Warning: I don't hate the beta, I like the beta, I'm just making fun of people who *really* think the beta was better than the retail, but they never played the real beta, smh brhu
What people like about beta is the setting. Of course they didn't experience it, but they like to imagine how it would've played out. Personally, I am a fan of beta atmosphere. While playing Half-life 2 I was almost bored to death by the uninteresting map and characters.
Also, according to what they've said would their Beta Strider "feel no pain"? Same question for how they know the pulse turret in retail is weaker than the Beta version's Strider. It's like they really don't understand that the Strider is a living organism (, one that is horrifically under-armored in either version).
Fun fact: Valve never actually changed the beta because of the hack they changed it simply because they weren't happy or satisfied with how things were going
No it was hacs cuz beta was better and now we have shit half life 2 becuz hacks destroyed everything beta and valve made Gaem from scrap in 1 day b4 relese
Breen's city 17 speech is orobably the most iconic scene in all of gaming, thanks to the amazing talent of Robert Culp. Meanwhile the consul is just muh scary 1984 and concept art. Retail on top
@@krowta2062 Welcome. Welcome to City 17. You have chosen, or been chosen, to relocate to one of our finest remaining urban centers. I thought so much of City 17 that I elected to establish my Administration here, in the Citadel so thoughtfully provided by Our Benefactors. I have been proud to call City 17 my home. And so, whether you are here to stay, or passing through on your way to parts unknown, welcome to City 17. It's safer here.
Retail was so much more subtle and clever with its world building and its sense of hopelessness while the beta was just "OMG LITERALLY LIKE 1984 THE BOOK 1984 BY GEORGE ORWELL LOOK AT HOW BAD EVERYTHING IS"
Much more stable engine version that the beta, too. Retail should have had a darker atmosphere due to the draining of earth's resources. But it was still better.
I honestly think Valve made the right call by revamping the game's tone. Ditching the dark industrial architecture, toxic air and piss-yellow sky makes the atmosphere bleak in a much more subtle way. You step outside, and things look almost normal, except the buildings are kind of run down and the streets are deserted. Then you look elsewhere, and you see people walking around in identical jumpsuits, metrocops standing guard in concealing, dehumanizing full-body armor, and the alien architecture of the Combine meshing unnaturally with human-made buildings, further emphasizing the parasitic nature of the Combine - a race that latches onto other civilizations, drains them of anything they can use and leaves the rest to rot. In a way, making the setting look more mundane actually makes the misery and hopelessness of Combine occupation hit that much harder, perhaps by making it feel less detached from our current reality.
@@krowta2062 Yea i dont get how the most generic clone of the 1984 books concept art is subtle at all. it's just less stylized and atmospheric, it's just doing a far worse job at what the beta did, the whole "it's not subtle" thing is just a cope for it being far worse at creating a properly dark, brooding atmoshphere
@@abdulazeemshaikh8314 nobody tells you anything is normal, and no it aint a normal city, its a yellow and grey shitty european city with fucking alien cops and alien technology, that's not subtle nor normal, keep it up with your cope if that makes you feel better ig
No the current Half Life 2 artstyle is completely bland, barebones and forgettable. There is not a single moment in the game where I actually stood back and enjoyed the scenery, I was just moving from point A to point B, everything just looks so soulless and barren, nothing about it actually feels dystopian inspite of it actually being dystopian. Everything you mentioned regarding the retail version, was in the beta version as well. The industrial architecture,toxic air and yellow sky actually make sense because the Combine are literally extracting every bit of resource the Earth has to offer with 0 restraints.The beta actually looked post apocalyptic, whereas in retail everything just looks clean inspite of the combine destroying the planet with absolutely 0 regard for all the life on the planet and only keeping a small fraction of humanity alive just to learn about their local teleportation technology (apparently an intergalactic alien empire with technology far beyond human comprehension don't know how to develop it but ok). Whenever people say the retail version looks better, it just sounds like pure copium to me.
We now have direct confirmation of a disruptor in our midst, one who has acquired an almost messianic reputation in the minds of certain citizens. His figure is synonymous with the darkest urges of instinct, ignorance and decay. Some of the worst excesses of the Black Mesa Incident have been laid directly at his feet. And yet unsophisticated minds continue to imbue him with romantic power, giving him such dangerous poetic labels as the One Beta Man, the Opener of the Beta.
HL2 Beta is honestly more interesting concept-wise than what we got. But better? I honestly don't think so. The huge weapon pool would have made switching through them a chore and the constant green hue would have gotten pretty nauseating after a while.
Hey TC, I'm the dude who made the image at 0:35 I agree it's cringe lol the image was meant to be a joke at expense of people who think an unfinished beta is better than final 2004 lol
Beta fans get annoying with their "dark and griddy=better" mindset, HL2 is still the best game of all time and it doesn't need any of the beta shit to show how good it is
It’s a best of both worlds situation: Retail - Story and Characters Wise Beta - Atmosphere, Weapons, and Enemies Wise The Beta did have insteresting weapons and enemies, but the retail had a better story.
Beta atmosphere feels too on the nose, it’s terrible. The enemies were also entirely unfun to fight or just broken. Even the hydra, which even the devs said they loved the concept of but it was terrible in gameplay.
beta atmosphere is a pain in the ass and hurts your eyes, which i guess makes sense since canonically in beta the air is too toxic to even breathe in without a gasmask
beta is cool n all, but it feels too tight, leaving no room for comedy as a breather for players, we gotta appreciate Barney clowning with us, Alyx's terrible puns. The beta version just feels too serious and depressed, almost, just almost edgy in a way
reson why beta better than retail (hope you argee) 1 - air change dark gritty sky 2 - tall building 2 make u small 3 - many weapons and enemies and map and places 4 - orange light is better than blue ligth 5 - charavtcer is write better 6 - no plot holes[
8 citizen wear mask to keep out stinky smells (But not the Conscripts or any integral characters because I guess facial animation blocks out evil gas) 9 Combine are lot more scary evil and they make big scary monstor 10 manwich 11 Gordon suit many high tec pepsi implements 12 Citadel very scary and door close and it make a scary sound!!!
