The Gold Standard for FPS Games | Half-Life (Half-Life Series Retrospective)

The Half-Life series retrospective begins with a look at Valve's classic 1998 first person shooter, Half-Life. This game not only revolutionized the first person shooter genre as real-time 3D FPSes became more popular, but it's also a fantastic FPS game even to this day. Why is Half-Life still one of the best shooters ever released, and how did it establish a monumental video game franchise! #HalfLife #Valve #HalfLife3Confirmed
TIMECODES
Introduction/Development History: 00:00
Plot Synopsis: 07:41
Gameplay: 10:52
Atmosphere/Aesthetics/Level Design: 27:01
Narrative Design: 33:27
Legacy/Conclusion: 42:04
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Sources/Recommended Reading
Geoff Keighley: The Final Hours of Half-Life (bit.ly/2mxwSpn)
Noclip: Unforeseen Consequences - A Half-Life Documentary (bit.ly/2oe97TE)
The Verge: Half-Life turns 20 today, and it feels more original than ever (bit.ly/2mIy894)
Digital Spy: 'Half-Life' retrospective: The game that changed shooters forever (bit.ly/2mxRuxK)

[@ThatTravGuy]

This was an absolutely beautiful retrospective, my man. Half Life is one of my favorite video games ever and I don't think I've ever seen a video do it this much justice. There's one thing that wasn't brought up (it's really trivial so not a big deal), but the AI for this game was so unnecessarily advanced to the point where "smell" was a factor with AI's movement. When an NPC dies, its corpse emitted a "Scent" that NPCs like Bullsquids can track down and eventually consume the corpse. It's a really bizarre addition that makes the world feel more alive.

[@CloudConnection]

Thanks so much man! I actually did know about the scent AI but completely forgot to talk about it. I might be able to sneak that detail in somewhere later down the line, because I also forgot to mention that scientists can heal you if your health is low enough (which I never opt to use, so it just slipped my mind). The amount of effort placed into creating complex AIs in this game is astonishing.

[@humankerbal3623]

hi there

[@wta1518]

"Something died down here" -Barney #427

[@Zet237yt]

46:05 I'm in a Half-Life mood recently and been sucking up all sorts of retrospective videos of the series and FINALLY someone is actually mentioning Uplink!! This demo appears so forgotten by many, I'm glad I'm not the only one who remembers it.

[@Knackies]

Okay I wouldn't call Gordon Freeman a "bad character", I think he's just a character to get the job the done. I think the whole "You ARE Gordon Freeman" is handled much better in Half-Life 2 because of how involved you feel in the story. I think what makes him special is because he's not the whole "marine tough guy" back then, just a normal dude with a problem. I just find that aspect compelling. Nice video though.

[@MrHammers]

Such an iconic game, pioneered so many aspects of games to come. Great retrospective!

[@PS-cf9lc]

This whole channel is criminally underrated

[@fpsfanatic9461]

I’m glad that somebody is finally appreciating how good the original half life. Half life 2 gets way too much recognition, with good reason of course. I’m just saying let’s give some love to the original for a change.

[@ghastlyhaste4475]

The scientist glitch where you cold skip we got hostiles is also in just normal half life (but you might need to shove him a little more.)

[@SHAdow98V]

HOLY SHIT i stumbled upon a treasure trove =))))) i love Retrospective of games i loved in the past like Half Life or Portal or other such games,and this is a 9 part series with a half an hour to an hour a part,finally some hours of content that i'd devour with pleasure =)))))

[@Wolfkaosaun]

Your videos never cease to impress me. Great stuff as always my friend!

[@CloudConnection]

Thank you so much! Now make a video of your own so I can compliment you

[@MayorHairBear]

I've never actually played the original Half Life and only got around to playing the sequel with the Orange Box collection but it has always been a series that really intrigued me. I can see some real inspiration taken from this game in games like the original Halo in terms of the alien threat and the world, it looks really interesting. Incredibly deep and informative video mate I love me some long videos, I can't wait to hear more about yet another series I'm not too familiar with and more congrats are seemingly in order for passing 400 subs mate! Well deserved, you're absolutely killing it. In terms of your pinned comment. My favourite series of FPS is Wolfenstein, I can play them any day of the week and enjoy myself but, in terms of gameplay, world and complexity of the AI the original FEAR may be one of my favourite FPS' of all time it's incredible.

[@CloudConnection]

Absolutely, I'm certainly that Halo's developers took at least some inspiration from Half-Life, as have many shooters and other games since its release. I've never actually played any FEAR games myself but it is a series I hear good things about - I might just have to try it out some day.

