Finished Game (Some Comments/Questions)

[Zlatko]

Hey guys, i just joined today or yesterday..i cant tell what day it is cause ive been playing for so long..but now that the game is finished..i have a few questions/comments here and there.

K, the game, fabulous..infact..it was too good. I mean..i could do pretty much anything i wanted, a player should not be given that kind of power..

Now, let's start with the Government Man (G-Man), this guy was a character that was in half life 1 and in half life 2, he seems to have been everywhere. EVERYWHERE. If you got to a part in the game, you'd see the G-MAN..or you think you saw him, you round the corner, and he's gone like the wind.

To me, he has made about 4 subtle appearances in the game, aside from the begining and the ending, and he's invincible, ive tried to kill im hl1 and hl2, nothing.

Now, the first questions, why does the game take place in City 17? Why not somewhere a bit more North American? I read some of the words on the walls here and there, and it looked like Poland or perhaps Czech Republic, everything around screams eastern europe, from the buildings to the canals, and believe me..Im from Bosnia, this looks almost exactly like back home.

Second, because the game is so fast paced, there is a problem of no thinking being done. When you teleport with Alyx to the Dr's laboratory..he claims you were gone for a week..a WEEK. So it's not even a place to place teleporter, it is a time machine as well, which would explain how the G-man was able to stop the ending scene, and appear to you and talk.

Now, since the G-man was able to stop time, does that mean that Gordon was in suspended time since Black Mesa and now? If so, that would mean that Gordon is nothing more than a weapon, and are there other people that the Gman has done this to? or is gordon the only one?

Since i cant see gordon's face the entire game, i cant see if he has aged since black mesa, i dont think he has, and as far as he's concerned i think black mesa and Hl2 happened within minutes of each other.

Now, another question, why has he brought gordon back like 20 years from black mesa? I mean, im basing this on Alyx, im not sure if she was alive or not when gordon was in black mesa, but if she wasnt around, that means she would have to be born, she looks about 20, that's what im basing this on.

Now, i dont get why there are Aliens helping the Resistance all throughout the game, mainly charging gordon's shields etc, or why are there living flying machines..

This game, although breathtaking, it has left me a lot of questions, that wont be answered for a while it seems.

The citadel..why does it expand? It pushes the surrounding city away or something..it just pushes it apart, further and further, like its getting rid of everything around and trying to expand.

Can someone clarify just a few of these questions for me? Im so comfused.

 

[Bing_Oh]

You're dealing with alot of questions that are still unanswered for most of us. There's alot of speculation about motivations and such that, hopefully, HL3 will clear up. I'll put my 2 cents in, though.

First, the story takes place in City 17 because it is the capitol of the Combine on Earth. Why is it in eastern Europe? Who knows. Maybe Valve just wanted someplace that looked different. Maybe there's actually a story-connected reason (eastern Europe was easier to pacify by the Combine or something).

Is Gordon the G-Man's only "weapon" (assuming that IS his purpose...a big IF right now)? Well, Corporal Adrian Shephard was taken by the G-Man in a very similar way at the end of OpFor. What's happened to Adrian? Nobody knows...yet.

The most accepted amount of time that Gordon has been missing is about 10 years. Alyx was already alive during the Black Mesa incident (I got the impression she was maybe 8 years old at the time). That would put her at about 18 during HL2...totally possible.

The aliens are all different...and all differently motivated, I'd think. The Vorts who are helping the resistance were slaves during HL. Gordon freed them through his actions, and, thus, they are grateful to the humans. Also, many of us think that they and thier homeworld, Xen, were under Combine control. So, they are willing to ally themselves to anyone opposing the Combine. The headcrabs and the zombies they create are native Xen wildlife being used as a sort of "biological weapon" by the Combine. The Combine gunships and striders seem to be biomechanical, and are, most likely, technology from another Combine-controlled world.

As for the Citadel, I'm guessing that its moving has alot to do with it "consuming" its surrounding environment. The Citadel seems to be eating up both the city around it and the ground under it, almost like it's mining it for resources.

All in all, this is alot of speculation. The real answers are, I'll bet, still hidden in the mind of Marc Laidlaw and the development crew at Valve.

 

[Armageddon00]

The Volti watevers - It seems that people have agreed that they were slaves of Nihlianth and now set free by you(gordon) who else should they befriend?

Open HL2 with -dev and -console in the command line
type thirdperson in the console (it worked in HL1 i havent tried it)

As for the time diffrence that is perplexing... If the Gman knew what was happening - and even if he didnt right away cause he has timetravel - why not send Gordon to save their asses before the Combine took over?