@@TammoKorsai I dunno, I liked the New York setting but all the skyscrapers really just downplay the Citadel's size, Breen kinda just felt a bit of a bland villain, the consul felt even worse, either way Breen just felt a bit shit
@@TheExperienceYT I think Breen works as a subversion of the "stoic and commanding tyrant" trope. The dictator of Earth is instead a scientist that likes to philosophize in his literal ivory tower.
DAE this concept art of a game which only exists in my imagination is better than the version which the devs spent years finalizing and won massive critical praise???
Tbh the beta does seem pretty interesting and totally different than what we got in retail. Do I think it's better than release? Absolutely not, and I believe that they probably didn't push forward with the beta because there was probably something wrong with it. Whenever someone says the beta is better than release they just keep saying the same thing "It's way scarier than the game they came out with" "It had dark and gritty themes" "There was child labor and dead children in the maps" "I heard it was super scary" tbh I think valve cut it for a reason as it could have landed the game in hot water with the media and could have gotten the game banned in some countries which means some people wouldn't of been able to play it without being a criminal. I also think it's kind of funny how these people think a thing *no one* has ever played before besides a few play testers is genuinely better than actual half life 2 and I heard the play testers even said the beta was just really boring and was just a lot of walking around everywhere with some action here and there. Not to mention the situation seems pretty hopeless as there is no point in resisting, in hl2 ep2 you see the lush forests outside the city that no one besides the rebels have been to in ages and remember what you're fighting for, but in the beta you don't get that, you get smog that's it, no reminders of what you're fighting for, just black fog and pollution, it's a not very inspiring setting for the player
Honestly I just prefer how absolutely alien it feels. That's what I like about Half-Life - the bizarre alien aspect. The way Half-Life 2 beta feels makes it seem as though the Combine truly have a completely different definition of normal compared to us with the way they've changed the Earth, and I like that a lot. It's something you can feel in the visuals alone. While I acknowledge that the subtlety of the retail is somewhat preferable, I wish they gave us more weird aliens and environments that make you feel proper uncomfortable. It makes lore-sense for the Combine force to be 99% humans, but it doesn't feel truly alien to me like the Combine should be. (Helicopters really don't scream "alien civilization" to me) They remedy this in Episode 2 (antlions become more varied and interesting with a cool cave environment, Hunters get added and you get to see some freaky advisors up close) but it comes a bit too late in my humble opinion. I'm not saying I 100% prefer the Beta, but I think it had the right idea when it comes to what makes the first Half-Life so interesting.
I think there being no aliens makes the Universal Union more sinister. The aliens are gone but their presence is still there, forcing humanity to kill each other while they take our shit.
I think both are good, the beta only seems better because it's atmosphere had more time to develop and get pinned down. Half Life 2 only had a year to develop since they basically got reset when the beta got leaked
personally i think, hl2 betas cut enemies are missing in hl2 retail, i still like hl2 retail and beta, beta had creepy war of the worlds, orwellian 1984 lovecraftian, feel to it, and retail has some bits of everything mashed, and decreased on some moderate tones.
Still hl2 beta would be a great book not a game wich it fails to be instresting to play the only thing that is instresting is the story meanwhile the gameplay is just bad
Hl2 retail has a much more subtle edge to the oppressive nature of the Combine, which is much better than the in your face 1984 SO EVIL OMG GUYS 2984 GEROHE ORWEO
Some Beta concepts seem 'better' since they are just concepts and are more ambitious, but Retail is just what they actually managed to fully complete and implement which obviously ends up not as perfect as concepted, like i would love to see what it would be like if the beta strider fight where you supposedly manage to take control of the strider and use it on the combine was actually fully done and implemented into the game.
I love how these people act like, even if we got the Beta story and aesthetic, Valve wouldn't trim down the weapon pool to the same few archetypes as what's in Retail, or that Striders wouldn't have their autoguns nerfed (If they even were actually better) and be completely invincible.
@@krowta2062 you got any actual point? Like I said things must be cut in games it’s just how development works, you can’t have everything. Maybe try an actual point instead of this strange cope
@@krowta2062 do you think valve was sitting there going “man I can’t WAIT to cut these weapons! This hard work will be cut for NO REASON! I just love being evil 😆”
I wonder if people did the same shit back then with HL1 beta…. “No dude you don’t understand half life 1 was much better when it had duke nukem humor instead of being it’s own thing! Headcrab buttholes were crucial for the game!” Subtlety of HL2 what makes it realistic and great. It’s funny how some people unironically wants it to be rip-off of something else.
I don't think so, the difference between Half-Life 2 Beta and Half-Life 2 Retail is incredibly high. But I agree that Headcrab big buttholes were crucial for the game, now it's unplayable smh valve please Fix
look, i like the idea of the Air Exchange and I wish it kinda still existed, and i wish they wouldve readded the bullsquids and houndeyes, but the beta is definitely not better than a full finished game with voice actors, working weapons and story.
Ngl,the idea of manhack arcades are pretty sick and i would like to see content like that maybe reappear in some way along sith cremator and other cool ass enemys
“Half life 2 Beta is better!” Half Life 2 Beta: Missing Textures, Broken Script, Unfinished and Inconsistent Story, Looks like they just did a lazy 1984 filter over the game, Over exaggerated “These people bad” scenes, Broken Engine, Broken and Unfun Enemies. These people over here creaming over low res concept art and text, just read a book at that point.
@@RealRoachGaming It wasn’t even because of the hack, all the stuff from the 2003 leak was all content scrapped prior to the leak, evident by assets seen within of some more retail based ideas.
fun fact: I recognize one of the guys there, VanderCold. He was once on the server of the (now officially implemented) xPatch mod for postal 2, he later left, but joined back sometime later, and when I asked him why, he said the game was making him a horrible person and just wanted to have mod updates, and when I called him out on the fact that he shouldn't blame his own behavior on games he just left lmao.
