Gushing About Shows You Like (Sugar Wiki)/Video Games/Valve Corporation

Gush about Valve Software games here!


 * I love the fact that things taken for granted in most video games have a plausible reason in Portal, even if it isn't explicitly mentioned. Tutorial? You're there to test the gun. Respawning? GlaDos has your brain scanned. Following the plotted line? GlaDos wants you to kill her. It's a Mind Heavy Petting, and I like it.
 * This. A million times this. Er... Except maybe the bit about her wanting to die, but yes. Anyway, Portal is made of awesome and win and creativity- and the last part isn't something you see so much in the games industry anymore.
 * One of the best things about Portal is that it isn't afraid to be a 4 hour game. There's so much padding and repetition in modern games because a game can get crucified for being less than 20 hours long. Portal doesn't overstay its welcome. It does everything it set out to do and departs with one of the best video game songs in recent memory.
 * Oh, and GlaDoS. Just...GlaDoS. Oh, look at us still talking when there's science to do...
 * After Final Fantasy VI, Portal comes as this troper's number two favorite game. The gameplay is intuitive but not overly simplified. The core mechanic is brilliantly done, a highly original idea not diluted with overuse; the introduction of new mechanics, such as the cubes and energy balls, seems perfectly integrated with the central idea. To top off the excellent puzzle-platforming was amazingly-written dialogue, rife with amusing and yet disturbing tirades from the resident evil computer, GlaDoS. Sorry, HAL 9000, you are no longer my favorite evil computer.
 * The work of absolute, inarguable genius that is the Half-Life series.
 * Oh, I agree so much! Half-Life 2 was the first full-length "real" video game I ever played (Portal was the first, but it's much shorter) and... it was absolutely awesome. The entire Half-Life series is amazing, but HL2 is hands-down my favorite. There's an Adorkable old scientist with big glasses and a pet headcrab, a giant robot "dog", the two most fun weapons ever (the gravity gun... and the blue gravity gun! The crossbow and pheropods should be on the list too...), an incredibly fun airboat, and one of the best female video game characters of all time. Seriously, Alyx Vance is my hero. She's smart, funny, can kick your butt, and looks good while doing all of the above. Is there really any criticism that can be made of this game?
 * Half-Life 1. The first one on PC is one of the best first person shooters ever made! It was this troper's first FPS, and at 5 years old, no less! It had some of the best levels, best enemies(Stupid headcrabs...), enviroments, music, sound effects (Yes. Those brilliant beeps when you scroll over those brilliant shades of orange are awesome as well.), and my god. GORDON FREEMAN! One of the most famous HeroicMimes ever! Oh yeah, he's also a PHYSICIST. And the second game... this troper found a Play Station 2 port of Half Life 1 and bought it and played it, and it is STILL one of the best first person shooters ever made IMHO! Except for Blast Pit...
 * Team Fortress 2 has to be one of my favorite games ever. To me, it's the best multiplayer FPS I've ever played in my life, and especially the best class-based shooter. Each class is so lovingly designed to fit its role. Hell, it's almost like you can play a different kind of game just by changing your class or your loadout. You can sneak around as a spy, build strategic defenses as an engineer, ambush as a pyro, set traps as a demoman, you name it. The development team is awesome at working out bugs and adding new content without destroying the game's balance. Even if the balance does go to hell, Valve is right on top of their game, ready to fix it at a moment's notice. Honestly, I've never seen such good developer-community interaction in my life. Not to mention 2fort2furious is probably the best server I've ever played on, but that's another story. Another cool part about the game is that the developers brought the Team Fortress series back to its class-based roots. The original game was turning into a huge "Stop Having Fun!" Guys marathon, with physics glitch-abusing and grenade-spamming becoming the standard. I'm pretty sure that TF2 alone has made me a Valve fan.
 * TF2 is my favorite game right now! What gets me is how often they update a game that's MORE THAN 2 YEARS OLD!!
 * TF2 is an amazing game. Those were 9 years well spent to put this together: the mechanics, the details, the various character personalities and backgrounds. Valve might troll every so often, but this pales in comparison to the love they lavish on this creation. But what possibly even better than the game is the Fandom. The ratio of good to bad games I've played definitely tips towards the positive side. So many people know how to just roll with the game, having fun by either working together to complete a mission or to just dick around doing silly things. And even outside of the game, so many people have shown their love for it by cobbling together some of the most hilariously awesome fan-theories or making some great Cosplays. It's so cool how this whole enterprise has held together for so long.
 * Oh man, this has got to be the best online FPS game ever made. I love the concepts of the teamwork and communication based gameplay it has on display as well as how they're executed. The teamwork comes from all of the separate little things that you don't always notice, but are still important to the game. Every class has it's strengths and weaknesses, as well as a goal they are meant to be working towards in the map. This means that you need to communicate with other players in order to have them cover your weaknesses and have you cover theirs. When 2 or more classes combine their strengths and cover each other's shortcomings, they can do some serious damage in the map, much more than either of them could have alone. Another factor that makes it my favorite game is that the game has probably the best sense of humor I've ever seen in a game. Everything about each character is funny, interesting, clever and unique. From their exaggerated visual designs to their ridiculous and purposely fake accents to their over the top and hilarious dialogue (SPAH SAPPIN MAH SENTRY!!!). Just watch some of the Meet the videos Valve has released on the TF2 blog or listen to some of their domination dialogue on YouTube. If they don't at least get a chuckle out of you, you must not have a sense of humor. There's so much self consciousness and 4th wall breaking moments in the game that it's almost as if it's a parody of an FPS than an actual FPS. I love how the Sniper drives a "Camper Van", and how Scout tells someone that he just killed to ragequit, like the characters know that they're in a video game. The icing on the cake [insert bad Portal joke here] is the added fact that Valve still consistently updates and gives constant attention to the game! For FREE! after 2 YEARS! IN A CAVE, WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS! When anyone asks me why I like Valve so much, I point them to this game
 * TF2 convinced me that not only online FPS, but also FPS in general, is fun.
 * Team Fortress Classic. This troper believes in the power of Darker and Edgier, and in the power of Fully-automated rotary shotguns - thanks, Heavy.