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Games Inbox: Is Half-Life 2 a bad game nowadays?
Half-Life 2 everything ages (Valve)The Tuesday letters page tries to predict The Game Awards winners, as one reader looks forward to all of the Nintendo Switch 2s third party support.To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.ukThe half-life of Half-LifeI was one of those thousands of people playing Half-Life 2 over the weekend. It was the first time Id played it since it first came out and can I be sacrilegious and say I didnt really enjoy it all that much? It was very clever, and surprisingly modern in many ways, but it also felt very badly paced and kind of boring.Everything seemed to go on for too long, from the open world vehicle bits to the Ravenholm section, the headcrabs bits, the stuff on the bridge and in the facility with the human opponents. Everything just stuck around for so long. Even the antlion section, which I remember as being amazing at the time seemed very repetitive and overly long.I also found it to be kind of a bad shooter. The gunplay isnt very good and the AI for the enemies isnt great. To be honest, I found all the dystopian stuff at the beginning, in the city, the most interesting and a lot of the action the worst bit.Not a snub on the game but the number of games which can stay fun for 20 years is very small. If youre not Tetris or Super Mario Bros. I dont think youve got a half-life (do you see?) of more than a decade. But thats fine, just one more reason to make Half-Life 3.TacleLate night revealEven as a great fan of Elden Ring Im not sure I agree with making Shadow Of The Erdtree eligible for Game of the Year at The Game Awards. I dont think itll win, but I feel it would be kind of silly if it did. My bet for the winner is Astro Bot. I feel that has more momentum and its more recent than Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, so fresher in peoples minds and has had less time for people to pick it apart.Personally, I think Rebirth is the better game, but a lot of people have complained about the open world being bloated and I think all those months of complaints are going to count against it. It is what it is though, and Id be happy for any of the three to win really (I havent played the other nominees).Not that Im staying up to watch it or anything. It always seems silly to me that its on so late. I know its for Americas sake but there has to be a better compromise than 3am in the morning.MogulA month of FridaysI think we may be looking at a good Black Friday this year. Weve had a cheap PS5 Pro, just weeks after it came out; some decent Switch bundles; and now Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom is cheap from Nintendo themselves. Bargain hunters are going to be eating good this month, if this is anything to go by.The problem is that were still two weeks away from Black Friday and I dont know whether things are going to get even cheaper when we get there. I dont think thats how it works but the problem with having this permanent Black Friday Month is that you never know when to pull the trigger and, for me at least, that puts you off. I cant imagine thats good for the companies either because the more you hesitate the less likely you are to do it.DansonGC: If it helps, it looks like its going to start in earnest this Thursday. But that doesnt preclude extra good deals on the day itself.Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.ukBlood feudSonys absolute hatred for Bloodborne is so strange to me. Either they loathe the game or this is the slowest build up to a remake reveal weve ever had. But the thing is, it didnt need a remake when the PlayStation 5 first came out, but theyve taken so long about it that now it kind of does.Upping the resolution is going to do nothing for anyone now, it has to be a full remake like Demons Souls. Thats my opinion anyway.I would bet everything that, based on their behaviour, Sony and From had a falling out, except Sony has shares in From, so is that even possible? Very strange, but Im excited to see what brand new game theyre working on too. They said no Elden Ring 2 and I cant imagine its Dark Souls 4, so that is very exciting to me.Pr0metheus Bloodborne has Sony forgot it exists? (Sony Interactive Entertainment)Look upInteresting new website design, no-one likes change but hey as long as GC still exists, Ill still be reading. Shame Metro still dont call it GameCentral but at least the names there on some articles!Anyway, onto my main question, will you be reviewing Loco Motive, which is out this week? It caught my attention and looks good but would love your verdict on it.StephenPS: With all that talk of Metro and locomotives, I was going to include some train-related puns, but I didnt want to go off trackGC: The GameCentral name and logo is right at the top of every page? Weve only just reviewed a detective game, but Loco Motive does look fun, so well try and take a look.Starting line-upI like the idea of a Dark Souls remaster collection for the Switch 2. Not because I particularly want the games again, but Id just be interested to see what kind of effort publishers are going to put into the new format. After the Wii U, everyone kind of ignored the Switch at launch, and for several years after, but I imagine thats not going to happen this time round.Publishers are going to want in from the start, so thats why Dark Souls makes sense. But it probably means EA and Ubisoft as well, and every Japanese publisher. Its got to be Microsoft too, who have been banging on about Call Of Duty on Switch all this time.This could be the Nintendo console with the best third party support since the SNES and I would love to see that. The terrible job Microsoft and Sony has done this generation doesnt deserve to be rewarded and I would love to see Nintendo become dominant.Of course, theyll then abuse that dominance, but Id rather worry about that nearer the time. A change is as good as a rest and all that.GastonExpensive projectSince I never had any intention of getting a PS5 Pro Im not too bothered about the reports of some games running worse but Im also not surprised that PSSR hasnt turned out to be very reliable. That sort of advanced AI/DLSS tech is not something Sony has any experience in, and I think its one area where theyre going to increasingly get overshadowed by Xbox.The more AI stuff we get in games, and when hardware is designed with it in mind, the more it favours Xbox. I guess you could say that PSSR is Sony trying to get their practice in but this, to me, is the sort of thing where money is all-important. Its one area where outspending Sony can definitely benefit Microsoft.ToecutterBig and uglyThat thing about the pizza warmer was so weird I realised Id never checked to see if the PlayStation 5 gets warm when its on. I dont know that Ill be cooking any food on it, but it definitely is hotter than I was expecting.But the thing that got me is how unstable and rocky it is, when sitting on its stand in horizontal mode. I did notice that when I first set it up but you dont really need to touch it again, so Id forgotten. Easily the worst designed console I have ever seen. Ugly, dangerous-seeming, and far too big.Im not in love with what the Xbox Series X looks like either but its a hundred times better than the PlayStation 5. Theyre both huge though, which is why I find it hard to believe the rumoured Xbox handheld is all that powerful I just dont think Microsoft has the expertise to squeeze everything into that little space.BensonInbox also-ransDoes anyone else think it odd that its been five years since Microsoft bought them and we havent heard a single thing about what Double Fine is working on next? They released Psychonauts 2 but that was almost finished before they got bought.FocusWhat I want to know is how did Rockstar find out there was a stretch of road in the desert that looks like VI. Maybe if theyd spent less time messing around with Google Earth and more time working GTA 6 would be out by now!ManningMore TrendingEmail your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.ukThe small printNew Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Readers Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.You can also leave your comments below and dont forget to follow us on Twitter.Game CentralExclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy
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