That’s true, HL2 does have some great vibes, but Water Hazard and The Coast levels just seem to go on for much longer than they should, particularly some parts of Water Hazard where you’re literally in a trench and don’t have much to look at so it’s just driving down barren concrete tunnels while holding W.
There are some memorable moments, like everyone remembers the brick stack that falls on the player, and I particularly liked the more industrial areas of Water Hazard, and there are also some that use the driving mechanics more like the boss fight with the helicopter, but IMO the vehicle sections in HL2 are very much the “On a Rail” of HL2.
oh and also in Water Hazard while slowly making your way to Black Mesa East you get to watch the sun go down with each level transition and that looks/feels cool
I’m not a game dev but I always felt like that was kind of the point of water hazard? Okay yes the railroading could have been better but for me the point of the chapter is that it’s just kind of barren, and you’re travelling all this way and this is what it is like for Gordon. I feel like it adds to the atmosphere, and I am willing to bet when the writers wrote the story, it wasn’t just “Gordon goes to the resistance base and fights a helicopter on the way”, I think it makes sense to write at length about how alone he (and you) is with his thoughts, and it gives you time to think about lore. Up until now, you have been bombarded with lore and info and action, if you’re a hl1 player your mind is racing to fill in the voids between the games (why is Breen in such a high position? What the fuck is happening?) And Water hazard is a long corridor designed to let you think about that more than it is a vehicle section. On the flip side, car levels in episode 2 and lost coast have much more of this “go there” feeling because they don’t decompress much of anything.
That’s true, HL2 does have some great vibes, but Water Hazard and The Coast levels just seem to go on for much longer than they should, particularly some parts of Water Hazard where you’re literally in a trench and don’t have much to look at so it’s just driving down barren concrete tunnels while holding W.
There are some memorable moments, like everyone remembers the brick stack that falls on the player, and I particularly liked the more industrial areas of Water Hazard, and there are also some that use the driving mechanics more like the boss fight with the helicopter, but IMO the vehicle sections in HL2 are very much the “On a Rail” of HL2.
oh and also in Water Hazard while slowly making your way to Black Mesa East you get to watch the sun go down with each level transition and that looks/feels cool
I’m not a game dev but I always felt like that was kind of the point of water hazard? Okay yes the railroading could have been better but for me the point of the chapter is that it’s just kind of barren, and you’re travelling all this way and this is what it is like for Gordon. I feel like it adds to the atmosphere, and I am willing to bet when the writers wrote the story, it wasn’t just “Gordon goes to the resistance base and fights a helicopter on the way”, I think it makes sense to write at length about how alone he (and you) is with his thoughts, and it gives you time to think about lore. Up until now, you have been bombarded with lore and info and action, if you’re a hl1 player your mind is racing to fill in the voids between the games (why is Breen in such a high position? What the fuck is happening?) And Water hazard is a long corridor designed to let you think about that more than it is a vehicle section. On the flip side, car levels in episode 2 and lost coast have much more of this “go there” feeling because they don’t decompress much of anything.