Why Do Players Dislike Water Hazard? (Half-Life 2) 

One thing that VALVe nailed PERFECTLY in Half-Life 2 is the *passing of time,* the game starts roughly at highnoon, and as you progress through the first 3 chapters you don't realize the time is passing and the night is slowly falling until you reach the end Chopper battle, really subtle and realistic right up to the game's ending.

I really like water hazard cuz of the environment, its just cool to think about how it looked before the combine and i like how rusty everything looks. Great vid btw

Honestly, I never had a critical view on Half-Life's specific chapters. Because while some may have flaws that are absent in the other chapters, they still have the pros that made the game so great.

I find the stops make the setting feel so real. I love it on Highway 17 too. It makes the canals feel like a place rather than a game level.

Those physics puzzles at the time were mind blowing. The level of object interactivity was unseen. I spent a lot of time hanging around in the game, just to inspect everything, it was so astounding what you could do... Playing it in 2021 doesn't change that, however the context in which the game lives on did change. I believe it's unfair to state that it breaks the pace, either that's a very personal opinion because you are the type of player that wants continuous combat action, or you are ignoring the time context.

I'd say you nailed it. That being said though, I personally like the combat sequences. Driving around the airboat gets boring after a certain point and it's nice to get to do something else for a bit. Makes returning to the airboat much more satisfying than a physics puzzle and keeps the airboat driving from becoming tedious.

"HL2 is not the most perfect g..." Canceled.

Honestly, this is the chapter I remember the most from Half-Life 2. The environment and atmosphere hits me quite a bit different from the other chapters and feels incredibly nostalgic to me now. I love the breaks this chapters gives you and the moment where you reach Black Mesa East and given time to reflect on everything feels euphoric. While it can very much be a slog in some areas, this is still one of my favorite chapters.

I do like water hazard. Do you know which chapter I do not like? On a rail. Damn that one was boring D:

I've never disliked it, it just was a lot to take in one sitting. The machine gun was a good way to kind of refresh it again

So this is what you meant by taking a break from beta content? I have no problems with this! as long as it's Half-Life related I'm happy to watch!

My main thing about water hazard is that most of the chapter is spent holding w and occasionally press a and d, so it gets stale fast, and all of the indoor shooting areas are just generic almost original dooms style overwhelm your enemies or get overwhelmed

I’m new to half life, I just started half life 2 after beating the first game, And I gotta say, I actually really liked water hazard. Going in blind, It felt like mad max, Seeing the combine close gates, Try to trap into into chokepoints, Use new strategies like air strikes and helicopter fire to try and end you as resistance members offer you refuge throughout the route. It really made me feel like I was on the run, while simultaneously showing the combine whos boss

Water hazard was one of my favorites, along with ravenholm and highway17

It's interesting to see how the beginning of Halo: Combat Evolved does Water Hazard but better. Half the level is just a giant sandbox where you can mess around in the vehicle and explore the ring. The parts where do you get off feel more organic and the game will still let you do it in the warthog if you find a way. Just a thought.

Still one of my favourites. I personally don't mind the stops, I always felt they came at the right time, not to early, not to late. In regards to comparing it to the coast, I get it, but the buggy and airboat are 2 very different things, and I find the feeling of the airboat really makes water hazard special.

I like water hazard, I remember the part more because its at the beginning of the game and I love the vehicles and the puzzles it's all so exciting. It also helps that I don't remember anything after Ravenholm and highway 17. BUT, the one thing that does throw me off about this entire chapter is in the part where some suicidal metrocops walk directly into your boat there is a lambda cache in a pipe but you know what else is in that pipe? A zombie hiding in a literal inch of water, like how Tf is there a zombie hiding in water that goes up to your ankle?

A lot of people actually dislike the part when you're in the vehicle, due to severe motion sickness. I've seen quite many discussions where people try to find a way to skip the driving.

Tbh, the only thing some people hate about water hazard was the driving controls. I can tolerate having to stop every 3 minutes or having very little HP and not getting much back, but i cant tolerate it when im currently getting chased by a helicopter firing high velocity rounds at me only to come at a stop because my airboat decides to yeet itself off over the smallest of geometry changes.