Funny seeing these messages saying that Axel Gambe is the reason Valve didn't stick with the old story. Valve was already changing the game due to it not meeting their own expectations, no more dark and gritty by the end of 2002
Cremator, while technically in the lore still, just does not fit into the current atmosphere, the hydra was going to be implemented and was designed before release, they could not find anywhere or anyway to make it fun however, it’s a good tech demo, not a good gameplay enemy. Synth Guard is just fucking stupid, it’s armor design is clunky and shitty, and gameplay wise it is literally a small strider, it was slow and uninteresting.
I dont like how many people hate Axel for causing the retail timeline. First of all, he wasnt the leaker. Yeah he stole the code, but one of his friends spreaded it online. Second of all, the beta was already shifting tone from the grimdark dystopia of the early years to a more retail vibe. the storyline around the time of the leak looked a little like this: th-cam.com/video/E1DXr_w2sFE/w-d-xo.htmlsi=JVr3PcOsXmNdT9zo Also retail Half-Life 2 is still a great game, it wouldnt be so popular and renouned if it wasnt. it was a huge step forwards in all fields, particularily for the time. It very much echoed the groundbreaking success of the original Half-Life, even if they could fit all the dark, scary, beloved storybeads in to it.
hl beta gives u a reason to hate the administrator and focuses on scary storyline while normal one focuses on showing power of source engine and gameplay mechanics, even if it means getting rid of some mechanics to have other ones. But i wish they had houndeyes and old beta guns, i feel bad killing breen but killing consul and judith would make me crack up laughing and pissing on their corpses
I prefer retail hl2 over the beta because it just feels a bit darker when you look into it the humanity we see in the retail are the last ever humans that are most likely to exist, while child slavery exists in the beta yeah that’s dark but it’s implying they won’t be the last humans the combine soldiers in the beta were barely augmented unlike the retail ones too just my opinion, I’m fine with others having their opinions
I like the beta but it is literally NOT better than the retail, the textures on retail are more realistic and cleaned up than the leaked textures that look like mat_fullbright was set to 1. When I look at the beta Odessa with his orange coat the only thing that i smell is damn paint because of how much it looks painted.
HL2 beta atmosphere: “Oh my god, everything sucks now! *Look Gordon,* child slavery, it’s real bad! Spooky administrator on TV; ocean’s drain was unplugged, oh my gawd” HL2 atmosphere: “Everything is lonely; humanity has truly found its ultimate irony, becoming a resource for another higher being. They’ve become cattle; waiting to be processed by their ‘owners.’ It’s not like their’s much places to run to, the drained oceans means boats have become useless; desertification is becoming more common, and a dangerous alien pest is growing out of control thanks to it… all of this only realized when I stopped to take a look at just how *bad* everything’s gotten. It’s eerily realistic in a way…”
When I would rather have the xen retail wildlife over the ones from the beta that have sex with gordon and can only be killed by the heckler and cock mp3 grenade launcher
you should have featured my messages in which I posted a video of a Left 4 Dead 2 campaign ending set to the audio from "Grandpa Found the Car Keys", brought up "The Third Force: A Novel of Gadget" and then linked my Archive of Our Own Half-Life fanfic
You can't really say HL2 beta was better bc no one ever got to play HL2 beta, i do dig the darker aesthetic of Hl2 beta it would be nice to see a full blown Beta HL2 mod or something like that but i am most happy with what we have now
as a person who likes beta and retail at the same time but prefer the retail its hillarious that many young beta fans think that the hacker is the reaosn on why the entire game got changed
Retail is better (for me at least). The beta was too In your Face on how dark the HL universe is. The retail is more subtle and mature with its storytelling.
while i absolutely love the beta concepts we can't be certain that the beta would be better than retail, everything is cut for a reason, whether it be time constraints or simply not making the cut, there is still some stuff that i wish would've made the cut, like the air exchange, the vertigo chapter, and the old citadel concepts, but like i said before it was cut for a reason, i also don't have any idea for how the beta would've ended, would Gordon just shoot consul or would something else happen, like Gman interfering before you kill consul for some reason
Here's something to argue about: Half Life 2's beta is more consistent in terms of world development than it is with the new one. Take in the grime, makeshift nature of a barely surviving human race aids the theory of the Combine's abilities to shut-down lesser races and force even their children into slavery. Whereas the retail tries too hard to incoprorate this as a "union", makes up a bizzare completely infeasible sci-fi trope that stops the game from being too controversial. Another thing is that the complete opposite of the Vortigaunts previous incarceration on Xen which doesn't really support the Combine's overthrow theory at the hands of Gordon Freeman killing the Space Baby (Nihilanth). It also sort of sours the game's first ending from Half Life 1. Half Life 2's beta contained more guns on top of the innovations of the Gravity Gun, essentially varying the gunplay of the game at the expense of having all the guns i.e like CS 1.6/CSS having played through it very thoroughly in what levels and modifications I got working, the most guns I used were the AK47, Combine Heavy Machine Gun, Sniper Rifle and Hopwire. The AK47 in particular should've have been a mainstay - a very fitting choice as it is very easy to maintain and has major surplus in a country that mimics Russia cityscapes. C-HMG could've been like that of L4D2, a throwaway weapon for more firepower. I do not know why retail contains so many errors in animation and modelling since the game had these animations in the first place. The lack of vehicle sections made more focus on actual level design that promotes player agency, completely what retail Half Life 2 attempts at and frankly is overdone (due to patches making healthkits and ammo more ubiquitous despite the impoverishment and decay). The game's focus on body horror and liminality are far more terrifying, alien and draconian than the retail. This surreal focus on sound design is arguably why I inspire some of my own sounds from Bailey's works. One thing I will argue against is that Half Life 2's beta is that its innovations at that point were not as great as the retail, mainly the facial animation and SDK kit. Such as the texture and model work and broken, frankly abysmal state of entities and the general malaise and layoffs the staff went through made it obvious the game needed massive re-works a la HL1 pre-alpha/beta I'd say they made a good attempt but Half Life 2 Beta as a fully developed package would've nailed atmosphere, physics and surreality.
