Half Life thread - Discussions about Valve's FPS magnum opus(es) and any related content (spin offs, expansions and etc)

[The handsome tard]

I think that Ubertroon's idea of revealing the Combine to be far future human civilization is not too difficult to execute. There was a recent Anglo-French miniseries adaptation of HG Wells's "The War of the Worlds" that is based on the same premise: the invading aliens turn out to be an invasion force of time-traveling far-future humans, who have physically degenerated to the point of relying on alien-like drones to execute their conquest of the modern day world.

It wasnt viruses and bacteria that killed the aliens, it was the fact they killed most of their ancestors and thus they ceased to exist

 

[Billy_Sama]

Enjoyed the HL and HL2 with the Orange Box. I enjoyed the games for what it did for the 2000s into the 2010s. Looking back that was before Valve became too fat and lazy with the massive Steam profits makes me old and sad since that magic will never happen again.

 

[Kane Lives]

Enjoyed the HL and HL2 with the Orange Box. I enjoyed the games for what it did for the 2000s into the 2010s. Looking back that was before Valve became too fat and lazy with the massive Steam profits makes me old and sad since that magic will never happen again.

I unironically prefer fat and lazy to the franchise being serially raped whenever corporate needs to post a good quarter.

 

[Fwiffo]

Enjoyed the HL and HL2 with the Orange Box. I enjoyed the games for what it did for the 2000s into the 2010s. Looking back that was before Valve became too fat and lazy with the massive Steam profits makes me old and sad since that magic will never happen again.

I was just thinking the same thing. Late 2000s was a real bumper crop for Valve games that I failed to appreciate until giving it some real thought. Half-Life, TF2 (arguably still fun if you ignore the screeching fandom), Portal 1 and 2 (same), L4D 1 and 2 (do either of these still run?)… hell even Gmod helped create an entire sub-world of Valve memes and creative machinima. I still get a laugh out of the Gmod Idiot Box videos.

It really was a magic moment for gaming in general and Valve in particular, and though HL:Alyx stoked the old fire, I don’t think anything can truly reignite it.

 

[The handsome tard]

I was just thinking the same thing. Late 2000s was a real bumper crop for Valve games that I failed to appreciate until giving it some real thought. Half-Life, TF2 (arguably still fun if you ignore the screeching fandom), Portal 1 and 2 (same), L4D 1 and 2 (do either of these still run?)… hell even Gmod helped create an entire sub-world of Valve memes and creative machinima. I still get a laugh out of the Gmod Idiot Box videos.

It really was a magic moment for gaming in general and Valve in particular, and though HL:Alyx stoked the old fire, I don’t think anything can truly reignite it.

Valve and the early internet culture just clicked together perfectly.

I unironically prefer fat and lazy to the franchise being serially raped whenever corporate needs to post a good quarter.

Yeah, the issue is that Valve doesnt outright says that HL 3 isnt happening. They keep saying "one day, maybe..." to the point of absurdity.

 

[Yuri_]

TBH, I love how fucked up HL2 looked in the leaked beta. The long train ride at the beginning originally showed an incredibly desolate world that had mostly been drained of its resources. In general it seemed like Valve really wanted to hit people over the head with an unrelentingly oppressive atmosphere. Other things like the air being poisoned to make humans dependent on Combine aid, child labor camps, and the oceans being emptied also come to mind.


I believe it's called Uplink.

feeling nostalgic for a game I never played. I love how grim it looked compared to HL2 at release. The combine soldiers have a far less human aesthetic, which is perfect considering that they're a bunch of alien transhumans.

Wish they went ahead with it

 

[Su-27 Flanker-B]

I loved Half-Life. It was the first shooter I ever played - got it on an old PC in 2005, still with the old menu. Shortly after I played HL2, and it blew my mind. I still play it from time to time, I managed to rack up 150 hours in HL2.
Is it dead? Yeah. I don't think it'll ever be revived. HLA was created purely to display gimmicks of VR and potential (however underused it is) of the Index; if it weren't for VR aspect, the game would be at most two hours long in traditional setting. Its ending killed established lore, because where the fuck do you go now with it?

Spoiler

Why would G-Man even take Alyx out? What's the point?

Valve has zero financial incentive to make Ep3 or HL3. The most we can expect is some sort of weird off-shoot, like a HL/Portal combination game, or another somewhat short project to display another technological gimmick (imo VR is a gimmick still - HLA was the only "big" game we saw coming out, and somehow we're still not seeing a flood of games for VR, unlike what was predicted by journos and VR shills) that they are capable of. Which is a damn shame, because I love HL setting, I really like its lore, story, all the implications, but it's dead, Jimmy.

