Opposing Force is more than meets the eye

[jverne]

OF and Half-life (3) have to be connected in a way! What if in HL3 you'd go back to black mesa or hear something of it, there should be sings of a nuclear explosion or something they can't just ignore that part!
But even if they are connected, i dout well see more than a scene of it!

 

[Firefox]

From I gather and what has been said, I beleive the events of Opposing Force to have taken place. The majority of the story stands. The Black-Ops were against them. Black Mesa was nuked. Shepard is in stasis and may or may not return.

The only major thing unexplained was Race-X. I stand by the idea that they were another race drawn to Earth by the portal storms.
The Race-X needed no explaination beyond this, because they play no major role in the story besides being anotehr alien race.

I think that maybe they were all killed in the Black Mesa Incident (Maybe they were all trying to move to anotehr world,all poured out and were killed.)
Another idea is that after the Gene Worm was killed, they died out because they had no leader.
Or maybe simply they got the crap beat out of them so they decided not to invade again.

Anyway, we're not seeing them.

 

[NapalmAndFriends]

I feel that this long and interesting thread needs to be revived, so I thought about Blue Shift a little and remembered that that last you see of Gordon is when he's being dragged off by a couple of grunts. Which begs the question: where the hell was Barney during the second half of Gordon's adventure?

It's quite possible that the security guard that covers you when you're waiting for the portal to open could be the same on banging on the locked door at the very beggining of the game..

 

[Mechagodzilla]

IIt's quite possible that the security guard that covers you when you're waiting for the portal to open could be the same on banging on the locked door at the very beggining of the game..

Actually, about a minute after Barney sees Gordon being dragged down the hallway, he gets teleported five miles away from Black Mesa, and then climbs in an SUV and drives even further away.

I don't think he had any plans to come back.

 

[Bing_Oh]

It's quite possible that the security guard that covers you when you're waiting for the portal to open could be the same on banging on the locked door at the very beggining of the game..

That's just not possible. As the story is laid out, the Barney banging on the door is THE Barney Calhoun. And, since we saw everything from that point to Barney's escape from Black Mesa through Barney's eyes in Blue Shift, we know that he NEVER actually has contact with Gordon Freeman (at least, not post-resonance cascade).

 

[Automatic Kafka]

Having race x be part of the combine force actually makes sense. On your final journey to Breens office in HL2 you se some biologicial tanks and fighter jets that look quite like the xen creatures.

 

[michael_obrien]

I just played through op4 and I have to say it went quite a bit against what I'd previously thought, especially the gman speech at the end... He clearly says that he wishes to eliminate all witnesses from the event, despite allowing eli, kleiner, barney, etc to escape and seems to indicate that the event is entirely finished with, that it was an "embarrasment" despite the fact that he was instrumental in causing it and he well knows that it is far from over. He makes no mention of the many times which he purposefully tries to trap or kill off shepard... or rescues him. Or the fact that he got shepard involved in the first place. One thing which does go along with my theories on g man... he says that he's fascinated with survivors because they remind him of himself, which sorta goes with my theory that he is a god or the servant of a god who is going against the wishes of the majority of goddom in attempting to resist the combine. (god for lack of a better word - a being on the next level of existance.)

One thing must be for sure - he will be reused by the gman. There is a lot of mystery surrounding the gman, but one thing clear to all is that he is pragmatic. He would not have bothered spending so much energy on Shepard if he had no intentions to reuse him. Maybe we won't see it, but sometime somewhere the gman is going to use him.

 

[Llama]

Opposing Force:

• The Armed Forces and Black Ops units sent into Black Mesa work together in Half-Life (while I dont remember them seen together, you are captured by the Armed Forces the moment you finish defeating the first wave of female assassins. I think they capture you in the room that the assassins came in from, indicating that they saw each other and obviously didn't kill each other) and then they fight against each other in Opposing Force.
• While the G-man is seen talking to to various people in both HL1 and HL2, he is never seen actively closing, unlocking and opening certain doors in order to herd the player around, nor is he seen actively undermining the player's efforts by rearming nukes etc. The G-man is an observer and manipulator, not an active participant.
• The game creates an entirely new race that is neither Xen nor Combine. Race-X does not fit the description of your typical combine, and it was previously mentioned by Gave that Race-X would not be making an appearance in HL2. Very little hints are given as to Race-X's origins, or more importantly their command structure. We know the command structure for both Xen and Earth.

A few things to point out:

Opposing Force

1. The G-man does open doors for you (In the room full of sludge)
2. He does re-activate the nuke

Blue Shift

1. There are hundreds of Barneys in HL, Barnet could be the Barney from the end of the Lambda Complex.

 

[michael_obrien]

llama, you misunderstood the notes on op4. The gman does indeed open doors and rearm a nuke: This is in direct contrast to the gman's role in the original game, as merely an observer and behind-the-scenes player until the end sequence.

Because the role of the gman changes so significantly between the original HL (and HL2!) and the expansion, it might be assumed that the gearbox stories are not integral parts of the "official" half life stories by valve. Also, in the end of op4, the gman makes some statements which to me don't match up at all with what happens in hl2.

 

[Llama]

llama, you misunderstood the notes on op4. The gman does indeed open doors and rearm a nuke: This is in direct contrast to the gman's role in the original game, as merely an observer and behind-the-scenes player until the end sequence.

Because the role of the gman changes so significantly between the original HL (and HL2!) and the expansion, it might be assumed that the gearbox stories are not integral parts of the "official" half life stories by valve. Also, in the end of op4, the gman makes some statements which to me don't match up at all with what happens in hl2.