I like how people talk about the beta plot and aesthetic and calling it just beta Beta source itself sucks ass and being just a shitty version of source with tons of bugs (even more then in retail source)
The thing is that, I think that everyone is ok to say that Hl2 is one of, if not, the best game ever made, but also to say, we all want to see what would hl2 been, and for me the best thing would be........ ...A spin-off. Seriously, making a Hl2 spin-off that would be in the beta world and story would be incredible, but... We still have no Hl3, so it kinda mean that a spin-off is only a dream... As much as a third game... Eh, the community will do it. And I'm ok to say that I love each the beta and the retail as much as the other, the final game is a piece of art, but the beta is so enigmatic and intriguing...
The Beta would've blended in with all the other games if it came out. And GMod's silliness wouldn't be seen for a long time if all the models were dark and griddy.
Peope just don't realize how shitty some of the concepts were. For example Air Exchange, there is a reason Valve decided to cut it, it is because it sucked.
I mean personally I like the fact There are more weapons but that doesn't make the beta better than the release game it Just means I wish we had the LMG in a finished state
hl2 steam is a good game because all of the innovations that it brought to the industry but the beta can be considered superior in the sense that all the concepts that were presented would bring us a perfect sequel to the first installment but both are great
![Half-Life: But You Can Rescue Every Scientist [Part 2]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/O0U1Rh8y_KY/mqdefault.jpg)
Warning: I don't hate the beta, I like the beta, I'm just making fun of people who *really* think the beta was better than the retail, but they never played the real beta, smh brhu
both works for me
it is tho
@@josephleebob3828 not really
@@franciscoOrellana29 yes really
What people like about beta is the setting. Of course they didn't experience it, but they like to imagine how it would've played out. Personally, I am a fan of beta atmosphere. While playing Half-life 2 I was almost bored to death by the uninteresting map and characters.
the removal of child slavery is what made retail horrendous.
true
The removal of the manhack gamer subplot where the manhacks were controlled by former league of legends players was a huge downside to the game
Agreed
same with real life
the children yearn for the workhouse
HL2 release: *Doesn't take place entirely at night*
Beta fans: "Noooo they removed the dark and gritty atmosphere"
HL2 release: Doesnt have child labor
Beta fans:
Right foot creep
Beta fans when they get beaten to death in a new york city apartment: Omg just like the beta!!!
same thing happend with l4d2, but if I'm being honest l4d2's sunny atmosphere also felt creepy.
nah bro hl2 beta looked like grayish which was better
"The beta strider looks so scary unlike in retail!!!""
*shows the exact same strider model*
THIS
* refuses to elaborate *
also considers the strider not having an injured animation as a good thing rather than a feature that just wasn't implemented yet
Also, according to what they've said would their Beta Strider "feel no pain"? Same question for how they know the pulse turret in retail is weaker than the Beta version's Strider.
It's like they really don't understand that the Strider is a living organism (, one that is horrifically under-armored in either version).
@jedley01 Racist beta fans??!?!?
beta fans when they see a sweatshop with child workers (hl2 beta reference)
I've seen this one before, but laugh every time 😂
Fun fact: Valve never actually changed the beta because of the hack they changed it simply because they weren't happy or satisfied with how things were going
No it was hacs cuz beta was better and now we have shit half life 2 becuz hacks destroyed everything beta and valve made Gaem from scrap in 1 day b4 relese
@@plaguedoctorjamespainshe6009 i read that 3 times and i still don't understand what you're on about
@@plaguedoctorjamespainshe6009 No. You're wrong in every right. Do your research, kid.
@@plaguedoctorjamespainshe6009 troll faic.................
@@Emperoadoh my god, no way guys. 3!!
Its hilarious how people think the hacker is the reason why valve scrapped the beta
It was A reason, not THE reason, it was minor, but it was still a reason.
But I do agree.
@@Sapphiregamer8605 The beta was already scrapped before the game was leaked.
“HL2 Beta is better than retail.”
“Then play HL2 Beta.”
"If you love the beta so much, why is it a beta?"
megabuild IS the beta
"If HL2 Beta is better than retail, then why most mod of the beta are made on HL2 Retail? Checkmate"
@@teamclown755 We joke, but a Beta recreation ON the beta engine would be janky sweet
@@TheExperienceYT I was joking too
Half life 2 Beta fans explaining why Child slavery and Manhack arcades are essential to the plot :
The matrix
Virgin "literally 1984" beta vs. Chad "literally Eastern Europe" retail
As a ukrianian i look out the window and its literally city 17
@@realcopoolmanno that would be the wastelands, especially if you live in eastern ukraine
@@daniwalid9731 yeah i was joking but im so sorry for the people who live in the east of ukraine
Breen's city 17 speech is orobably the most iconic scene in all of gaming, thanks to the amazing talent of Robert Culp. Meanwhile the consul is just muh scary 1984 and concept art. Retail on top
@@krowta2062
Welcome. Welcome to City 17. You have chosen, or been chosen, to relocate to one of our finest remaining urban centers. I thought so much of City 17 that I elected to establish my Administration here, in the Citadel so thoughtfully provided by Our Benefactors. I have been proud to call City 17 my home. And so, whether you are here to stay, or passing through on your way to parts unknown, welcome to City 17. It's safer here.
@@krowta2062Clowns like you would make a laughing stock for every half life fan.
Retail was so much more subtle and clever with its world building and its sense of hopelessness while the beta was just "OMG LITERALLY LIKE 1984 THE BOOK 1984 BY GEORGE ORWELL LOOK AT HOW BAD EVERYTHING IS"
nah bro beta better
@@josephleebob3828no
@@evlogan6543 yes
Exactly, beta just feels like a horror game, meanwhile retail actually feels original
Much more stable engine version that the beta, too. Retail should have had a darker atmosphere due to the draining of earth's resources. But it was still better.
I honestly think Valve made the right call by revamping the game's tone. Ditching the dark industrial architecture, toxic air and piss-yellow sky makes the atmosphere bleak in a much more subtle way. You step outside, and things look almost normal, except the buildings are kind of run down and the streets are deserted. Then you look elsewhere, and you see people walking around in identical jumpsuits, metrocops standing guard in concealing, dehumanizing full-body armor, and the alien architecture of the Combine meshing unnaturally with human-made buildings, further emphasizing the parasitic nature of the Combine - a race that latches onto other civilizations, drains them of anything they can use and leaves the rest to rot. In a way, making the setting look more mundane actually makes the misery and hopelessness of Combine occupation hit that much harder, perhaps by making it feel less detached from our current reality.
