Newbie Needs Background on HL & HL2 - Long Post

[yiotta]

Sorry, but I can't find an answer to this...
I am BRAND NEW to HL2.... I am a longtimer computer gamer... all the way back to Bards Tale and earlier... I have never enjoyed the first person shooter games....
I purchased HL2 for upcoming mods, especially Shadows of Winter: http://sow.thelostprophecies.com/mar2005.htm

Well, I went ahead and purchased HL2 last night, just to see what it was about, really not planning on playing it much. Loaded it up while reading my email and tinkering with other tasks...

Booted the game, graphics were a little weak, went into options and saw the resolution was preset at pretty low levels, turned it up to 1600x1200 (I have a nice 21" Flatscreen) and went back to the main screen.....

GASP GASP GASP GASP GASP ...hold breath....


Absolutely the most amazing graphics I have EVER seen on my computer.... I was so shocked that I just sat there and stared at it, and this was just the intro scene!!

Check out the clock, what time is it..... 11PM..... oh, what the heck, I can just play it for a sec and see what the gameplay looks like....

NEW GAME...... START.....

Pause..... loading..... dang taking a long time....... maybe I will just go to bed, I shouldn't stay up too late..... BANG LOAD SCENE!!

OMG! GASP GASP ...... (rinse and repeat above)

The graphics are amazing!! Well, now what do I do? Get off this bus/tram thing I guess... ok the directions say W to go forward.... wow look around!! What is that soldier doing... walk up to him... BAP!! OUCH!! What the.... not a friendly place!!

Anyway, that went on for an hour or so, I ended up on a roof being chased for I don't know why... no where to go... jumped... died.... reloaded in the same place.... jumped... died....

OK enough, time for some sleep, this looks like it is going to surprise me and be a LOT of FUN! I have never been a fan of first person shooters... this game looks like a winner.... can't wait to give it another go....

I cannot even imagine what SOW is going to look like with this incredible game engine... I am truely at a loss, never seen anything like it!!

So, after that intro,

HERE IS MY QUESTION:
I know nothing, I mean nothing of HL/HL2.
Where can I find a brief storyline? I need some background and I am not going to get it by jumping into this game. I need the whats/why's/how's/history.... suggestion on where I can find this in a "brief" format?
Also, is this game a multiperson too? What is the difference between the solo and multi if so? What is Source?
I am truely a newbie to HL... point me in the right direction please, time to stop CityOfHeroes
Roger L

 

[J_Tweedy]

In terms of the single player story, you are Gordon Freeman, working for the 'GMan" (you don't know who or what that is yet) after the half-life one story.

I thouroughly recommend playing HL, (it's better than HL2) but if you don't want to, just google the story for HL and that will put you in the right place in terms of storyline.

 

[Hectic Glenn]

Hey, glad to see you are enjoying the game after only being 0.01% into it. It gets better believe us, much better. You know what a gravity gun is?

If you want to understand the story go here
http://fragfiles.org/~hlstory//

You basically wake up after sleeping for ages and HL2 begins, Gman is controlling you it seems, and puts you in the train.

Multiplayer...there are two types currently (official MP)
Counter Strike Source, which is Counter strike on this new engine
Halflife 2 Deathmatch, which is Deathmatch on the source engine with proper physics, a DM with a difference (really really awesome)
Oh and many mods coming shortly as you know, one of which called sven co-op2, which will allow you to play Halflife 2 missions online with friends, watch out for that one.

Anyhow thats all your questions i believe, go ahead and play, its your first time, i think we all miss that amazing feeling. I can't believe you thought you wasn't going to bother playing it!
Oh any other questions and if you get stuck just ask on these forums everyones nice here. And welcome!

 

[ríomhaire]

Source is the shiny new engine HL2 uses.
THere are guides (like mine) but they give away everything and contradict eachother an awful lot. You only play 1 person, Gordon Freeman, he's a theoretical physicist. You are Gordan Valve designed the game with total imersion in mind. You never hear Gordon talk or his hand except when you are using weapons and at a certain point.

