Half-Life 2

[Reave the Unjust]

This Wikipedia article says it better than I can explain:

Half-Life begins with a long expository sequence that situates the player in the game's environment prior to serious action or gameplay. The player-controlled character, Dr. Gordon Freeman, starts his day riding a tram deep into the heart of the Black Mesa Facility, where most of the game is set, on his way to the Anomalous Materials Lab to begin work. The tram ride gives players a perspective of the facility, setting the mood and serving as a vehicle for some comic relief moments. The ride also marks the first appearance of the G-Man, first shown as a strange man in a blue suit watching Gordon from another tram. When the player arrives at the Anomalous Materials Lab, a front desk security guard informs Gordon that a system crash occurred shortly before he arrived, which has complicated communications between the Black Mesa scientists. The player must then acquire his Hazardous Environment suit before proceeding to the test chamber.

On his way to the test chamber, Gordon receives a briefing from a group of scientists. Before entering the test chamber, his co-workers inform him that his job is to push a "specimen" into the scanning beam for analysis. As soon as he does so, a fictional time-space catastrophe called a "resonance cascade" occurs. This event opens a portal between Earth and a bizarre world called Xen. During this, the player is briefly teleported there and at one point sees alien life forms known as Bullsquids and Vortigaunts.

Back in Black Mesa, Gordon exits the test chamber and sees that most of the scientists he had spoken to minutes before are dead. After finding some survivors, the player discovers that there are no means to communicate with the world outside Black Mesa. Scientists then implore the player to make his way to the surface to get help. Black Mesa has suffered massive structural damage, and to make matters worse, aliens from Xen begin randomly teleporting all around them. Some are shown to be "wild" alien animals who attack the player because they are unfamiliar with their new surroundings and feel compelled to defend themselves. Others, such as the Vortigaunts, are depicted as more intelligent and attack Gordon with a clear intent to kill. The player can also occasionally glimpse the G-Man, who watches from out-of-reach places and always disappears before Gordon can get to him.

As the player progresses through the game, he runs into scientists who inform him that human soldiers are on the way to the base to rescue them. However, once the player encounters the soldiers, he discovers that the Hazardous Environment Combat Unit, which has taken control of Black Mesa, is not just killing the aliens, but is also killing everyone connected to Black Mesa. After fighting the soldiers and eventually reaching the surface of the complex, Gordon is informed by scientists that the secretive Lambda Team may have the means to solve the problems brought on by the cascade. Gordon must then reach the Lambda Complex at the other end of the facility to assist them.

The player is subsequently faced with several tasks, such as killing a giant, rapidly growing tentacle creature, riding across the facility on a railway system in order to reach a satellite rocket that must be launched in order to reverse the resonance cascade, and fighting a group of mysterious Black Ops, before being captured by Marines and dumped in a garbage compactor. The player escapes without being crushed and makes his way to an older, secret part of the Facility where he discovers an extensive collection of specimens collected from Xen long before the resonance cascade.

After arming himself with advanced prototype weaponry, Gordon again reaches the surface, which has become a war zone. The Vortigaunts, along with Alien Grunts and a giant monstrosity, have begun fighting the Marines, who are beginning to lose. They've called in reinforcements, but it isn't enough to turn the tide. Gordon must scale cliffs and navigate bombed out buildings while avoiding both sides as the forces of Xen begin to dominate the battlefield. Finally, Gordon reaches relative safety underground.

The Marines begin to evacuate Black Mesa and airstrikes begin. At one point, the player must use the military equipment to call an air strike to re-enter the base. Gordon navigates underground water channels and tries to avoid scores of alien soldiers as they pick off remaining Marine stragglers. After much struggle, Gordon finally reaches the Lambda Complex, which is revealed to be the location where they developed the teleportation technology that allowed scientists to travel to Xen in the first place. The player reaches the handful of surviving personnel, who have holed themselves up in a small stronghold, and discovers that, unfortunately, the satellite he launched was not able to reverse the effects of the resonance cascade because an immensely powerful being on the other side of the rift is keeping the portal between the worlds open. The player must kill this being to prevent the Xen aliens from taking over completely. The scientists activate the teleporter and Gordon is relocated to Xen.

On the strange border world, Gordon encounters many of the aliens that had been brought into Black Mesa, as well as the remains of HEV-wearing researchers that came before him. The player engages in one of the few boss-style battles against Gonarch, a giant headcrab with a huge egg sac. After fighting his way through an alien camp, Gordon arrives at a huge alien factory complex, which engineers and builds the Alien Grunt soldiers. After fighting his way through mysterious, levitating creatures, he finds a giant portal and enters it.