 

[fartsnstuf]

So what's the consensus now about Hunt Down the Freeman? Is the story in that mess someone better than the likes of The Last of Us 2, Game of Throne's Season 8, The Last Jedi, and Attack on Titan #139?

between that, being self-contained, and that HDTF is getting current updates; i'd say it's interesting to see

 

[Activelo]

HLA was created purely to display gimmicks of VR and potential (however underused it is) of the Index; if it weren't for VR aspect, the game would be at most two hours long in traditional setting. Its ending killed established lore, because where the fuck do you go now with it?

Spoiler

Why would G-Man even take Alyx out? What's the point?

Spoiler: HL Alyx spoilers

During the ending, G-Man says he deemed Gordon unreliable due to his lack of progress during the episodes, so he sought a suitable replacement, that being Alyx.

 

[Super Hans]

Spoiler: HL Alyx spoilers

During the ending, G-Man says he deemed Gordon unreliable due to his lack of progress during the episodes, so he sought a suitable replacement, that being Alyx.

Spoiler: Delusional expectations

What the hell could G-Man have been wanting if Gordon was apparently being lazy? In about three weeks time he made Earth go from completely at the mercy of the Combine to cutting off the planet from the greater empire permanently, two weeks of that being held in a slow teleport. The writers criticizing Gordon, and therefore the player, without giving any reasoning is just being an asshole.

 

[I fucking love Cocaine]

Spoiler: HL Alyx spoilers

During the ending, G-Man says he deemed Gordon unreliable due to his lack of progress during the episodes, so he sought a suitable replacement, that being Alyx.

Spoiler: Episodic Sperging + Alyx Spoilers

The G-Man wasn't disappointed with Gordon's progress during the episodes. He was actually on the run from him. G-Man during the end of HL2 wanted to send Gordon in stasis again just like he did in HL1 for a future job.
In EP1 we see that the Vortiguants with their purple magic powers freed Gordon from G-Man's stasis so he could keep helping the Resistance to fight off the Combine.

I never played Alyx but I saw gameplay videos of it; what I assume is that G-Man is tired of Gordon antics and became unreliable to his employers, so he created a faux timeline to prove if Alyx is worth for the job. Alyx manages to free the G-Man proving she's worthy and then she gets "hired".

If I have to speculate about HL3 is that somehow we'll have to face off Alyx at some point, maybe her job will be to eliminate Gordon or whatever.
I can't remember Epistle 3, but iirc she kills Mossman and turns on Gordon and leaves him alone (G-Man teleports her away) when the Borealis is about to crash towards the Combine's Dyson Sphere.

 

[Fwiffo]

Spoiler: Episodic Sperging + Alyx Spoilers

The G-Man wasn't disappointed with Gordon's progress during the episodes. He was actually on the run from him. G-Man during the end of HL2 wanted to send Gordon in stasis again just like he did in HL1 for a future job.
In EP1 we see that the Vortiguants with their purple magic powers freed Gordon from G-Man's stasis so he could keep helping the Resistance to fight off the Combine.

I never played Alyx but I saw gameplay videos of it; what I assume is that G-Man is tired of Gordon antics and became unreliable to his employers, so he created a faux timeline to prove if Alyx is worth for the job. Alyx manages to free the G-Man proving she's worthy and then she gets "hired".

If I have to speculate about HL3 is that somehow we'll have to face off Alyx at some point, maybe her job will be to eliminate Gordon or whatever.
I can't remember Epistle 3, but iirc she kills Mossman and turns on Gordon and leaves him alone (G-Man teleports her away) when the Borealis is about to crash towards the Combine's Dyson Sphere.

Going back and rewatching gman footage from the very beginning of the series, I feel like Valve’s aims for gman got WAY more otherworldly once half-life 2 came out. In HL1 and especially opposing force — yes I know non canon etc etc — it seems clear that gman, while fairly omnipotent, was still envisioned as not only human, but working in the interests of humans and likely at the behest of some human institution. Gman makes lots of references to this in his speech to Shepard, mentioning filing his reports, as well as being deeply worried that Shepard would break his silence on the Black Mesa incident. In HL2 it seems like not only did it not matter in the wake of the combine invasion, but it seems like everybody and their dog knew that Black Mesa was intimately linked to their state of affairs. Given such an obvious tone change for gman since HL2, I do wonder how his character in terms of identity and motivations has changed since then as well.

 

[I fucking love Cocaine]

Going back and rewatching gman footage from the very beginning of the series, I feel like Valve’s aims for gman got WAY more otherworldly once half-life 2 came out. In HL1 and especially opposing force — yes I know non canon etc etc — it seems clear that gman, while fairly omnipotent, was still envisioned as not only human, but working in the interests of humans and likely at the behest of some human institution. Gman makes lots of references to this in his speech to Shepard, mentioning filing his reports, as well as being deeply worried that Shepard would break his silence on the Black Mesa incident. In HL2 it seems like not only did it not matter in the wake of the combine invasion, but it seems like everybody and their dog knew that Black Mesa was intimately linked to their state of affairs. Given such an obvious tone change for gman since HL2, I do wonder how his character in terms of identity and motivations has changed since then as well.

