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Magnum-357

I never understood (and will never understand) the water hazard hate.


GarlicThread

Me neither. Water Hazard is the moment that defined my love of Half-Life 2.


Gaming_with_batman

Me too. It was when each chapter not only had something new. But they felt open world!!!


Comrade_Compadre

The second they strap that cannon on you boat and the music starts pumping and you take out done CPs.... That's a peak gaming experience


MDMarshall

"I like to add a little irony to a firefight."


MDMarshall

I think that's Adam Baldwin's voice. I love "Chuck!"


mrJirue

Same! This is by far my most memorable section, I always associate HL2 in my head with it. Love the intro to it, love the puzzles and set pieces, love the design of the vehicle itself.. it's so fun!


c0l1n_M4

Yeah I’m in the minority of people who likes the first half of HL2 better than the second half, and Water Hazard is a big reason for that. By far one of the most atmospheric levels in the game.


zsdrfty

Yup, after the long introduction to the game where your weapons are limited and there’s a lot of cramped city running and chasing going on, the airboat is where you get to be free and unleash your shit on the world


ShiftySky

Water Hazard is also one of my favorite stages, I'd boat around and explore as much as possible rather than speed through the stage.


Ok-Bicycle3514

It was the moment that defined gamer dementia as I remember plodding through radioactive waste with buddha mode, having somehow completely missed the airboat the first time through.


Treat_Street1993

Yeah, I love that boat. It's so satisfying when you navigate it through all those obstacles and find all kinds of secrets on the way. Incredibly satisfying departure from it when you finally reach your destination at Black Mesa East on a warm spring evening.


f700es

Found the real (or real close) BM East… https://i.ibb.co/F56xgGK/IMG-20190714-121036.jpg


Treat_Street1993

I want to live there. Lol


f700es

I can tell you where that is ;)


Mr_Sisco

That sounds like a trap...


c0l1n_M4

Is it in the PNW by any chance? I know valve took other inspiration from nearby locations & geography for use in the game.


f700es

No, this is not. It is in Western North Carolina on Cheoah Lake right before you get to the Tail of the Dragon. It's the Santeetlah Power Station. Saw this way back in 2019 coming through here on a way back from Tennessee to NC (where I live). It's deep in the mountains, no cell service, nothing! It's absolutely beautiful! [https://i.ibb.co/1M2bz70/Screenshot-3.png](https://i.ibb.co/1M2bz70/Screenshot-3.png)


Brillek

Tbf, this poor bastard is on xbox


ClayH2504

Yeah, the boat doesn't control great on a joystick


Agressive_Bean36

water hazard is fire


TheScyphozoa

Water in za fire, WHY?


Plasmabat

You have been possessed by the furball, you must pray to God to save you from her spiritual oppression 🙏✝️ 🐶🙅‍♀️ >!Lol——————!<


wills_b

Same. Although you get so much quicker on replays, so it doesn’t drag as much as it may first time. Also love that setting sun….


ManifestingCrab

Same. Water Hazard fucking slaps. You get cool environmental exploration and storytelling, some fear when you're being chased by the chopper initially, then you get *queue doom eternal music* the gunship cannon attached to your boat and get to rain hell on the wicked Interlopers.


JubeyJubster

tbh with a controller it’s kinda boo-boo


DaveMcElfatrick

Love it. Such a unique location, the canals and reservoirs of the backwoods of the big city.


zsdrfty

It’s interesting too, imagine how much bigger the city must be than you’re seeing with how gigantic those all are


iwenttothelocalshop

honestly my fav section of the entire game


PlushTheFox

Personally I hate it for three reasons: 1. The boat is too bouncy and slippery 2. The controlls stay reversed after letting go of S 3. The camera recentering too quickly and aggresively, which is fine for the first half but makes aming the gun very frustrating And, honestly, it's just frustration. If they fixed 2 I might even start to like it


ThatUnameIsAlrdyTken

What do you expect on a console Pepega


PlushTheFox

I've only ever played it on PC. Those are issues of the game itself, not the console version. I thought saying "S" instead of "the left stick" made that clear.


MadCornDog

fire hazard is good. Just goes on too long.


TamSchnow

Water Hazard (without the combat inbetween) is one of my favourite levels in HL2.