It seems there is a MUCH larger plot that none of us could begin to fathom..

 

[Shamrock]

The world may never know...

 

[Zlatko]

Hmm, interesting..

Ya, the citadel does look like it's consuming the surrounding area, so it grows bigger? But i dont know what it being bigger would accomplish..

The game was superb, but seriously, i think we can all agree..it could have introduced us the story a bit better..but i guess that's valve's plan, to make us all insane and wait for the sequel :|

 

[Armageddon00]

Hmm, interesting..
The game was superb, but seriously, i think we can all agree..it could have introduced us the story a bit better..but i guess that's valve's plan, to make us all insane and wait for the sequel :|

Damn you Valve... they realy know how to empty our wallets!

 

[Zlatko]

Also, another thing i dont get..

What is this whole thing about Gordon Freeman being treated like some kind of hero? or someone that the rebels will follow unquestionably.

I dont understand this, like, wasnt it his fault that all the aliens got out in the first one?

The whole game, all the rebels are like "GORDON FREEMAN?"

Wow..it's him..

How do all these people know what gordon did in half life 1? Or better yet..how do the scientists know what he did in some of the later levels? When you get further into the game, there are no scientists, they dont witness any of the things you did.

That's another one of those things i dont get, what's with this sense of Awe everywhere gordon goes?

 

[Armageddon00]

Maybe it was Barney he seems to be everywhere does he not?
and how far in the game are u talking about the Lambda scientists certainly know what he accomplished do they not?

EDIT : Your right nobody does witness the death of Nhilianith and the rest of them.

 

[Bing_Oh]

There are a couple of possible explanations as to how everybody knows about Gordon's exploits in HL.

First, there's the possibility that the G-Man has told the true story of Black Mesa. As unlikely as that sounds, we know that the G-Man has connections in the resistance (he's seen talking to the British colonel and how did Kleiner get Gordon's HEV suit if not from the G-Man?). Maybe hyping the exploits of Gordon Freeman fit his plans somehow...

Second possibility is info from the Vortigaunts. The Vorts share a consciousness and they clearly know what Gordon did on Xen at the end of HL. Plus, they don't seem to mind sharing their opinions of you to others.

As for WHY he's a hero instead of being blamed for the incident at Black Mesa, in all reality, Gordon wasn't at fault for the Resonance Cascade in HL. He was a low level scientist, not the head of the project.

Now, personally, I have a theory that Gordon's actions in HL actually DID cuase the Combine invasion, but it's nothing but a theory. And, even if it's true, it's not something that would be common knowledge to the characters in City 17.

 

[Zlatko]

^Tell me your theory, im interested

 

[Bing_Oh]

I've posted it over on the speculation page, but here ya go.

My theory is that Xen was under Combine control at the time the team at Black Mesa accidently discovered it. Nihilanth was the Xen equivilant of Dr. Breen...a figurehead leader...and the controllers, Vortigaunts, and grunts in HL were their version of the Overwatch in HL2 (biomechanically-modified soldiers, but originally inhabitants of Xen). Well, the Resonance Cascade in HL gained the attention of Nihilanth and the Combine-controlled forces on Xen, which led to the events in HL. When Gordon kills Nihilanth, this attracts the attention of the REAL Combine, who decide that Earth is a threat and invade. Thus, Gordon's killing of Nihilanth at the end of HL caused the invasion and occupation of Earth by the Combine that we see in HL2.

 

[serpent561]

the g-man took too many 'shrooms and told everyone about Gordon and Shephard then the next day, he was totally like "oh crap. ok guys, don't tell gordon i said taht cause he will freak out! seriously guys. especially you barney."

 

[Zlatko]

Bing_Oh..that's a VERY good analysis..i think thats probably the most correct assumption, although that's the Main story, im sure there are hundreds of little plot elements in terms of characters and sub stories..

Awesome man..

 

[Armageddon00]

I still dont understand why the Gman did not send Gordon into the war after all isnt it easier to prevent things than to stop them after?

 

[Zlatko]

^That's true...hmm..Valve BETTER do a good job explaining all this later...grrrr

 

[Bing_Oh]

Thanks, Zlatko. I'm still trying to figure out who the G-Man is and what his motivation are. I wonder if he isn't a rebel from another Combine-controlled world using Earth and Gordon to defeat the Combine...

That would actually make sense. The G-Man arranges the Resonance Cascade, bringing Earth into conflict with Xen, knowing that the Combine will step in. The idea being, of course, that "my enemy's enemy is my friend."

