Half-Life DC revisited

[ManekiNeko]

All right. I just snatched this one from BitTorrent yesterday and played around with it earlier this morning. So far, I haven't been especially impressed with the game. It's choppy, the control is frighteningly complex, and the load times are so numerous it's enough to make your hair turn white AND fall out, all at the same time. Does it get better the more you play it? Someone please tell me that it does, because I'm not going to waste any more time slogging through this weak FPS if it doesn't.
Anyway, my questions were as follows... what were Sierra's motivations for cancelling the game, and how does it compare to the PS2 version?

JR

[GameGuru]

I never knew it was leaked! It doesn't sound like you have a final version though because Valve wouldn't do that to their beloved Half Life. I remember just right before it was supposed to be released and all excited I get the news on IGN that it was scrapped! I was like WTH, it is a finished game. I guess they thought with the Dreamcast not being produced anymore it would cost less just to scrap it then market it. Ugh!

[VACRMH]

ManekiNeko, is your copy the "Gold Version"?

Mine came with a text file saying it was the completed copy or something along those lines.

I didn't play too much, but it played quite well for me.

Load times were indeed longer, but I was quite comphy with the controlls after a little while.

[digitalpress]

Uhh...

you're pretty much right Jess!

It's very much like the PS2 version. Choppier than the PC version and way-too-frequent load times. But at least it was FREE

I didn't find the controls over-complicated though, they seemed pretty standard for complex FPS titles... not much different than Quake, Unreal Tourney, Outrigger, etc.

[ManekiNeko]

ManekiNeko, is your copy the "Gold Version"?

Mine came with a text file saying it was the completed copy or something along those lines.

No such text file came with my copy of the game. It's possible that I have an earlier version, because when I tried to save (after the oh-so-boring thirty minute intro, where you take a rail car into the bowels of a radioactive waste dump) the game crashed on me. It also seems unusually choppy... the tutorial (Hazard Course) didn't seem so bad but I could literally count the frames in the game itself.

JR

[kai123]

The one I have plays fine. No frame rate problems for me. Saves fine and everything. It is like playing an original.

[Half Japanese]

I'd agree that the PC is the best of the bunch, but I actually enjoyed the hell out of the ps2 version (so much so that I bought it again after an initial trade-in). The DC version was weak in my opinion based on the fact that the loading times were so atrocious (see also: Soldier of Fortune for DC). The controls didn't throw me off too bad, as I used to play UT for DC for several hours a day a couple years ago. I will say, however, that once you find out how intuitive a dual-analog control setup is for a FPS on a console, it's hard to go back to using the button layout to do walking and the single analog to look around. I think they did a fair job given controller restraints, but a bit more reading off of the disc or something to reduce load times would have been much appreiated. At the end of the day, however, you have to realize that what is out there was never meant to be released to the general public, and unlike many cancelled games, it's at least in a pretty playable state.

[Ze_ro]

I thought the Dreamcast port was quite well done actually... the framerate isn't as good as the PC version (especially later on when you have a bunch of headcrabs on the screen), but I think it's acceptable.

Yeah, the control kind of sucks... without a manual, it'll take a while to figure out stuff like changing weapons (Took me a while at least). But hey, that's the Dreamcast controller for you... doesn't work well for FPS's in my opinion. Get a mouse and a keyboard, and the game will be much nicer.

The load times are annoying too, but as far as I can tell, they're just as frequent as they are on the PC version (as they occur at the same places)... but the break in gameplay is quite long. I wonder how much better it would have been on an actual GD-Rom.

Lack of multiplayer kind of sucks too... I knew they were bailing on the internet play (which I was never interested in anyways), but when Quake III and Unreal Tournament have it, it's a bit of a glaring omission.

Anyways, I'm happy with it... can't really complain about something I pirated for free

--Zero

[VACRMH]

Just thought someone would be interested in the text file that came with my copy...

Summary:
You know what Half Life is. No need for a summary.

This is the FINAL GOLD version of Half-Life for the
greatest game console on the planet (still), the
Dreamcast!

History/Notes:
No, this was never released. Gearbox wrote it off
as a loss instead of releasing this killer game.

We aren't saying where we got this. But we KNOW it
is the real deal and have played it long enough to
feel confident releasing this.

Anyway, enjoy the game that probably could have saved
the Dreamcast.

[Ze_ro]

I'm still hoping for a Propellor Arena release one of these days... I was looking forward to that one too.

--Zero

[kainemaxwell]

The load times and the fact that more of the game takes up massive space on a VMU increases as you continue the game sucks too. Yes I do agree the controls are a painand the graphics are pretty, but doesn't help the downfalls. I do enjoy it, but not as much as I thought I would, nice title to tell people you got..then show them how it is and they wonder why you got it.

[digitalpress]

I'm still hoping for a Propellor Arena release one of these days... I was looking forward to that one too.

--Zero

Same here, brother. I got to play this at CGE and it's a LOT of fun, too. Something I'd get much more use out of than Half-Life.

[kainemaxwell]

I'm still hoping for a Propellor Arena release one of these days... I was looking forward to that one too.

--Zero

Same here, brother. I got to play this at CGE and it's a LOT of fun, too. Something I'd get much more use out of than Half-Life.

Make that 3...and I'm sure I'd get more play out of PBA Bowling 2001 also...

[Half Japanese]

Ugh. PBA Bowling wasn't released for a reason. My friend and I played the copy I got from a fellow forum member a few weeks ago and couldn't get over how piss-poor the whole thing was. From the music to the 3-frames-of-animation movements, it was a turd and it's easy to see why it wasn't released. Half Life for DC is LEAGUES beyond PBA Bowling.

[digitalpress]

Ugh. PBA Bowling wasn't released for a reason. My friend and I played the copy I got from a fellow forum member a few weeks ago and couldn't get over how piss-poor the whole thing was. From the music to the 3-frames-of-animation movements, it was a turd and it's easy to see why it wasn't released. Half Life for DC is LEAGUES beyond PBA Bowling.

Now I'm wondering if you've got the full version of PBA 2001. I rather like it! Only the dreadful load times hurt it, it needs a little more work but the disc I have is fun to play!

[kainemaxwell]

Ugh. PBA Bowling wasn't released for a reason. My friend and I played the copy I got from a fellow forum member a few weeks ago and couldn't get over how piss-poor the whole thing was. From the music to the 3-frames-of-animation movements, it was a turd and it's easy to see why it wasn't released. Half Life for DC is LEAGUES beyond PBA Bowling.

Now I'm wondering if you've got the full version of PBA 2001. I rather like it! Only the dreadful load times hurt it, it needs a little more work but the disc I have is fun to play!

Now I want to play this!

[ManekiNeko]

While we're on the subject of unreleased Dreamcast games, I was tooling around BitTorrent and found a file that claims to be an English translation of Shenmue II. I don't know how that would be possible, unless the game was released in Europe as well as Japan.

JR

[kainemaxwell]

Jess, you're not finding these at suprnova.org, are you?

[Ze_ro]

I found a file that claims to be an English translation of Shenmue II. I don't know how that would be possible, unless the game was released in Europe as well as Japan.

The game was indeed released in Europe, but it used subtitles with Japanese speech still (I'm guessing they're referring to the subtitles when they say "translated"). As far as I know, The Dreamcast version never got a vocal translation... but there's always the possibility of prototypes and betas I suppose.

--Zero

[ManekiNeko]

Jess, you're not finding these at suprnova.org, are you?

That is correct, my good sir.

JR