minute show and they'll release them every Sunday or something. Ironic that people mock it for the naming convention being similar to Star Wars yet the movies were released with 2-3 year intermissions.

yessum> But after it all accumulates you’d realize you could’ve bought a new computer, paid your last payment for your car, upgraded to a new graphics card.Only enthusiasts upgrade the second their pc can't run max details perfectly. Looking at Valve's hardware survey, the majority of people have 2.3-3ghz P4 or 2-2.2ghz Athlons, and 9 out of the top 10 used graphics cards you can't find new and sell for under $75. It's not an intensive game at lower detail. Hell, high-end PCs that were used for CS can play CS:S.

yessum> Valve made millions for HL2. Do they really need more money?
They should’ve released these episodes free of charge. Seeing how it really took them couple of months to make an additional episode, and it will take less to make another… they could’ve made HL2 a lot longer than it was. There's too much feedback not to. If thousands of people signed a petition over a game that isn't out, little is known about, and has been delayed for four years. The fanbase community for STALKER is suprisingly large. Now imagine the fanbase for a hugeless successful game. HL is part of a trilogy. Anyone who was suprised that the end of HL2 was a cliffhanger is foolish. That's like complaining how an episode of your favorite TV show ended when a commercial came on!

Even if Valve stopped making the HL2 series, someone would finish it in a mod. Any game that hold's a persons attention from start to finish has already accomplished something very difficult. Now to have people finish it and have people wanting more, that marks a successful game. Doing it twice is nothing short of amazing. I've lost count how many times Valve has done it.

yessum> Valve is really greedy. And I hate it when people fail to see that.

Then again; if this episode includes new content not just new levels and a continuous story then it might be worth the money.Valve being greedy is objective, but who cares? If you want to hate something for being greedy, go bitch about the Tomb Raider series. Everything from TR2 sucked and they're making another, what is this one? Their 6th? 7th? What distinguishes Valve from those developers is Valve makes quality products. If Valve is greedy enough to meet the high demand of quality games, then so be it.

quote:
they could’ve made HL2 a lot longer than it was.
...and possibly destroy a good thing. Remember greed? What did you want HL2 to include? HL2 several Episodes and HL3 in one extremely fun 40-hour fps?

yessum> Valve is really greedy. And I hate it when people fail to see that.

Then again; if this episode includes new content not just new levels and a continuous story then it might be worth the money.

Even if it is it's still better then the generic crap thrown out to make a buck. Even if that's "only" what they do, it's answering everyone's request. "What happens to Freeman?" Again, you said you wish it was longer.

quote:
Jarhad, 10$ for a game doesn't sound greedy, it sounds just if all you're getting is extra levels and another cliff hanger storyline.
HL2 and this expansion will cost less than the price of a new PC game, and more first-time-through total time than the price of a new $50 game. Keep in mind HL2 ($30) and this expansion ($20) costs less than the price of a new game ($50 + tax).

quote:
20 dollars is a very high greedy price.

Again; we're in the dark, if there really is new content then 20$ price is just. They've done their work. But if all you're getting is shitworth of nothing, then we’re being anally raped and we dare not to do one thing about it.
Oddly, $20 will get you admission to the same movie twice while that same amount will get you twice the time spent on all new content. Don't forget the popcorn and drinks.

quote:
They should’ve released these episodes free of charge.Maybe if it were the same length of an episode of a tv show. Ah yes, they have. Lost Coast.

Sorry for the long post. I just hate when people mix up greed and supply&demand.

People say Microsoft is greedy. Those people aren't waiting overnight outside for an Xbox 360.

yessum

(03:08 PM CET - Feb,25 2006 )

Lost coast was a tech demo

Wow. Expansion packs add new content to games. Blue shift had new Weapons. New level of game play. Opposing force had a new level of game play. It wasn't half life 1 redone.

Doom 3 expansion wasn't bad. Everyone expected doom 3 to be something entirely different even though ID said it would be a typical run of the mill shooter like doom was ages ago. Valve made promises about hl2 and never kept them.

I bought doom 3 and its expansion. I bought pain killer and its expansion. I knew what to expect and I wasn't disappointed.

Valve made hl2 seem like this godlike game. When I played it... it wasn't. It was scripted, ai was slow, environments weren't that big, it was very repetitive, and the story line simply sucked.

