The fact that the original Half-Life still impresses gamers over 20 years after its release shows how ahead of its time it was. One of the most influential titles of all times! Looking forward to your playthrough of the rest of the series!
I think it's also a testament just how bizarre and fun it was. Even the quirks of an old game become hilarious memorable moments like the fact that the computer terminal beeps were coded to come out of the scientist NPC.
Nihilanth is such a perfectly lovecraftian final boss. Imagine meeting the being powerful enough to cause all this death and horror, and it’s a stitched-together wretch who tells you “We are their slaves.”
Im just howling laughing at this. Unfortunately I never got passed the giant warp monster that you had to dump explosives in as was playing pre-internet guides.
Fun fact: on the 2nd and 3rd map of Interloper (the one with the tentacles and the big boi, and the first one in the factory) the Vortigaunts (green lightning dudes) are passive and won't attack you unless you attack them, or you are spotted by the bee-shooters or flying fuckers (who then order them to attack, which is why they immediately attack you on the next map). The Vortigaunts are referred to in the files as "alien slaves".
That was pretty frustrating to watch 😉. I'd at least tried destroying one when it's clearly signaled that they have something to do with Big Baby healing. I suppose he's just overwhelmed.
To me more frustrating was that once he DID destroy the crystals, he just walked around the creature doing nothing, just looking at him and not shooting for another 10 minutes.
There are a lot of very frustrating moments throughout the series, he seems to have a tendency to figure out what he has to do next but just doesn't do it for some inexplicable reason. At least he does point out his foolishness when he does finally solve a puzzle, unlike so many other gamers who blame the devs or try to point out that it wasn't obvious enough that the red barrels with warnings on them were explosive. I seriously hate numpties like that.
@@krashdThere was a let’s play I watched where player a player played HL2 for the first time. He kept running up to red explosive barrels, whacking it with a crowbar and then would exclaim “WHAT HAPPENED?”
Gonarchs are actually the last stage of a headcrab's life. They are like the broodmothers of sorts. So when you think about it, every small headcrab has a potential of becoming that thing.
I don't think I *ever* realised that the scientists are making the beeping noises =P that's fantastic EDIT: Half-Life came with "Worldcraft", a tool for building HL levels. I was 7/8yrs old making little laboratories and stuff, and after I'd gone to bed, my dad would load up my levels and add Big Mamas (Gonarch) around them to scare the shit out of me =P maybe where my big spider fear comes from, who knows
It's certainly a funny quirk of the engine that NPCs interacting with things are the actual source of the sounds those things make, isn't it? 😆 You can actually notice it just after getting off the tram at the start of the game, as the guard enters his security code at the big gate, if you're at an angle where you can see his mouth.
This game is still more complex (and complicated) than most games in 2022. Now imagine playing this in 1998 when every other first person action game was a straightforward run and gun. There was little to no story in anything that wasn't an RPG or point and click adventure. This game revolutionized interactive storytelling alongside games like Metal Gear Solid.
What story lol? It was just a guy escaping from an underground base from point a to point b. The same could be said about the original doom that it had interactive storytelling. Half Life was inspired by Quake2 but where Half Life truly shines is for its superior level design with great variety of scenery while being able to interact with puzzles and the levels themselves. The game holds up better than Half Life 2 since its progression is straight foward after the machinery crash. Player being always in full control unlike in Half Life 2 where the flow is constantly ruined because of Story Elements (forced to listen to story dialogues untill being able to move foward) And exactly because of absent of heavy story elements Half Life 1 is much more enjoyable and replayable than Half Life 2
@@RauM There's scenes in Half-Life 1 where you need characters to open locked doors, but must wait for them to finish speaking script. These are very brief compared to the sequels, though. Turns out maxing the CD space with music over speech was a good call. Later installments didn't have this limitation... so HL2 become more of a movie. Maybe it should've been more game less film, but now we're stuck with a story we're engrossed in. Spinoff, anyone?
@@RauM Half-Life wasn't in any way, shape or form inspired by Quake II, it just uses a heavily modified version of the Quake II engine. Also if you don't think Half-Life has a story then you clearly haven't understood it.
13:42 Well technically you’re not in space, Xen is a border world between dimensions, even though everyone playing Half Life calls it “space”. It’s technically nowhere.
Geez, some harsh people in the comments I hope you enjoyed xen, some people dislike it by saying it's not as polished as the rest of the game But i actually enjoy it a lot, maybe because of the actual "alien" feel unlike some other games or movies that can't quite achieve that
Xen was great when the game released, it's just the one section of the game that hasn't aged really well so it can be a bit of a dud ending for newer gamers.
Same, hl2 is a good game and it had great graphics for its time. I personally prefer hl1 since its more puzzle oriented. hl2 is more of a generic action first person shooter. its great at what it does but its a bit unoriginal.
@@AlmostYearly Eh, I personally disagree combat-wise. The HECU are x10 more fun to fight than the Combine imo. Also the music of both games are equally good (with some tracks even getting reused in HL2!).
