The golden age of videogames! A time when F.E.A.R. and Half-Life 2 set not only the benchmark for first-person shooters but totally revolutionized how we made use of the internet. To this day, twenty years on, players across the world are moved to tears by their gunplay and physics engines. Why-oh why-have today’s games not managed to scale such heights? Let’s delve in a bit deeper, into what modern games seem to lack, while trying to uncover the perpetual magic of these oldies.
More than just a shooting game
Do you remember the first time you fired up Half-Life 2 and got to use that gravity cannon, picking up and hurling some random object around the room? Or those heart-stopping moments in F.E.A.R. where you outmaneuvered baddies in a choreographed dance of gunfire by judiciously using your slow-motion skills? It wasn’t just about shooting in these encounters; it was more about interacting with the environment, sensitive and living, and so ultra-authentic. Literally, Half-Life 2’s physics engine had been a game-changer. It allowed a level of interactivity that fostered the impression that the world was for those inquisitive and astute.
Even if they are not exactly shooters, modern Starfield and Elex 2 still make us long for the same level of complexity regarding gunplay. That is about standards, rather than some masochistic yearning for punishment. Games now, old enough to vote, set the bar way high! Have we become so used to the visual magic of presentation and graphics that we have forgotten how much magic there is in a world that acts back?
Not to be neglected are comments from Blade Wolf, where he spoke of his impression regarding how Half-Life 2 perfectly combined episodes of physics-based gameplay, world-building, and storytelling: “Its physics-based gameplay presents everything in the game,” he said, emphasizing that modern shooters seem to lack this aspect. And they are not alone in this view. The consensus among many players would appear to be that for all their pretty graphics, most games today often lack the kind of investment that made games like Half-Life 2 so memorable.
Of course, working with small objects is undeniably one of the appeals, but that’s not all. It’s about the whole game design process: along with being a shooter, Half-Life 2 was an action-adventure, puzzle, realistic simulation-what made players think, use the environment, and come up with natural and satisfying solutions to solve the problem. That fact was greatly softened by the fact that the gunplay was merely one part of a much larger picture.
Do not be too harsh on the modern era.
Indeed, some games tried to innovate, but that spirit of innovation has still been there in titles such as Red Faction Guerrilla, which had destructible environments, and many VR experiences, which allowed users to better get hands-on with physics. However, instead of such being the usual, these have often proved to be the exception rather than the rule, and the whole industry seems to have devolved, all spectacle over substance.
Not that presentation and visuals are unimportant, but they are, and have come leagues beyond Half-Life 2. “Physics doesn’t matter if it’s in 4K,” joked Kamiyouni. The joke underlines a sad fact: too often, too many developers and gamers alike have favored resolution and frame rate above the real, satisfying mechanical feel of a correctly implemented physics engine.
Until recently, the appearance of the ‘Half-Life 2 Update’ on Steam, in essence a remastered version of the game, evidences interest in that kind of deeply complex, dynamic gameplay which Half-Life 2 represented is still alive. It reminds us, in a way, that with such games, what we liked was being part of a world that reacted to us in complex and fascinating ways, not just shooting.
It’s clear that there’s a desire for more than just pretty graphics.
Gamers want to return to days when shooting was more than a pull of a finger: meaningfully interact with the game world by utilizing surroundings, cunning, and yes, your weapons. Now is the time to let the gamers be heard and for developers to set their sights higher. Let’s bring back magic to Final Fantasy and Half-Life 2-for the future of gaming as much as it is for nostalgic values.
It gets difficult not to feel at least some disappointment as we sink deeper into a world of modern shooters. It really just comes down to a head scratcher when new games cannot be bothered with what the likes of F.E.A.R. and Half-Life 2 more than a decade ago nailed spot on. This is about a quality that seems lost, not some nostalgic yearning for days long past. Let’s go see why the innovation has stagnated with modern shooters and have a little chat about the future of the industry.
The stagnation in modern shooters is palpable.
The tactile, immersive sensations that once typified the genre have, it seems, been relegated to second fiddle by visual quality in many of today’s releases. It is as if the industry has become obfuscated with superficial improvements and disregarded the basic principles that make games appealing. This is not to say that every shooter of today is unimpressive, but a general trend can be spotted where graphical prowess takes precedence over the intricacies of physics and interaction.
Take, for example, Bounchfx, who says it has been all downhill for first-person shooters over the last fifteen years. They really ask a central question: does anyone even remember attempts to progress the genre? While BioShock and Dishonored are credited with innovating abilities, any improvements in actual shooting mechanics seem minimal. It’s starting to feel like the industry’s passing up opportunities to evolve in ways that would directly impact interaction and gunplay.
In fact, attempts have been made before. For example, Red Faction Guerrilla was praised for its innovative mechanism and a landscape that could be destroyed piece by piece. But such examples are few and far between. The industry needs more F.E.A.R. games with their slow-motion combat or Half-Life 2 with its gravity gun that dare to play with the physics of their respective settings.
One reason for the problem might be technological difficulties with incorporating complex physics into the games. Teeth say that baked lighting solutions, which are essential in making high-fidelity images that gamers have been accustomed to, get in the way when everything becomes interactive. At the same time, people say they will be ready to give up some visual refinement in order to make global engagement possible. That is an opinion shared by many people who prefer gaming depth over visual extravaganza.
What’s next? Perhaps a balance of innovation and homage provides the answer. While innovating within the bounds of today’s technology, today’s shooter can reach back and take lessons from the past. Beyond the visually stunning, developers should strive to create games that are truly interactive and responsive to the player. There might be a niche for physics and interaction-centric titles, if the current buzz about “Half-Life 2 Update” is any indication.
Also, the making of virtual reality permits new and more innovative ways of approaching gaming. For example, the increased quality of physics with Valve’s Rubikon could be as revolutionary as the change from Half-Life 1 to Half-Life 2. The excitement for Half-Life: Alyx and the tease says a lot about how players are anticipating creativity in the physics of games.
Given the fantastic strides the industry has taken with regard to presentation and visuals, one would hope that developers wouldn’t forget the gameplay elements that make a shooter different from other games. They are asking developers to revive that innovative spirit seen in Half-Life 2 and F.E.A.R., for instance. In this way, companies will be assured that the future games would be full of that complexity and interaction gamers require alongside looking absolutely spectacular. Let’s insist on a return to gunplay and physics that launch the genre into unprecedented greatness, not merely an iteration.
Related posts:
Half Life 2 is a really frustrating experience : r/patientgamers (reddit.com)
half-life 2 legacy cd version : unknown : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