And, Armageddon, I got the distinct feeling that the 7 Hour War was an unstoppable event...even for Gordon. Imagine the Combine opening up countless portals across the globe, flooding the planet with invasion forces. Gordon was placed into City 17 at a critical time. The rebels had just gotten local teleportation working again. They were poised for an uprising against the Combine. All of Gordon's past associates were in one place working together. Without all of this, Gordon would not have succeeded in destroying the Dark Matter Reactor and the Combine teleporter (which appears to have been the goal that the G-Man had for Gordon all along).

 

[Armageddon00]

Ok Bing_oh lets say the war was unpreventable BUT valve seems to have dug a deep hole with this timetravel thing if the Gman can timetravel (which is probably true after all its not like Gordon has been in a black room sense Black Mesa) why not just kill the Combine before they take over his planet or better yet blow them up before they even get strong!

 

[Zlatko]

Im more concerned with the fact that when you get teleported with alyx..it is a WEEK late.

Time machine.

 

[Armageddon00]

Ah HAH!!! Maybe the teleporters cant handle the two person load and it takes longer to move the people across the space thus creating the gap!!!!! :afro:

 

[porus]

i am guessing that city 17 is not in america because america most likely put up the biggest fight against the combine and was probably completely obliterated.

 

[Bing_Oh]

I'm not so sure that the G-Man CAN travel through time. I know there's alot of speculation on this, but I personally don't see overwhelming evidence that it's true.

I think there's a good chance that what we see the G-Man doing to Gordon is using the same "slow telelportation" that Kleiner talks about as a form of stasis. Gordon is locked in this teleportation while the world moves on outside, only to reappear when the G-Man sees the right time and place for him. Remember, the G-Man never stays with Gordon in the void...he always leaves...indicating that he is watching and waiting for the right time and place to use his best "employee."

 

[Armageddon00]

right time and place to use his best "employee."

Well 'Best' i dont know after all that has the most speculation are we the only ones??

And anyhoo I think that the theroy about the slow teleportation would make sense but what about the 1 week delay ? could it realy be that the teleporters can handle 2?

 

[Bing_Oh]

I suppose it's a possibility that the teleporters have a problem handling more then one person, but, then, Mossman and Eli would have had the same problem.

 

[Armageddon00]

True.. Then why the hell or better yet where the hell where they? :angry: :angry:

 

[Is This Tea]

i am guessing that city 17 is not in america because america most likely put up the biggest fight against the combine and was probably completely obliterated.

Agreed. Eastern Europe seems a likely destination for westerners whose countries were probably devastated by the 7 hour war. If that is how events played out.
Also, I have said this before but just because the G-man can slow down or stop the passage of time does note necessarily mean that he can reverse it or that he chooses to reverse it. Who knows?

True.. Then why the hell or better yet where the hell where they? :angry: :angry:

It might have something to do with teleportation devise blowing nova prospekt sky high. A combine elite shoots an energy ball at you just as you teleport away.

 

[Armageddon00]

But that dosent explain how gordon and alyx missed 7 days of there lives in a void!? (it had to be a void because we see EVERYTHING that Gordon sees so we would have seen soemthing else)

 

[Zlatko]

I'm not so sure that the G-Man CAN travel through time. I know there's alot of speculation on this, but I personally don't see overwhelming evidence that it's true.

I think there's a good chance that what we see the G-Man doing to Gordon is using the same "slow telelportation" that Kleiner talks about as a form of stasis. Gordon is locked in this teleportation while the world moves on outside, only to reappear when the G-Man sees the right time and place for him. Remember, the G-Man never stays with Gordon in the void...he always leaves...indicating that he is watching and waiting for the right time and place to use his best "employee."

Hmm...as much as i like the time travel theory..you DO have a good point about the status field type thing..

That might explain quite a few things as well..including black mesa to city 17 in a few minutes.

 

[Lithium893]

I'm not so sure that the G-Man CAN travel through time. I know there's alot of speculation on this, but I personally don't see overwhelming evidence that it's true.

I think there's a good chance that what we see the G-Man doing to Gordon is using the same "slow telelportation" that Kleiner talks about as a form of stasis. Gordon is locked in this teleportation while the world moves on outside, only to reappear when the G-Man sees the right time and place for him. Remember, the G-Man never stays with Gordon in the void...he always leaves...indicating that he is watching and waiting for the right time and place to use his best "employee."

It makes sense to me. The last thing that happens is The G-man says it's his stop and walks out a door to leave you in darkness.

 

[Kramer318]

The Vortigaunts call him the Free Man. Probably a good play on words since he freed the Vortigaunts from Nihilanth and the Combine. Looked to me like Breen was talking to another Nihilanth type character in the Citadel.