It's the complete opposite for me, I get more fun in the areas where you get out of the boat. The boat gets boring really quick

“Apart from the health, and shield charger their ISNT anything to do here” 4:20 Gordon’s health: “am I a joke to you?”

I actually replayed Water Hazard a few days ago. I really enjoy it, but I disliked how sometimes my vehicle bugged out. Other than that I really enjoyed it!

the only problem with half life 2 is that some of the games chapters feel like a tech demo turned into a game and water hazard is one of them

I really like water hazard, but the thing that has always killed the mood for me was the way the boat controls, I just hate how the geometry can literally make the boat fly 20000 meters in the air

For me, I think it's just because the boat can just be really finicky to maneuver at times and the fact that you have to deal with said boat for waaaaaay too long. I definitely wouldn't have as much of the first issue if I wasn't spending such an extended amount of time with the the thing

For me it's Ravenholm. I recognize that it's really well done, but for some reason whenever I make mistakes there it screws me much farther down the line than in most other chapters.

Tbh I liked the Water Hazard chapter because of the speed chase Edit: also at 2:00 that puzzle can be skipped by stacking some cinder blocks and jumping on them, if you are lucky 2 or 3 are enough

I actually think the water hazard chapter is weakest when you are on the airboat. The 'stops' were the fun part.

I personally absolutely love water hazard. The high adrenaline music and doing jumps with the airboat just makes it so much fun.

That's a pretty good way to look at it. Personally, I just don't like driving the airboat and feel like the chapter goes on for way too long compared to other parts of the game.

Idk about others but for me, as soon as 'you are not supposed to be here' starts playing this chapter instantly turns into an enjoyable action movie for me.

My favorite personally was "Follow Freeman" and my least favorite was Ravenholm because I got scared shitless so many times.

kind of weird since the water chapter is literally my favourite chapter.

The “rest stop” sections of Water Hazard where we first get the grenades (Yeah I know there’s that secret tunnel in Route Kanal with the zombie and grenade where we first get the SMG.) and revolver are two of my favorite combat sequences in the game.

Good video i agree on most of the points made. Also my problem with water hazard is that airbioat gun segment is a little bit short. if just make it one level longer it would be better. Also deletion of this barrel puzzle would make it even better

Water Hazard is one of the weirdly specific things i remember most when i first played HL2 when i was like 15, the down times between the really high intensity boat rides against the helicopter or the rockets from the combine SUVs lol

Cool video. But I definitely fall into the camp that dislikes this level! I may be in the minority, but I hate actually piloting the boat itself. To the point where every time you stop to do one of the other bits in the chapter I take as long as possible purely because I can’t face doing another section on the damn boat!

4:40 I don't know what VALVe was thinking with those towers, at any rate, the "intended" way is to go through the right, where you can drive under the towers. I have no idea why they decided that THIS specific scenario ISN'T a Hollywood moment where you make it just before it crashes.

One thing to mention is that, as a relatively early chapter, you don't get access to many strong weapons in Water Hazard, with the Revolver being the only standout. And this is before you get the coveted Gravity Gun. Personally, my least favorite part of the game is the first half of Sandtraps. Because it's just more Highway 17 with its share of unnecessary stopgaps. And the actual Sandtraps part really bugged me back in the day because it mostly boiled down to "leapfrogging physics objects to stay off the sand". I had no idea you were forced to fight the Antlion Guard at the end by going into the sand bank with no objects in it, so I noclipped through that. It turned out to be a mistake.

The Hunter-Chopper fight right before Black Mesa East and the chase sequence were the most fun parts

I had no idea Water Hazard was disliked! Personally, it's one my favourite parts of the game. The criticisms about the pacing are valid, but man, I just love the look and mood of the chapter. Out on your own on the outskirts of the city, going through abandoned old facilities, the sun slowly setting tinting everything in this nice orange... love it.

Water hazard is HL2’s version of “On a Rail”

I think the whole sewer theme has kinda outstayed its welcome by the time you get to Water Hazard as well.