I HL1 you triggered an accedent called the resonace cascade at a US top secret research facility called Black Mesa. Aliens started teleporting in and you have to fight your way out. The military show up and start trying to kill all aliens and survivers. You make your way to a lab called the Lambda Research Centre and you teleport to an alien world called Xen. You eventualy make your way to the lord of Xen who is called Nihilanth. You kill him and the g-man (short for government man ie government agent [but as you will find out some idiots think it is short for Gordon Freeman and that he is Gordon from the future]), who has been watching you throughout the game, teleports you away and gives you a job offer. You can accept or die. HL2 assumes you accept. As you have probably guessed the g-man is the one you see at the start of HL2.

 

[yiotta]

OK, I will check out that weblink for history.
1) HL is BETTER than HL2???? really???
2) What is the difference between Solo and group play? Is it PVP (always hated that) or is it a squad that completes tasks together?
Thanks for the guidance!!
I know, I can't believe I considered buying it just for the game engine!! DUH!!

 

[Jandor]

I'll warn you now.

This thread has a 86% chance of changing into a large 10 page debate about the Half life/Half Life 2 storyline, as a lot of it is open to speculation.

Play through Black Mesa East to find a notice board with lots of headlines about what happened in the lead up to Half Life 2.

also, visit the 'Rumours and Speculation' forum, read through the 'Xen - Combine controlled or not' thread and the older, but still relevant 'Combine and Xen Connection (A long, Comprehensive Theory of evererything HL)' thread.
There is also the: 'My comprehensive theory for everything in HL1 and 2' thread.


That is what all the most nerdy members of this forum have to say about the storyline .

EDIT: I didn't read your post carefully enough . Those guides do give away EVERYTHING. If your just looking for the background, there probably not what your after.

 

[yiotta]

Yep, certainly don't want spoilers... at least not until I get stuck!!
Just looking for background and history to start with...

 

[yiotta]

After reading a little bit and skipping the spoilers, it almost seems that I should play HL first!!
Of course, there is no way that it looks as good (graphics) as HL2!

 

[Hectic Glenn]

The game is what makes Halflife 1, which is why the game and the mods are so popular, its a non-debated fact valve controls the biggest portion of online gaming with an average 60,000-100,000 people playing Counter strike (the HL1 mod) constantly. Check the people playing here http://www.steampowered.com/status/game_stats.html.

The questions on MP you asked.
Counter Strike Source is two teams, Counter terrorists and terrorists, and they have objectives each, but you mainly wanna kill each other. You buy your guns each round, and its basically cts vs terrorists, human controlled both sides (but you can play with bots offline if you like)

Halflife 2 Deathmatch is just everyone killing each other (gravity gun and physics kills are awesomely hilarious you'll see) Or alternatively team deathmatch can be on, which is similar to Counter strike source. HL2DM has all the Halflife 2 weapons, Counter Strike Source has its own different weapons.

The unofficial mods coming out like sven co-op2 i mentioned, that will be a team of human players vs the AI in the game. It will rock immensely. This mod is currently available to play for the original halflife, and its great. Halflife is still massively popular still now all these years on. Play it (or wait till the mod team for Black Mesa Source finish their port of Halflife 1 onto the source engine)

 

[J_Tweedy]

I dont really think you need to play Half-life, just read up on what happened in terms of the storyline. But yes, in my opinion, Half-life was better that HL2. That's just my opinion, there are probably more people that think otherwise.

 

[ríomhaire]

http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=53357&highlight=Half-life+fact+file
This is everything from HL1 the 2 expantions and the co-op PS2 game Decay.