@@krowta2062 Yea i dont get how the most generic clone of the 1984 books concept art is subtle at all. it's just less stylized and atmospheric, it's just doing a far worse job at what the beta did, the whole "it's not subtle" thing is just a cope for it being far worse at creating a properly dark, brooding atmoshphere
@@krowta2062 The Beta has a lot of pretty direct inspiration from the movie from 1984 for sure, which I love. That movie had an incredible artstyle
@@abdulazeemshaikh8314 nobody tells you anything is normal, and no it aint a normal city, its a yellow and grey shitty european city with fucking alien cops and alien technology, that's not subtle nor normal, keep it up with your cope if that makes you feel better ig
nah, is cool, but i think it doesn't fit with half life
No the current Half Life 2 artstyle is completely bland, barebones and forgettable. There is not a single moment in the game where I actually stood back and enjoyed the scenery, I was just moving from point A to point B, everything just looks so soulless and barren, nothing about it actually feels dystopian inspite of it actually being dystopian.
Everything you mentioned regarding the retail version, was in the beta version as well. The industrial architecture,toxic air and yellow sky actually make sense because the Combine are literally extracting every bit of resource the Earth has to offer with 0 restraints.The beta actually looked post apocalyptic, whereas in retail everything just looks clean inspite of the combine destroying the planet with absolutely 0 regard for all the life on the planet and only keeping a small fraction of humanity alive just to learn about their local teleportation technology (apparently an intergalactic alien empire with technology far beyond human comprehension don't know how to develop it but ok). Whenever people say the retail version looks better, it just sounds like pure copium to me.
The true citizen likes beta and retail hl2 at the same time
We now have direct confirmation of a disruptor in our midst, one who has acquired an almost messianic reputation in the minds of certain citizens. His figure is synonymous with the darkest urges of instinct, ignorance and decay. Some of the worst excesses of the Black Mesa Incident have been laid directly at his feet. And yet unsophisticated minds continue to imbue him with romantic power, giving him such dangerous poetic labels as the One Beta Man, the Opener of the Beta.
HL2 Beta is honestly more interesting concept-wise than what we got. But better? I honestly don't think so. The huge weapon pool would have made switching through them a chore and the constant green hue would have gotten pretty nauseating after a while.
Yup. There's a reason why there's Fallout 3 mods to remove the green tint.
@@krowta2062 Beta looks more like a stereotypical dystopia lol
@@krowta2062 a stereotypical dystopian novel
@@krowta2062 lame!!!!!
Hey TC, I'm the dude who made the image at 0:35
I agree it's cringe lol the image was meant to be a joke at expense of people who think an unfinished beta is better than final 2004 lol
Beta fans get annoying with their "dark and griddy=better" mindset, HL2 is still the best game of all time and it doesn't need any of the beta shit to show how good it is
@@CharaGonzalez-lt7yw you’re starting to sound exactly like them
We all know that hunt down the freeman reigns supreme over both
okbuddyhalflife moment
@@ndhart3213what
@@matthewjones39 nevermind, it's a community
based
It’s a best of both worlds situation:
Retail - Story and Characters Wise
Beta - Atmosphere, Weapons, and Enemies Wise
The Beta did have insteresting weapons and enemies, but the retail had a better story.
Beta atmosphere feels too on the nose, it’s terrible. The enemies were also entirely unfun to fight or just broken. Even the hydra, which even the devs said they loved the concept of but it was terrible in gameplay.
beta atmosphere is a pain in the ass and hurts your eyes, which i guess makes sense since canonically in beta the air is too toxic to even breathe in without a gasmask
finally people are noticing and appreciating what we got lol
beta is cool n all, but it feels too tight, leaving no room for comedy as a breather for players, we gotta appreciate Barney clowning with us, Alyx's terrible puns.
The beta version just feels too serious and depressed, almost, just almost edgy in a way
beta atmosphere is cartoonishly dystopian. it's like if a child was asked to make a totalitarian regime
reson why beta better than retail (hope you argee)
1 - air change dark gritty sky
2 - tall building 2 make u small
3 - many weapons and enemies and map and places
4 - orange light is better than blue ligth
5 - charavtcer is write better
6 - no plot holes[
Dont forg4t avout spooky child slavery, and the mustard piss sky!!! Spoooky
7 - Based in America, because Post-Soviet countries are a typical choice.
Retail is better
@@ajengleodita5495 th-cam.com/video/_Shl5Se_AQw/w-d-xo.html
8 citizen wear mask to keep out stinky smells (But not the Conscripts or any integral characters because I guess facial animation blocks out evil gas)
9 Combine are lot more scary evil and they make big scary monstor
10 manwich
11 Gordon suit many high tec pepsi implements
12 Citadel very scary and door close and it make a scary sound!!!
beta looks too stereotypically dystopian if that makes sense
Agreed. The seldom used Eastern Bloc aesthetic and Breen's non-intimidating demeanour feels so much more sinister in a way.
@@TammoKorsai I dunno, I liked the New York setting but all the skyscrapers really just downplay the Citadel's size, Breen kinda just felt a bit of a bland villain, the consul felt even worse, either way Breen just felt a bit shit
Yes. That is the entire reason why most people hate it. It's too in your face.
@@TheExperienceYT I think Breen works as a subversion of the "stoic and commanding tyrant" trope. The dictator of Earth is instead a scientist that likes to philosophize in his literal ivory tower.
@@octodaddy877 Exactly, whereas the Consul was just a dictator
i'm starting to hate the beta thanks to these guys.
That makes the two of us.
Welcome to the club
I’m 7 months late but I’m going to join too.
Agreed.
@@Sapphiregamer8605 cry more retail fans
DAE this concept art of a game which only exists in my imagination is better than the version which the devs spent years finalizing and won massive critical praise???
