# A few questions about Half Life



## hallatie (Mar 15, 2011)

I've never played any of the Half Life series. I know I should be and I  am ashamed of that fact. But I want to rectify that, if some people  would assist me in deciding on the best way to play this series. 

Firstly,  does Half-Life Source come with Blue Shift and Opposing Force? If not,  can I buy them without buying original Half Life? I've heard that Blue  Shift is playable standalone, but I've never heard anything about  Opposing Force. 

Secondly, is there a way to get a controller to  work with Source games? Slate me all you like for that, but I'd prefer  to play on my TV if I could. If it could run with either an Xbox 360  Controller for Windows or a PlayStation 2 Controller, then that'd be  ideal. If possible, I'd like to do it without any script-writing. 

Thirdly,  how long would it conceivably take to complete each game in the series?  I know that Portal is short but I don't know about the other games. #

Anyhoo,  thanks a lot. I look forward to playing the series and joining the  fabulous world of Valve fanboyism!


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## Somni (Mar 15, 2011)

Doesn't look like Half-life source comes with the sequels.

Half-life, Opposing Force and Blue shift all come together.  They are, or used to be, all stand alone games.  Half-life generations (includes all 3) can be bought off Amazon used for a fiver.

Don't know about using a gamepad.  I don't like them.

Half-life can be done in a day, the two sequels are shorter.  Its a long time since I've played it so can't be more precise.  If you are a good shooter/jumper you will be quicker.  Should be able to do all three in a weekend.

Hope this helps.


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## vector7 (Mar 21, 2011)

Actually its better if you get the Half Life Ultimate Edition rather than the Source edition. There is nothing new or better about the Source Edition.  

As for the time taken, Half Life is pretty long. But, the other add-ons like Blue Shift, Opposing Force are nothing but the same game. Its just that they have a different perspective than HL. 

Correctly speaking, to understand the whole storyline its better if you play it in this order:

Half Life 
Half Life: Blue Shift
Half Life: Opposing Force
Half Life: 2
Half Life: Episode 1
Half Life: Episode 2

I don't know about the controllers because the first three are pretty old games. However there is quite a good possibility that HL:Source might support gamepads. Source is standalone and the addons are not present.

Welcome to the World of Half-Life and Valve!!! Happy gaming!!


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