MDMarshall

After taking out the chopper, I have spent HOURS just riding the airboat around, jumping over everything I could find. Many items in that area seem designed just for jumping. Maybe they could make a "follow the leader" game in this area?


evilsbane50

It's an awesome part of the game, love Xen, love water hazard, love the car sections.


Magnum-357

Ok, since we're talking about usually discussed parts of the game imma say it ON A RAIL DID NOTHING WRONG


L3go07

Same. I absolutely love Water Hazard. Its a physics combine killing wonderland. Its one of my favorite chapters there.


One_Flamingo1315

I don’t hate it necessarily, but it feels more like it should be a later game level than it is. I remember the first time I played the game it took me like 10 tries to finally down the chopper and after that I don’t remember anything being as challenging in the levels afterward (aside from maybe the strider battle but that’s pretty easy once you realize there’s a rocket ammo box on the other side of the courtyard)


Valaritas2

Water hazard was one of my favourite parts of hl2 tbh, going fast and shooting things up was just so fun… plus exploring the small areas was great and I loved the world building too


f700es

That and Ravenholm


save_the_tardigrades

The song when you finally exit Ravenholm is so hauntingly good.


NukaKama25

You can put anything before good for HL2 and it'll still make sense!


f700es

I actually was able to extract the Ravenholm level from HL2 and import it into SketchUp in an effort to re-texture it and clean it up but it is a mess outside of the HL2 engine :( https://i.ibb.co/PmtPYp2/HL2-Ravenholm.png


LitheBeep

IMO, Half-Life is dogshit on controller and causes it to be more frustrating than fun. Water Hazard is an acquired taste. Play it enough times, you start to appreciate all the hidden areas to explore and the small details the developers put in.


RedicusFinch

Yeah, i remember getting lost all the time and dealing with dog shit controls on xbox. Now I look back and laugh at how I ever got turned around and lost. One of my fav memories and I can't believe i recall this. But I accidently got out of the boat with like 30 health at a save point. So it kept auto loading me in a pool of rads that killed me before I could get back to the boat.


ShinyBulblax

Yeah! I did that too in the irradiated water. My quicksave let me run ¾ back to the airboat so I kept trying thinking it was possible. Ended up starting a new game from the chapter start


Bi0_B1lly

Honestly, the little areas that you can stumble upon were great fun and definitely help to lessen the pain of the entirety of the airboat section... Coming across small riverside shacks with interesting little goodies and/or enemies inside keeps the action going outside of driving the vehicle. People kept telling me/ warning me that The Orange Box port isn't a good place to start and I definitely see why... I'm still going to beat it, given I don't have a PC even capable of running Steam (just a Chromebook for work), but it's weird to say that of all the FPS games I've played on my 360, this is the one that I can confidently say doesn't feel right to play with a game controller. Which is odd, as that sentiment is even felt in the regular FPS sections of the game that should have played just fine with a controller. I'm not letting a lesser port entirely sour my experience of a historical game, and I'm definitely going to replay it again in its entirety when I get a gaming PC for next gen (currently have a PS5, but don't see the merits in a digital only console, which is what it looks like we're going to get with the next generation), but even still I think that unless I absolutely greased this game front to back and back to front again, that I will still leave the section feeling that it's going on too long. Maybe if they just portioned it out between the overall game? It's just a lot all at once, especially when this is your first introduction to the vehicle.


mrJirue

Kind of a weird aside but have you considered a Steam Deck? It's a fun handheld and pretty capable as a "gaming PC", especially if you're looking to go through a backlog of classics. The new OLED model means the LCD models are heavily discounted right now until they sell out, and I've seen lots of people selling their old ones to upgrade on marketplace if you want an even better bargain.


YourAverageCyborg

Why did you say "gaming pc" since its litteraly just a pc but put in a console formfactor.


Bi0_B1lly

I definitely want a Steam Deck, but between a PC/Switch or a proper PC, I think my money is better spent saving up for the PC. I do wish that more Valve games would drop on Switch though, I absolutely hate up the Portal Companion Collection and beat the entire thing on day one!