[@gremblo5895]

420 subscribers, I'm so proud of this community.

[@CloudConnection]

I should probably quit while I'm ahead, nothing will ever top this dank moment

[@spooky8491]

This video is horribly underrated. Fantastic in depth work!

[@FPTHelloNeighborMods]

I believe Freeman has "no personality" because the player should give 'em one depending on their own actions throughout the game But hey, that's a theory, A GAAAAA-

[@aliencybercoat]

"That sweet Microsoft money" love it. Great review.

[@controlschemekeaton]

Playing this series for the first time (I know I know I'm late) and wow. I'm obsessed now. There really just isn't anything like it.

[@spork4825]

Amazing video! You've earned a subscriber. Can't wait to hear you talk about HL2, its one of my all time favourites. Are you at all looking forwards to Black Mesa? I hear its nearly finished.

[@MildMisanthropeMaybeMassive]

Glad I found your channel. You earned a sub.

[@CloudConnection]

EDIT: There's now timecodes in the description if you want to skip to a particular part of the video! What are some of your favorite first-person shooters? If you've played the Half-Life series, what are your thoughts on it?

[@MakkusuOtaku]

Always enjoyed playing the first halo game when I was younger

[@latech7671]

I am one of those people who are to young to grow up with Half-Life and I actually wasn't really aware of Valve until one day (a few months after this video) Half-Life Alyx was revealed and while I was not remotely into VR at that point in time, I still found out about this game and was immediately intrigued as at that point (until now) I was/am seriously interested in everything that goes on in the gaming industry, especially game-development and the tech behind it and since the first pictures it was clear to me, that Half-Life Alyx is one of the most impressive technical showcases I have seen in the industry so far (as a pretty young gamer I haven't had these continues breakthroughs around the 2000s) After that I started watching and reading more about Valve and when Black Mesa was released started playing that game and was immediately captured by it. After now reliving all the Half-Life Games (Black Mesa instead of Half-Life as that game is simply to old for somebody like me who still thinks visuals are important in games) and diving very deep into Half-Life Lore, Half-Life has become my favorite Franchise at least in Video Games, maybe even as a whole. At the end of 2020 (at Chrismas) I then treated myself with an Oculus Quest 2 and instantly started playing Half-Life Alyx and it is now in my personal top games of all time and 100% GOTY 2020. So, back to the question about my favorite FPS. Well, it would be obvious that it must be a Half-Life Game, right? Wrong, because when we purely talk about FPS-Games (where of course all other aspects of a game are important but still the FPS-Gameplay is most important) it is in Fact Titanfall 2, another game I didn't find out about when it came out (I was a gamer back then but simply not as invested as I am now) and funnily enough also found out about at the beginning of 2020. Why is it my favorite FPS-Game? Well besides the great campaign which obviously draws many of it's strong elements by looking at games like Half-Life (the developers have said so and have even hidden a secret easter-egg to Half-Life in the game) the most important part is that in my opinion it has the best Gameplay out of any FPS I have ever played (probably even any game I have ever played) and it isn't really about the shooting itself, although that is pretty good too as you would expect from ex COD-Developers. It is obviously all about the traversal and shooting combined, and also that with Titans you then do get a different kind of shooting again that is much more like the standard. It's basically 2 FPS Games running at the same time, just with one being more like a Hero-Shooter with OK Mechanics and the other being a super-fast Movement-Shooter (probably best compared to Quake) with (in my opinion) world-class Gameplay.

[@timethief1484]

Great video!

[@CloudConnection]

Thank you very much!

[@de_sh0t114]

Great retrospective

[@noclick]

This is awesome!

[@YoshiTheMage]

Excellent retrospective, you seem to have a knack for this video format. We will watch your career with great interest, as will many more if you continue down this road. As for myself, I appreciate Half-Life in all the ways one would expect, but I also appreciate it on a different level. Half-Life is a fun speed-game, I'm able to finish it in under 45 minutes. Bunnyhopping is a fun way to get around quickly. Tricks like grenade jumping and gaussboosting open new movement options to skilled players and this game's AI REALLY doesn't work if you know what buttons to push. That trick to skip We've Got Hostiles in Half-Life: Source can be done in GoldSrc as well, it's just harder to execute quickly; In fact any NPC in a fear state can open locked doors, even Vorts. I have a lot of love for the GoldSrc engine and I say that as a relative newcomer to the series. I played Half-Life 2 first in 2016 and came back to the original in 2017.

