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74 of 77 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Must-Have for Half-Life 2 Fanatics, November 18, 2004
This review is from: Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar (Hardcover)
This coffeetable-type art book details the **artistic** creative process that brought Half-Life 2 to fruition. However, if you are expecting a behind-the-scenes expose about creation of the Source engine or the reasons why Half-Life 2 was delayed by nearly a year and a half, you will be sorely disappointed.
This book collects sketches, drawings, screenshots, script pages and personal statements about each by the artists behind this game. It talks about some of Valve's earlier visions before work on Half-Life consumed their offices. You'll get creative renderings of the evolution of most every adversary, friend, monster and location you'll come across in Half-Life 1 and 2, including bits and pieces that were removed from the games.
But be warned - there are spoilers in this book. If you haven't finished Half Life 2 yet, put this one aside until you do. Otherwise you might spoil the story for yourself.
If "four stars" seems too low, well....I was hoping to see more about the creation of Half Life 2's engine - "Source". Barely mentioned within these pages.
If you are as much of a fan of Half-Life 1 and 2 as I am, its a worthwhile purchase.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A nice resource on the art and creation of Half-life 2, January 30, 2005
This review is from: Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar (Hardcover)
I bought this book hours after I finished Half-Life 2, still excited about the world I'd just played through. It didn't disapoint. Not only does it have an ample amount of sketches (from Half-life 1 AND Half-life 2) and earlier/scrapped monster and level designs, it has commentary on nearly all of them from various staff-members. The book has information on the voice actors, level construction, some story samples passed around Valve as an example of the atmosphere they were trying to achieve, real-life architectual influences on the game and a few interesting tidbits on the world itself we never find out in the game. (For example, want to know a bit more about the mysterious Combine? Want to know what a fully-evolved headcrab looks like? Things like these are scattered around the book) If you're one of those people who wants to know "What changed from Valve's original vision for Half-life 2?" (and some of those changes are surprising and quite substantial) or "How did the artists and designers and coders work together?" or if you just enjoy seeing sketches and concept designs (which are always interesting to look at and in some cases, even beautiful) this is the perfect book for you.
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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great book, but with limited appeal., December 4, 2005
This review is from: Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar (Hardcover)
As the review below states this book isn't a behind-the-scenes book or a chronicle of the development of the game nor is it a book discussing the technological merits of Half Life 2 or the Source Engine. Although, it does contain elements of all of the afformentioned parts, it is in the end an art book, but a great one at that with great color, a sturdy build, and a clean uncluttered design.
As a fan of the game myself, I enjoyed seeing all the places and ideas that never made it into the game and the evolution and design of those that did. One area, I feel the book ought to and should have delved into more, was the development and evolution of the plot itself which except in reference to other points was never brought up significantly.
Fans of the Half Life franchise and people interested in the creative development of games will find this book of interest. Others may want to pass on it.
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