During my first playthrough of Half-Life 2, I didn´t see the place where the airboat was kept. I thought it would be introduced later in the game, so I proceeded on foot. I made it to the section with the barrel puzzle before I figured out that something was wrong. After starting the chapter from the beginning again, I found the airboat and continued playing. However, I drove so fast that when I reached the section in which a tower collapses, it fell on me.

What? That's honestly my favorite chapter! It's the best part to be honest! I allways replay it!

i actually dislike water hazard for the opposite reason: the boat is boring, not fun to control, and always the same on every playthrough. it's just an intermission between the significantly more fun combat sequences. also, whenever the chopper gets involved it's veeerrry repetitive. the highway chapters are fantastic because the jeep is actually fun to use

For me it was the opposite. We kept stopping at unique, interesting places, only to go back on a boat to drive through some more canals that looked far more samey than the places you stopped at.

Water hazard is my favourite chapter. The satisfaction of disintegrating everything out of the way is immense.

Boat is just hard to control

lol I hated the final chopper boss fight, really "oh lawd" chore, but I loved the washing machine stop lol

I dunno if it’s because of the 360 version I play, but I always hate the way the gun turret works, if my target is even slightly to far from my view angle, the gun flicks back to the front and my view follows, snapping to the forward position as my airboat crashes because I wasn’t watching were I was going and I die!

Because it took Freeman 2 years to get out of the canal when everyone was waiting to see his reaction to ravenholm

This is a very interesting video. I really like Half-Life 2, it's a great game, but like everything else, it has it's flaws. To me Water Hazard does go on a little too long, but not to the extent that it becomes tedious. My biggest disappointment with HL2 is the arsenal, as the range of weapons available to you is very disappointing. The original game had two alien weapons available to you; the snarks (the horrible creatures that you could use to attack people), and the alien claw thing that shot homing 'bullets'. And Opposing Force had the Sport Launcher, and the Shock Roach. These weapons really added to the atmosphere of the game, being so alien and unusual, yet HL2 doesn't have anything like them (other than the ant-lion bait, which is brilliant, but only usable in the prison chapter, sadly), just human style weapons. A real pity. And why is there only one zoomable weapon (the crossbow) in HL2? Why nothing equivalent to HL1's trip mines? And no satchel grenades? And why can you only carry three rockets for the rocket launcher, when you need twice that to bring down an alien gunship? And why don't more of the enemies from HL1 (and also enemies from the brilliant Opposing Force) appear in HL2? That's a real missed opportunity. HL2 is still a really good game, but to me, Opposing Force is the best part of the Half-Life 2 experience (I've played all commercial HL games except for HL: Alyx).

I guess Rad Haz hates Half Life 2. Cancellation time! Jk loved the video, you should do more like these! Nova Prospect is the only chapter I am not too crazy about in HL 2.

I dont dislike it, watching the sun slowly set, the rusty abandoned places, a glimpse of how the world outside City 17 becomes a dirty desolate wasteland Same with Highway 17

Water Hazard was one of my favourite chapters too - in all the vehicle sections I loved stopping to explore the little areas around, and always felt rewarded for doing so by the supply caches and the interesting environments you get to see.

I was just going thru half life 2 again, this time was my first run on hard and I gotta say,, I love highway 17. The combat around those small houses really shines there.

The pacing feels really weird in all of half-life 2 for me. My first time playing and the chapters are incredibly long

The boat isn't fun to control and it's defenseless until like the very end. I thought it was obvious why people hate it

honestly, while I'm not too fond of the physics puzzles, I love the breaks for combat Chapter 4 (the second action chapter) of the game was a bit too early to introduce a gimmick like a vehicle section, and having normal combat sections (from the kind of chapter players would've normally expected) spliced in is a great way to make it feel more natural in my opinion

man, I love highway 17. it's the most peaceful moment in the game. you aren't being chased, you aren't constantly listening to gunshots, enemies screaming and techno music, and you can take your time as you cruise through one of the most beautiful places in the game. it also has a super powerful atmosphere. other than that place where you get the rocket launcher, there's no living human settlement left. all you find is remains with heartbreaking environmental storytelling, such as the two corpses with some beer bottles around them and the pile of burnt bodies. this chapter is a much needed break from combat and horror (since you just left ravenholm), and a great way to set the mood for the upcoming chapters. water hazard is that, except there are enemies everywhere, the airboat has an annoying sound, it's too repetitive, there's not much in terms of mood (it's basically just a chase, which does make destroying the helicopter quite satisfying). also it's too long. but I still really like it! imo, the worst part of HL2 is the uprising. it's just not fun. too much combat, repetitive as hell, no new weapons, and the level layout is not great. I often feel lost.