 

[Cole]

The game is what makes Halflife 1, which is why the game and the mods are so popular, its a non-debated fact valve controls the biggest portion of online gaming with an average 60,000-100,000 people playing Counter strike (the HL1 mod) constantly. Check the people playing here http://www.steampowered.com/status/game_stats.html.

True but the biggest Online Gaming Network would be Battle.net, 200k-300k average.
I've seen it get up to 350k...
I also know that D2 use to get 80k average a few years ago.



I love HL and HL2 equally, they are both great games and thats all you really must understand .

 

[Illusion]

Well.
I think you're suffering from a thing that all of us suffer when play HL2.
"Danm, i missed something?!"

When you play Half-Life 2, you can feel "lost" into the storyline. "Combine? City 17?" but its normal, everybody feels it, and playing HL1 will not help.

Of course if you play HL1 you will play a great game, and so on, but if you play trying to understand more the HL2 story, you will feel cheated.
The basic thing that we all know and you "dont" is: G-Man is a freak, a misterous guy who appears everywhere, and on the end of HL1 he asks you to "join him" and you, of course, accept.
And just that, no explanation about "Combine, City 17, Rebels" and so on.

What i would recomend is, if you can download the HL:Source, you should do it, and play it because of the gameplay, and not thinking about HL2 storyline.

Thats it man, best wishes.

 

[yiotta]

Well, I have been playing HL2 and really enjoying it. Don't totally follow the storyline, but just going the direction and fighting my way through the things that the NPCs are telling me to
Played CS: Source, great game, getting my butt kicked.... would like to join an adult group that I could play with to improve my skills and enjoy the group, rather then the punks I have run into so far....

 

[Vorac1ous]

Unfortunately there are few mature servers, & it is sad to see that. However, if you live in the U.S, then I normallly play here if you are interested: www.wolfgaming.net

 

[Sufferin-rebel]

(Note to the Thread Creator) There is an Upcoming Mod (Which will probaly take a year) Which is Converting HL1 to the Source Engine. and yes Valve did make Half life:Source.. THe difference is it was a Simple Port.. Black Mesa Source will completey update HL1, I for one will be looking forward to it

 

[Joe Nomalos]

I am commenting on the debate over whether you do or do not have to play Half-Life 1 to enjoy Half-Life 2. The answer is simple. If you don't care about the game's story in particluar and just wan't awesome graphics, AI, and a bitchin game then you don't need to but if you want the full Half-Life experience, history and all you not only should play Half-Life 1 but Opposing Force, Blue Shift, Decay, and anything else you can get your hand on. It rocks.

 

[Solver]

You should pay HL1 at any rate, it's great. And it will enhance the experience.

As for the storyline. I recommend you don't read any big theories, analysis or such now. It will spoil HL2 for you and prevent you from making your own conclusions. I'll now write everything you need to know about the HL1 story.

