Surface Tension
Not only is it a science pun, but it shows the full force of the HECU and lets you dismantle it piece by piece.
Grunts? No problem.
Snipers? Their "use wounded guards as bait" just make them higher priority targets.
IFV Bradley? Wiped off the map.
M1 Abrams tank? Nah.
Friggin' Apache Attack Helicopters plural? Killed dead.
It is the action setpiece of the game and it even manages to keep a decent pacing so you don't get combat fatigue.
Best Half-Life Chapter Tournament
Created 6 years ago2018-04-03 02:09:53 UTC by
Jessie
Created 6 years ago2018-04-03 02:09:53 UTC by
Jessie
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-11 03:56:34 UTC
Post #339286
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-11 06:17:12 UTC
Post #339287
Surface Tension
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-11 06:23:25 UTC
Post #339288
What JeffMOD said, Surface Tension wins.
Power Up stands no chance against it.
Power Up stands no chance against it.
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-11 10:20:07 UTC
Post #339289
Absolutely Surface Tension. Love every part of it.
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-11 12:55:05 UTC
Post #339291
"Well, I'll let you out but I'm warning you, it's Hell out there. It's completely under military control. You'll have to sneak and fight your way from one end to the other."
You just cannot beat in [m]Surface Tension[/m] in my opinion.
This is where Half-Life hits its peak, pitting you against everything the HECU have to throw at you. Also, it's simply massive. Think about some of Half-Life's greatest moments and you'd be surprised how many occur in this chapter.
Blowing an apache out of the sky on the dam?
Surface Tension
Ducking in and out of trenches while a squad of grunts and a tank try to blow you into a fine paste?
Surfy Tensey
Popping out of a pipe onto a cliff edge overlooking the New Mexico desert?
The big ST!
Taking out snipers while navigating a minefield?
That God damned tensile surface!
Ordnance storage facility filled with tripmines?
Holy crap though. It's Surface FUCKING Tension
Mowing down vorts warping in with a .50 cal machine gun?
Hnnnngfff!!
Calling in an airstrike to blow open a path to the Lambda Bunker and explode a freaking gargantua!?
FFFFUUUUUUUU-
Ahem... yeah, it's a'ight.
You just cannot beat in [m]Surface Tension[/m] in my opinion.
This is where Half-Life hits its peak, pitting you against everything the HECU have to throw at you. Also, it's simply massive. Think about some of Half-Life's greatest moments and you'd be surprised how many occur in this chapter.
Blowing an apache out of the sky on the dam?
Surface Tension
Ducking in and out of trenches while a squad of grunts and a tank try to blow you into a fine paste?
Surfy Tensey
Popping out of a pipe onto a cliff edge overlooking the New Mexico desert?
The big ST!
Taking out snipers while navigating a minefield?
That God damned tensile surface!
Ordnance storage facility filled with tripmines?
Holy crap though. It's Surface FUCKING Tension
Mowing down vorts warping in with a .50 cal machine gun?
Hnnnngfff!!
Calling in an airstrike to blow open a path to the Lambda Bunker and explode a freaking gargantua!?
FFFFUUUUUUUU-
Ahem... yeah, it's a'ight.
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-12 08:55:29 UTC
Post #339293
I really like both for different reasons, but I guess you've gotta hand this one to Surface Tension.
Power Up is just really well done, the multi-level generator complex you'll run through multiple times from different angles is a great bit of interconnected level design. I'm also a big fan of levels where the exit is cheekily just meters away from where you entered, and you have to go on a freaking odyssey just to open it.
But Surface Tension is Surface Tension. It's the game's crowning moment. A relentless tour de force of everything that makes Half-Life what it is. Might as well hand the whole thing to Surface Tension, we all know it's going to end there!
I almost feel bad for Power Up being pitted against Surface Tension this early in the tournament.
Power Up is just really well done, the multi-level generator complex you'll run through multiple times from different angles is a great bit of interconnected level design. I'm also a big fan of levels where the exit is cheekily just meters away from where you entered, and you have to go on a freaking odyssey just to open it.
But Surface Tension is Surface Tension. It's the game's crowning moment. A relentless tour de force of everything that makes Half-Life what it is. Might as well hand the whole thing to Surface Tension, we all know it's going to end there!
I almost feel bad for Power Up being pitted against Surface Tension this early in the tournament.
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-12 12:38:58 UTC
Post #339294
I almost feel bad for Power Up being pitted against Surface Tension this early in the tournament.One point or another, Brazil has to have their first world cup match.
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-12 21:26:06 UTC
Post #339296
Weird! Surface Tension won somehow with 7-1! Well, at least it's the journey, not the destination! Like this next matchup...
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Apprehension vs. Questionable Ethics! Dank waterways, monsters of the deep, cold, cold rooms and the player's capture, or slick labs with the first hints of the major alien/HECU conflicts?
