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David S. J. Hodgson

Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar Hardcover – November 23, 2004

by David Hodgson (Author)

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·Unprecedented access behind Half-Life and Half-Life 2
·A forward by Valve founder Gabe Newell
·Hundreds of art, design, preproduction, and other art pieces crammed into the book
·Over a dozen key members of Valve's staff interviewed
·Officially approved by Valve
·Behind City 17 and other locations
·The development of the Source engine
·A rogue's gallery of beasts, characters, and monstrosities
·Key weapons development revelations
·A tour of many of the game's locations, from inception to completion
·Filled with art, screens, and anecdotes from the Valve team

Print length

288 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Prima Games
Publication date

November 23, 2004
Dimensions

8.9 x 0.9 x 11.1 inches
ISBN-10

0761543643
ISBN-13

978-0761543640
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Prima Games (November 23, 2004)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0761543643
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0761543640
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.76 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.9 x 0.9 x 11.1 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #486,205 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #832 in Video & Computer Games
- #995 in Computer & Video Game Strategy Guides

Customer Reviews:
51 ratings

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David S. J. Hodgson

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WRITER OF TALL TALES AND HEFTY STRATEGY GUIDES

After fleeing from a rusting, condemned, dry-docked German fishing trawler slowly sinking into the River Thames, Manchester-born author David S J Hodgson spent his formative career years writing for the UK's premiere video game magazines. After a stint at MAXIMUM magazine and the Official Nintendo UK magazine, he emigrated to the United States, where he joined the crew at the part-fraternity, part-sanitarium known as GameFan magazine. He wrote his first guide in 1996, and has authored over 100 official video game books. Highlights include official guides for Metal Gear Solid (1998), Half-Life 2 (2004), Zelda: Twilight Princess (2006), Fallout 3 (2007), Skyrim (2011-2013), WatchDogs (2014), Fallout 4 (2015), Witcher 3 (2015-2016) and Fallout 76 (2018). He also wrote The Improved Emperor's Guide to Tamriel (TESO Imperial Edition), and The Hero's Guides to the Elder Scrolls Online (2014). He lives in a shed overlooking Los Angeles with his wife, dog, and an eight-foot statue of Great Cthulhu.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5

51 global ratings

5 star		81%
4 star		11%
3 star		3%
2 star 0% (0%)		0%
1 star		5%

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ConsumerAdvocate

Awesome collection of HL2 art work

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 17, 2008

Verified Purchase

This book tracks the creation of the Half Life II world from concept art to final product. It is, simply, amazing. Not since a book of concept art for Star Wars (the original 3) have I encountered concept art so clearly building a complete world(s) with as much detail, passion, and creativity. It's been a few years since HL2 hit the market, and we've since seen the introduction of HL Lost Coast, Episode I and Episode II, each of which build and add to the HL2 world in a organized and entertaining way.

I have to believe the continuity throughout each installment of the HL world comes in large part because they laid such a solid foundation in their creation of so much beautiful, detailed concept art. Some of the materials displayed in the book missing from HL2 have shown up in later installments. It seems even years ago they knew where they were headed.

What you will not find in this book are details on the source engine, details on the writing process behind the storyline, or any mention of the delay in production of HL2. This is a book almost exlusively about the visual art present in the game.

No matter where the storyline for HL2 ends, this book will show where it began, and how concepts led to one of the greatest games, and franchises, in PC gaming history. If you're a fan of Half Life 2, buy this book. You will not be disappointed.

3 people found this helpful

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C. Cox

Great behind the scenes info

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 13, 2020

Verified Purchase

This is a very good book detailing all the behind the scenes stuff with Half Life 2. It also has very good artwork detailing some of the familiar characters in game. Well worth the read if you are a fan.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 17, 2016

Verified Purchase

So I'm a huge HL nerd - full disclosure. I love this book. It was used...certainly showed it. Someone donated it to Goodwill somewhere in the midwest and they put it up on Amazon...smart cookies. Just lots of cool concept art and anecdotes from the development of the HL games...plus some other Valve stuff...CS and such. I love the architectural concept art. If you're as big a nerd as I am, you definitely need this book on your coffee table.