I personally don't really like this chapter as much as the others, mainly because of the shitty airboat controls because of (I believe) a typo in its code.

The problem with the stage is that it repeats itself too much (run with the vehicle, stop and push buttons while shooting Combine). For this to be more fun would've mean to do most of one and not be split into 50/50.

Honestly, if the chapter was shorter it would easily be one of my favorites but it just goes on too long for it to being able to avoid feeling waaaaay too repetitive.

probably the main reason i hated water hazard was how confusing some of the routes were, i lost count of how my times i had to look up walkthroughs

I really hate that chapter bcoz, First reason, I dont have a driving license for driving 2, I'm always crashing in walls, and a lot of tanks shooting me and giving me a headache, and these metrocops, shooting me at 4hp, do not forgor about these annoying barnacles, they get me sometimes and my boat goes away. THE ONLY GOOD THING IS. when you get 357 magnum, and starts killing metrocops, and making them doing a backflip

I could not have been happier when this section was over and I was back to playing Half Life. I think I just wanted them to stick to what they were good at. You either go full open world, or you don't bother, you can't fake it with a bunch of linear set pieces.

Your editing has been getting a lot better! Loving the content :)

I loved water hazard, it was one of the more memorable chapters for me. I just don't get why people don't like it. I loved that it was lengthy because I was having fun and enjoying it so much, and I didn't mind having to stop at places because it gave the sense of exploration. Ravenholm would be my least favorite chapter.

water hazard is literally my favorite chapter and i was actually shocked when i found out people didnt like it

I remember having to look up a guide fór the damn section where you have to open the door. However the Combine Chopper shoot off with Lambda Core playing was badass

water hazard and highway 17 actually are my favorite chapters

Most source games are movement based the reason i like this part of the game is the starting and stopping for me it creates a need to rush However i don't like the coast levels because there isn't a need to go fast apart from getting to the prison

Water Hazard has always been one of my favorites to replay. I actually really like driving the airboat. It's so fun to slide against ramps and deal with the slidey physics. Those pauses are incredibly annoying. I just wish they were easier to skip haha

I get really in the zone when Lambda Core kicks in as I zoom down the canal dodging incoming fire and navigating obstacles

That spot that took you 58 seconds to turn the valve. well that took me over an hour on my first play through... I never found the valve and instead managed to somehow glitch jump across the gap to get to the other side.

Water Hazard I absolutely love, it might just be my favorite chapter in the game.

Finally! Someone who put it into words! I never felt like the vehicles were the bad part of the vehicle sections to Half-Life 2, it's always been the moments where the game forces you to leave them that annoys me so much! Coast has the added benefit over water hazard because you get the weapon on the car right away and the levels are fun to traverse even *without* the buggy (if you're a speedrunner, that is.) Canals just has this sense of urgency storywise through the helicopter always looming overhead for most of the levels which is completely stumped by the actual gameplay of having to leave your vehicle so often for forced stopping points.

3:55 Right there, you can climb up the ladder, aim toward the gate, where you can see red barrels. Then you explode them, gates get destroyed and you can move on without doing boring running around and shooting stuff. Oh, and the chapter that i personaly hate, is the one in Nova Prospect, where you have to barricade yourself in the room with turets, to defend yourself against hordes of soldiers. That one was REALLY boring and it pisses me of.

I think the color palette also brings it down. Besides for the sunset sequence, there's just so much grey and brown.