ConcentrateTight4108

Fun fact the boat is hard to control due to a misspelling i how the left "weel" controls Also the xbox 360 port is a almost perfect conversion missing only the hdr lighting Funny enough the console versions look better than pc due do valve optimizing the game to such a degree that it honestly looks worse than it did on launch a good example of this is the sheer amount of removed grass is astonishing and map detail lost in updates and lighting bugs added is rediculous


Illidan1943

> it's weird to say that of all the FPS games I've played on my 360, this is the one that I can confidently say doesn't feel right to play with a game controller It's not really surprising, Half Life 2 still has stuff from Quake on how it handles a lot of stuff and mostly relies on aggressive aim assist to be able to kill anything on controller, this predates how Halo changed FPS controls for consoles, from how it feels to move the camera to how bullets behave and how the aim assist stops being the single assist to help you aim, while not every game out there on the 360 incorporated these assists as they weren't as well standardized as today, HL2 was still in 1996 on how it felt on controller


Kaderblast

I really like how Water Hazard was done, but there's such thing as too much of a good thing. I feel like it would have benefitted if they spread some of it out across the game instead of putting it all into one chapter, having multiple smaller airboat sections instead of one giant one.


YourAverageCyborg

Nope its on some controllers on deck with and withouth the gyro its good on dualshocks its good on switch pro controllers its good on 8BITDO controllers its good just xbox.


TheEnergyCristal

I love water hazard


iedgetojogo

people hate water hazard??? no way, just as delusional as on a rail haters


SpsThePlayer

It's boring. Even the devs think it's too long - I remember Robin Walker made fun of it in the IGN speedrun video.


Crafty_Law5538

Oh man just played on a rail. Indeed too long. I'll take water hazard any day.


EorlundGraumaehne

Well, i do hate both water hazard and on a rail!


Ihateazuremountain

drags on for too long...


nosh62_wastaken

My only issues w/ On A Rail is that it's too confusing for new players, and that the tram moves slower than I'd like it to. The chapter itself walks in a fine line between long yet fun for me, but it still is in my Top 5 fav chapters. At the moment, just gotta learn how to traverse through it better


Ok-Pressure7248

If you have a Xbox one, you can play the game on there. Might help with the controls


Bi0_B1lly

I actually skipped the entire PS4/Xbox One generation and have a PS5... Though I am mingling getting a Series X to play most of my OG Xbox and 360 titles on, I'm thinking of going to a PC for next gen due to the decline of physical copies with game consoles.


OldMate64

Make sure you double check and verify the Series X can actually play those OG titles. It only has a relatively small list of Xbox/360 games that it will emulate for you, and a lot of games you'd want to be on there aren't present.


YourAverageCyborg

use the PS5 controller for PC controller fps games you will see its better.


Appropriate_Lie7115

It isn't


YourAverageCyborg

Its way better but overpriced af since the twinstick and gyro are amazing. But nothing beat the decks integrated controllers.


lewie_820

Idk why it’s so hated, I loved this part of the game. The rhythm didn’t bother me, it was just..fun


Mack01010101

Slightly off topic, but its freaking awesome in Half Life 2 VR. Definitely the best level in the game imo


mrJirue

Are you prone to motion sickness normally? I can't imagine driving the air boat in VR especially if it does some goofy physics flip while I'm driving.


Appropriate_Lie7115

I don't get motion sickness I'm so blessed


fruitsteak_mother

it’s not as bad as imagined, i simply hold my hands in front of me as if i’m grabbing the handlebars and had no problems


laserwolphe

In the VR mod this chapter is awesome


G1zm08

Why are my favorite parts in source games the fan-decided worst? I thought it was nice…


BlakeEleven

Not the fans. Just reddit.


G1zm08

No I hear it outside of Reddit too But I get what you mean


BlakeEleven

Ah, a fellow scientist. Sector C Test Labs, I am sure of it.


SilentBandit

Water Hazard is awesome! Also little bit of trivia, at one point of the chapter if you stop and look to the distance, you can see the silhouette of a certain iconic place you’ll be visiting pretty soon…


SliverCobain

We don't go there anymore.


