well, i have since come to understand two things.

1) mel's server isn't up or wasn't by the time i got the mod.
2) the mod isn't necessarily coop, it all depends on what one does with it.

i haven't yet begun to grok just what that really means, but HL2 still looks hella nice.

I think therefore I nolf.

Summary:

It looks good, I'm looking forward to playing it, I plan to install the COOP mod this weekend or sooner. First play shows the game holds much promise, but confirms that there is still no excuse for the slipshod mess-terpiece that is STEAM. Frankly, even though I am sure this game will rock it's going to have to be pretty Cate-tacular to wash out the bad taste left by STEAM's 2 HOUR activate/decrypt/update stupidity. And remember, I'm still STEAMED about CS:CZ not having COOP as advertised. So, this title will probably decide forever whether I ever buy another STEAM powered game.

Now for the details:

HL2 looks very nice. It definitely seems to assume, perhaps too much, that you have finished the original and have some idea of what is going on. Unlike the original, HL2 does not come with a printed game manual/creature mug shot/weapon overview/story intro book. Instead, it comes with one piece of paper saying "No, really, install CounterStrike Source or something bad will happen, then remove it later if you don't want it" and one bright orange quick reference card that may cover the most needed game controls. The lack of a printed manual was a big disappointment for me---I love reading that stuff over lunch. Perhaps Valve thought their work needs no introduction.

STEAM urged me to update my graphics driver. I have some other games that will crash if I do that, so I've adopted a policy that is a little draconian: no updates without cause. STEAM allowed me to continue anyway and HL2 launched. The graphics on the menu screen are crisp, much moreso than the original. The game defaulted to 800x600 and I have an LCD so I pushed the resolution to the native display size 1280x1024. At this resolution the game looks stunningly real. The graphics themselves are very smooth, a testament to the game and to ATI's FireGL drivers.

In spite of the smooth graphics, overall play was a bit choppy. Fear not, however, and read on for the reason. Coming into a new space (even without LOADING...) caused a noticeable bump and the new area loads were abysmally slow. I believe this is because CS Source and HL (original) update and its 5ish mods were still DL/ing and decrypting. If I were playing for immersion, I'd have paused that nonsense but frankly I only had about 20 minutes left to play once HL2 was ready and I just wanted to see whether it was worth the wait. Next time I play, I expect I will see a vast improvement----STEAM will be paused. I am very encouraged by what I saw. There is some decent dialogue to give some of the evolving story, and I encountered about 15 or 20 different NPC personalities. Most of them were either worried or too scared to say much. However, I only once or twice encountered the same "attitude." This is a very nice touch in the opening level because it sets the stage for a society in which even the normal people are paranoid.

My only major complaint about the game itself is the lack of any backstory whatsoever. I haven't finished the original HL (yet), so it is possible that the info I wanted is in the old game. Still, a nice little printed booklet or a quick video re-cap (no G-man hallucinations, thank you) would have gone a long way toward immersion. Perhaps the backstory will be filled in at the lab of the headcrab-loving Dr. So far, it's all been a lot of fluff in the conversations and no substance. In case you're wondering how far I got, I have the HEV suit and the good Dr. is trying in vain to explain something to me while Barney and some hottie (I couldn't hear her name over the background noise) are getting it on in the corner. I think she's supposed to be the scientist's daughter, but maybe she's the daughter of some other scientist.

I noticed one other issue, but that might be my sound drivers. Some things, like the woman's name (you know, she of the resistance, or so I assume, daughter of some scientist Freeman worked with at Black Mesa) were hard to hear because depending on the direction Freeman was facing and the background noise, some sounds would simply drop out.

I downloaded Garry's mod but I have not yet installed because

a) I was afraid to install before I was done getting STEAMED.
b) I wasn't sure whether I should install the dedicated server mod, and if so, in which order.

Any ideas?

I think therefore I nolf.