History YMMV / HalfLife

* SpecialEffectsFailure: At the end of the first game if you pick the bad ending and get stuck in front of an army of alien grunts it's painfully obvious that all the grunts behind the first row are just static sprites (essentially the video game equivalent of "cardboard cutouts"

** "Focal Point" in ''Blue Shift'' is another level that takes place in Xen, but while the level doesn't suffer from the same design problems as the original Xen levels in ''Half-Life 1'', there's still a fair bit a platforming to do across large gaps, so the error of mis-jumping and falling into oblivion is still very high. In addition, there are no armor pickups in this level so once your armor meter is fully drained, encounters with large mobs of enemies can quickly spell death, so you'll have to be very careful.

** The Hivehand, aka the Hornet Gun, from the first game. The only good thing about it is that it can regenerate ammo. Other than that, it's the most ineffective and useless weapon in the series, to the point where you'll hardly be using it at all and instead be using all the other, more superior weapons. Thankfully it helps that you can avoid picking up the weapon.

** Inverted in ''Half-Life 2'' where the fight through the Citadel with the powered-up Gravity Gun is some of the funniest levels ever designed in gaming.

** Shock Troopers from ''Opposing Force'' are unquestionably the most dangerous non-boss enemies in the [=GoldSrc=] games. They have more hit points than Alien Grunts, constantly spam spore grenades, and while their plasma bolts don't track you, they deal ''twice'' as much damage per shot as a marine's assault rifle.

** From the original ''Half-Life'': Those goddamn Alien Grunts, 8 foot tall alien EliteMooks encountered 2/3 through the game. For starters,[[MadeOfIron they were absurdly tough]]. Getting to close to them was nearly instant death due to their extremely powerful melee attack. They never, ''ever'' stopped firing their hive hands, even while absorbing an entire mag of [=MP5=] fire. There was absolutely no way to hide from them, hiding behind a piece of cover or around a corner was useless because their hive hands ''track you'', and do the same damage per shot as the HECU's [=MP5=] submachine guns. They were immune to damage on the armored part of their bodies. Worst of all, they attacked in groups, and that damage adds up over time, meaning almost every encounter with them would end with you a dead and them barely scratched. The only real way to deal with them was to use an extremely powerful weapon with rare ammo (i.e. the Rocket Launcher, Gluon Gun, Magnum, or the grenade launcher), or circle strafe while firing your submachine gun or shotgun secondary fire, hoping that they miss enough shots so that they die before you do... if you hadn't taken out their buddies yet. Basically, they were [=HECU=] grunts with twice as much health and ''homing bullets''. ''Half-Life: Source'' made a few changes to make them more manageable. The [=MP5=] does more damage, they are briefly stunned upon getting hit, and they no longer completely deflect damage on their armored parts. They're still tough, just not as ridiculous as they were.

* TooDumbToLive: The soldier you hear playing with the tau cannon. Even though the scientist with him warns that it's a prototype and not to let it overcharge, the soldier just says [[FamousLastWords "what do you mean "overcharge"?]] and [[LudicrousGibs then]].

** Inverted in ''Half-Life 2'' where the fight through the Citadel with the powered-up Gravity Gun is some of the funnest levels ever designed in gaming.

* UglyCute: Lamar, Dr. Kleiner's pet headcrab. Every other headcrab is NightmareFuel defined and the only physical difference Lamar has from the rest is that she's been debeaked, but she's otherwise a domesticated pet who feeds on watermelons whose startling but completely harmless attempts to latch onto other people's heads and hide in vents is strangely endearing.