I misunderstood. Oops :thumbs:

 

[Jenga]

Opposing Force:

• The Armed Forces and Black Ops units sent into Black Mesa work together in Half-Life (while I dont remember them seen together, you are captured by the Armed Forces the moment you finish defeating the first wave of female assassins. I think they capture you in the room that the assassins came in from, indicating that they saw each other and obviously didn't kill each other) and then they fight against each other in Opposing Force

  it could be that in the room where the special ops troopers and the assassins weren't attacking each other they had a truce of some sort. Maybe coz they were both after Freeman "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" and let the assassins take the first stab? Or the Marine's could've been unsure of the assassin's intentions at the time. Then in OpFor the situation changed.

 

[TheMtR]

This thread is dead??

 

[Sulkdodds]

Or is it?

I would assume that the assassins in Op4 only attacked the marines if said grunts were a threat to the BlackOps objective, or found out about the true nature of their mission. As in Op4.

 

[Some_God]

I think I just helped bump this thread. Intersting discussion... but it gets a little gay at the end.

 

[Sulkdodds]

Yes. Gay. :dozey:

 

[RAMBO-PM]

Opposing Force:

• The Armed Forces and Black Ops units sent into Black Mesa work together in Half-Life (while I dont remember them seen together, you are captured by the Armed Forces the moment you finish defeating the first wave of female assassins. I think they capture you in the room that the assassins came in from, indicating that they saw each other and obviously didn't kill each other) and then they fight against each other in Opposing Force.
• While the G-man is seen talking to to various people in both HL1 and HL2, he is never seen actively closing, unlocking and opening certain doors in order to herd the player around, nor is he seen actively undermining the player's efforts by rearming nukes etc. The G-man is an observer and manipulator, not an active participant.
• The game creates an entirely new race that is neither Xen nor Combine. Race-X does not fit the description of your typical combine, and it was previously mentioned by Gave that Race-X would not be making an appearance in HL2. Very little hints are given as to Race-X's origins, or more importantly their command structure. We know the command structure for both Xen and Earth.

A few things to point out:

Opposing Force

1. The G-man does open doors for you (In the room full of sludge)
2. He does re-activate the nuke

Blue Shift

1. There are hundreds of Barneys in HL, Barnet could be the Barney from the end of the Lambda Complex.

Sorry to break your misbelief over the OFFICIAL expansions of Half-Life 1, but Marc already said that EVEN if RACE-X isn't going to comeback, it is PART of the UNIVERSE, so that is clear that the events unfolded on Opposing Force DID happen and they were OFFICIAL. Shepphard is also part of the game, and maybe he will comeback. Barney Calhoun from Blue-Shift is the SAME BARNEY FROM HALF-LIFE 2, just look at the ending credits of HL2. Just because you never see G-Man doing anything but to watch or talk on HL1 and HL2, it doesn't means he CAN'T DO anything else.

Sorry, but it is CLEARLY TO US ALL THAT OPPOSING FORCE, BLUE-SHIFT and DECAY ARE PART OF THE HALF-LIFE UNIVERSE. They are no FAN MADE Expansions and absolutely they are not an "alternate universe" kind of story.

Please, don't post anything saying they are not part of the story, because you are wrong.

 

[Steve]

Everybody talks about Blue Shift and automatically assumes you play as Barney. Does anyone remember what the name listed under "Subject" at the beginning of Blue Shift was? It sure as hell wasn't Barney. Nope, it was "B. Calhoun." Why not just say Barney Calhoun? Also, no one in Blue Shift (if memory serves) actually calls you "Barney". They only address you as "Calhoun." So, the only evidence that this "B. Calhoun" is Barney is that he has the same last name and is a security guard.

 

[RAMBO-PM]

Yeah, maybe "B." stands for "Brother". Maybe he is Barney's brother.

Nah... I still think he is Barney Calhoun... maybe someone could send an e-mail to Gabe or Marc to clear this up. Until then, it will be "B." for Barney.

 

[Hackman]

Some Irrelavant Information, but Someone asked for the Gordon's letter from the HL1 manual.
(which I somehow still have after all these years)

It's pretty ordinary, Just stuff like:

(I typed this out, so spelling will be messed up probably)

This letter shall confirm a recent telephone conversation in which you were offered, and did accept, a position at the black mesa Research facility commencing imeaditately but no later than may 15. As discussed, you shall begin at lever 3 Resaerch associate status, assigned to the anomalous materials laborotory. We understand that il will take some time to conclude your affairs at the university of Innsbruck and return to the United states. Please notify the personnel department of your intended arrival time immeadialty

Interesting things:

Since your unmaried without dependants

that photo in Gordon's locker ISN'T his kid obviously....

As you know, Dr. Kleiner, you former professor at the Massachuchets Institute of techknolegy, originally reccomended you for contact by the Civillian recruitment Division

^ didn't know that...

 

[mr.shepard]

Has anyone here played the MOD point of view?
Well the vortigaunt you control says that the Race-X are another lifeform from xen so maybe they ARE combine!!!

 

[Mechagodzilla]

So, the only evidence that this "B. Calhoun" is Barney is that he has the same last name and is a security guard.

Actually, it's in the Blue Shift manual. They have Barney Calhoun's payment receipt or something of that sort with his name listed at the top.

There's also a brief note about him buying flowers for Linda and visiting a friend named Joe.

 

[duckmoose]

The "MOD" point of view?

Also, is the Anomalous Materials incident supposed to be Gordon's first day on the job or what?

 

[Mechagodzilla]

Also, is the Anomalous Materials incident supposed to be Gordon's first day on the job or what?

Gordon was informed of being hired 10 days before the cascade. So, he was probably working there for around a week, including HEV training.
Long enough that he already got Employeee of the Month, at least.

 

[el Chi]

10 days? Are you sure about that?