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WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS. Oh and by the way, Alyx turns out
to be Gordon's mother.[br]
[br]
Half-Life 2 has been and gone. It's over. You've played every level, you've found
every secret, you've squashed every headcrab with a filing cabinet. There's nothing
more to say. And with the ending being somewhat of a cliff-hanger (understatement
of the year), you probably can't wait for HL3.[br]
[br]
Which is why we decided to write this handy article, taking a look at the many possibilities
for the sequel to the sequel to the best game ever. This article collects the opinions,
theories, and hypotheses of many Half-Life 2.net celebrities, forumites, or random
drunkards that accosted me in the street.[br]
[br]
The first thing we did was ask my friend Alex. "With the increasing state of realism,"
he said, "with time the date of release will have lots to do with the realism which
can greatly inflict gameplay."[br]
[br]
Well, he obviously had no idea what he was talking about.[br]
[br]
Luckily, there were many experts in the field of sequel prediction just sitting
around in the HL2.net IRC channel.[br]
[br]
"Biozeminades," suggested Pesmerga. "They will conquer the entire earth and Freeman
will lose and you'll return as the Pillsbury Dough Boy."[br]
[br]
What was certain was that the graphics would be amazing. But as Bram noted, predicting
a bright future for the crazy world of graphics acceleration doesn't exactly require
prophetic qualities. Everybody was in agreement that HL3 would have, as Pesmerga
put it, "uber graphics".[br]
[br]
Anything else?[br]
[br]
"Lamarr is the Jesus of head crabs," said Pesmerga. "Lesbian prophet of god."[br]
[br]
The IRC channel was obviously not going to be much use in my hunt for information
on Half-Life 3. However, Edcrab was on hand with his take on the matter. "The size
and detail of some of Half-Life 2’s environs - particularly City 17’s dilapidated
edifices - screams, to me at least, the possibility of a sequel with greater player
freedom and thus greater scope and replay value." I buttered a crumpet and he went
on. "Admittedly the chance of an entirely non-linear action experience is minuscule
(and not to mention impractical), but as AI and terrain responsiveness increases
so does the atmosphere of the game itself."[br]
[br]
Certainly, it would seem like a good idea for Valve to allow freedom on a small
scale. One idea would be designing the single-player sequences a bit like multiplayer
maps. Take the Day of Defeat map, Avalanche. DoD and WW2 veterans alike will remember
its structure: a wide cluttered street down which you must fight. However, there
were also many cunning alternate routes and cubbyholes - up the church tower, through
a residential building overlooking the road. Imagine fleeing the Combine through
the streets and actually being able to evade them by taking back doors and alleyways,
jumping from windows, climbing fire escapes, hiding in darkened buildings.[br]
[br]
Moving on to the plot. Figuring out what might or might not happen in the sequel
is like trying to fine a needle in space. Rather harder than a haystack, no? A lot
of people said they hoped more of the plot would be explained to them - HL2 was
sometimes criticized for not providing enough exposition and leaving the player
confused. "I personally adored every moment of the sequels mysterious goings-on,
but a lack of detailed explanation and focus could really wear a bit thin in future,"
sighed Edcrab. Friendly neighbourhood moderator Bliink agreed. "It'll be nice to
get some more plot info, to have the game tied down a little."[br]
[br]
Tr0n offered a rare scientific certainty amidst all this vague speculation. "I came
up with a simple calculation on how great HL3 will be," he said. </p>
[br]
He Who Is Steve made an important point (after appearing dramatically in a flash
of light and a puff of blue smoke). "More important than "what will HL3 be like",
I think, is "like, where will HL3 be?" It's a fair point. Nobody expected that a
sequel to HL1 would take place in a bleak 1984-inspired future world, with heavy
Communist Europe cold war overtones. "The leap from HL1 to HL2 took us half way
around the world," Stever pointed out. "From the Navajo Desert to Eastern Europe.
