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In 1998 a ground-breaking new single-player gaming experience hit the shelves. The graphics, while not revolutionary, were certainly right up there with the best. Six years and $40 million later, the sequel that we've all been waiting for stands on the verge of release (let's hope!). But what has really happened in those six years? We know the changes in story and technical features. But how has Half-Life 2 evolved graphically from the original?
Zombies: higher poly count, same swing. |
An old favourite, the headcrab's victim, the zombie, makes his return. In addition to the mandatory model update, the zombie in HL2 now holds and swings his hands in a slightly different manor. It looks like there will also be a few more variations to the zombie's clothes to keep things interesting, if you aren't scared away by those blood curdling screams.
Headcrab - fast, annoying, and dang hard to take a screenshot of. |
Yep, it's still a headcrab. The basic model and skin don't seem to have changed much, though it seems the HL2 headcrabs have their 'mouths' open a bit more than in HL1. I can also tell you that the animation for the jump has varied slightly; in HL2 the headcrab seems to have its front 'arms' up for the duration of the jump, while in HL1 it only flicked them up as it was falling. Also, we have seen and heard that there are now different types of the little critters in HL2, though we are yet to see what the variation will be, apart from colour.
Note: The comparison images of Eli Vance and the G-Man come courtesy of some Valve promotional shots.
Eli Vance goes from generic NPC to central character. |
Making his debut in the original as one of the three default scientist skins, Eli Vance is now looking better than ever. Taking full use of HL2's ground-breaking character and facial animation systems, Eli, now dressed in more casual clothes, seems to have grown a beard and lost some of his hair. I guess a resonance cascade will do that to you.
The G-Man is more scheming than ever. |
Mysterious as ever, G-Man in HL2 has also been heavily updated. Whole polygons are dedicated to his collar and tie, and his face no longer looks like an angry paper bag. As seen in the Psyche bink and E3 demonstrations, the facial animations of the characters in HL2 are quite disturbingly accurate to real life. Gotta love that suit.
Gordon: present (left) and past (right). |
While we don't have Gordon's in-game model for HL2, we can see the changes in concept art. The orange on Gordon's suit has been reduced quite a bit and is no longer seen on his gloves, which supports the new look of the hands in the weapon models. He also has slightly different glasses, though I doubt that will change the gameplay much.
"That'll look nice in my trophy room." |
Everyone's favourite security guard is back. Rising from generic ally to a recognised character in Half-Life: Blue Shift, Barney is to help Gordon in his fight against the Combine. He's dropped the security guard outfit in favour of what might be a stolen Combine uniform. And like Eli, he's received a major graphical facelift to match his new status.
What a mess. |
Those of you who have access to the Counter-Strike: Source Beta will know that the new blood decals in Source are really quite good. A far cry from the random splotches of HL1, blood in HL2 spreads over surfaces from angle they were thrown at, and creates interesting patterns. There always seems to be a hand in there though.
There's really no comparison. |
Probably the biggest improvement can be seen in the water. The original's water was a semi-transparent moving texture which kind of resembled a blue spider-web. At the time, it passed quite well for H2O but has aged quickly. Thankfully, HL2 is employing the full range of reflective and refractive shader effects this time around — along with proper splashing and physics effects (though stopping short of physically simulated fluid).
Continue on to see how Gordon's arsenal has changed. | |
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