People Complaining About HL2's Story

[Peabody McFee]

A lot of people seem to be complaining about Half-Life 2's story; that the storyline is weak or that not many questions are answered.

I think the reason for this perception is that the story of HL2 is told in a unique way. It also has a lot to do with the "quick fix" attitude of modern gamers -- we expect everything to be there for us, and if we don't see it then we miss it.

Half-Life 2's story is not told in the way most games tell their story; it doesn't use cut scenes to drip feed information to the player, and a lot of the story is told irrelevent of whether the player is viewing it or not.

The whole world of Half-Life 2 is part of the story; everything from the video screens of Dr. Breen to a simple photograph or book, telling the relationships of a character or group of characters. Therefore, if you don't SEE the photo, you miss part of the story.

Take, for example the tenaments section; you can play it as simply an action game; or, if you take the time to look around, you will find that this whole section was designed to give you the back story of what happened between Black Mesa and the "present" day. I won't post spoilers of where/what these things are but just spend some time in the tenaments and I think you'll be surprised.

I think people still see videogames more a-kin to movies rather than books, and I think that is a false analogy. With movies everything is there in front of you, the only parts that need interpritation are metaphors. Videogames are showing much more potential, and I think this transition of the players has stated with Half-Life 2.

 

[Sadistic Turtle]

Beautifully worded. I couldn't agree more.

 

[DarkHelmet]

Amen Brotha

HL2 is the thinking man's FPS.

Doom3 is for 11 year-olds.

 

[alehm]

I haven't played all the way through HL2 yet so I can't comment fully, but from what I have seen is the story telling is just like the original Half Life... its in bits and pieces and leaves more questions than answers.

I am wondering why that was so cool for Half Life but not for Half Life 2? Did Valve not do it right? Did Valve do it right we are just hearing complaints from people who never played the original and don't realize that's what made the original so great? Are these people who just want someone to hold their hand and explain everything in detail?

:dunno:

 

[Wildhound]

I think what it is is that people expected answers in the sequel. I know I did. I love the way HL tells its story, but I think HL2 tried to make it even more cryptic. Playing through for the second time and in less of a hurry I appreciate that more.

 

[Psygnosis]

Wonderfully said Peabody McFee, that's exactly what people misunderstood about it's story.

 

[bi0_gauss]

great post

personally loved the storyline

 

[sulaco]

well, if the answers are in books n such, i will never see them because i gravity blast every single movable object in the game.

:bounce:

 

[Warbie]

I disagree - there isn't much story in HL2. Sure, there are tidbits of info scattered about, but little of any substance.

What you're saying rings true for the start of HL2. The train ride, the scared and confused civilians, meeting the resitance etc Then suddenly we're playng what seems to be an (extremely well polished and enjoyable) on rails, linear and generic fps.

Much of the game feels like aimless wondering around - large chunks are nothing but mindless blasting.

I'm really enjoying HL2 - but am a little dissapointed that the pace and intrigue of the begining seemed to fade away so quickly.

 

[Aziatic_Flu]

HL2 is played in REAL TIME. It doesn't use cutscenes because cut scenes would take away from it. The cut scenes in HL2 happen while you're playing like the whole Barney intro at the beginning. That is what made HL1 great...the way Valve incorparated the storyline INTO the actual gameplay not as a background check.

Doom 3 has no storyline...well it does but you don't care about it. I care about HL2's storyline because I care about Freeman. Doom 3 you don't give two rats about that marine dude. The storyline in HL2 extends beyond just story telling because the entire damn atmosphere including the characters and enemies are the story line. The storyline in HL2 is better executed IMO than HL1. It is not as intriguing because usually intros are the best storyline check LOTR. HL2 is the middle of a trilogy. You can't treat it as a beginning and an end...you can't even do that with HL1 although HL1 you could read it as a beginning to the end which is another new beginning. HL2 doesn't have that. It has no beginning and it has no end. It is the middle and as such the storyline is executedly perfectly under those pretenses.

 

[madacian]

I disagree. Just because the game is in the middle of a three part series, does not mean it shouldn't push the story forward and give the player insight into the events of the previous game. The way the story is told is great, but the fact that hardly any story is involved leaves something to be desired. I do agree that small bits and pieces of info are there to be found, but only at the beginning of the game. Once the action gets going, they rush you from one sequence to the next. There's no time or place for such exploring for smaller details. Besides, those details have little significance to the story in the first place. Just interesting tidbits and coincidences.