Seeing how these 'episodes' will not be in any way expanding the game play (adding new content [because valve is too lazy to make shit up]) 20 dollars isn't worth it.) I can't see how you people don’t understand this. All they're adding is new levels. You're not paying for new guns, new characters, or new ideas. You're paying for what should've came out years ago. Sin episodes as stated will add new weapons, new characters, in each episode. That's worth 20$. New maps aren't worth 20$. Why not just release a single player map pack?

Map Packs are free to download :shock:

Jarhad> There's too much feedback not to. ... I've lost count how many times Valve has done it.

What made Valve successful were counter-strike, dod, ahl, and many other mods. Reasons why hl2 was a successful sell was because of counter-strike source, and dod-source. Once valve stops making half life games no one will give a fuck. Single Player games aren't anything getting up and atom about. Nobody is right now playing half life 2 as a re-run. Half Life: source was pretty much a second run through for many gamers.

Valve hasn't done anything for its fans. It bought counter-strike and made it worse. (i've talked to long time counter-strike fans [since beta] and they were pissed when valve bought cs. They were even more so annoyed with the shitty quality of counter-strike source.) Same with day of defeat source.

The reason why people still play (i know you'd ask that) is because of the community, of the extensive reach of online friends. You run and you shoot, yes, but you also communicate with your friends around the globe. That's something valve is remotely responsible for. I admire that.

jarhad>
Valve being greedy is objective, but who cares? ... If Valve is greedy enough to meet the high demand of quality games, then so be it.

Valve does not meet high demands. Valve does not make quality products. They release what they want, not what people want, and then they say fuck you. They say fuck you to your face when you complain about a bug. "A bug, in our game? You’re the only one, we don't give a fuck about you" It's when the problem affects hundreds of people is when they'll remotely care. Valve hasn't made a quality product. It has made games. Monolith has made quality product. Quality products only matter when you have some shit under the roof. When your content quality is always the same then you haven't made a quality product yet. Monolith has nolf 1, nolf 2, tron 2.0, fear, avp 2 and it also has contract jack.

jarhad> ...and possibly destroy a good thing. Remember greed? What did you want HL2 to include? HL2 several Episodes and HL3 in one extremely fun 40-hour fps?
A 40 hour long fps would be great. That's a lot of game play. A lot of content. A lot of story to tell. Three things valve cannot improve upon. I'd play a 40 hour game if it were worth it.

jarhad>
Oddly, $20 will get you admission to the same movie twice while that same amount will get you twice the time spent on all new content. Don't forget the popcorn and drinks.

You go to see a movie twice when the movie is worth it. You'll buy the dvd when it comes out (49) and watch it several times, then you'll buy a SE edition (60) because you know it's worth it. Half life 2 wasn't worth a replay. It wasn't hiding and messages, there weren't any secrets, alternative routes, story line manipulations... it was just a linear fps with eye candy. And you don't replay linear games.

jarhad>
Sorry for the long post. I just hate when people mix up greed and supply&demand.

Greed = when a company wants more than it deserves and it justifies its choice with bogus statements.

Supply&Demand = when a company creates enough product for the needy society.

Valve hasn't yet supplied what the public wanted. Not once. There were bugs in counter-strike source people complained about for months. Months. Same with single player. Graphical Textures. What happened? "We'll take care of it" 90% of people beat the game, valve fixes the bug.. Who the fuck replays a boring linear game just to see if there isn't a graphical bug?

Maybe some. I know I didn’t.

JDR13>
That average price for expansion packs the last couple of years has been $29.99-$39.99. The expansions for Call of Duty, Doom 3, and even MOH were all $39.99 when they first came out AND they required the original game to play, where EP1 will not. Most ,if not all, of the games I just mentioned only took me 5-6 hours to finish.

Allow me to simply ask... before you preloaded hl2 what did you preload?
The source engine.

When you didn't want to preload hl2 but only wanted hl:source, what did you preload?
The source engine.

The source engine. The source engine.

If you have half life 2 preloaded then you won't have to preload the engine. You'll just preload the extra levels and a nifty icon for your steam. If you don't have half life 2 preloaded you'll end up sitting by your monitor for hours on end until you get the engine, and then the game. You do need the original game. It’s just that valve fooled everyone because nobody has a frickin' clue.

:lol:

Sorry for the long post. I just woke up.

JDR13	(07:40 PM CET - Feb,26 2006 )
Y A W N :roll:

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