The dialogue between Alyx and Russell definitely cuts down the tension quite a bit. You can really tell it was written by Portal writers. I do understand what you mean though. HL2 was much more eerie and dark. It's hard to place exactly why.
Alyx is missing it a little, but not source 2. Played an alyx mod on the workshop once. I think it was just called "school". Try it, so eerie and scary
Nice to know that Source 2 is still capable of but I do find it weird that it isn't an Alex itself there's a lot of people said it may be because of the mixture of Russell and better graphics and attention to detail and such may have eradicated this feeling but I loved that feeling and in Half-Life 2 that eeriness as you go through levels especially areas that are supposed to be safe.
One con Alyx has with regard to the eeriness is that Russell is always close by. That said, the game is still pretty daunting and scary. Experiencing it in first-person is mind-boggling at times, and set pieces like the dark headcrab tunnels, the abandoned zoo, and the hotel are plenty unsettling in VR. Let’s not forget Jeff, of course - that was a full-on horror moment akin to Ravenholm.
Yeah, I get it. It can be scary, but that's not exactly what I mean. Through all of its levels, there's a feeling you feel in half life 2, ya know? I guess part of it is the liminal feeling. It's a feeling in a lot of sorcerer engine games.
In my opinion, a big part of liminality is nostalgia. Alyx is new, and a lot more visibly realistic than the comparatively-low-poly HL2. I think it’s missing that uncanny and nostalgic factor.
Yeah I'm not sure how people felt when hl2 was new but that def is a big part. I do kinda hope they can somehow capture that feeling in the future. I love that feeling in half life as I feel it's a bit of the story. Half life alyx is definitely a great game but I miss that feeling lol.
This could just be a me thing idk, but I think part of how Half Life 2 achieves that liminality comes from a few in universe factors.
First is the increased Combine industry in the area you're in due to the construction of the Citadel. Their tech is always just around the corner, barging into homes and shops making a mess of the place. Imo, liminal spaces work best when it still looks habitable and normal. The Citadel being under construction breaks that feeling.
The other is due to the fact that Gordon just came out of his 20 year stasis. Again, this could just be me, but for Alyx and Russell, the hell that is the Combine occupation is run of the mill day to day shit at this point. They talk like it's just another Tuesday to them. Whereas when playing as Gordon, and you're immersed in your experience, and are familiar with what happened in HL1, he's thrust into this unfamiliar, hostile world. People are still here, but humanity is broken. No kids, people live like ants in shacked up apartments waiting for their day to die, and just an overall feeling of dread knowing you caused this.
This was something I was thinking about. I do think that does play into it, but I also think that the map does play into it. And I think also graphics as well.
1. Watching it on the screen and playing it in VR are like completely incomparable feelings, you cant get the feel that the game is supposed to offer without experiencing it first hand in VR, its simply impossible.
2. I hard disagree that... this feeling exists in the first place. I think "spooky source" is kinda bullshit. There is no eerie feeling in source, so for HL:A there is nothing to be "missing" since it was never there in the first place.
I mean, your statement about disagreeing about the feeling is just incorrect. There is something about these things that does invoke a strange feeling, and people it may not affect everybody, but they are there. I believe that perhaps it wasn't entirely planned to be that way at least not at first but that's how it ended up being and perhaps they may have fostered that feeling a little bit after the initial release. Not to mention that Half-Life has always had a hint of Horror but the feeling I'm talking about is more than just scariness. It's a mixture of eeriness that feeling you get from liminal spaces and depression in the sense of loneliness all mixed together or at least the best way I can describe it.
I do have to say that watching it on a screen would not give me the full experience and I get that but with this post I've heard testimonies of other people who have played the game sharing a similar feeling to me. At the end of the day this was just a mere observation and point of discussion about this topic.
in my opinion the half-life series' tone was incomplete in hl1, perfect in hl2, then diluted with more comedy once the orange box writers were brought onboard to co-write with marc laidlaw. their writing is good, and i hesitate to simplify the writing process in this way, but some of it does stick out post hl2.
Yeah I feel that. The game has its moments, but the whole thing felt too comfortable and lived-in, while Half-Life 2 feels cold and uncanny. Not only is it the visuals that don't feel the same, but the sound design also plays a massive role in this. Mike Morasky, the guy who made the soundtrack, was also the composer for the Portal 2 OST and it clearly shows. It fits decently into everything, but it doesn't feel the same as what Kelly Bailey was going for. Kelly Bailey wrote the soundtracks for all of the older games and he's really good at capturing that soulless dystopian vibe, while the newer soundtracks have a little too much soul considering the state that the planet is in during the Combine's reign. I think [Patient Zero by TheParryGod](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Bm3le9s3-A) managed to do a pretty good mix between the atmospheres of Half-Life 2 and Half-Life: Alyx.
The dialogue between Alyx and Russell definitely cuts down the tension quite a bit. You can really tell it was written by Portal writers. I do understand what you mean though. HL2 was much more eerie and dark. It's hard to place exactly why.