Tbh the beta does seem pretty interesting and totally different than what we got in retail. Do I think it's better than release? Absolutely not, and I believe that they probably didn't push forward with the beta because there was probably something wrong with it. Whenever someone says the beta is better than release they just keep saying the same thing "It's way scarier than the game they came out with" "It had dark and gritty themes" "There was child labor and dead children in the maps" "I heard it was super scary" tbh I think valve cut it for a reason as it could have landed the game in hot water with the media and could have gotten the game banned in some countries which means some people wouldn't of been able to play it without being a criminal. I also think it's kind of funny how these people think a thing *no one* has ever played before besides a few play testers is genuinely better than actual half life 2 and I heard the play testers even said the beta was just really boring and was just a lot of walking around everywhere with some action here and there. Not to mention the situation seems pretty hopeless as there is no point in resisting, in hl2 ep2 you see the lush forests outside the city that no one besides the rebels have been to in ages and remember what you're fighting for, but in the beta you don't get that, you get smog that's it, no reminders of what you're fighting for, just black fog and pollution, it's a not very inspiring setting for the player
"man i wish they finished the beta"
They did its called the full game
Honestly I just prefer how absolutely alien it feels. That's what I like about Half-Life - the bizarre alien aspect. The way Half-Life 2 beta feels makes it seem as though the Combine truly have a completely different definition of normal compared to us with the way they've changed the Earth, and I like that a lot. It's something you can feel in the visuals alone. While I acknowledge that the subtlety of the retail is somewhat preferable, I wish they gave us more weird aliens and environments that make you feel proper uncomfortable. It makes lore-sense for the Combine force to be 99% humans, but it doesn't feel truly alien to me like the Combine should be. (Helicopters really don't scream "alien civilization" to me) They remedy this in Episode 2 (antlions become more varied and interesting with a cool cave environment, Hunters get added and you get to see some freaky advisors up close) but it comes a bit too late in my humble opinion. I'm not saying I 100% prefer the Beta, but I think it had the right idea when it comes to what makes the first Half-Life so interesting.
I think there being no aliens makes the Universal Union more sinister. The aliens are gone but their presence is still there, forcing humanity to kill each other while they take our shit.
Hl2 beta & HL2 are both good and shouldn't be comprable.
This is a certified durk ‘n griddy moment
They're both good, but I prefer the retail version.
Giga chad
OMG beta was so dark and gritty meanwhile beta:"GORDON THAT DROPSHIP IS COMING RIGHT FOR US AUUUUUUUUUUGGUGFHFDHSHEHEHD"
I think both are good, the beta only seems better because it's atmosphere had more time to develop and get pinned down. Half Life 2 only had a year to develop since they basically got reset when the beta got leaked
They had already started changing direction by 2002, the beta leaking was just a coincidence
The leak didn't do anything, that version of the beta was already discarded by late 2002. However both retail and beta are good.
personally i think, hl2 betas cut enemies are missing in hl2 retail, i still like hl2 retail and beta, beta had creepy war of the worlds, orwellian 1984 lovecraftian, feel to it, and retail has some bits of everything mashed, and decreased on some moderate tones.
Still hl2 beta would be a great book not a game wich it fails to be instresting to play the only thing that is instresting is the story meanwhile the gameplay is just bad
Hl2 retail has a much more subtle edge to the oppressive nature of the Combine, which is much better than the in your face 1984 SO EVIL OMG GUYS 2984 GEROHE ORWEO
Some Beta concepts seem 'better' since they are just concepts and are more ambitious, but Retail is just what they actually managed to fully complete and implement which obviously ends up not as perfect as concepted, like i would love to see what it would be like if the beta strider fight where you supposedly manage to take control of the strider and use it on the combine was actually fully done and implemented into the game.
I think they forget that there are these people called playtesters
I love how these people act like, even if we got the Beta story and aesthetic, Valve wouldn't trim down the weapon pool to the same few archetypes as what's in Retail, or that Striders wouldn't have their autoguns nerfed (If they even were actually better) and be completely invincible.
@@krowta2062those were clearly removed for a reason
@@krowta2062 you know how game development works right? You understand that things have to get cut?
@@krowta2062 what you get from the hl2 arsenal is the best from beta
@@krowta2062 you got any actual point? Like I said things must be cut in games it’s just how development works, you can’t have everything. Maybe try an actual point instead of this strange cope
@@krowta2062 do you think valve was sitting there going “man I can’t WAIT to cut these weapons! This hard work will be cut for NO REASON! I just love being evil 😆”
I wonder if people did the same shit back then with HL1 beta….
“No dude you don’t understand half life 1 was much better when it had duke nukem humor instead of being it’s own thing! Headcrab buttholes were crucial for the game!”
Subtlety of HL2 what makes it realistic and great. It’s funny how some people unironically wants it to be rip-off of something else.
I don't think so, the difference between Half-Life 2 Beta and Half-Life 2 Retail is incredibly high.
But I agree that Headcrab big buttholes were crucial for the game, now it's unplayable smh valve please Fix
Half Life 2 beta fans are really simping for a game that never even came out 💀
look, i like the idea of the Air Exchange and I wish it kinda still existed, and i wish they wouldve readded the bullsquids and houndeyes, but the beta is definitely not better than a full finished game with voice actors, working weapons and story.
the consul from the hl2 beta looks like a adult baby
from Adult Baby to Santa Claus
HOT TAKE: Half Life 2 wouldn't be as influential as it is now if they went with the Beta storyline.
I don't think that's a hot take, I think that would actually be how it is.
Freezing cold take.
That’s not a hot take, that’s just how it would be.
Ngl,the idea of manhack arcades are pretty sick and i would like to see content like that maybe reappear in some way along sith cremator and other cool ass enemys
Well, the devs clearly like the cremators still, so much so that they tried to return them for hla, but either way they’re still canon
1:16
-Chad concept kliener
-Said “chad concept kliener” died after meeting him.
“Half life 2 Beta is better!”
