Oh Valve, you sneaky SOBs.

[pgun89]

I was wondering what you all thought about the possiblity that our next Half-Life installment may not necessarily be Episode 3 but indeed Portal 2 considering how the games are intertwined. Perhaps we play as Chelle for this installment or maybe Gordon comes in at some point later on.
With that said, I guess it would be something of a marketing risk until word gets thoroughly around that this much awaited title is hidden inside another game but I thought it would be a nice twist.
At the very least, I think it's safe to say we will get some more information on the overall story from Portal 2.

On a side note, I just read a thread about the whereabouts of G-man's office and it got me thinking. When Alyx is being revived by the vorts, there is a scene where G-man is talking in an office with a large screen behind him with "Black Mesa" on it. If my memory serves correctly, I'm sure there is an identical room near the end of Portal which can't be accessed but can be seen through a window. Apologies if this is old news.

 

[swan_song1973]

Wait...what?

 

[Shift]

No...

 

[Darkside55]

Portal 2 takes place hundreds of years after Portal. It's more than reasonable to assume that at the time Portal 2 occurs, Gordon Freeman is DEAD.

Any doubt centers around him being put into stasis again, yet I highly doubt that would happen given how much time and effort had been spent to remove him from the G-man's control in the first place. That would be the only way he could survive hundreds of years, and it's not likely to happen.

So yeah, DEAD.

 

[pgun89]

Ouch, I don't think I've ever had a post on a forum shot down so badly so quickly. What about the Gman's office? Any thoughts or info on that?

 

[blackout]

Ouch, I don't think I've ever had a post on a forum shot down so badly so quickly. What about the Gman's office? Any thoughts or info on that?

actually, I'm pretty sure that was supposed to be the lobby of the Anomalous Materials labs from Black Mesa.

 

[Darkside55]

I believe it's simply supposed to resemble a room in BMRF. Textures and design aesthetic are pretty much that of Black Mesa.

 

[Danimal]

Poor pgun.

 

[ríomhaire]

It says in the gameinformer scans that it's not going to be directly tied into the HL games.

 

[Stormy]

We sure are a welcoming bunch.

I'm sure its nothing you have said pgun, 6 years of the same forum are just driving people crazy.

 

[Colonel Kernel]

On a side note, I just read a thread about the whereabouts of G-man's office and it got me thinking. When Alyx is being revived by the vorts, there is a scene where G-man is talking in an office with a large screen behind him with "Black Mesa" on it. If my memory serves correctly, I'm sure there is an identical room near the end of Portal which can't be accessed but can be seen through a window. Apologies if this is old news.

Well, by far as we have seen in the HL games, the G-man is a man of great power. He controls teleportation to a point that even Nihilanth himself would envy him, he can appear at locations on which others can't, he can comunicate with others and then leave them with no memory of the conversation whatsoever (same thing for sightings, which appears only Gordon remembers). The whole thing with his messages he sends to Gordon is nothing more than "transmissions", sending lots of data that Gordon could view in less time than compared to normal receiving. So, basically, while the Vorts were heeling Alyx, Gordon received, read and rationalized G-man's message in a fraction of a second. And I'm not talking this scenario specific; I'm talking every intervention G-man made in the games.
So, about the Black Mesa lobby.. well, not really. More likely G-man gave Gordon "frames" from the research facility; he just transmited him.. lets say footage or memories from the facility(as seen in other messages like the start of HL2, where Gordon sees all this Combine technology in the Citadel.. duh, from where could he know, as he has never been there before!?). Same thing with the huge display behind him, same thing with the Black Mesa text and logo on it + the image of Alyx appearing while she was beeing treated, same thing with the fact that the G-man was sitting behind that desk.
Wow, how time flies when I'm letting myself roll.

 

[pgun89]

It says in the gameinformer scans that it's not going to be directly tied into the HL games.

Most disappointing. I liked the way Portal was peppered with some Half-Life. I wanted to see the two stories converge together more. Damn I cant wait for Episode 3.