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Posted 6 years ago2018-04-12 21:59:47 UTC
Post #339297
This may be the toughest decision for me so far in the tournament. I'll have to go with Questionable Ethics by a nose.
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-12 22:14:02 UTC
Post #339298
Apprehension.
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-12 23:01:01 UTC
Post #339299
Questionable Ethics.
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-13 06:09:09 UTC
Post #339300
I'm going with Apprehension.
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-13 06:24:39 UTC
Post #339301
Questionable Ethics
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-13 08:01:30 UTC
Post #339302
thats a tricky one.
Apprehension had the super scary bit where you walked over those breaking platforms over the water while the sea monsters wanted to nom you up...
And the first fight between the assassins which ended with:
"Get him"
"heh heh.... I see it"
But yeah going QE but only just.
Apprehension had the super scary bit where you walked over those breaking platforms over the water while the sea monsters wanted to nom you up...
And the first fight between the assassins which ended with:
"Get him"
"heh heh.... I see it"
But yeah going QE but only just.
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-13 10:55:55 UTC
Post #339303
Apprehension is a pretty cool chapter, but I really dislike the opening with the flooded silo. It just doesn't strike me as an interesting section and as such my opinion of the rest of the chapter suffers. Introduction of the assassins at the end nearly makes up for it.
[m]Questionable Ethics[/m] is just so much cooler. It's probably my favourite chapter in terms of the design. Plus it gets bonus points because it means you're done with Residue Processing.
Also...
[m]Questionable Ethics[/m] is just so much cooler. It's probably my favourite chapter in terms of the design. Plus it gets bonus points because it means you're done with Residue Processing.
Also...
"heh heh.... I see it"Not to be that guy, but I believe that it's "Nice hit"
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-13 12:06:09 UTC
Post #339304
Not to be that guy, but I believe that it's "Nice hit"That... makes so much more sense. How did I not realize earlier that that's what he said there
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-13 12:43:59 UTC
Post #339305
I'm voting [m]Questionable Ethics[/m].
I always thought too the grunt said "I see it". "Nice hit" makes more sense indeed.
I always thought too the grunt said "I see it". "Nice hit" makes more sense indeed.
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-13 12:45:09 UTC
Post #339306
Not to be that guy, but I believe that it's "Nice hit"oh now it makes sense! Well anyway, even if its 'nice hit' I still think 'I see it' was kinda cryptic and cool
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-13 12:57:15 UTC
Post #339307
Questionable Ethics
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-13 15:18:25 UTC
Post #339308
does anything unethical even happen in this chapter
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-13 17:48:57 UTC
Post #339309
well, we cant'y say for certain that it's unethical, but the point is that it's questionable
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-13 21:17:02 UTC
Post #339311
Questionable Ethics wins 7-2 despite the Apprehension revelation! Mondegreens really mess you up, huh?
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Gonarch's Lair vs. Black Mesa Inbound! The headcrab queen battle; or the complete other end of the game where it's still just another commute to work?
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Posted 6 years ago2018-04-13 21:32:44 UTC
Post #339313
Oh, I thought these were seeds like in an actual tournament. No way Gonarch gets a 2 seed though so did you randomize them?
Black Mesa Inbound easily.
Black Mesa Inbound easily.
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-13 21:45:54 UTC
Post #339314
Trams > Crabs
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-13 23:37:16 UTC
Post #339315
Oh, I thought these were seeds like in an actual tournament. No way Gonarch gets a 2 seed though so did you randomize them?(I don't know what seeds means in this context, I just randomized the order they appeared in.)
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-14 00:44:06 UTC
Post #339316
Right, so for things like college basketball tournaments here (US), all the teams in the tourney are seeded, which means ranked based on their records to date before the tournament. The highest seed plays the lowest seed first, and if the number of teams in the tourney is not a power of 2, the top handful of seeds get a "bye" and get to skip a round. The idea is that the better seeds get an advantage by playing lower seeds and perhaps skipping a game (or 2 in some cases).
So when I saw Surface Tension as 1 I thought you had seeded the chapters based on how popular you thought they were. See example picture below. Probably much more info than you expected to get
So when I saw Surface Tension as 1 I thought you had seeded the chapters based on how popular you thought they were. See example picture below. Probably much more info than you expected to get
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-14 01:13:47 UTC
Post #339317
I'm not sure I follow the logic of all that, but I get the gist. Good info! I think the site I used to get the base image mentioned something about seeds, but I didn't use them. I think it just randomized the seeds. I'm not sure why it would include them at all in that case, but whatever, it would up being random, so I'm happy.
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-14 01:48:28 UTC
Post #339319
Black Mesa Inbound.
As with Urby, I feel like an atmospheric train ride is better than fighting a giant armored testicle.
As with Urby, I feel like an atmospheric train ride is better than fighting a giant armored testicle.
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-14 04:14:09 UTC
Post #339320
Black Mesa Inbound, I'm not really fond of Gonarch's lair.
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-14 04:48:12 UTC
Post #339321
Black Mesa Inbound.