True, infact prior Half-Life 2 Valve subtly intended that the G-Man was supposed to be Black Mesa's administrator.
Then when Half-Life 2 happened it was retconned to Breen being the former admin, while making the G-Man appear more alienish than human.

• The G-Man's name comes from "G-Man", an American slang term for "Government Man" or "FBI agent". However, he is never identified or referred to by name in any of the Half-Life games, his name being merely a code name / nickname.[1] That name actually stems from his Half-Life model and entity name, reused in every subsequent games, and is not a fan-created name at all. It has been confirmed and referred to as such in documentaries featuring Valve employees, or the voice actor credits for Half-Life 2 or Raising the Bar. Furthermore, in the manual for Opposing Force, Shephard makes mention of him as "a G-man", although this seems to be as the generic slang term. Also, the pre-release Half-Life model featured the United States Department of Defense logo on the briefcase. Another explanation of the G-Man's nature is given in the comment section of the file "npc_gman.cpp" in the Source SDK file "sourcesdk.gcf", the following is written: "// Purpose: The G-Man, misunderstood servant of the people." In an interview with series writer Marc Laidlaw and in the official Half-Life audio script, the G-Man is referred to as the "Administrator", suggesting he is the one overseeing experiments.[10][17] This title was later retconned to refer to Wallace Breen.

Combine Overwiki

 

[I fucking love Cocaine]

 

[Frail Snail]

I replayed the original Half-Life on Hard again. The Hivehand and Snarks are good weapons, despite what people say. They just have their niches. I cheese Alien Grunts around corners with the hand because I fucking hate dealing with these flies coming at me. It's also good at dealing with Alien Controllers and Xen maps in general. As for Snarks, they're good for drawing initial aggro off Marines in bullshit spots and distracting Gargantuas.

 

[The handsome tard]

Going back and rewatching gman footage from the very beginning of the series, I feel like Valve’s aims for gman got WAY more otherworldly once half-life 2 came out. In HL1 and especially opposing force — yes I know non canon etc etc — it seems clear that gman, while fairly omnipotent, was still envisioned as not only human, but working in the interests of humans and likely at the behest of some human institution. Gman makes lots of references to this in his speech to Shepard, mentioning filing his reports, as well as being deeply worried that Shepard would break his silence on the Black Mesa incident. In HL2 it seems like not only did it not matter in the wake of the combine invasion, but it seems like everybody and their dog knew that Black Mesa was intimately linked to their state of affairs. Given such an obvious tone change for gman since HL2, I do wonder how his character in terms of identity and motivations has changed since then as well.

Bold of people assume Valve wasnt kind of writing this whole series on the fly. I even dare say they didnt have the whole plot of Ep 1 and 2 figured out when doing OG HL 2.

In retrospect, people kind of gave Valve too much credit, at least in the aspect that they had all of this planned out by connecting it with Portal and stuff. Its clear that maybe Valve wasnt really here to tell a story but only to move tech forward.

 

[Super Hans]

Bold of people assume Valve wasnt kind of writing this whole series on the fly. I even dare say they didnt have the whole plot of Ep 1 and 2 figured out when doing OG HL 2.

In retrospect, people kind of gave Valve too much credit, at least in the aspect that they had all of this planned out by connecting it with Portal and stuff. Its clear that maybe Valve wasnt really here to tell a story but only to move tech forward.

It's a bit silly to think that a newly formed studio composed of people with no experience in video games planned out a whole saga. The first game wrapped up the story in a bow, and just left a cliffhanger for maybe a sequel if it sold well. 2 less so, but about the same. But then people are dumb enough to believe Kojima's lies and think Metal Gear was a 25 year plan.

 

[Tacitus Kilgore]

I played Half Life on the PS2 and completed it. That was after I played Half Life 2 on the Xbox. Yes, I completed it as well. It sucks my first Half Life experience was on consoles. But since 2010 I have been playing them on PC. Half Life 2 is a pretty good fps and so is the first game. These days if I want to play Half Life I play Black Mesa. It's really just the better version of Half Life. It's the Half Life remake Valve refused to make. Also it sucks that Half life source is a broken mess on Steam. I have Episode 1 and 2 I just never played them much.

 

[Testacles Maximus]

I have Episode 1 and 2 I just never played them much.

They’re okay. I was disappointed when I found out the episodes were meant to serve as Half Life 3, because they don’t do much new and it’s not the leap HL2 was from the first game. This is a perfect time to develop Half Life 3, but I just don’t see it happening.

 

[Tacitus Kilgore]

They’re okay. I was disappointed when I found out the episodes were meant to serve as Half Life 3, because they don’t do much new and it’s not the leap HL2 was from the first game. This is a perfect time to develop Half Life 3, but I just don’t see it happening.

What better way to play Half Life 3 than on your new Steam Deck.