How much farther will we travel in HL3? Will it be another world? Another dimension?
Or is Earth destined to be the epic battleground on which all these events come
to close?"[br]
[br]
"I don't think Valve would want to put it too far in the future - neither of the
games so far have been ridiculously far away, time wise," said notorious drunk-poster
and sponge superstar El Chi (no offence Chi). And our very own Simmo banged his
fist on his head and threatened to kill himself if players didn't find out more
about the G-Man this time around. We wouldn't want that, would we?[br]
[br]
In fact, this was a recurring theme (the G-Man, not suicide). HL2 was so infuriatingly
mysterious. Who is the G-Man? Who is he working for? What, in fact, is he? And how
the hell did Lamarr get back to Kleiner's lab after being teleported out with you
near the beginning?[br]
[br]
Our very own Mr Badger was stumped. "I have no idea," he said, shrugging. "I see
a new alien race with distant connections to the combine."[br]
[br]
"All that I can seriously say," offered Bliink, "is that I think it'll have a whole
load of symbolism in there. Marc Laidlaw really loves his metaphors." El Chi piped
up: "I think so much rests on the nature of the Xen/Combine relationship and whether
people's theories about an inter-dimensional war hold any kind of substance."[br]
[br]
But what of that pesky government agent with his crooked smile and scary voice?
"I suspect that he’s a higher being who hires himself out- and thus the services
of the “agents” he forces into his recruitment, such as Gordon Freeman himself-
to the highest bidder, as Breen himself alludes to when referring to Freeman’s “contract”
near the endgame," Edcrab explained. It's certainly true he seems to be some sort
of immensely powerful secret agent - albeit one who can control the flow of time
(so he's probably not simply a government spook).[br]
[br]
Of course, one very popular theory is that the G-Man is in fact Gordon from the
future. Apparently, the fact that G-Man could be an abbreviation for Gordon Freeman
is considered evidence for this. Okay, so he can also control time, but I'll neatly
gloss over that. The 'Gordon-Freeman' theory is generally regarded as utter rubbish.
Would Valve work such a tacky and ridiculous plot twist into HL3?[br]
[br]
"I just hope the G-Man ISN'T Gordon," lamented El Chi. "Or I'll cry."[br]
[br]
All in all, nobody really knows anything about HL3. It's likely it'll be set on
Earth...but will it be the Earth we know anymore? What of the Combine? They weren't
destroyed in HL2. They'll be back. Many people are assuming that HL3 will be the
final part of the 'trilogy' - but we may end up with a trilogy Hitchiker's guide
style.[br]
[br]
"What if the Combine isn’t the only power-hungry super-empire?" mused Edcrab. "What
if there are powers that make the integrated, absorbed species of that force look
positively puny? What if the G-man is, in truth, a representative of one such empire,
and he’s actually manipulating Gordon into clearing a path for himself and/or his
peers?"[br]
[br]
What if? There's a comic called The Invisibles, where basically everything we know,
our whole reality, is an enormous conspiracy, controlled by an alien race far superior
to us. Earth is just one tiny cog in the machine. In HL3, will Earth be the spanner
in the works? [br]
[br]
There's one thing that particularly stuck in my mind about that comic. A character
in it claimed that the human mind, a brilliantly trained, genius-level human mind,
is - on the level that these aliens exist on - nothing more than the equivalent
of a nuclear bomb. Jesus was one of these bombs. Buddha was one. And Earth is just
one factory of a billion, all packed together like cells in a beehive, all creating
these mind-bombs for an alien war far beyond comprehension...[br]
[br]
Is this a good analogy for our relationship with Valve? Valve have a higher purpose,
are planning everything towards a final goal, and there's no way we can possibly
understand it until the pieces are in place. They know what's going on, but it's
completely beyond us. In a sense, the G-Man is Valve. [br]
[br]
I'll leave the final word to Bliink:</p>
old thread.
