Half-Life 2 (PC) (Prima Official Game Guide) (Paperback)

~ David Hodgson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Half-Life®: Full Strategy
·Essential strategies and maps for all 14 mission chapters
·Complete bestiary tactics, including how to take on the monsters and Combine forces
·In-depth evidence of all G-Man locations
·Deep combat strategy against the oppressive forces of evil
·Key script, back-story, and hidden game elements exposed
·Full-color maps showing every major item location
·Dozens of tactics for using the Zero Point Energy Field Manipulator

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

NOT QUITE ROCKET SCIENCE: A PORTAL OVERVIEW
You awaken in a cold, sterile room. It’s barren except for a toilet, the bed pod from which you arose, and a radio playing a chipper tune that seems completely out of place in your spartan surroundings. You have no idea who you are or why you’re here, but it’s clear that something isn’t right—everything around you is in a state of disrepair, and the monotonous, synthesized voice that’s gently prodding you out of your chamber doesn’t seem to be quite all there.
It is clear, however, that you have some high-tech toys at your disposal. For better or worse, this unhinged artificial intelligence is apparently your only shot of getting out of wherever it is you are in one piece, and given how crazy things are looking, you’re going to need all the help you can get.
In the world of Portal, you’re a human rat trapped in a high-tech maze, and you need lightning reflexes and a whip-crack mind to navigate through it. Luckily, you also have science on your side...sometimes, anyway. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Prima Games; illustrated edition edition (November 16, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761543627
• ISBN-13: 978-0761543626
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #726,097 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't read before playing - Use it to find what you missed, November 18, 2004

By	Chris Lee Mullins (Highlands Ranch, CO) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As is to be expected with any review guide, Prima's Half-Life 2 Strategy Guide contains **alot** of spoilers. In fact, most every plot detail is outlined within these pages. If you are still playing Half-Life 2, have a look at the first several chapters (detailing your adversaries and how to dispatch them) and then put it aside, referring to it only when you are hopelessly stuck on a puzzle or an action sequence.

However, once you've gone through Half-Life 2, you should read to your hearts content. Prima does an exhaustive job of detailing every nook and cranny of the game - from each appearance of the G-Man to each public service announcement made by Dr. Breen, from each ammo cache to each interesting newspaper clipping tacked to a wall. Its a fount of information and one of the few FPS strategy guides worth owning. This will help you get your money's worth out of Half-Life 2.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent guide!, November 23, 2004

By	A Reader (CA, United States) - See all my reviews

First let me say that the HL2 Guide does have tons of spoilers in it. So if you really want to be surprised don't look at it until you get stuck. But having said that it is a great guide. Also it is in glorious full color.

The HL2 Guide is broken into five sections:

First is an overview of all the weapons in the game. Full color illustartions and good info.

The second is an overview of all the characters you will encounter. Again, full color illustrations and good info.

The third section is the real meat of the book and contains the walkthroughs of each mission. What makes this section so nice is that a great map of the level is provided, which is better than the ones they did for Doom3, and full color screen shots that take you step by step through each mission. In addition, great tips and other goodies are highlighted for each level. If you get stuck on a level this is the place to look. Also, it is a great read AFTER you finish a level to pick up some tips and maybe see a few things you might have missed. It also narrates the story so you can actually read through this section almost like a book.

The fourth section of the guide covers Counter-Strike.

Lastly the book includes all the cheat codes you could ever want.

Overall it is a very well done guide that will help you through a few tricky levels and has excellent production values.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nothing in here you can't get for free, December 20, 2005

By	William McNeill (Cumberland, RI) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

First off, if you don't want to have the ending to the game ruined, stop reading these reviews because J. Boden ruins it for everyone. Also, don't buy the Prima Guide because there are spoilers in there as well. I made the mistake of getting this book when I was half-way through the game thinking it would help me, but I've pretty much figured everything out already on my own. The game Half-Life 2 is built around gently guiding you in the direction it wants you to go. The only purpose this book would serve is if you are absolutely stuck on a level and can't figure out what to do or where to go, then you could consult this guide for tips. But that hasn't happened for me yet and I'm playing on Normal difficulty. The weapons list and enemies list in this book for better or for worse has been copied on the Internet many times, so you can do a quick Google search and find most of the tips for free. This book only taught me one useful thing I couldn't figure out on my own: the machine gun has a grenade launcher (I forgot about the secondary fire option on most weapons). That's about it. I could see this book being useful for people having trouble completing a level, people who really like the colorful maps, or people who want to know what's going to happen ahead of time. If you're already into the game and don't need help, there isn't much here.