Half Life 2 Beta: Missing Textures, Broken Script, Unfinished and Inconsistent Story, Looks like they just did a lazy 1984 filter over the game, Over exaggerated “These people bad” scenes, Broken Engine, Broken and Unfun Enemies. These people over here creaming over low res concept art and text, just read a book at that point.
182727237 unnecesary weapons.
@@RealRoachGaming It wasn’t even because of the hack, all the stuff from the 2003 leak was all content scrapped prior to the leak, evident by assets seen within of some more retail based ideas.
Arent these the same people who play half life 2 android and black mesa roblox
I gues so
@@usuarionaoincluido7733and you sound
fun fact: I recognize one of the guys there, VanderCold. He was once on the server of the (now officially implemented) xPatch mod for postal 2, he later left, but joined back sometime later, and when I asked him why, he said the game was making him a horrible person and just wanted to have mod updates, and when I called him out on the fact that he shouldn't blame his own behavior on games he just left lmao.
Funny seeing these messages saying that Axel Gambe is the reason Valve didn't stick with the old story. Valve was already changing the game due to it not meeting their own expectations, no more dark and gritty by the end of 2002
dark and griddy
You mean Half-life 1: Episode 2? Ah yes, truly legendary game.
It's concepts like the synth guard, hydra, and cremator we're good though. the ONLY reason I like beta is because there we're more synths
Cremator, while technically in the lore still, just does not fit into the current atmosphere, the hydra was going to be implemented and was designed before release, they could not find anywhere or anyway to make it fun however, it’s a good tech demo, not a good gameplay enemy. Synth Guard is just fucking stupid, it’s armor design is clunky and shitty, and gameplay wise it is literally a small strider, it was slow and uninteresting.
I only like the beta because the streetwar, conscripts and gas-mask citizens
@@cj-3810 they could have nerfed it and make smaller versions that have less health. And make the big one a boss like the tentacles In HL1
@@gravital5213valve really liked the hydra so I’m sure they tried everything to make it fun and realized it wasn’t possible
I just want tau cannon, bullsquid, houndeye & the half life 1 sounds
moral of the story: what the fuck was volvo thinking when replacing the chad OICW with virgin AR2
i agree but it would be very fun to throw rocks at civil protection at start of the game
HL2 beta fans when i like Gordon Freeman instead of Crematorium Cumdumpster machine 3.0 that was cut from Beta because it was too "dark"
i really prefer retail but there are some beta things i wish would be released, like the red bullsquids or being capable of taking off the tau cannon
I dont like how many people hate Axel for causing the retail timeline. First of all, he wasnt the leaker. Yeah he stole the code, but one of his friends spreaded it online. Second of all, the beta was already shifting tone from the grimdark dystopia of the early years to a more retail vibe. the storyline around the time of the leak looked a little like this: th-cam.com/video/E1DXr_w2sFE/w-d-xo.htmlsi=JVr3PcOsXmNdT9zo
Also retail Half-Life 2 is still a great game, it wouldnt be so popular and renouned if it wasnt. it was a huge step forwards in all fields, particularily for the time. It very much echoed the groundbreaking success of the original Half-Life, even if they could fit all the dark, scary, beloved storybeads in to it.
hl beta gives u a reason to hate the administrator and focuses on scary storyline while normal one focuses on showing power of source engine and gameplay mechanics, even if it means getting rid of some mechanics to have other ones. But i wish they had houndeyes and old beta guns, i feel bad killing breen but killing consul and judith would make me crack up laughing and pissing on their corpses
gordon that dropships is coming right for us
WAAAAAAAGHHH! *explodes for no reason*
GUNSHIP!
I love Half-Life 2 regardless of whether the atmosphere and the world in pre-2000 version was better or not.
i like hl2 retail and hl2 beta both are pretty good
I prefer retail hl2 over the beta because it just feels a bit darker when you look into it
the humanity we see in the retail are the last ever humans that are most likely to exist, while child slavery exists in the beta yeah that’s dark but it’s implying they won’t be the last humans
the combine soldiers in the beta were barely augmented unlike the retail ones too
just my opinion, I’m fine with others having their opinions
I like the beta but it is literally NOT better than the retail, the textures on retail are more realistic and cleaned up than the leaked textures that look like mat_fullbright was set to 1. When I look at the beta Odessa with his orange coat the only thing that i smell is damn paint because of how much it looks painted.
HL2 beta atmosphere: “Oh my god, everything sucks now! *Look Gordon,* child slavery, it’s real bad! Spooky administrator on TV; ocean’s drain was unplugged, oh my gawd”
HL2 atmosphere: “Everything is lonely; humanity has truly found its ultimate irony, becoming a resource for another higher being. They’ve become cattle; waiting to be processed by their ‘owners.’ It’s not like their’s much places to run to, the drained oceans means boats have become useless; desertification is becoming more common, and a dangerous alien pest is growing out of control thanks to it… all of this only realized when I stopped to take a look at just how *bad* everything’s gotten. It’s eerily realistic in a way…”
HL2 atmosphere:
>Set in Bulgaria but everyone has an American accent
They are both good but very different, the HL2 Beta is more fallout-ish style, i dont know how to describe it
@@chapitathegreatest8758 Imma be totally honest, HL2 retail is way too jovial and happy for the literal end of humanity
@@TheExperienceYT I dont think is that happy, HL2 Retail has a lot of details that show that is not that jovial and happy
@@chapitathegreatest8758 The main characters are always laughing and with giant smiles on their face because... facial animation?
Oh god its like im in the bioshock fandom again.
Half Life 2 is the best fps game ever made.
not the water mark on the meme 💀😭
My only nitpicking with the Retail version is the lack of rain, that was the detail i liked in the Beta, aside from that, Retail > Beta
When I would rather have the xen retail wildlife over the ones from the beta that have sex with gordon and can only be killed by the heckler and cock mp3 grenade launcher
this amount of bitterness over some guys on discord thinking differently has to be some psycho reddit bs
you should have featured my messages in which I posted a video of a Left 4 Dead 2 campaign ending set to the audio from "Grandpa Found the Car Keys", brought up "The Third Force: A Novel of Gadget" and then linked my Archive of Our Own Half-Life fanfic
While i like retail better, i wish we got that incinerator enemy and some other enemies that where cut.