Awesome playthrough! Really have to echo your praise for the environmental storytelling and the imagination of the game. I think one of the things that Must've made this so huge at the time was how immersive it was, it never takes you out of the experience to do any cutscenes or hand holding, but it still tells an awesome story. And it isn't too often now days that you find a scifi story that feels really really unique. The designs of the aliens and weapons, and then the world of zen, they're unlike anything you've seen before. You can tell how other games have been inspired by it for years since. Speaking of zen, it was definitely the coolest part of the game to watch. Looked like a nightmare to play...but that's your problem lmao I think they manage to revolutionize and do something new AGAIN for the sequel. Which is awesome, but this first game definitely has a lot to offer that you dont find in part two. Freaking love when sequels are so independent of the other games in the series. So really looking forward to that. I have no clue what to expect from the add on packs. I imagine it's gonna be more of the same? But I suppose I will find out very soon
Waiting for you to destroy the crystal was very painful to watch.... Was thinking when is he gonna shoot the crystal.... It's not gonna work till the crystal is destroyed. 😭
Ive seen alot of half-life playthroughs throughout my time and i gotta say this is probably one of my faves really appreciate that you took time to take in the environmental story telling and sharing your thoughts about whats going on in the story looking forward for you to play the rest of the series
Really enjoyed this playthrough. I've started my teenage son on it and he's loving it. Gotta say was so frustrating watching you use the bloody sniper crossbow on moving and attacking mobs so much though 😂
@@kingsnakke6888 Using a crossbow with a delay between pressing the trigger and hitting the enemy will always be awkward against moving targets. It's just a completely inappropriate weapon to use on fast moving targets at range.
Final fun fact: If you stand near the portal to Nihilant's chamber (which looks like a nightmarish version of the antimass spectrometer from the experiment at the beginning of the game) you hear all the different scientist voices rooting for you, as well as some snippets of their dialogue from different points of the game. You sadly went too fast to hear them. Bonus fact: Here are all the things Nihilanth said to you, copied straight from the Half-life wiki: "Comes... another...": Said when Gordon first enters Xen. "Win... you cannot win...": Said when Gordon enters Gonarch's Lair. "Done... what have you done...": Said after the Gonarch's defeat, when Gordon enters the chapter Interloper. "You are man... he is not man... for you he waits... for you...": Said when Gordon enters the second part of Interloper at the alien camp. (Likely wrong, as I think the line is actually unused) "Die... you all die... you all die...": Said in the second part of the chapter Interloper. (Apparently only in Half-life source, not the original version) "Alone... not you alone... not you alone...": Said in the 3rd map of the chapter Interloper and after the player is teleported by the Nihilanth's teleport orb for the first time. "The last... I am... the last...": Said when Freeman enters the final part of Interloper near an eerie, coral-like altar with a red portal. (The one I said looks like the Antimass Spectrometer machine from the beginning of the game, and from which the scientists can be heard) "Deceive you... he will deceive you...": Said when the player is teleported by the Nihilanth's teleport orb for the third time. "Now die... now die... now...": Said during the battle with the Nihilanth, when the player is teleported by the Nihilanth's teleport orb for the fourth time. (You've never heard this one) "Their slaves... we are their slaves... we are..." Rarely said when Freeman enters the 3rd map of the chapter Interloper. (I thought this line was unused, but even if it is, it's important for the plot of 2) "The truth... you can never know... the truth..." Said during the battle with the Nihilanth, when the player is teleported by the Nihilanth's teleport orb for the second time "Freeeeemaaaaaannn...": The Nihilanth eerily utters Freeman's name at the very beginning of the game's final battle. The better fanwiki has text laid out in such a way where it's hard to copy on the phone, do I took the info from the Wikia/Fandom one instead.
What a great playthrough. I never got much into these games when I played them for the first time as a kid but this playthrough has made me seen how much value there is in them. Looking forward to you playing the rest of the series!
Hey Mapo loved this playthrough! I have only watched your ME2-3 and now HL videos but they are great. Love your commentary on everything. I used to "play" HL when I was a kid with my dad and by that I mean I would sit on his lap and hit the left control key to shoot things for him lol. I never replayed it as an adult so it was interesting to relive those memories through your play through. Can't wait to see your HL2 experience it is going to be great. Thanks again!
At 1:17:33 you fell through the crevace in the elevator, Half Life is buggy and old but some things that have happened in the playthrough aren't on the game, I assume it's the switch from controller to keyboard though. In the Xen section they expected the player to jump more often just because of the switch in gravity so a lot of the environment is made assuming you would jump. Also crouch jumping is something this game heavily relies on, most PC players automatically crouch jump because well, there's no reason not to, it makes your collision smaller which means you would jump slightly higher or be able to fit in smaller places while also making your hitbox smaller and harder to hit for any enemies targeting you. It is interesting to watch the difference in a player that is used to using a controller compared to a keyboard. Lovely series, I'm glad you enjoyed the game
Been a fun time watching you play through it. I've been through the original a few times since I bought it in 1998, but it's been awhile since I played all the way up through Xen, outside of Black Mesa. Hope you'll continue with the series, up through Alix, Black Mesa, and the Portal series if you haven't done that yet (Aperture Science being a competitor of Black Mesa in the HL Universe).