In a vast cave, Gordon finally confronts the Nihilanth, the creature who was maintaining the rift, and destroys it. As the creature dies, it floats toward the ceiling, and explodes in a giant green blast that overpowers Gordon's senses. After awakening, Gordon's movement is restricted as he is confronted by the G-Man. Both are transported to various locales around Xen, while the G-Man praises the player's actions in the border world. The G-Man explains that his "employers", believing that Gordon has "limitless potential", have authorized him to offer Freeman a job. The final teleportation takes the player to the original tram car, which appears to be flying through space at immense speed. If the player refuses the job offer, the G-Man teleports him to a location in front of a considerable number of alien enemies, stating, "No regrets, Mr. Freeman," as the screen fades out. If the player accepts, by stepping into a portal, he finds himself floating in nothingness and hears the G-Man's voice one last time: "Wisely done, Mr. Freeman. I will see you up ahead." Half-Life 2 reveals that in truth, the G-Man made the choice for Gordon, when the G-Man speaks of the "illusion of free choice" in Half-Life 2 and the latter choice was taken.

[Usivius]

huba-wah?....

wow... that's messed up!
So those guys with the black head-gear-gas-masks are alien soldiers? And that old guy with white hair that is always talking on screens is the G-Man?... (he's such a prick!)
And so the Marines and humans in general did not win, so part 2 is the continuing story of how we are trying to save/free Earth?

I love it!

Thanks a bunch Reave! I tried checking wiki briefly but got other topics. I thought they didn't have it..

[Reave the Unjust]

So those guys with the black head-gear-gas-masks are alien soldiers?
And that old guy with white hair that is always talking on screens is the G-Man?... (he's such a prick!)
And so the Marines and humans in general did not win, so part 2 is the continuing story of how we are trying to save/free Earth?

Ok, I think the soldiers in HL2 are kind of "messed with" humans (you'll find out to what extent later).

The G-man is the guy that spoke to you as you first started the game: starey eyes, briefcase, suit, odd pattern of speech. He appears around the game in the distance, on un-powered tv screens etc. It's fun trying to spot him!

Dr Breen is the white-haired geezer who speaks all that propaganda from large monitors around the city. He used to be the Administrator of the Black Mesa complex, and was somewhat involved in the subsequent invasion and surrender of humankind (hence his status).
He is indeed a prick.

Yes, the victory in the first game was an illusion, as the invasion of the Combine had been made possible by the original Xen incursion.

According to the game creators, the Xen had escaped their home a long time ago after being invaded by the Combine. Their discovery of Earth opened the way for more than one invading force. Some of the extra and modded games for Half Life showed some of these other aliens.

Some of the aliens in the first game are used by the Combine as slaves (such as the Electrical-weilding Vortigaunts, who you will meet as allies in the game), or as bio-weapons (like the Headcrabs, bloody things!). I think the Combine travel the dimensions/universes absorbing and using the lifeforms and resources on each world.
The name "Combine" gives an idea of what type of an empire they are. I think of them as inter-dimesional, bio-mechanical, genetically-modified strip-miners!

[Usivius]

cool!
And I just looked up G-Man on wiki...
(sheesh there are really detailed articles there!)
Yah, I remember seeing him in certain places, but couldn't figure out who the heck he was.
Guess missed out on a lot not playing the first one, eh?
Ah, well. Still pluggin away (I'm a play an hour a week kinda guy ... not by choice as much as time-constraints... )

[Reave the Unjust]

I know the feeling re. time restraints!
Where are you up to now?

[Usivius]

I have just finished racing through the canal on that 'sea-doo' thingee. That was GREAT! The action that happens, and getting off at certain points and checking things out. I am a very slow player only because I like to check out everything I can. which is why I never did as well at Halo, even though I love that too... Halo pushes you along quickly ... no time to stop and smell the roses ~ or stop and admire the gore and detail of setting...
Oh, and I think I saw G-man on a bridge while I was racing around there in the canal. I had to get off and unlock a water-gate and found he had disappeared <shrug>

[Worm of Despite]

For those of you scratching chins (or heads) over Half-Life's story, here's an excellent resource:

The Half Life Saga Story Guide

Provides an in-depth timeline for Half-Life 1, 2, and Episode One. Definitely don't read it if you're still playing the games.

Also: it's not completely accurate (simply because the storyline is still ongoing and so much is left unanswered). Nevertheless, it's about as close as we'll get for a long while--until Episode Two, anyway. And even then, Two may leave more questions than answers (which is normal for a Half-Life installment).

[Reave the Unjust]

Cheers Lord Foul, looks good: lots of spoilers!

I have just finished racing through the canal on that 'sea-doo' thingee. That was GREAT! The action that happens, and getting off at certain points and checking things out. I am a very slow player only because I like to check out everything I can. which is why I never did as well at Halo, even though I love that too... Halo pushes you along quickly ... no time to stop and smell the roses ~ or stop and admire the gore and detail of setting...
Oh, and I think I saw G-man on a bridge while I was racing around there in the canal. I had to get off and unlock a water-gate and found he had disappeared <shrug>

Yeah I like taking time to do things too. I've never understood the people who say "I completed x in x minutes". They usually haven't seen everything there is to see (or do). HL2 has replay value despite it's lineararity (is that a word?).

