Hi about the plot to aftermath (HL2 ending spoilers)

[Pip]

Sorry if this seems a gormless question but i've been trawling some of the threads but at the end of HL2 the g-man stops/slows time and wisks you away to your kind of limbo thing there to await another assignment........how the hell can you be then escaping the citadel, the g-man wants to keep you safe to fulfill some of these 'offers for your services'

Not to be too technical here but dont most expansions have a subplot to the main game with you as a secondary character. If you play as gordan freeman wouldn't that kind of make it the 3rd half life. The HL expanions had Sheppard and Barney calhoun. With occasional glimpses of scenes from the main game:

Sheppard - Always hearing about 'Freeman' and then seeing him jump into the portal at the tip of the lambda reactor.
Barney - seeing freeman go past on the monorail then watch him being dragged by the two soldiers to the crusher.

If its not expanding the storyline in a different locale/character but continuing our heros adventures then its more a sequal then an expansion yes?

Dont get me wrong I cant wait to HL3 but part of the reason i enjoyed HL2 so much was the gaps in the storyline between it and the original - added to the mystery. Think how cool it would of been playing HL3 wndering what happened to alex or kleiner or someone then BHAM you find out. If you know they get out safely and make it to freedom.............I dunno I guess I'm rambling, i suppose I wanted to just play The Dude (freeman) in the big jaw dropper main games and kill time in RL till then by expanding the game world with 2nd tier chars.

 

[Draculas_Guest]

This has been on my mind as well. I'm excited about Aftermath, but surely if your playing Gordon then it'll be a bit more essential than a regular expansion pack?
I mean you dont need to buy Op4 or Blueshift to understand HL2, they're nice little extras that provide a different perspective on things.
It just feels a bit "wrong" to be playing Gordon in something like this. Its like having HL 2.5

 

[Asknoone]

He doesnt stop time, he stops it for gordon

 

[Laivasse]

I share the worries of the original poster. What Valve have described so far seems more like an "Ending Patch" than an expansion. I happen to like the ending and don't want to see it "patched".

For the record, before any rumours of an expansion were made concrete, I was saying that Valve were better off just screwing any expansions and focussing on getting HL3 developed sooner. Not because I didn't want to play an expansion, since I'm sure it'll be well made and fun to play, but because I knew it would screw with the story.

And what happens? Valve announce an expansion that screws up the story.

Attention, rank leaders;

Universe. has. just been. P00wnt3d by. Laivasse.

 

[AIDisabled]

You folks will probably hate me for this, but what if Aftermath is a part of HL3? What if Valve just keeps on releasing such episodes in the future? Say twelve or thirteen episodes, and then one last episode which concludes the rest. That's HL3.

I'll get my helmet now, go easy with the brickbats.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

You folks will probably hate me for this, but what if Aftermath is a part of HL3? What if Valve just keeps on releasing such episodes in the future? Say twelve or thirteen episodes, and then one last episode which concludes the rest. That's HL3.

I'll get my helmet now, go easy with the brickbats.

Then it's a sequel which messes up the story instead of an expansion, big difference?
I have no idea how VALVe is gonna do Aftermath without destroying the ending of HL2, which is why I keep envisioning Marc Laidlaw laughing at us from his computer watching this thread, saying to himself that they have no idea of what lies up ahead. I pray to god this vision is true and laidlaw has some fan-testicle-tastical plot devised.

 

[AIDisabled]

Oh, I'm sure Laidlaw won't screw it up. I mean, he didn't screw HL2 up, did he? And we were all so worried about Half Life 2 not being able to hold up to the original.

 

[Rossell]

You folks will probably hate me for this, but what if Aftermath is a part of HL3? What if Valve just keeps on releasing such episodes in the future? Say twelve or thirteen episodes, and then one last episode which concludes the rest. That's HL3.

I'll get my helmet now, go easy with the brickbats.

As horrible as it is, you do have a valid point.