I like this chapter but I dont know why I always start feeling nauseated while controlling the boat

First of, I love your new video format! It's quicker, energetic, just like the Water Hazard xD Second of all, I sorta agree with the majority, but mostly on the "length" part - it is sorta comical to perceive this chapter as longer than the rest of the game, but that is how it feels to me. It might be that the "chase" is making players take notice of how long this chapter is taking, while other, chase-less levels have a slower tempo going on and might be going on for longer than Water Hazard.

every time i hl2 i love every second of it because i can't help but remember how blown away with it i was when it came out. it's very easy to look back at it an criticise but tbh it still holds up as one of the best games in existence even today.

I think it's good that you have to jump out of the boat so often. Imagine all of the sections with boat, but without jumping out of it for once. Maybe it will be fun at fisrt, but so long with little action just going from point A to point B. Doesn't sounds like fun to me. So I think it's good they made these parts where you must jump out of the boat, kill some cops or just talk to someone.

5:47 There's a little bit of environmental storytelling in that place: there are two mattresses, a human corpse, a headcrab zombie along with several headcrabs, and... a headcrab shell. It's pretty melancholic once you realize what happened there.

Water Hazard is fantastic, the only real problem is how janky the watercraft is. It animates weird, it's unstable, no visible hands, easy to collide and cancel momentum. Vehicle levels are generally divisive, but Water Hazard is among the best you'll find in a game.

i actually never knew people hated water hazard that much, i personally love water hazard but then again i love every chapter of half life 2 (except for nova prospekt, i don't like that one very much) but aside from that, another great video as always radhaz! i'm actually liking this style of content much more than the beta content, maybe it's because it's new but nonetheless i really like it! also just a side note, i would love if you made these types of "analysis" videos for other chapters as well.

I think driving is an inherently difficult thing for HL to tackle because the levels are too linear for navigation to be engaging. I think the detours help disguise that fundamental problem a bit.

HL2 manages an incredible level of pacing, especially considering its length. I think people complain about Water Hazard because the pacing breaks down, if only for a little bit, in service of offering varied experiences. I know that every time I go from a playthrough of HL2, the second gate is where I go "okay, I've had enough for now." I wouldn't cut any of the content from Water Hazard. Its all good, its all varied, and it never feels stale, at least in my opinion. Except for that damn dam after you defeat the chopper. Man, fuck that dam. It took me forever to figure out I was supposed to use a single log to jump through the single gate I didn't even realized I opened.

My favorite thing about this chapter is the use of Diabolical Adrenaline Guitar from half-life 1 when you get in the airboat, it so good

I just love the look and feel of the barn at the Start of Water Hazard. I think its beautiful. Same counts for almost everything in the chapter.

I just never understood how hot steam and irradiated water could hurt you; being you were in a hazard suit.

I hated Water Hazard because back in the day, it gave me the worst motion sickness when controlling the Airboat.

I remember first getting the orange box in 2015(i was 8 thinking it was good) and never being able to get past the sewer section in the base game and the citadel in episode 1 but now I’ve re done them about 3 times

Strange I really like this chapter for the ambience, clearing the metrocops bases and the epic "diabolical adrenaline guitar" when were are chase by the helicopter

You nailed it on the pacing part, but I gotta be honest with you, I myself hate the boat LoL, I believe a lot of people might too. It just sucks for me, It's janky to control in any way, and it breaks the pacing of the action for me since what I was enjoying the most when I played it for the first time when is was a teenager where the shootouts. Plus the level was so damn long and frustrating sometimes.

For the first gate puzzle, you don't have to go all the way to the other side to open the gate. Just throw a grenade and hope for the best to hit an explosive barrel and that's it

Another thing i love is the chapter where you use the feromone sacks to command the antlions, such a change of gameplay from simply giving you a weapon, and you can just play with any gun, but this chapter gives you the option, and makes antlions comon so you can command them, distract them with the feromones and fight normaly or amp th dificulty if you want and fight everithing normaly Sad the weapon is not used as much then, not even the stun on enemies makes it worth it Imagine if you were incentiviced to toss it at groups of enemies to get sneak kills without calling reinforcements or to distract sniper combine

I personally like those stops, they're opportunities to take a break from the boat and allow me to slow down and explore.

The problem is the defective air boat. The steering flips direction when you accelerate/decelerate.