Half Life 2 Holiday Collection DVD (Half Life 1, Half Life2, Half Life 2 Episode 1, Counter Strike: Source)

List Price: $49.99 Discount Price: $42.00

Features:

• Half-Life - Source is a digitally remastered version of the critically acclaimed and best selling PC game -- enhanced via Source technology to include physics simulation, enhanced effects, and more. Winner of over 50 Game of the Year awards, Half-Life set new standards for action games when it was released in 1998.
• Half-Life 2 takes the suspense, challenge and visceral charge of the original, and adding startling new realism and responsiveness, Half-Life 2 opens the door to a world where the player's presence affects everything around him, from the physical environment to the behaviors - even the emotions - of both friends and enemies.
• In Half-Life 2 - Episode One Freeman reconnects with Alyx Vance and her robot, Dog, as they continue their support of the resistance's battle against the Combine forces. The intense, real-time gameplay delivered in Half-Life 2 - Episode One is made possible only by Source, Valve's proprietary engine technology which has been enhanced with new rendering technology and advanced artificial intelligence to deliver new levels of graphics and character interaction.
• Counter-Strike - Source blends single elimination, team-based gameplay with an online action experience of incredible depth and realism. Counter-Strike is the most played multi-player online action game in the world. With Counter-Strike - Source, the now legendary game has been given a complete overhaul, with graphic enhancements such as higher polygon models, shadows and reflective water to add dimension to the new characters, items, and environments. CS - Source also contains all new maps

Accessories:
Logitech Cordless Rumblepad 2 with Vibration Feedback (963326-0403)	PC Gamer (1-year)	Saitek P3000 Wireless PC Game Pad & Docking Station

Customer Reviews:

Worst Game Ever Purchased [Posted on 2007-01-13]
Game requires Steam to run, you might as well be installing ad-ware on your computer. Steam loads on startup, loads advertisements with large graphics, constantly updates, and completely limited the functionality of my PC. Counter-strike is fun, but the game is absolutely not worth what it does to your computer. Also, the uninstall feature on the DVD does not work, so I had to remove the files individually from the registry.

This is the biggest disappointment I've ever had from a video game. I've never written an online review but wanted to warn people about this game. DO NOT BUY THIS GAME

Great bundle! [Posted on 2007-02-06]
Well, I was a big fan of the original Half Life and the expansion packs that came after its success. However, I didn't bought Half Life 2 as soon as it came out, I did play it at a friend house, it was awesome...but somehow managed to foget about it for a couple of years.

Now, when I saw this bundle (with the original Half Life with the source water and stuff) and the Episode 1 expansion...I didn't even it. I just bought it. And let me tell you, playing Half Life 2 (and now Episode 1) can only be described as ... incredible. The physics engine, the great looking graphics (by today standards as well) the story, characters (I love DOG) its...just...awesome.

I truly recommend buying this bundle OR any Half Life 2 bundle for that matter. Its worth it.

Yes yes yes yes yes yes!!!!! [Posted on 2007-02-17]
This game is perfection. Being new to the Half Life series i had no idea what i was in for. Some random nerd at the Fry's electronics told me to buy this game over medieval 2. "So be it!" i thought. When i started the game in a 1984 type post apocalyptic world i was sold. Then i got to expirience the graphics, gameplay, violence and vehicles. This game is a 5 for 5. I am anxiously awaiting the release of "Episode 2" and even more anxiously waiting to see what the MOD community does with the source engine.

Do not buy a used copy!!! [Posted on 2007-04-29]
I played Half life 2 at a friend's and liked it so I decided to buy my own copy. I made the mistake of buying a used copy. If you don't already know, in order to play HL2 you need to create a "steam" account with which the game's CD key is verified online. My copy, being a used one, was still registered under the original owner's account; and as a result I can't even install it! There is a CD key reset option available through the steam support site but I have not received a reply from them after submitting everything necessary for a new key. It's a fun game when it works, but buy a new copy!!!!!!!!

Seriously, don't buy Half-Life 2 used or it won't work! [Posted on 2008-07-03]
I have no idea how Half-Life 2 is because I bought it from an Amazon marketplace seller and now the "Steam" anti-piracy protection system won't let me play it.

I went to the Steam support pages like I was told to, and I read this:

"... you must have a copy of your purchase receipt from within the last 90 days to have the CD Key moved to your account.

"We do not accept receipts from online auction websites or used software vendors. If you do not provide a purchase receipt, Valve will not be able to transfer the CD Key."


I can't believe that anyone accepts this as a reasonable way to sell consumers a game in a box, but I guess they do!

I read a thread on some Half-Life 2 forum where the users were telling a guy not to bother Valve, the software creators, with questions about their policy, but rather just to return his used game to whoever he bought it from.

Unbelievable!

From what I hear, maybe if I send the right person at Valve an actual photo of my box, and wait two months, I might be allowed to play. However, that's certainly not what the text on the Steam support page says.

If this is really the accepted practice regarding used copies of Half-Life 2, then what is Amazon doing letting their marketplace sellers sell these used copies?

Unbelievable! How much research is one supposed to do when buying a game?

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