You are Gordon Freeman, a scientist in the Black Mesa facility. It's a high-tech super-secret research base in New Mexico. Note that everything happens around you, as you see it, you never hear Gordon Freeman talk, and noone explicitly tells you stuff very clearly - no "story guides". As the developers put it, you (the player) are Gordon Freeman. So, as HL1 starts, you're riding on a train within Black Mesa. You arrive to a section of the base called Anomalous Materials, where the security guard mentions you're running late. While on the train, you also saw a man in a blue suit and with a briefcase in another train. In Anomalous Materials, you can talk to other scientists running around and find out that there's some test scheduled and scientists are waiting for you in the test chamber. Also, there was a base-wide system crash early that morning.
You proceed through the hallways and in one of the rooms you can see a scientist talking to the man in the suit, but you can't get in. Then you get your HEV suit, a suit designed to protect people during dangerous experiments, as well as from radiation, etc. In your HEV, you proceed to the test chamber, where scientists tell you "it's the purest sample yet". Another scientist says that there's a possibility of a resonance cascade because the equipment is pushed beyond its limits and that the Administrator had been warned about that.
The scientsts let you in the chamber. You push some buttons, in the middle of the room, rotors start, and there's a beam. A cart with some yellow crystal comes up (it's that "purest sample"). You're told to push the cart into the beam, which you do. As soon as you do, stuff starts blowing up. Darkness. You see yourself in a strange greenish place with weird creatures around you. Darkness. You see yourself in another strange place surrounded by more creatures. Darkness. You're back in the test chamber, the alarms are sounding.
You make it out of the test chamber and see the scientists that were just outside are dead. You make your way further back, and a black scientist (Eli Vance, but not named then) tells you to go and inform the army to come rescue you. You go further and see some small creatures teleport in - headcrabs. They're like small crabs that jump on you. You run past one, find a crowbar (your first weapon) in one of the hallways, and then make your way back to the Anomalous Materials lobby, where a security guard can be seen shooting some zombies.
From that point on, you go through different levels fighting alien creatures, solving puzzles and getting some help at times. Several times, you encounter the man in the blue suit - he's always out of reach, standing somewhere and watching you, then walking away. And when you get to where he was seen, there's no sign of him anymore.
Then, you see that the army has arrived (someone's called them, apparently, you didn't). One of the scientists runs happily to a marine, "we're rescued at last", but the marine kills the scientist. The marines are trying to kill everything that isn't them, that includes aliens, other scientists and you. They want to cover everything up.
At one point, marines catch you and drop you into a trash compactor, taking away your weapons. You escape, finding a crowbar. Soon, you get to a lab where you see the alien creatures were studied and preserved. This means that they were here before that test went wrong.
You finally get to the surface, and you see that the army is engaging the aliens. Marines fight the alien creatures, fighter jets follow some strange alien craft and even tanks are deployed. You need to kill a lot to get further.
Finally, you come to the Lambda Complex, where the surviving science team is. The scientists tell you that during teleporation experiments, they opened portal to a place they call "the borderworld", Xen. And now the portal from Xen to Earth is held open by some creature on that side. You must go to Xen.
Lambda scientists open a portal to Xen for you and you go through. Xen looks really, really weird, and you got to see it (though gameplay wise it's the worst part). You fight Gonarch, a Headcrab mother, get to see some sort of biofactory where alien soldiers are produced and finally you come to the Nihilanth, the creature holding the portal open. Nihilanth looks like a giant human baby with stiches and amputated legs, and it floats in the air, lights around its head. On the walls of his chamber, there are three yellow crystals (like the ones you pushed in the test chamber). You destroy the crystals on the walls and unleash massive firepower on Nihilanth, and then his head opens, and you destroy his brains. Note: Nihilanth also says some things, like "slaves... we are their slaves... we are", "last... i am the last... i am", "you are man, he is not man, for you he waits, for you", "thieves... you all are thieves... you all are", and a few others.
When the Nihilanth is dead, you get teleported to someplace in Xen and in front of you stands this man in the blue suit you've seen quite a few times (I'll refer to him as the G-Man, as that's how he's called usually). The G-Man gives you an interesting speech, some excerpts: "I have taken your weapons, most of them were, after all, government property"; "The borderworld, Xen, is in our control then, for the time being. Quite a nasty piece of work you managed over there, I am impressed" (you see tanks on Xen). Then he says that you have "limitless potential" and "my employees have authorised me to offer you a job". You are teleported onto a train like in the beginning, only it's now going through the stars. The GMan says you can take his job offer (about which you don't really know much) or die. It's your choice then. If you accept, you see SUBJECT: Freeman STATUS:Hired. Awaiting assignement.

That's it. HL2 assumes you took the job, of course. When you start a game of HL2, you see the GMan talking to you, and he puts you on that train. You're not supposed to know anything else. Play HL2, find out the story there, make conclusions, try to make sense of it.

Oh, so you meet Eli Vance in HL2, and the Administrator of Black Mesa from HL1 (which you never saw in HL1) is Dr. Breen.