[@CloudConnection]

Hey, thanks for watching! It's awesome to hear from a Half-Life speedrunner. I've never ran Half-Life before but I'm always in awe at what the HL speedrun community is able to do. It's something I wish I mentioned in this video, actually - the sheer size of the Goldsrc/Source engine speed community and how they've managed to break so many games over the years. I did know that the We've Got Hostiles skip is possible in Goldsrc, I just focused on the HL:Source method because it's disgustingly easy to do. And I'm a relative newcomer to the series, too; I first played HL2 in 2012 and didn't play HL1 until either 2013 or 2014.

[@nemtudom5074]

2:16 There was also catacombs 3D, and hovertank before wolfenstein. Also developed by ID. That being said, wolfenstein was the first 'actually refined' iteration of the FPS genre. Both hovertank and catacombs was a bit off from fitting the role perfectly.

[@ian-wy5fw]

fantastic video

[@DuckyGamerDeluxe]

Dude, Half-Life 3 confirmed as a hashtag? Damn, that's some hell of a clickbaitXD

[@CloudConnection]

Ha, did that mainly as a joke. That meme hasn't died yet, so why not capitalize?

[@healmore8716]

Nice

[@michaelboyles714]

Late to the video, just finished playing half-life for the first time the other day and managed to avoid spoilers even. It’s a great game that holds up today and I’d rather play it than many of the modern games. The graphics and controls can be janky but a lot of that was better than the original mass effect that came out a decade later. As long as someone doesn’t have to have the best and most up to date graphics there is no reason this game can’t be enjoyed today. However, I don’t know that I would consider it “replayable.” There were large sections of the game where I felt, “surely this must be close to over by now” I’d even get frustrated that there was a new level, especially when they took my guns away that I worked so hard to collect. This worked in the story because it really felt like I was just a guy trying to get the heck out of this place. It was a game that didn’t hold my hand. It was hard at first and the only solution was get good. Parts of it were excruciating but in a good way. It felt like I accomplished something when it was over. Maybe I’ll go back to it one day, but a large part of the game for me was the emotional trauma of trying to escape then being forced to become the hero and I don’t know if I can put myself through that again and enjoy it a second time. If I could add one thing other than better ladders it would be an option to toggle between first and third person. TLDR: good video for a good game

[@alialatrach9788]

22:35 Actually, you CAN damage him anywhere. Once his health reaches a certain degree, his head opens and then you can hit him there to kill him. 24:51 The npc and enemy AI is "Complex". Literally showing it in "Office Complex" chapter.

[@blackflame_]

Underrated channel but you'll get the subs you deserve soon :)

[@CloudConnection]

Thank you!

[@blackflame_]

CloudConnection thank you for the quality content :)

[@wta1518]

7:07 small correction here: the menus are completely different and it uses Steam's servers for multiplayer.

[@cambreaKer]

the half life source bugs were introduced in later updates, the original 1.0 version from 2004 doesn't have the bugs.

[@CloudConnection]

True; I did simplify things in the script, but I'm aware there are different versions of HL:S with varying degrees of glitches.

[@kayoshie_]

I know I'm a bit late to this, but I'd like to add that most of the glitches and bugs you mentioned for Half-Life: Source were not present in the game when it first released. I'm a dedicated fan to Half-Life and I keep track of nearly everything relating to the games, Half-Life: Source is my guilty pleasure, I prefer it over the Goldsrc version honestly because it was my first ever PC game I owned so I spent a lot of time with it and I'd like to add light to it, I understand it's inferior to Goldsrc but I'd like to add that it was Valve's mishandling of the game that caused these bugs you mentioned to appear. When Valve introduced their "steampipe" system back in 2013, they decided to update Half-Life: Source and make it feel more like the Goldsrc version rather than some weird port or whatever, to cut the story short, they broke nearly everything with the game and they didn't bother to fix it because they realised not many people play HL:S so why bother in the end and so they still sell it at its original price even though it's a broken mess. Valve killed it basically.

[@CloudConnection]

I realize the situation regarding Half-Life: Source is much more complicated than I talked about here, as I know there are multiple versions of HL:S with varying degrees of bugs and glitches. I was aiming for a more general overview for this video, as documenting all the bugs in HL:S would be a video in and of itself. Which Defenestrum has already done (wonderfully, I might add). Still, thanks for sharing!

[@kayoshie_]

@@CloudConnection Yeah I understand the aim of what you were going for, those that know of HL:S already know that it wasn't what they hoped for and those that don't know about it just have to know it was an inferior port of HL1. I always love long Half-Life reviews, so I'm currently going through every one you made as I've just discovered these, despite the HL:S remark and maybe one or two others I found myself slightly disagreeing with, this was thoroughly amazing and well-put together, keep it up!

