Half-Life 2: Game of the Year Edition

List Price: $29.99 Discount Price: $35.00

Features:

• Realistic physics: objects have varied and appropriate mass, density, physical properties
• Sequel to the hit first-person shooter
• Scientist-with-a-crowbar Gordon Freeman joins a ragtag human resistance fighting extradimensional invaders for the survival of a conquered Earth
• Unnervingly realistic graphics the likes of which have not been witnessed outside of a motion picture or pre-rendered cut scene
• Special Edition includes Half-Life 2, Counter-Strike: Source, plus Half-Life 2: Deathmatch and Half-Life: Source.

Accessories:
PC Gamer (1-year)	Games for Windows: The Official Magazine

Customer Reviews:

Don't Buy This Used! [Posted on 2007-08-10]
If you buy this game used, it will not play! The game must log onto the game developer's network and verify that your key is unused. If your key has already been used, they will not give you another one! (They will, however, give you the run around. They will also pit you against their crappy web "help" system.)

This is probably illegal, but for now, it is just a waste of the $20 to buy the CD.

You can't play what won't run [Posted on 2007-09-09]
Do not spend your money on this game. You have to have an internet connection to install the game and it will take a long time to update and install. Then you may find as I have that the game crashes as it loads the first new game. I haven't seen a playable frame yet. This is supposed to be an episodic release and episode 1 will not even play. I will never buy another Valve product again.

Steam prevented me from ever playing it...tech support rude and useless [Posted on 2007-09-17]
I purchased this game used from Amazon Marketplace. Everything that I would expect to come with a used game came with this copy: CDs in good condition, original case/documentation/CD-key insert. The installation was trouble-free and was a lot quicker than some reviews here would lead you to believe. Everything about this purchase was looking good...

...that is until I tried to play the game. I wasn't able to activate the game via Steam, so I contacted Steam Powered Support. It took them over 3 weeks to reply to my support request. When they did, they were rude. (When they asked me where I purchased my copy, so I told them Amazon Marketplace. The support rep replied, "I doubt you bought a used copy from Amazon. I believe they are in the business of selling new software." WHAT A CLUELESS MORON!) So after sending them an image scan of my CD-key card with my Steam username written on it in ink just above the CD-key, they proceeded to ask me to send it again...which I did.

After two more weeks, I finally got the answer that CD-keys cannot be reset on used game CD purchases. They recommended I purchase the game through the Steam application (which does not sell the HL2: Game of the Year Edition.) To purchase all of the games that make up HL2:GOTYE via Steam, I'd spend more that way than if I'd just purchase another shrink-wrap copy of the CDs, which won't happen after this experience with their tech support.

Hell will freeze over before I spend any more money on Valve Software games again. People hated Microsoft when they started their product activation stuff, but even Microsoft is pretty lenient about giving out replacement keys to customers who appear honest. Valve has completely lost their minds with Steam. I hope they wise up soon, otherwise I hope they go out of business soon, arrogantly confident in their belief that they can abuse honest customers as much as they want and still make mountains of money.

Steam-Blasted [Posted on 2008-03-02]
The game's great, but jumping through all 579 hoops required to register a Steam account just isn't worth the time and effort. Lord help you if you lose your Steam password, as I did.
The process for lost password: they send you an e-mail with your registration number and ask you a "secret question", which is: "what was the last secret passphrase we asked you?"!!!!!! I lost the password, but I'm supposed to know not only the "passphrase", but when it was asked?
You can't even e-mail these clowns for support unless you create a "support account", yet ANOTHER password!
Doing my taxes was far easier than dealing with Steam. They managed to kill any enjoyment I might have had from the game.

Seriously, don't buy it used or it won't work! [Posted on 2008-07-03]
I have no idea how the game 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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