to be Gordon's mother.[br]
[br]
Half-Life 2 has been and gone. It's over. You've played every level, you've found
every secret, you've squashed every headcrab with a filing cabinet. There's nothing
more to say. And with the ending being somewhat of a cliff-hanger (understatement
of the year), you probably can't wait for HL3.[br]
[br]
Which is why we decided to write this handy article, taking a look at the many possibilities
for the sequel to the sequel to the best game ever. This article collects the opinions,
theories, and hypotheses of many Half-Life 2.net celebrities, forumites, or random
drunkards that accosted me in the street.[br]
[br]
The first thing we did was ask my friend Alex. "With the increasing state of realism,"
he said, "with time the date of release will have lots to do with the realism which
can greatly inflict gameplay."[br]
[br]
Well, he obviously had no idea what he was talking about.[br]
[br]
Luckily, there were many experts in the field of sequel prediction just sitting
around in the HL2.net IRC channel.[br]
[br]
"Biozeminades," suggested Pesmerga. "They will conquer the entire earth and Freeman
will lose and you'll return as the Pillsbury Dough Boy."[br]
[br]
What was certain was that the graphics would be amazing. But as Bram noted, predicting
a bright future for the crazy world of graphics acceleration doesn't exactly require
prophetic qualities. Everybody was in agreement that HL3 would have, as Pesmerga
put it, "uber graphics".[br]
[br]
Anything else?[br]
[br]
"Lamarr is the Jesus of head crabs," said Pesmerga. "Lesbian prophet of god."[br]
[br]
The IRC channel was obviously not going to be much use in my hunt for information
on Half-Life 3. However, Edcrab was on hand with his take on the matter. "The size
and detail of some of Half-Life 2’s environs - particularly City 17’s dilapidated
edifices - screams, to me at least, the possibility of a sequel with greater player
freedom and thus greater scope and replay value." I buttered a crumpet and he went
on. "Admittedly the chance of an entirely non-linear action experience is minuscule
(and not to mention impractical), but as AI and terrain responsiveness increases
so does the atmosphere of the game itself."[br]
[br]
Certainly, it would seem like a good idea for Valve to allow freedom on a small
scale. One idea would be designing the single-player sequences a bit like multiplayer
maps. Take the Day of Defeat map, Avalanche. DoD and WW2 veterans alike will remember
its structure: a wide cluttered street down which you must fight. However, there
were also many cunning alternate routes and cubbyholes - up the church tower, through
a residential building overlooking the road. Imagine fleeing the Combine through
the streets and actually being able to evade them by taking back doors and alleyways,
jumping from windows, climbing fire escapes, hiding in darkened buildings.[br]
[br]
Moving on to the plot. Figuring out what might or might not happen in the sequel
is like trying to fine a needle in space. Rather harder than a haystack, no? A lot
of people said they hoped more of the plot would be explained to them - HL2 was
sometimes criticized for not providing enough exposition and leaving the player
confused. "I personally adored every moment of the sequels mysterious goings-on,
but a lack of detailed explanation and focus could really wear a bit thin in future,"
sighed Edcrab. Friendly neighbourhood moderator Bliink agreed. "It'll be nice to
get some more plot info, to have the game tied down a little."[br]
[br]
Tr0n offered a rare scientific certainty amidst all this vague speculation. "I came
up with a simple calculation on how great HL3 will be," he said. </p>
<p>Now that's science.[br]
[br]
He Who Is Steve made an important point (after appearing dramatically in a flash
of light and a puff of blue smoke). "More important than "what will HL3 be like",
I think, is "like, where will HL3 be?" It's a fair point. Nobody expected that a
sequel to HL1 would take place in a bleak 1984-inspired future world, with heavy
Communist Europe cold war overtones. "The leap from HL1 to HL2 took us half way
around the world," Stever pointed out. "From the Navajo Desert to Eastern Europe.
How much farther will we travel in HL3? Will it be another world? Another dimension?