Yeah a sort of undertone of darkness. Almost nihilistic feel. And of course a bit of liminal. And other factors.
Alyx is missing it a little, but not source 2. Played an alyx mod on the workshop once. I think it was just called "school". Try it, so eerie and scary
Nice to know that Source 2 is still capable of but I do find it weird that it isn't an Alex itself there's a lot of people said it may be because of the mixture of Russell and better graphics and attention to detail and such may have eradicated this feeling but I loved that feeling and in Half-Life 2 that eeriness as you go through levels especially areas that are supposed to be safe.
Yes
One con Alyx has with regard to the eeriness is that Russell is always close by. That said, the game is still pretty daunting and scary. Experiencing it in first-person is mind-boggling at times, and set pieces like the dark headcrab tunnels, the abandoned zoo, and the hotel are plenty unsettling in VR. Let’s not forget Jeff, of course - that was a full-on horror moment akin to Ravenholm.
Yeah, I get it. It can be scary, but that's not exactly what I mean. Through all of its levels, there's a feeling you feel in half life 2, ya know? I guess part of it is the liminal feeling. It's a feeling in a lot of sorcerer engine games.
In my opinion, a big part of liminality is nostalgia. Alyx is new, and a lot more visibly realistic than the comparatively-low-poly HL2. I think it’s missing that uncanny and nostalgic factor.
Yeah I'm not sure how people felt when hl2 was new but that def is a big part. I do kinda hope they can somehow capture that feeling in the future. I love that feeling in half life as I feel it's a bit of the story. Half life alyx is definitely a great game but I miss that feeling lol.
This could just be a me thing idk, but I think part of how Half Life 2 achieves that liminality comes from a few in universe factors. First is the increased Combine industry in the area you're in due to the construction of the Citadel. Their tech is always just around the corner, barging into homes and shops making a mess of the place. Imo, liminal spaces work best when it still looks habitable and normal. The Citadel being under construction breaks that feeling. The other is due to the fact that Gordon just came out of his 20 year stasis. Again, this could just be me, but for Alyx and Russell, the hell that is the Combine occupation is run of the mill day to day shit at this point. They talk like it's just another Tuesday to them. Whereas when playing as Gordon, and you're immersed in your experience, and are familiar with what happened in HL1, he's thrust into this unfamiliar, hostile world. People are still here, but humanity is broken. No kids, people live like ants in shacked up apartments waiting for their day to die, and just an overall feeling of dread knowing you caused this.
This was something I was thinking about. I do think that does play into it, but I also think that the map does play into it. And I think also graphics as well.
1. Watching it on the screen and playing it in VR are like completely incomparable feelings, you cant get the feel that the game is supposed to offer without experiencing it first hand in VR, its simply impossible. 2. I hard disagree that... this feeling exists in the first place. I think "spooky source" is kinda bullshit. There is no eerie feeling in source, so for HL:A there is nothing to be "missing" since it was never there in the first place.
I mean, your statement about disagreeing about the feeling is just incorrect. There is something about these things that does invoke a strange feeling, and people it may not affect everybody, but they are there. I believe that perhaps it wasn't entirely planned to be that way at least not at first but that's how it ended up being and perhaps they may have fostered that feeling a little bit after the initial release. Not to mention that Half-Life has always had a hint of Horror but the feeling I'm talking about is more than just scariness. It's a mixture of eeriness that feeling you get from liminal spaces and depression in the sense of loneliness all mixed together or at least the best way I can describe it. I do have to say that watching it on a screen would not give me the full experience and I get that but with this post I've heard testimonies of other people who have played the game sharing a similar feeling to me. At the end of the day this was just a mere observation and point of discussion about this topic.
in my opinion the half-life series' tone was incomplete in hl1, perfect in hl2, then diluted with more comedy once the orange box writers were brought onboard to co-write with marc laidlaw. their writing is good, and i hesitate to simplify the writing process in this way, but some of it does stick out post hl2.
Yeah I feel that. The game has its moments, but the whole thing felt too comfortable and lived-in, while Half-Life 2 feels cold and uncanny. Not only is it the visuals that don't feel the same, but the sound design also plays a massive role in this. Mike Morasky, the guy who made the soundtrack, was also the composer for the Portal 2 OST and it clearly shows. It fits decently into everything, but it doesn't feel the same as what Kelly Bailey was going for. Kelly Bailey wrote the soundtracks for all of the older games and he's really good at capturing that soulless dystopian vibe, while the newer soundtracks have a little too much soul considering the state that the planet is in during the Combine's reign. I think [Patient Zero by TheParryGod](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Bm3le9s3-A) managed to do a pretty good mix between the atmospheres of Half-Life 2 and Half-Life: Alyx.
I think the vault section toward the end provides a bit of that eeriness in a way that hasn’t been seen in the other Half Life games.
In my opinion it absolutely felt like a proper HL game. Maybe we're just not used to the player character talking.