I loved that strider battle at the end so much... - Half-Life 2: Episode Two (2007) Discussion

[–] a_moore714 16 years ago

Awesome shirt!

But to be honest with you, that was my least favorite part of the game. It was SOOOOO freaking difficult!!

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[–] FlamingFrogurt 16 years ago

Thanks. But really?? You can't tell me it wasn't the most satisfying thing in the world to blow those things up just before they were about to blow up the rocket. It was like, "*beep* YOU!"

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[–] a_moore714 16 years ago

Not really. I like to think of myself as a pretty good gamer, and I had to play through it like 10 times. Everyone loves it, but for whatever reason, I absolutely despised it.

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[–] knot_16 16 years ago

hate it to. i was like "Dr. Maggy.... rockets work well to, i proved that.... lots... why don't i just use rockets?"

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[–] FlamingFrogurt 16 years ago

You're both crazy.

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[–] a_moore714 16 years ago

Yeah, but not when it comes to video games. I've read all the reviews, and everybody else LOVED it....not so much for me.

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[–] craig-353 16 years ago

The last time I played through Episode 2, I had trouble killing the last 2 striders as they were arriving at the silo. I got one after killing the last of the Hunters, but then missed with the Magnusson Device 3 times in a row on the second strider. I think I blew it up literally seconds before it was going to fire.

Talk about letting out a huge sigh of relief! :D

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[–] Dayaside 16 years ago

If you think that's hard .. try to complete the achievement where you have to save not only the rocket, but every one of the buildings in the basin from destruction...

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[–] Tokyo-Vigilante 16 years ago

I loved every minute of the orange box except that final battle. It wasn't fun because those hunters are relentless. No time to enjoy the scenario (which should have been great) because I was too busy being mercilessly slaughtered.

Hi! I'm.... Tommy, and I'm your friend to the end. Hi Di Ho. Ha ha ha.

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[–] 16 years ago

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[–] Tokyo-Vigilante 16 years ago

I feel like the hunters were under used in episode 2, except at the end, when a huge bunch of them turn up and make your (virtual) life hell.
In that part of the game, they were over used.

the area at the end would have been cool if they toned it down a bit; you could be fighting some hunters in one of the buildings (2 or three of them) and just as you've killed all but one of the hunters, bang, the house is blown up from the outside by a strider and it disintegrates around you and the final hunter.

Repeat a similar scenario a couple of times.

But how it actually plays out is far too hectic to really get an enjoyable battle going on.

Hi! I'm.... Tommy, and I'm your friend to the end. Hi Di Ho. Ha ha ha.

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[–] dances_with_ninjas 16 years ago

Toned it down? That crazy talk.

I hated that battle at first, but when I won. Flip! I have never jumped to my feet and cheered at a game in 14 years. For those who say it's too hard, use the car. At full speed you can kill two hunters at once, climb out, kill the third with a log and then lauch the Strider Popper (as I like to call it because I can't remember the real name). It takes about twenty seconds in which you feel like the greatest hero fighting his hardest battle to some quite lovely techno. It's one of the few battles that actively rewards recklessness in that the easiest to stick a popper is to stand right between it's legs and shoot straight up. Also remember to use the holder on your car and go out to meet them as soon as they arrive.

Also it's an important battle in terms of the story as it's the first time the rebels cheer, before this point they just leant against and looked like they'd lost. So I think it was important for the battle to be that hard as it had to feel that you had scored a real, crucial, victory.

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[–] Tokyo-Vigilante 16 years ago

I see your point, but it was still a pretty big difficulty ramp.

It was mainly the bit when 4-6 striders all turn up at the end that was a nightmare.

I'd still rather have the kind of battle I described (I love the idea of fighting inside a building, only to have it torn from around you by a bigger enemy).

Maybe I'll enjoy this bit more when I play through the orange box again.

Hi! I'm.... Tommy, and I'm your friend to the end. Hi Di Ho. Ha ha ha.

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[–] 16 years ago

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[–] FlamingFrogurt 16 years ago

Yeah, you can really do whatever you want in that battle, which is a signature of HL battles that I love. You never have to figure out what the developers want you to do, you just have to figure out the easiest way to survive, and the possibilities are almost always endless. I feel like one of the LooneyTunes characters that chased another LooneyTunes character, like Silvester or Wiley Coyote. If at first you don't succeed, save and try something else.

I played the strider battle on hard and it was really frustrating at times, but it was the most rewarding battle I think I've ever fought. Hence, shirt: http://www.cafepress.com/power2us

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[–] Jimmyk10 16 years ago

God, that battle was a nightmare for me. I basically floored it and ran over as much hunters as I could before taking out the Strider Buster, ahem, Magnusson Device, and blowing the striders to teeny teeny bits. Yay! I did appreciate the warm welcome back by the NPCs tho.