Or is Earth destined to be the epic battleground on which all these events come
to close?"[br]
[br]
"I don't think Valve would want to put it too far in the future - neither of the
games so far have been ridiculously far away, time wise," said notorious drunk-poster
and sponge superstar El Chi (no offence Chi). And our very own Simmo banged his
fist on his head and threatened to kill himself if players didn't find out more
about the G-Man this time around. We wouldn't want that, would we?[br]
[br]
In fact, this was a recurring theme (the G-Man, not suicide). HL2 was so infuriatingly
mysterious. Who is the G-Man? Who is he working for? What, in fact, is he? And how
the hell did Lamarr get back to Kleiner's lab after being teleported out with you
near the beginning?[br]
[br]
Our very own Mr Badger was stumped. "I have no idea," he said, shrugging. "I see
a new alien race with distant connections to the combine."[br]
[br]
"All that I can seriously say," offered Bliink, "is that I think it'll have a whole
load of symbolism in there. Marc Laidlaw really loves his metaphors." El Chi piped
up: "I think so much rests on the nature of the Xen/Combine relationship and whether
people's theories about an inter-dimensional war hold any kind of substance."[br]
[br]
But what of that pesky government agent with his crooked smile and scary voice?
"I suspect that he’s a higher being who hires himself out- and thus the services
of the “agents” he forces into his recruitment, such as Gordon Freeman himself-
to the highest bidder, as Breen himself alludes to when referring to Freeman’s “contract”
near the endgame," Edcrab explained. It's certainly true he seems to be some sort
of immensely powerful secret agent - albeit one who can control the flow of time
(so he's probably not simply a government spook).[br]
[br]
Of course, one very popular theory is that the G-Man is in fact Gordon from the
future. Apparently, the fact that G-Man could be an abbreviation for Gordon Freeman
is considered evidence for this. Okay, so he can also control time, but I'll neatly
gloss over that. The 'Gordon-Freeman' theory is generally regarded as utter rubbish.
Would Valve work such a tacky and ridiculous plot twist into HL3?[br]
[br]
"I just hope the G-Man ISN'T Gordon," lamented El Chi. "Or I'll cry."[br]
[br]
All in all, nobody really knows anything about HL3. It's likely it'll be set on
Earth...but will it be the Earth we know anymore? What of the Combine? They weren't
destroyed in HL2. They'll be back. Many people are assuming that HL3 will be the
final part of the 'trilogy' - but we may end up with a trilogy Hitchiker's guide
style.[br]
[br]
"What if the Combine isn’t the only power-hungry super-empire?" mused Edcrab. "What
if there are powers that make the integrated, absorbed species of that force look
positively puny? What if the G-man is, in truth, a representative of one such empire,
and he’s actually manipulating Gordon into clearing a path for himself and/or his
peers?"[br]
[br]
What if? There's a comic called The Invisibles, where basically everything we know,
our whole reality, is an enormous conspiracy, controlled by an alien race far superior
to us. Earth is just one tiny cog in the machine. In HL3, will Earth be the spanner
in the works? [br]
[br]
There's one thing that particularly stuck in my mind about that comic. A character
in it claimed that the human mind, a brilliantly trained, genius-level human mind,
is - on the level that these aliens exist on - nothing more than the equivalent
of a nuclear bomb. Jesus was one of these bombs. Buddha was one. And Earth is just
one factory of a billion, all packed together like cells in a beehive, all creating
these mind-bombs for an alien war far beyond comprehension...[br]
[br]
Is this a good analogy for our relationship with Valve? Valve have a higher purpose,
are planning everything towards a final goal, and there's no way we can possibly
understand it until the pieces are in place. They know what's going on, but it's
completely beyond us. In a sense, the G-Man is Valve. [br]
[br]
I'll leave the final word to Bliink:</p>
<p>You can find many interesting HL3 theories at this
old thread.