* MostWonderfulSound: The Xen healing pools

** ''Episode One'' and ''Episode Two'' have the Combine Overwatch Zombie, otherwise known as the Zombine. At first, it doesn't seem so bad, just a regular zombie with twice as much health. But then you realize that they can sprint, do more damage per hit, and most importantly, can whip out a grenade and suicide bomb you. That attack is nearly always a OneHitKill, and whenever you encounter a group of zombies at least one Zombine ''will'' use it, pulling out a grenade and sprinting at you. On the other hand, holding a grenade prevents them from sprinting, meaning if you're careful not to knock it out of their hand, and exploit the zombies' movements, you can [[HoistByHisOwnPetard use them against the horde]], taking out a dozen zombies without ever firing a shot.
** From the original ''Half-Life'': Those goddamn Alien Grunts, 8 foot tall alien EliteMooks encountered 2/3 through the game. For starters,[[MadeOfIron they were absurdly tough]]. Getting to close to them was nearly instant death due to their extremely powerful melee attack. They never, ''ever'' stopped firing their hive hands, even while absorbing an entire clip of 9mm rounds. There was absolutely no way to hide from them, hiding behind a piece of cover or around a corner was useless because their hive hands ''track you'', and do the same damage per shot as the HECU's [=MP5=] submachine guns. They were immune to damage on the armored part of their bodies. Worst of all, they attacked in groups, and that damage adds up over time, meaning almost every encounter with them would end with you a dead and them barely scratched. The only real way to deal with them was to use an extremely powerful weapon with rare ammo (i.e. the Rocket Launcher, Gluon Gun, Magnum, or the grenade launcher), or circle strafe while firing your submachine gun or shotgun secondary fire, hoping that they miss enough shots so that they die before you do. Basically, they were [=HECU=] grunts with twice as much health and ''homing bullets''. ''Half-Life: Source'' made a few changes to make them more manageable. The [=MP5=] does more damage, they are briefly stunned upon getting hit, and they no longer completely deflect damage on their armored parts. They're still tough, just not as ridiculous as they were.
*** The problem with that is there is ALWAYS more than one, which will shoot you while you try to circle strafe their teammates.
*** You can also encounter them, die, reload a save, creep up to a corner or platform where they can't see you, [[SaveScumming aim near where you already know they are]], and spend five minutes chipping away at their health [[MegaManning with their own Hivehand]].

* FireflyEffect: The ever-decreasing chances of the series receiving a proper conclusion is definitely a turn off preventing many potential new players from getting into the series.

* FireflyEffect: The ever decreasing chances of the series receiving a proper conclusion is definitely a turn off preventing many potential players from getting into the series.

** From the original ''Half-Life'': Those goddamn Alien Grunts, 8 foot tall alien EliteMooks encountered 2/3 through the game. For starters,[[MadeOfIron they were absurdly tough]]. Getting to close to them was nearly instant death due to their extremely powerful melee attack. They never, ''ever'' stopped firing their hive hands, even while absorbing an entire clip of 9mm rounds. There was absolutely no way to hide from them, hiding behind a piece of cover or around a corner was useless because their hive hands ''track you'', and do the same damage per shot as the HECU's [=MP5=] submachine guns. They were immune to damage on the armored part of their bodies. Worst of all, they attacked in groups, and that damage adds up over time, meaning almost every encounter with them would end with you a dead and them barley scratched. The only real way to deal with them was to use an extremely powerful weapon with rare ammo (i.e. the Rocket Launcher, Gluon Gun, Magnum, or the grenade launcher), or circle strafe while firing your submachine gun or shotgun secondary fire, hoping that they miss enough shots so that they die before you do. Basically, they were [=HECU=] grunts with twice as much health and ''homing bullets''. ''Half-Life: Source'' made a few changes to make them more manageable. The [=MP5=] does more damage, they are briefly stunned upon getting hit, and they no longer completely deflect damage on their armored parts. They're still tough, just not as ridiculous as they were.

** Father Grigori. Appears in one level, yet is one of the most popular characters. Helps that he shares a voice with Bill, that being the late Jim French.

** Father Grigori. Appears in one level, yet is one of the most popular characters.

** Like it or not "We Don't Go to Ravenholm" will give you trouble due to the lack of ammo and large amount of enemies. Special mention to the area just before the graveyard where regular zombies spawn infinitely, poison zombies eventually spawn, and then you have to stand on a rooftop while fast zombies starts swarming the building. The mine right after can cause trouble due to having dozens of headcrabs.