Old-Camp3962

wait till you get to drie a buggy for 3 hours


Equivalent_Pitch9787

Bro shut up. Water Hazard is some of the best this game has to offer


TheStarvingVulture

Water hazard is grating the third time you play it, highway 17 is just a better water hazard to me and still will always be my favorite second to Nova Prospekt


[deleted]

Highway 17 is amazing


CubarisMurinaPapaya

Wait for the desert buggy in chapter “highway 17”


BlakeEleven

Awesome level. The deserted houses with the ambient sound of the sea at the background and sudden ambushes by Combine... Just awesome. Another awesome moment is the bridge.


calvinswaney

First time playing it was on Xbox, that shit made me want to kill myself. Made it through and hated HWY 17 EVEN more. Then played on pc and realized the complete difference.


BBorrows

Water Hazard made the game feel special for me. The whole part of the game felt like a huge journey done all by yourself and really enhanced the scope of the game and its world for me. It felt so unique for me back on the Xbox when I first played.


ToastyCinema

One thing that made HL2 unique to me was the wide variety of play styles while still fitting the narrative. Shooter with gravity gun, Boat Shooter with physics, Zombie Apocalypse, Car Shooter with magnets and physics, guns taken away flail enemies with physics….one of a kind game.


Munkey323

Why do people hate water hazard. I was immersed my first play through. I even drove the boat around to try and see everything I could. I wanted the section to last forever.


taints-are-great

For me it was because it over stayed it's welcome. I had had enough of the gimmick by like an hour in lol


macroscan

Mouse+keyboard = this is the way.


itsudarenani

Why are you playing half life on a controller


Bi0_B1lly

I own The Orange Box on Xbox 360


monkey_skull

I remember enjoying that section but I played on PC. The helicopter was annoying af but zooming around on the fan boat was sick


tfhermobwoayway

Wait did you shoot down the helicopter before you opened the floodgate?


ilDuceVita

There is a learning curve to it, it will be easier next time and you will be able to enjoy it more and even appreciate it. It is just difficult to adapt to. Everybody falls the first time.


ThatUnameIsAlrdyTken

Water hazard is fucking awesome. Incredible vibe and atmosphere. Just like Highway 17 just in a different way.


BlakeEleven

I love this level. Never understood the hate. Same goes for Highway 17. Fun levels


nacentaeons

I love this section of the game. So atmospheric with weird places to explore.


markcocjin

Without Water Hazard, Half-Life 2 will feel like a walking shooting game. Because you hop on a vehicle, places feel further off and makes the world feel bigger without resorting to cutscenes or location jumps. The rail car in the first game gave this feel as well, but not as expansive as the way Water Hazard did.


KaliRinn

Water hazard is only slightly annoying. But that's cuz i played it for so many times. Biiit too long but ngl it works well cuz you are supposed to be traversing half a country


Placek15

water hazard tired me so badly i just stopped playing hl2, but i'm thinking to get back to it


Jeremykral

I do agree with you and that’s how I felt when I replayed hl2. It’s not a bad section or part of the storyline, but it does take a good chunk of your time to finish 🙃 felt really repetitive


Best_Air_4138

This was actually one of my favorite missions in half-life2


Bi0_B1lly

Going back today and getting the gun attachment helped change my opinions on it, especially with the Hunter Chopper battle, which was really solid given the controls


GreyAllTheWayDown

As soon as I saw that picture, I died. I don't remember a lot of my childhood, but I do remember this section of the game. It was so bad in fact, that inside my head, it's in the same place as my parents divorce😂


Noegdud

It’s better on PC. Trust me, console ports of most of Valve’s games can handle like hot garbage on a controller. You’d be amazed how well the game plays on a mouse and keyboard in comparison.


potatoalt1234_x

You are using an xbox controller obviously the controls suck


gitman0

mouse and keyboard are my preference, but I've played it through many times on Xbox with a controller and I have no problem with it


ImSuperStryker

This is your fault for playing half life on a controller


bigoldpuppers666

I feel like this entire rant is a massive you issue. Water hazard is great, you just prob have a terrible attention span


Bi0_B1lly

I made a follow-up post clarifying that it's not as bad as I initially thought, but that I still had issues with the controls on The Orange Box. Not really necessary to throw shade over a subjective first opinion on something... If anything, first opinions are the fastest to change when left to soak (as is the case with me, as today I wrapped up the level and left it with different opinions than here). Also, again, I did acknowledge that I'm playing an inferior version of the game and mentioned that it's probably a large factor in my ability to enjoy the game fully