You can't really say HL2 beta was better bc no one ever got to play HL2 beta, i do dig the darker aesthetic of Hl2 beta it would be nice to see a full blown Beta HL2 mod or something like that but i am most happy with what we have now
Devs and playtesters got to play the beta, they agreed it wasnt fun to play and so they went in another direction
Theres a reason why they are called half life 2 Beta fans and not alpha fans
LMAO
as a person who likes beta and retail at the same time but prefer the retail its hillarious that many young beta fans think that the hacker is the reaosn on why the entire game got changed
Nobody actually likes the beta, they like the version of the beta they've built up in their heads
fr
Retail hl2 can't hit that dark and griddy. Another huge L for Retail HL2.
bro hl2 beta has an actual sniper (the weapon and npc) and hl2 retail doesn't!!!
it's obviously better dude, open your eyes!!
HL2 beta has Gordon ass physics and retail doesnt!!!!!
@@TheExperienceYT this made me actually for some reason this made me actually laugh..why.
Retail is better (for me at least). The beta was too In your Face on how dark the HL universe is. The retail is more subtle and mature with its storytelling.
while i absolutely love the beta concepts we can't be certain that the beta would be better than retail, everything is cut for a reason, whether it be time constraints or simply not making the cut, there is still some stuff that i wish would've made the cut, like the air exchange, the vertigo chapter, and the old citadel concepts, but like i said before it was cut for a reason, i also don't have any idea for how the beta would've ended, would Gordon just shoot consul or would something else happen, like Gman interfering before you kill consul for some reason
It was cut for a reason.
Here's something to argue about:
Half Life 2's beta is more consistent in terms of world development than it is with the new one. Take in the grime, makeshift nature of a barely surviving human race aids the theory of the Combine's abilities to shut-down lesser races and force even their children into slavery. Whereas the retail tries too hard to incoprorate this as a "union", makes up a bizzare completely infeasible sci-fi trope that stops the game from being too controversial. Another thing is that the complete opposite of the Vortigaunts previous incarceration on Xen which doesn't really support the Combine's overthrow theory at the hands of Gordon Freeman killing the Space Baby (Nihilanth). It also sort of sours the game's first ending from Half Life 1.
Half Life 2's beta contained more guns on top of the innovations of the Gravity Gun, essentially varying the gunplay of the game at the expense of having all the guns i.e like CS 1.6/CSS having played through it very thoroughly in what levels and modifications I got working, the most guns I used were the AK47, Combine Heavy Machine Gun, Sniper Rifle and Hopwire. The AK47 in particular should've have been a mainstay - a very fitting choice as it is very easy to maintain and has major surplus in a country that mimics Russia cityscapes. C-HMG could've been like that of L4D2, a throwaway weapon for more firepower. I do not know why retail contains so many errors in animation and modelling since the game had these animations in the first place.
The lack of vehicle sections made more focus on actual level design that promotes player agency, completely what retail Half Life 2 attempts at and frankly is overdone (due to patches making healthkits and ammo more ubiquitous despite the impoverishment and decay).
The game's focus on body horror and liminality are far more terrifying, alien and draconian than the retail. This surreal focus on sound design is arguably why I inspire some of my own sounds from Bailey's works.
One thing I will argue against is that Half Life 2's beta is that its innovations at that point were not as great as the retail, mainly the facial animation and SDK kit. Such as the texture and model work and broken, frankly abysmal state of entities and the general malaise and layoffs the staff went through made it obvious the game needed massive re-works a la HL1 pre-alpha/beta I'd say they made a good attempt but Half Life 2 Beta as a fully developed package would've nailed atmosphere, physics and surreality.
Retail is better for the time tbh, if beta so good why dont YOU play it!
I like how people talk about the beta plot and aesthetic and calling it just beta
Beta source itself sucks ass and being just a shitty version of source with tons of bugs (even more then in retail source)
The thing is that, I think that everyone is ok to say that Hl2 is one of, if not, the best game ever made, but also to say, we all want to see what would hl2 been,
and for me the best thing would be........
...A spin-off.
Seriously, making a Hl2 spin-off that would be in the beta world and story would be incredible, but... We still have no Hl3, so it kinda mean that a spin-off is only a dream...
As much as a third game...
Eh, the community will do it.
And I'm ok to say that I love each the beta and the retail as much as the other, the final game is a piece of art, but the beta is so enigmatic and intriguing...
chad beta vs chad retail when
well its better because of the dead child under the bed because it shows something about the story and and the combine and
hl2 beta better because stinky smells air and citadel (evil citadle very big and look like giant turd...)
i like both
This has the same vibes of indie games are "better" than aaa games.
They both suck, but both are still great...
Those annoying beta fanboys
i like both beta and retail in their own aspects.
Both are great
the beta was generic forgettable shit, retail is superior
The Beta would've blended in with all the other games if it came out. And GMod's silliness wouldn't be seen for a long time if all the models were dark and griddy.
Peope just don't realize how shitty some of the concepts were. For example Air Exchange, there is a reason Valve decided to cut it, it is because it sucked.
i liked the beta's steampunk art direction
The half-life beta was dark and gritty
and thats what made it bad
OMG dark and (hit the) griddy did u know child labor and an arcade, but get this, the citizens control deadly machines. Omg guys beta 2spooky5me
"The true citizen knows the beta is better than the original game."
The hl2 beta realy fits do to global warming
The best parts of the beta are the Consul, Cremator, high CO2 pollution from mass industrialization, and child labor
tbh both were good, just wish hl2 beta was more refined and had less limitations from the source engine at the time.
I mean personally I like the fact There are more weapons but that doesn't make the beta better than the release game it Just means I wish we had the LMG in a finished state
i think that atmosphere of beta is better while the story of retail is better
hl2 steam is a good game because all of the innovations that it brought to the industry but the beta can be considered superior in the sense that all the concepts that were presented would bring us a perfect sequel to the first installment but both are great
Lore of "Half Life 2 Beta Is Better Than Half Life 2 Retail" momentum 100