Half Life 2 Collectors Edition?

[Hi Ho]

Does it come with the original half life? HERE is the link. I can't figure out whether it comes with the original Half Life which I haven't played yet.

[goodnice]

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...games&n=468642
Heres another discription of it.
I think it does come with the first one with the new engine. I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure thats the case.

Another article about it.
http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/half-life-2/567029p1.html

[kram 2.0]

Looks like it comes with three pieces of software - Half Life Source, Half Life 2, and CounterStrike:Source. HL:S is almost the exact same thing as HL - I guess that's a yes then. My personal recommendation is to get it through Steam - 60 USD for the whole package and the whole entire HL/CS Backpackage (without T-Shirt).

kram

[GhostRecon]

Half-Life Source is still very respectable, a few noticeable upgrades ( water, sound, textures) but nothing major. Counter-Strike Source :/ nothing but the graphics impressed me, I perfer Counter-Strike 1.6... HL2M I would never buy it as a stand alone game, under developed, only has 2 maps !!!!

Don't buy Collectors :{ I suggest getting it through Steam. Only difference is it doesn't have a physical CD, box, manual, etc. You have to insert the disc to play, where as the purchase through Steam you can play from anywhere, without any cd present

I recommend buying HL Source only if you never played the original or completed it. But if you're willing to put up with the minor setbacks of the DVD version, enjoy the T-shirt. I don't think you'll need a prima guide, HL2 is pretty straight foward.

[goodnice]

After you play the first Half-Life you might be interested in the next two games.

Not quite as good as the first one but it continues the series.

# Half-Life: Opposing Force
# Half-Life: Blue Shift

Blue Shift was IMO better then Opposing Force.
Plus Blue shift comes with a graphics upgrade to half-life 1. I think. But that’s not to be confused with Half-Life 2's source engine for that collectors edition. Some one correct me if I'm wrong.

Half-Life ones graphics are a bit dated but I'm sure you'll still feel kernels of Half-Life 1 that really shine out that make you want to find out whats next.

[Hi Ho]

I think I'd rather have it on DVD. Isn't there only one Half Life before Half Life 2 not counting the mods? I just want to be caught up so I don't play Half Life 2 clueless. I have never played the first one.

EDIT: On second thought, buying through Steam might be a nice way to go. My only concern, however, is what would happen when I reinstall Windows or something. Would it just let me download it again?

[goodnice]

I'm not sure what would happen with steam but I've got the hard copy of Half-Life 2 and I've had quite a few problems in getting it to work right as is. It might let you re-download you could check the steam site up for that info, check in the FAQ area or forum. You might like a hard copy in case any thing happens though.

If you got steam I don't think you can get Blue Shift. Which isn't all that bad but it was a bit fun.

You could probably just play half-Life 2 with out even playing the first but the first game has a few things about it you can only feel in the first.

Both those games I mentioned are sort of continuations of the story although not really necessary for the second. But they aren’t like online mods. Although they do have a multi player section on them.

[kram 2.0]

Originally Posted by Hi Ho EDIT: On second thought, buying through Steam might be a nice way to go. My only concern, however, is what would happen when I reinstall Windows or something. Would it just let me download it again?

Just keep a backup of your Steam ID - you have the right to install the game as long as you are the owner of the ID that has purchased the game.

kram

[Hi Ho]

Ok thanks. I'm still not clear on how Steam works exactly. If I were to buy the HL2 silver package tonight would I be able to play it right away? Does it just download everything? I can't find any info on the Steam website. They don't have an FAQ section that I can find. They better have fast servers. From what I can find it totals 9GB !! I know my cable connection can go almost 5 MB/s but there aren't many websites that are even half that fast.

[Darth Revan]

Yeah the only thing that you will see (On the first HL) is one of the first cut scenes where the whole mess with the headcrabs and Xen happens other than that it's just a good game. Graphics were stellar when it came out. It's a good game. Here is a link for the first HL screenshots- Link I bought HL2 and it is sitting in my room waiting to be installed since I am currently without a computer.

[kram 2.0]

Originally Posted by Hi Ho Ok thanks. I'm still not clear on how Steam works exactly. If I were to buy the HL2 silver package tonight would I be able to play it right away? Does it just download everything? I can't find any info on the Steam website. They don't have an FAQ section that I can find. They better have fast servers. From what I can find it totals 9GB !! I know my cable connection can go almost 5 MB/s but there aren't many websites that are even half that fast.

You can play right away after downloading given that you pay the price for whatever package you purchase (I went Silver). Their connection depends on time of day - I installed it before hand to avoid the traffic then unlocked it after it came out.

kram

[Hi Ho]

How long did it take to download for you? How can you install it beforehand? I have the demo installed and it takes up 3GB. Is that right?

[goodnice]

Sorry I made a mistake they do have a support section that might have a few answers.

[GhostRecon]

Its took me about 180 minutes to download HL2 on Steam...and after that the game still needs to update so when you hit the loading screen after you start HL2 wait for about 15+ minutes...

[swampdonkey]

Just to clarify-
If you buy HL2 through steam you get HL2, CS:S and the entire 'back catalogue' from Valve. If you buy retail, you cannot get the back catalogue from valve. The back catalogue includes HL1, CS, Opposing Force, Day of Defeat, Team Fortress Classic, Deathmatch Classic, and Ricochet. If you buy any retail package in a store (HL2 Standard, or HL2 collectors edition), you DO NOT get the back catalogue from valve.

I received HL2 retail as a christmas present, and all that comes with it is HL2 and CS:S. I already had HL1 'game of the year edition', so I have everything except Blue Shift. You CANNOT play Blue Shift over Steam.

When you register you cd-key for any product it is bound to that Steam account. You can use your account on any computer and just download the game onto that computer. For example, if you have the HL1 cd-key registered to your account, you can download the game files for any game onto any computer logged in with your account.

HTH and was easy to understand,
/sd

[kram 2.0]

Originally Posted by swampdonkey Just to clarify- If you buy HL2 through steam you get HL2, CS:S and the entire 'back catalogue' from Valve. If you buy retail, you cannot get the back catalogue from valve. The back catalogue includes HL1, CS, Opposing Force, Day of Defeat, Team Fortress Classic, Deathmatch Classic, and Ricochet. If you buy any retail package in a store (HL2 Standard, or HL2 collectors edition), you DO NOT get the back catalogue from valve.

You can get the back catalogue through Steam only if you purchase the Silver or Gold Package.

kram

[swampdonkey]

Whoops...my bad.

thanks

/sd

[Hi Ho]

I think I'm going to purchase the Silver package from Steam. Thanks for the advice guys.

[kram 2.0]

Originally Posted by Hi Ho I think I'm going to purchase the Silver package from Steam. Thanks for the advice guys.

Great...that's the same one I bought - enjoy

kram

[GhostRecon]

Value has over 25 content servers, no need to avoid traffic