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[–] 16 years ago

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[–] soknivesout 16 years ago

sorry but there are 13 strider totally and the hell is just started for you :)) but it is my favourite part of the game. it is hard and it makes you shake! when you got it, you have a great non-action ending level for the prize.

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[–] thebewilderedprophet 16 years ago

i loved it, it took me a few attempts to do it but that made the satisfaction of beating them all the better, what also helped was the last 2 were literally seconds from blowing up the rocket when i got round to killing them and i'm afraid to admit i actually went "YES!! Take that you b@stard stalker thingys!" lol

it was a epic fight :D,

one of the times i tried to run down the hunters in the car, but i hit the turbo button and ended up stuck in a tree lol

"The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world"

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[–] 16 years ago

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[–] xshatter3dreamsx 16 years ago

About halfway through the battle, I saved then I just went over to the building that was closest the silo and waited for the striders and hunters...

The burn says it's working...or so I'm told

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[–] psushidude112 16 years ago

epic fight, especially when you try to run down a hunter with your car and that backfires and you have to use logs/ammo to take em down while trying to get your car unstuck. Many games lately have been skimping on the challenge, it's good to face a hard level every now and then.

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[–] The_Ravn 16 years ago

It was insanely hard because I went for the Neighborhood Watch achievement but equally rewarding after the last strider went down. Great fight, great scripted!

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[–] moviedudeofdoom 16 years ago

I just ranted about this so I'll throw my 2c in. I hated it. Boring easy, repetive and very a huge letdown compared to preview. The previews showed gunfights with columbine soilders while dodging hunters and driving from fight to fight like a massize full on battle was going on with you aiding the resistance. Instead all i died was run over hunters, throw logs at them and only shot my gun to trigger that strider killing device. I wanted a giant epic gun fight with multiple effective stratagies, not another throw *beep* with the gravity gun minigame. It could very easily have been the awesome epic fight with a better gameplay design, but it wasn't.

Example: Shield all defense stations and and have Tons of combine everywhere and force they player to drive from various stations to assist the resistance, not be the entire resistance. Make it so the player has to go to a station to power up a shield with the gravity gun or resupply a shield via transportation of a energy cell. Just a little simple idea like that would have resulted in a thousand times better gameplay, one more like the preview. A system like that would force the player to travel, use the gravity gun or car against hunters, use regular guns to kill combine and snipe combine. Basically actaully fight your way to station, break through combine lines, resupply staion, break out of station and move on. It would have a much more epic feel then drive, squish throw log, use gravity gun for everything.

How the fight ended up coming off to me was was that an idea like mine was the original goal but time constraints or something went wrong and they scrapped it and just threw something together at last minute.

Remember when striders were threatening and epic? Hunters and Striders had no threat presense in EP3 because it was just too easy to kill. Squish the hunters or throw logs at them, the one shot kill striders WOOHOO :(.

Remember how epic the city fighting in HL2 was running around WITH the resistance not being the entire restistance.

Words of Wisdom are of the Wise-The Wise Man.

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[–] jsmith0730 16 years ago

I saved before heading out to the Sawmill before bed and resumed in the morning full of trepidation of what lied ahead. As it turned out I had a total blast tearing around in the buggy, mowing down hunters, spinning to catch up with the striders, jumping out of the buggy grabbing the sticky bomb at the back then blowing the striders to bits.

Sure I had to reload quite a few times (a lot of over/under shot bombs) but I was glad it wasn't another "trying to pinpoint the one super-annoying elite combine soldier on a distant roof sniping the crap outta me" scene.

As a matter of fact, by EP2 I was glad that the combine soldiers were few & far between after the first two games.

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[–] maxoliverd 16 years ago

I thought it was hard...both times I played it. The second time tho, I learnt to save the game after every couple of strider explosions. I remember having barely any ammo and just having to ram the hunters with my car! It was a big job but when I finished destroying the striders I was so pleased! I actually prefer Episode 2 to the middle part of HL2. I thought there was more action in Episode 2 and less walking around looking for enemies (like the middle part of HL2.) If Episode 3 is as good as I hope it is, I think I'll prefer the episodes to HL2, even if only for the introduction of hunters (they always terrify me!) and character development (the ending of Episode 2 crushed me!) LOL.

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[–] jamiemcgrory 16 years ago

(the ending of Episode 2 crushed me!)

I just imagined you watching Eli dying and then just crumpling up, you've made my day.
Anyway, I hated the fight, though I didn't think of using the logs to kill the hunters, and I was useless at running them over most of the time, which left guns which are probably the least effective things on earth.
So probably my own fault.

I eat Lions

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