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-14 05:24:05 UTC
Post #339322
Ya I'll go BM Inbound "Please keep all limbs inside the train at all times"
Not sure what the designer's idea was behind Gonarch was, but its voice sounds were pretty freaky, as well as the music track that played.
Not sure what the designer's idea was behind Gonarch was, but its voice sounds were pretty freaky, as well as the music track that played.
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-14 11:03:55 UTC
Post #339324
Tram ! Can't beat the Tram.
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-15 09:40:52 UTC
Post #339325
Black mesa inbound.
One of the most iconic video game opening sequences in my opinion. Definitely stuck with me as a child, I always wondered how barney managed to get onto that platform..
One of the most iconic video game opening sequences in my opinion. Definitely stuck with me as a child, I always wondered how barney managed to get onto that platform..
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-15 09:58:35 UTC
Post #339326
I always wondered how barney managed to get onto that platform.It's these guys that I feel for...
Half-Life is definitely a game you're not supposed to look too closely at sometimes.
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-15 14:13:13 UTC
Post #339327
Pretty sure that's the time-out room and they put naughty scientists up there with scissor lifts.
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-15 21:52:46 UTC
Post #339330
Not many Gonarch's Lair fans out there. Black Mesa Inbound trouncing with 8-0! Now, we finally reveal the last of the chapters, which deduction could have already spoiled, etc. etc.
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"We've Got Hostiles" vs. Unforeseen Consequences! The introduction of the HECU, or the introduction of all hell breaking loose?
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Posted 6 years ago2018-04-15 23:08:47 UTC
Post #339331
That's a very tough one, but I'll throw my vote for Unforeseen Consequences.
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-16 05:25:04 UTC
Post #339332
We've Got Hostiles!
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-16 06:41:03 UTC
Post #339333
We've got hostiles!
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-16 07:51:38 UTC
Post #339334
Hmmm thats a tricky one.
We've Got Hostiles was awesome because things ramp up when I didn't think they would after Office Complex and seeing the army guys for the first time created a whole new dimension to the game. Little things like hearing the vocal announcer explain the military has taken over the systems... awesome!
But. I'm going Unforeseen Consequences.
We've Got Hostiles was awesome because things ramp up when I didn't think they would after Office Complex and seeing the army guys for the first time created a whole new dimension to the game. Little things like hearing the vocal announcer explain the military has taken over the systems... awesome!
But. I'm going Unforeseen Consequences.
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-16 08:06:56 UTC
Post #339335
We've Got Hostiles.
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-16 09:37:43 UTC
Post #339336
This is a tough one. Unforeseen takes it, but only just.
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-16 10:40:01 UTC
Post #339337
Unforeseen for me. I do like much of WGH but the excessive vent crawling drags it down.
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-16 12:52:27 UTC
Post #339338
Voting for [m]Unforeseen Consequences[/m].
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-16 20:38:01 UTC
Post #339339
Unforseen Consequences is cool and all, as I mentioned previously I really liked the eerie tone it had. However, my vote goes to [m]We've Got Hostiles![/m]
The second half of Office Complex teases the arrival of the soldiers. Now I personally had seen the reviews and trailers prior to Half-Life's release, but for the uninitiated, seeing the grunts open fire on scientists was probably a Hell of a twist. I know it caught my dad off guard back in '98.
I still didn't know what to expect at first. I thought maybe the grunts were there to save you at first, then turned on you later. Either way, this chapter is an absolute blast, with multiple ways to approach some of the combat areas. The vent crawling right at the end is a bit of a let down, but lets you catch some of the conversations between the grunts.
The second half of Office Complex teases the arrival of the soldiers. Now I personally had seen the reviews and trailers prior to Half-Life's release, but for the uninitiated, seeing the grunts open fire on scientists was probably a Hell of a twist. I know it caught my dad off guard back in '98.
I still didn't know what to expect at first. I thought maybe the grunts were there to save you at first, then turned on you later. Either way, this chapter is an absolute blast, with multiple ways to approach some of the combat areas. The vent crawling right at the end is a bit of a let down, but lets you catch some of the conversations between the grunts.
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-17 00:15:06 UTC
Post #339341
I was going to let this run a lil' longer to establish a clear winner, but apparently I've already let one win with exactly this spread, so nevermind! Unforeseen Consequences wins with 5-4!
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Surface Tension vs. "Forget About Freeman!"! We're up to the quarter-finals! Interesting to note that of the eight chapters remaining, they are all in two groups of consecutive chapters with the exception of On A Rail (which is only one chapter removed from one of those groups).
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Posted 6 years ago2018-04-17 05:20:59 UTC
Post #339342
Surface Tension
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-17 05:50:15 UTC
Post #339343
ST of course
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-17 09:33:03 UTC
Post #339344
Surface Tension.
Posted 6 years ago2018-04-17 10:22:20 UTC
Post #339345
Surface Tension
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