Here is a rather different but yet hopefully intriguing explanation for the Half-Life Universe and the main storyline of HL2:
If you look at the basic behaviour of the mysterious G-Man in both HL1 and HL2, it's the following:
1. He shows up during game play, far more in HL1 than in HL2 (could anyone sum up all the incidents in HL2 please?).
2. He keeps Gordon from reaching him, closes doors in his face
or simply walks away from him.
3. He goes unnoticed by your enimies, no matter how tough a fight you are about to encounter he just grabs his suitcase and walks away.
4. He seems to have the power to control the complete storyline, teleporting you around in Hl1 and stopping time in HL2.
5. He does not interfer with your storyline directly, he is more like an almighty figure setting the scene.
6. 'G-Man' ist indeed a name used by the MP commuinity- originally Valve named the model file gman if I am not mistaken..
7. In Hl2, the G-Man fades into your vision, more like a concept of your mind than a real figure.
What does that all mean?
I suddenly remembered a quote by Valve - I think it was Gabe Newell - stating that Matrix (part 1) changed their whole conception of the story. And I got suspicious. What if....
Ok, there's all this rather straight-foward story parts with a.liens ensalving humans and putting them into battery-like confinements which seem to be a perfect decoraton for the citadel's interior.
There is oppression and a rebel force and a fight.
And that's it? What if Valve had more humour that that?
I remembered another quote of Gabe Newell saying that 'they went to see Matrix 3 with their lowest expectations and even then got disssappointed'. So since Matix 3 is focussing on the action, maybe they were inspired by the wonderful digital Alice in Wonderland aspect? And got dissappointd by the complete ruin of that aspect in Matrix 3?
What if Valve explore the reality vs. fiction aspects of Matrix?
Red vs. blue pill?
If you look at the list above, the G-Man has very much the role of a game designer HIMSELF.
He welcomes the player to his game and plays tricks on him. He is never in reach but at the same time omnipresent. He starts and ends the game when he intends to do it. In the final speech he not only mentions the word 'time' six times, but he also makes fun of the moment he has to repeat the speech he made in Hl1. He cherishes his power to stop you right at the verge of your inadvertible death (Hey - it's not only Alyx killed by that blast!
). Time is the thing you sacrificed for him, both as Gordon as well as the player of the video game. He 'employs" you in a very funny sense of the word. And he actually adresses you directly and apologizes for not being able to give you a full explanation. He knows it's actually his role that drives you on to play HL3.
And finally, like surrealism becoming a model animation, he has to "get off" a train of thought.
Isn't it beautiful?
G-Man = Gabe-Man?
If you look at the game this way A LOT OF THINGS suddenly make sense. You could even think of the Administrator (Dr. Breen) being an allusion to Vivendi (being in full control in HL1, but killed in HL2 ). On this meta level, it does also make sense that the big boss opponent Nihilanth is 'a slave' (to the programmers). And Alyx and Eli do not want you to listen to Dr. Breen....
'Employ' does also make sense for them...
Maybe I am completely wrong, but I kind of like this idea.
If you look at the basic behaviour of the mysterious G-Man in both HL1 and HL2, it's the following:
1. He shows up during game play, far more in HL1 than in HL2 (could anyone sum up all the incidents in HL2 please?).
2. He keeps Gordon from reaching him, closes doors in his face
or simply walks away from him.
3. He goes unnoticed by your enimies, no matter how tough a fight you are about to encounter he just grabs his suitcase and walks away.
4. He seems to have the power to control the complete storyline, teleporting you around in Hl1 and stopping time in HL2.
5. He does not interfer with your storyline directly, he is more like an almighty figure setting the scene.
6. 'G-Man' ist indeed a name used by the MP commuinity- originally Valve named the model file gman if I am not mistaken..
7. In Hl2, the G-Man fades into your vision, more like a concept of your mind than a real figure.
What does that all mean?
I suddenly remembered a quote by Valve - I think it was Gabe Newell - stating that Matrix (part 1) changed their whole conception of the story. And I got suspicious. What if....
Ok, there's all this rather straight-foward story parts with a.liens ensalving humans and putting them into battery-like confinements which seem to be a perfect decoraton for the citadel's interior.
There is oppression and a rebel force and a fight.
And that's it? What if Valve had more humour that that?
I remembered another quote of Gabe Newell saying that 'they went to see Matrix 3 with their lowest expectations and even then got disssappointed'. So since Matix 3 is focussing on the action, maybe they were inspired by the wonderful digital Alice in Wonderland aspect? And got dissappointd by the complete ruin of that aspect in Matrix 3?
What if Valve explore the reality vs. fiction aspects of Matrix?
Red vs. blue pill?
If you look at the list above, the G-Man has very much the role of a game designer HIMSELF.
He welcomes the player to his game and plays tricks on him. He is never in reach but at the same time omnipresent. He starts and ends the game when he intends to do it. In the final speech he not only mentions the word 'time' six times, but he also makes fun of the moment he has to repeat the speech he made in Hl1. He cherishes his power to stop you right at the verge of your inadvertible death (Hey - it's not only Alyx killed by that blast!
). Time is the thing you sacrificed for him, both as Gordon as well as the player of the video game. He 'employs" you in a very funny sense of the word. And he actually adresses you directly and apologizes for not being able to give you a full explanation. He knows it's actually his role that drives you on to play HL3. And finally, like surrealism becoming a model animation, he has to "get off" a train of thought.
Isn't it beautiful?
G-Man = Gabe-Man?
If you look at the game this way A LOT OF THINGS suddenly make sense. You could even think of the Administrator (Dr. Breen) being an allusion to Vivendi (being in full control in HL1, but killed in HL2 ). On this meta level, it does also make sense that the big boss opponent Nihilanth is 'a slave' (to the programmers). And Alyx and Eli do not want you to listen to Dr. Breen....
'Employ' does also make sense for them...
Maybe I am completely wrong, but I kind of like this idea.
