Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 12:12 pm
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.
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.
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used to make me so mad!