Glad you've seen the G-man, I think that was the first time I saw him in this game too, or maybe at that red house with supply crates above the water. I've attempted to catch him up but no cigar.
And that damn helicopter, used to make me so mad!

[Usivius]

Well I'm going to sit down tonight and have a go for a while.
I haev been helping my daughter lately (Fashion Design student behind on some collection... ) ... must try and get in at least an hour of play!!!

And thanks for the story summary Foul. I'm going to read (at least until I feel my game play won't be spoiled.)

[Nav]

If you want to read a good pastiche of the Half-Life saga, check out Concerned: The Half-Life and Death of Gordon Frohman. It's a webcomic made (painstakingly, I suspect) using Garry's Mod for HL2, which allows you to position any model in the game in whatever pose you want. Those dancing headcrab movies are made the same way.

The story follows Gordon Frohman, a city employee who desperately wants to become a Combine soldier. The title is taken from the letters Gordon writes to his idol, Dr Breen, which he signs "a Concerned Citizen". It's a great comic, poking fun of just about every aspect of HL and it's also finished, so you don't have to worry about keeping up with it once you've read through what's there.

[Usivius]

Ok, I need a little help. I thought I was finished my canal travels (the "Water Hazard" chapter), but apparently not. I entered a building complex and after killing a bunch of wierd gas-mask soldier guys, I got to a point where I apparently have to open the large water-gate, but the control is broken (spraying sparks, etc).
I've tried (seemingly) everything! What do I do?

- I can't seem to find anything to repair it with (after many attempts to pick up electronic stuff)
- I can't climb over the fence
- I can't get over the outside wall -- even though I built a nice pyramid of crates and was standing at top-of-wall level --- the game just wouldn't allow me to move forward ... grrr ...
- I can't find any secret ways around to another entrance to the other building across the way...


AAAAAAHHHH

Help. Someone give me a hint!!!!

[Reave the Unjust]

If I recall there should be some explosive barrels to the right of the controls, through the fence (unless I'm thinking of another bit altogether!).
If you blast them it should cause the winch to break, battering the gate open.
Who needs controls, eh?
Funnily enough I played this bit (Water Hazard) all the way through yesterday. Had forgotten how long it is!
Suffice to say, it ain't over yet!

[Usivius]

I did that! Shot the explosive red barrel being the fence to the right and nothing. I even tossed a grenade at the winch (and ran) but nothing.


help me...


...

should I bring another exploding barrel from inside and place it in front of the winch then shoot at it from inside (behind the broken window) ... Hmmm

[Reave the Unjust]

Weird!
I'll have to have a look soon, dunno what's happened there!

Here's something Half Life related to chuckle at, complete with sounds from the first game.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb1DgiJdEBI&mod ... ed&search=

Edit: Ok this is what I see when looking through the fence. Am I thinking of the same place?
It's the more distant barrels that need to be shot.
Hope this helps.
{If they aren't there it may be a bug or something and youmay have to start the map over... }

[Usivius]

Ahhhh, the "distant" barrels ... OK, I didn't shoot those.
THANKS!!!!

I wil report tomorrow..

[Reave the Unjust]

Happy "Sea-doo"ing!

[Usivius]

Woo hoo! It worked! And off I went. Man that water-course is long! I can't imagine how many points to get off and explore I missed! I was just so busy dodging gunplay and that damn helicopter! Now I know what you guys were talking about! Sheesh!
I did manage to trip off and check a couple buildings and one area where I got to use a stove as a counterweight for a ramp and my sea-doo shortcut!
At least I think it was because I didn't continue down the canal the other obvious way...
And then all that running around (inside and outside) the building and eluding the helicopter fire while dealing with those gas-mask guys! Wow! What a pain! I must have been at 25 hitpoints for half of it! Thankfully there was some healing at the end! (whew!)

Now I have stopped as I finally got to a friendly hidden port underground...

Can't wait!
Thanks Reave!

[Reave the Unjust]

You're very welcome.

Good luck with the next bit!

[Reave the Unjust]

If you want to read a good pastiche of the Half-Life saga, check out Concerned: The Half-Life and Death of Gordon Frohman. It's a webcomic made (painstakingly, I suspect) using Garry's Mod for HL2, which allows you to position any model in the game in whatever pose you want. Those dancing headcrab movies are made the same way.

The story follows Gordon Frohman, a city employee who desperately wants to become a Combine soldier. The title is taken from the letters Gordon writes to his idol, Dr Breen, which he signs "a Concerned Citizen". It's a great comic, poking fun of just about every aspect of HL and it's also finished, so you don't have to worry about keeping up with it once you've read through what's there.

Wow, thanks for that Nav!
Just spent a few hours reading it through. It was so funny, and full of "in" jokes! The Counterstrike references cracked me up, as did the protagonist's complete idiocy!

[Worm of Despite]

And thanks for the story summary Foul. I'm going to read (at least until I feel my game play won't be spoiled.)

Coolio. Just finish HL1, 2, and Episode One and you'll be ready!