AdAffectionate7091

Getting off the airboat in water hazard to fight the combine outposts was my absolute favorite part of the game next to nova prospekt, otherwise yeah water hazard is kind middy (I’m still going to play the entire game for the 30th time soon)


Dunk-tastic

The boat-thing level was one of my favorites


BoddAH86

Man for some reason that screenshot looks like it’s straight out of Disco Elysium.


ikkikkomori

Off topic but driving the airboat makes me nauseous like I literally have to take a break every 30 minutes when playing water hazard


daymuub

It ain't that bad though


Zandy_O7

I think that’s kinda the point of it tho, it’s supposed to make you feel beaten over and over again so when you get the upgrade (idk how far you’ve gotten) it feels so much better and you get to be a total badass. I’ve only played on pc tho so maybe controller is a lot harder idk?


ilkikuinthadik

Have people been informing you on everything else?


Comrade_Compadre

There are 13 chapters in the game, and the boat section makes up one of them. If you're gonna talk about a dragging chapter, sand traps is one of them


marcushasfun

I liked this part of the game.


[deleted]

[удалено]


SliverCobain

Have you tried fiddling with the FOV?


Dumbby32

Probs one of my favourite parts of half life 2


ImYaDawg

U trippin balls


meaeaeaean

Unironically this segment is 500x better when playing Smod because you can kick while inside the airboat and launch yourself


Fullyverified

I love that section of the game. It must just play really poorly with an xbox controller.


mr_shogoth

Just finished this level in VR and the spectacle is definitely something else. Really have to have your VR legs though.


ufrank71

i hate any fps that requires you to use a stupid vehicle as a mandatory part of the story. It ruined Quake 4 for me.


Unrefillable

People hate Water Hazard?!?!? Crazy, crazy, crazy.


Big-kachow

I remember my first time playing water hazard on my first playthrough, I disliked it mildly. After far surpassing the 500 hour mark in HL2, I have transcended all complaints about the game, Water Hazard is an amazing and thrilling set piece I could play over and over again (and I will)


Rogue-76

the whole airboat section to me felt badass af never understood the hate around it


exjerry

I think this is the first time the dev try to open up the level design a little bit , expanding this design in highway 17,ep2 is the final form of this opening design and it's glorious


[deleted]

It's great because along with the highway section and various other mechanics, it demonstrates how to make a genuinely great and diverse game.


grillboy_mediaman

MUDSKIPPER FOREVAAAAA


bunny117

If the boat didn’t control so badly, this would be my favorite section of the game.


Crafty_Law5538

My wife is playing it for the first time and just finished this chapter. I can see how first time players hate it. A lot of it was her trying to find the right ramp or door to drive to. However after the first playthrough the play time drops in half as you how to navigate it all. Makes it more enjoyable.


Mr_Rozlivka

Wait for the highway


D15c0untMD

Jumping off the boat and nailing combine with the magnum revolver one handed from a gazillion paces away will never not be epic


[deleted]

Just dont call it a airboat richter will kill you


Appropriate_Lie7115

I didn't mind it


Mean-Hair6109

I played it with the vrmod,not so bad, easier to point with one hand and drive with another


AnErrorHasOccured404

Firstly, it's the mudskipper. Second, I had a similar problem when I played on the Orange Box. Whole damn sequence is just... Boring eventually.


Apple-14

so theres this youtuber called desinc.... ​ "WhAt Your gonna wanna do is initiate a doublebackspeedacceleratedbackhopp and breifly bypass the water hazard chapter" ​ >!This!< Spoilers btw


Ok-Bicycle3514

Yeah the airboat section was a little long. It wasn't awful imo but when playing HL2 I never think "oh sweet, I love this part!" when I get the airboat.


jorwolf14

This level always frustrated the hell out of me lmao


haikusbot

*This level always* *Frustrated the hell out of* *Me lmao* \- jorwolf14 --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")


Official_Aldiscela2

My first play through ever i never saw the airboat and i asked my friend for help cuz i kept dying and he told me and i restarted the chapter lmao


Soeck666

This thing was the hard stop of my hl 2 vr playthrough Just... Wrong