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I'm thinking about getting half-life 2. Would I have to play half-life 1 to get the storyline? Or not really?

Not really.

The game was created in 1998 and is the influence in most story driven FPS games that are released today. The overall story in Half-Life 2 doesn't really involve Half-Life aside from a few key elements.

But....... I wouldn't play Half-Life 2 before Half-Life just because the original is such a good ****ing game. It looks old and plays a bit like a game made before 2000 but it's still a good quality game.

Considering if you buy this game on Steam (and should), you would want to get the Half-Life Complete Pack so you can play Episode 1 and Episode 2 (the shorter sequels to Half-Life 2), so Half-Life comes included with that package and I would play it just so you know some of the references Half-Life 2 alludes too.

It's not a big deal but if your planning on getting Half-Life 2 on Steam, you might as well because it's still a great game.

I played HL2 before 1. You'll be ok without it.

But what Smas said, they're both great games, so you might as well start with 1.

You don't have to, you'll still be able to very much enjoy Half Life 2 and the subsequent Episodes because Half Life 2 kinda starts a whole new story almost.

That said, yeah, Half Life is an amazing game and worth playing regardless.

If your getting on Steam, the Half Life Complete Pack includes all the games and they are all high quality except for Blue Shift.

Now let's have Episode 3!!!