I just spent hours watching this walkthrough of a grown man using the wrong guns to fight, and trust me, while I love the video they also made me shout at the screen couples of times haha.
The whole mouth moving for sound effects happens with security guards opening doors too. Any time something needs to make a sound in reaction an NPC it's actually played as if the NPC is making the sound, the same as their dialogue... and so their mouth moves.
Funny thing is how he always saying nothing is communicating to him what to do, but its a shooter just shoot until its dead, (The crystals, Nihilanth, Gonarch, Tanks, Helicopters, Alien grunts etc)
Amazing play through. I really can’t wait until you get to Half Life 2 or the Portal Series. I remember how frustrating Xen was when I first played through it, I almost raged to the point of tossing my laptop out the window, haha. I would definitely recommend playing through Black Mesa too, the fan remake of Half Life 1.
I wanted to chime in and recommend you to check out the speed run of this game, titled "Half-Life in 20:41". I saw that you did the same for Dark Souls. It's probably one of the most mind-blowing speed runs you will ever see.
G-Man's voice never fails to disgust me a little. It sounds like he is producing far more salive than any healthy human would. Great voice acting, and it is always impressive to hear that creepy intonation of "you have limitlesssss... potenshshshial..." 😜
I’ve got my copy of HL that I bought back in 99 only mine seems to end differently than anything else I can see on RU-vid. When the G man says it is a battle you can’t win and you chose that option you are transported with no weapons to a normal HL corridor with a door to the left and a door to the right. The door on the right takes you into a hanger/warehouse with endless mechs ( the battle you can’t win) and the door to the left takes you to a dark blank room where the end credits roll. There must be others out there that have the same ending as me but I just can’t find them.
Excellent LP as always. Can't wait for Opposing Force :DAt 1:06:20 the Vortigaunts will use those to heal when wounded, him disappearing is just because you killed him while he was doing the heal animation. 2:03:24 The ultimate Freeman way to kill Nihilanth is to get in his head like this and murder his brain with the crowbar :D As for the credits, that was it, Valve, like many teams behind amazing games back in the day, was a small dev team, it's honestly kinda charming to just have a "Hey, this is who made this" without all the titles and hierarchy, you might notice Gaben himself is simply listed in the credits where he belongs in alphabetical order by last name. To all my HL boys, press "f" for the all the innocent factory Vortigaunts murdered by Mapo. :(
Have you checked out Freeman's Mind? Your commentary on this game is at times almost eerily similar to the monologuing in that series, it's kind of hilarious. Great playthrough.
I dunno but, i kinda want you to watch a video trying to explain the happenings in Half-Life 1. Just to get the whole gist of the story being told here. You don't have to worry about that much on the proceeding titles since it has subs and the npc talks like quite a lot. But i'm glad you played this game and finished it. Might not have been a smooth sailing but getting thru the challenges thrown by this game and overcoming it, thumbs up 👍. 😀
yea, the story is vague in hl1, but there is a lot of intricacies that tell a wider story at play and are very easy to miss/misunderstand plot points within the story. I would recommend watching LeadHead’s videos on half life, but make sure until you complete HL2 cause there’s spoilers for that game in his videos. Hl2 has even more of these easy to miss things.
For people who like the weirdness of Half-Life, I think Thief could be worth a try. Came out two weeks after Half-Life with a quite similar graphics engine. Stealth probably isn't for every streamer, but it's another really cool series of 3D games from the late 90s.
I’ve always wanted to play those games. I got the collection off steam some years ago but have been waiting for the perfect wintery day to really sit down and get immersed
You should check out Freeman's mind now that you finished the game. Its a great roleplay of Gordon by Accursed Farms. One of the first if I'm not mistaken.
@@VinVonVoom hl1 is janky, newer versions of the game have a few broken features that werent in the original, also theres xen, which has always sucked, while these elements dont ruin the game and its still at its core a great game to this day, saying that it has aged flawelessly is just false
*Me watching him get to the Nihilanth chapter and seeing that there's still 40 minutes of video left* "Oh this is not going to be frustrating to watch at all"
That first part of Interloper with all the ships has a cave that makes the whole thing easier. You kept trying to jump on them from the top of the cave, and you would have seen the mouth of the cave if you took a few steps.
Does auto-aim work with the crossbow? Because if so then I think it might be a hindrance rather than a help against those big head floating energy ball alien dudes, because you have to lead the target to hit them when they're moving and auto-aim auto corrects you to aim directly at them instead, causing you to miss. Also, I don't think any of the weapons affected by auto-aim are effective against the baby headcrabs. Most of the time I just use the crowbar against them. So I think maybe turning auto-aim on was a mistake in general lol. Using the snarks (bugs) on the baby headcrabs was pretty creative though, never would have thought of that. Anyway, I enjoyed the playthrough!
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