2 people found this helpful

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Verity

Beautiful Commentary on the Half-Life Games

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 29, 2014

Verified Purchase

This is definitely not to be missed. If you're a Half-Life fan, or just in love with concept art, this is a must! This is a in-depth look at the concept art from both Half-Life games, and it's filled with commentary all the way through. Yes, it's hard to find now and expensive, but totally worth every penny. It's not a guide on how the games were made, but more of a gallery of beautiful artwork and models that helped bring the games together, from pencil to screen. Absolutely beautiful, and lots to offer. I completely recommend this!

One person found this helpful

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dickrunner

Perfect for the Half-Life nerd!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 13, 2017

Verified Purchase

This is the perfect book for the Half-Life nerd, such as myself. I can't believe it took me this long to purchase. I'm not a reader but I flew through this in a matter of days.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 4, 2013

Verified Purchase

I see some new copies of this book are selling for a lot. If I had an unwrapped copy, I wouldn't sell it for less than half what people are offering now ... simply because the art and game tidbits are amazing and I'm sure I'd want to buy another copy. It always gets a look on my coffee table.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 24, 2013

Verified Purchase

This book is a great coffee table book that shows insight into the making of HL2. Lots of sketches and even alpha information on HL1.

If you're expecting a book with lots of interviews from the dev team prepare to be disappointed.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 21, 2015

Verified Purchase

A wealth of information on the legendary HL2

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Lee

Beautiful!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 20, 2011

Verified Purchase

This book and the game Half Life 2, has had a massive influence on me. Seeing the art and the world of Half Life 2 inspired me to 3d modelling and computer games design/level design.

I now work in the games industry, and even after all these years looking back at the game and this book still makes me think wow. Valve really did raise the bar back then and now look at where they are.

Lovely art book, with some insight.

3 people found this helpful

Peri Urban

a future collector's item

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 13, 2005

Verified Purchase

This is a book that will appeal to fans of the Half Life series, rather than computer games fans in general. That's a shame, because I was hoping for a definitive expose of what it was that made Half Life 2 such a ground breaking game.
The book is lavishly produced, and is heavy on development ideas, showing just a fraction of the stuff they threw away. The overall impression the book gives is of a process of iterative experimentation that led almost by good fortune to something great.
The book shows how the game could very nearly have been awful, but there's very little here about "raising the bar". I'd have liked to see a more analytical treatment of the subject, and a few less pictures of beasties that never made it off the drawing board.
Worth having though for it's future second hand value.

10 people found this helpful

Leon

Excellent - Product matched the description and arrived more promptly than expected

Reviewed in Germany 🇩🇪 on June 28, 2019

Verified Purchase

The product was shipped from the US to the Netherlands in quite a fast timespan.

The description matched the product, there were only minor blemishes on the dust jacket, and as far as I can see no blemishes on any of the pages.

The book itself is fantastic and a *must* for any true fan of the Half-Life series, giving deeper descriptions to the design of the NPCs, levels, atmosphere, etc. of Half-Life, Counter-Strike, and Half-Life 2. The images are of a high quality. I can highly recommended this rare book.

Nick B.

Good book

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on April 23, 2019

Verified Purchase

A Half Life fan must have

Shadowman

indispensable pour les fans de HL et HL2

Reviewed in France 🇫🇷 on July 16, 2015

Verified Purchase

Un des meilleurs artbook, beaucoup de croquis et d'artworks, essais graphiques et contrairement à ce que le titre laisse penser, le livre aborde les deux Half Life. Et en plus des tas d'anecdotes (en anglais) sur les coulisses du développement. Un très bel objet.

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Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar Hardcover – November 23, 2004

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