Some reminders about G-Man

[mayfer]

after i've thought about what happened in both HL1 and HL2, i've realized some things that have not been talked about much, mainly about G-Man.

- in the beginning of HL1, we see g-man talking to Eli (or another scientist, i don't really remember) in a room, and we hear g-man say things such as "that's not your decision to make", and the scientist says something like "how am i supposed to *.....* beyond it's test levels", or whatever. what they say isn't really important at this point. what's important is that, the scientist knows g-man, and the g-man is getting him to do something.

- in the beggining of HL2, when Barney tells Dr. Kleiner that gordon has arrived, Dr. Kleiner says "i expected more warning" and Barney says "you and me both". since g-man is the one who puts gordon in the train, obviously dr. kleiner and barney know about g-man, and g-man has told them about our arrival.

- in HL2, in the buggy level, when we look from the combine binoculars, we see g-man talking to the guy who gives us the rocket launcher. therefore, that guy knows g-man as well, and maybe other citizens.

- Dr. Breen says to us, "did you know your contract was open to the highest bidder", and g-man says "i've recieved some interesting offers for your services. ordinarily, i wouldn't contemplate them, but these are extraordinary times." this sounds like dr. breen wanted to buy our contract from g-man, which again means they know each other, but it doesn't make sense since what g-man is making us do is kill dr. breen. but it's something to keep in mind.

almost everybody in the game knows g-man, and has something to do with him, yet no one mentions him. it seems that everything that happens in the game has some connection with g-man.
i couldn't really come to a conclusion here, but i wanted to remind you that gordon is not the only one who knows g-man.

discuss

 

[DevgruSeal]

Yeah...True that...

Guess I never really thought much about it....

 

[bJARKE]

The gman isn't talking to Eli, cause the only place we see Eli is on our way to the test chamber, where some panel blows up and Eli and another scientist rush over there and say something like "What's going on in this place"...
Later you come back to them, and that's where Eli tells you to get to the surface for help. And he also opens a door for you.

 

[Revenge]

Yeah Gman is talking to one of the scientists that don't appear in HL2, and there is an extensive thread somewhere deciphering most of what they said, and we've worked most of them out already.

 

[Fighter]

I think Valve changed their view on who the G-man is anyway since HL1. Apparantly they rewrote the HL2 story afterall.

 

[Solver]

Yeah, I was also thinking about that... well, it's clear that many people know the GMan. The marines in HL1 saw him too, by the way, and had direct orders not to engage him. And yeah, GMan's probably the only reason why Barney and Kleiner weren't really surprised to see you alive.

 

[Cons Himself]

Gman's character has obviously been changed from who he was originally intended to be.

 

[Absinthe]

I think Valve changed their view on who the G-man is anyway since HL1. Apparantly they rewrote the HL2 story afterall.

Gman's character has obviously been changed from who he was originally intended to be.

Can somebody explain how?

 

[Asknoone]

I believe they changed the character as well. Its clear he was meant to be the admin, talking to the scientist and all but they changed that to breen...also he had the BM logo on his case.

I think these changes were for the best, if convulated

 

[Absinthe]

Again, I don't see how it's clear that he was originally supposed to be the Administrator.

Can somebody please show me some evidence of this?

 

[kupocake]

From Raising the Bar (Page 34 - In the Half-Life 1 section):
"In early prototypes, all characters in the game hand an adversarial relationship with the player" / "When the first active allies showed their usefulness, the designers began to cast around for characters who were neither allies nor outright enemies" / "This precise design goal gave birth to the mysterious briefcase-carrying G-Man. While the codename "G-Man" slipped into common use, it remains merely a codename. The actual name of this character is still open to speculation."

I think that's an important point to remember next time people feel that the "G-Man" is a "Government", "God", "Gay" or "Gordon FreeMAN" character. It is just a name to call an as yet nameless character: No-one at any point in any HL series game calls him the "G-Man".

 

[mayfer]

i really have to buy raising the bar..

 

[Mess]

He's called "some G-man" in the booklet of Opposing Force.

edit: look, I'm a talking advert^^^ :O

 

[Rupertvdb]

Another thing people keep skipping over is the fact that Gman does in fact now seem to be on the side of humanity. The rebels surely could not have raised enough of whatever Gman could possibly want compared to the combine so it appears he is being morally good.

It shall be interesting to see if and when(fingers crossed) HL3 comes out what Gman has in stall because i really can't tell if he is for humanity simply anti combine.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Anyone know if you can buy the raising the bar at EB Games? Coz dangit I gotta have it! Those facts about the g-man alone is enough for me to storm anyone with it at take it from them. Old school!

 

[chimpmunk]

Gman's character has obviously been changed from who he was originally intended to be.

Actually i think the Whole half life story is already written, and it takes about 1000 pages...

Thus, they made half life 1 with half life 2 in mind.

 

[Moto]

Yeah, it was mentioned before HL2's release that Marc Laidlaw has a sort of "Half-Life Bible" which covers the entire story of Half-Life from beginning to end. So, I'm pretty sure that HL3 is already written.

Honestly, I think there will be more than 3 Half-Life games.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Yeah, it was mentioned before HL2's release that Marc Laidlaw has a sort of "Half-Life Bible" which covers the entire story of Half-Life from beginning to end. So, I'm pretty sure that HL3 is already written.

Honestly, I think there will be more than 3 Half-Life games.

Is that not counting expansion packs?

 

[Solver]

They could NOT be sure of HL2 when making HL1. HL1 could have been a sales failure, Valve going bankrupt and never making another game. So they weren't sure of a HL2 back then, although they did think it probable, and, as we know, started throwing ideas together just months later. Now, however, they were obviously making HL2 with HL3 in mind.

 

[Fighter]

I am pretty sure they have a story from HL2 onwards. But they said somewhere that HL2 was entirely rewritten since HL1 days.

Read "Last hours of HL2" on gamespot. First they wanted Gordon to fight combine on different planets. I'd say City 17 is pretty radical change from that. They did not have any of this when HL1 was done: no Breen as administrator, no City 17, no Combine overwatch and no cool "Big Brother" atmosphere that we know now... No characters that we know now (Science team, Alyx, Barney and co.) and possibly not even an occupation of Earth.

I am pretty sure G-man has undergone changes as well. And therefore alot of consistancy between HL1 G-man and HL2 G-man might have been lost.