[@Planet-Rodela-3]

There's an old theory that Half-Life borrowed from Doom 64. Same plot: a portal allows monsters to attack a human installation. The Nihilaanth also resembles Doom 64's Mother Demon. They even have similar attacks and can both create portals.

[@bennettfender1546]

Gargantuas are actually not immune to your weapon fire in the original Half Life they just have a crazy amount of health.

[@CloudConnection]

Correct, though my point was that you're intended to defeat them through nontraditional means, or just avoid them. But yes, if you have the ammo you can kill them with your weapons.

[@NotASpyReally]

20:51 I'm 25 and I laughed

[@teodxrr]

11:31 I am a goldsrc/source games player. I still don't have a name for it.. Valve Games Fan? Anyway, when you said it might feel weird at first for me its a habit in all the games I play.

[@Concon12316]

You forgot to mention that Guards can carry revolvers.

[@canahmetdarama354]

Even though I think that HL is overrated, it's an awesome game without fans. It is amazing to be able to be enjoyable even after 23 years

[@bennettfender1546]

Technically it's an SMG not a machine gun.

[@CloudConnection]

True; I do correct this in later videos.

[@bennettfender1546]

CloudConnection yeah I just started this series but great review I can't wait to watch the rest I'm a sucker for Half Life it is after all my 2nd favorite fps series after Halo. Sucks Halo is awful now and Half Life has been forgotten though I do have hope for Infinite and I do hope Alyx may get Valve into making traditional games once again.

[@jonbourgoin182]

Please do a DooM retrospective

[@I_Am_Transcendentem]

I REPEAT PORTAL IS NOT A SUBSERIES

[@desireless4092]

Wrong! Gordon IS the best character.. Because he is me. He is you, he is everyone else. Nobody else in the game knows that, save but the vortigaunts who know well the one Freeman.

[@ThePouplous]

Why did youtube recommend me this video?

[@DayLateGamerWill]

Ehhhh, idk about "Gold Dtandard of FPS games", but they're definitely the pioneers of in-game, diagetic story telling

[@GatorMilk]

I have an unbelievable hatred for Half Life and view it as the death of Shooters.

[@CloudConnection]

That's an interesting perspective - what makes you say that? Not trying to prove you wrong or anything, just curious.

[@GatorMilk]

@@CloudConnection Sure thing. Half Life moved the focus point of FPS games over to story telling from movement, speed, and reflexes. Levels were linear and simple rather than sprawling; puzzles were breaks in the path rather than part of the environment. Enemy encounters in other shooters were about constant movement and prioritization of enemies; projectile paths formed realtime "3d mazes" to solve in real-time as where enemies in Half Life were more a matter of no-lean cover-shooting and ammo prioritization. Last, it doesn't feel like a game, it feels like a student project. Half Life 2 only feels worse since it was literally slap dashed together and disjointed - on an even worse engine. Worst of all, it was the main influence of shooters from that point on - ruining the genre. I'll argue it is the direct father of the CoD-ification of shooters in the next decade and the "story telling" focus of mainstream (aka shitty) gaming. As for a story telling focus, beating it at its own genre, check out System Shock 1. Rebind the controls or use a nod or the new sourceport. I don't like SS2 very much, but it does some similar shit and was a better game. To see an alternate universe where shooters didn't get shitty, check out the mod scene for DooM and Duke Nukem 3D. They have the same design focus as the old games - often with elements from other genres like platforming, survival horror, and "story-telling" - without ruining or diluting the original focus of the genre.

[@CloudConnection]

Hmm, fair points. It's interesting that the reasons you listed as to why you don't like Half-Life are some of the reasons why I enjoy it. Maybe we can chalk that up to "different strokes for different folks," but I totally understand that heavy story emphasis and sprawling level design won't appeal to everybody. I'll admit to not being that familiar with System Shock or its sequel - I just haven't gotten around to playing them as of yet. When I do, I'll definitely consider its approach to storytelling. I've heard plenty of people say that they don't like Half-Life, but I've never heard someone say that Half-Life's influence ruined the FPS genre. That's why I was intrigued to hear what you had to say. Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I don't agree with everything you've said, but you've given me some stuff to think about as I continue to play through the Half-Life series for these videos.

[@GatorMilk]

@@CloudConnection I said that Half Life was linear level design rather than sprawling, but otherwise, thank you for the response.

[@CloudConnection]

Ah, my mistake. I even called Half-Life's level design linear in the video - not sure how I messed that up. And you're welcome!