Someone mentioned LOTR, and think that is a great example of how the middle of a three part series can give you significant insight into the entire plotline. Connections are made with the first film, questions are answered, and new questions arise. You don't feel like your watching the second film just to make the trilogy a trilogy. With HL2, I almost feel as if it's a filler to get to the final chapter of a three part series.

 

[AmishSlayer]

I have to agree with Warbie and madacian here. HL2's story could've been better if it didn't feel so half-developed. The longest parts of the game involve you getting somewhere to meet somebody. The whole 1984 feel of city 17 disappeared. After the Tenements all we ever see is resistance fighters. We never really get any information on what exactly Breen is trying to do with the human race.

All we get to see is the typical resistance vs big enemy plot laid out rather quickly and bunched up at the end.

I feel like we're just tuning into a special series of the Twilight Zone or something. The Twilight Zone always starts with a some kind of weird event going on (Dr. Breen has a 1984-style grip on Humanity? How? He's just the admin. for Black Mesa...or was..When is this?) ...and the end is even weirder that most of the time answers no questions and leaves many more unanswered.

END OF THE GAME SPOILER - Things I was asking myself:

Spoiler

How exactly did those little machines take all my weapons and give me that white, badass manipulator? How did I get this 200 energy suit? The Citadel is just beginning to explode...Did I just kill lots of my friends and resistance fighters just to stop Breen from escaping? Will this get rid of the grip the combine has on humanity? Cue the G-man...answer some of my questions dammit. Uhh...thanks for being mysterious and just walking away into oblivion...ok...fix your tie..great...roll credits..."God Dammit!"..

 

[Peabody McFee]

I have to agree with Warbie and madacian here. HL2's story could've been better if it didn't feel so half-developed. The longest parts of the game involve you getting somewhere to meet somebody. The whole 1984 feel of city 17 disappeared. After the Tenements all we ever see is resistance fighters. We never really get any information on what exactly Breen is trying to do with the human race.

All we get to see is the typical resistance vs big enemy plot laid out rather quickly and bunched up at the end.

I feel like we're just tuning into a special series of the Twilight Zone or something. The Twilight Zone always starts with a some kind of weird event going on (Dr. Breen has a 1984-style grip on Humanity? How? He's just the admin. for Black Mesa...or was..When is this?) ...and the end is even weirder that most of the time answers no questions and leaves many more unanswered.

END OF THE GAME SPOILER - Things I was asking myself:

Spoiler

How exactly did those little machines take all my weapons and give me that white, badass manipulator? How did I get this 200 energy suit? The Citadel is just beginning to explode...Did I just kill lots of my friends and resistance fighters just to stop Breen from escaping? Will this get rid of the grip the combine has on humanity? Cue the G-man...answer some of my questions dammit. Uhh...thanks for being mysterious and just walking away into oblivion...ok...fix your tie..great...roll credits..."God Dammit!"..

That's the point of my post, a lot of the questions you asked there we do get information on; we DO get information about what and why Breen is doing what he is doing, we even get to see the true bad guys if you are looking for it. That's my point about Half-Life 2; there is no narative or text that tells the player "this is what is happening now", "quick, look at that", "you should probably listen to what is being said here". It's about experiencing the world of City 17 and taking mental notes.

 

[ThrasherX9]

I agree with Peabody. The game is told through what you soak up.

 

[Lanthanide]

I was surprised both how little story there actually is in HL2 (Marc Laidlaw apparently has a -book- on the HL universe, why couldn't he included a few chapters of info rather than a few pages?) and how it's told.

The main characters at the start simply assume that Freeman knows what is going on, and hence never tell him ANYTHING at all. This is a bit stupid. We spend all this time going to Eli's lab on that lame lame lame airboat yet we have no idea why we're going there other than because we were told to. So you get there, and then you just have to run away again, and it's not until chapter 9 after a lot of pointless\contrived escaping that you even get back to the original plot.

It would not have been hard to have some of the resistence members talking amongst themselves about "the good old days" or the horrors of the portal storm and what happened to friends/family during this time etc.

 

[TheDan]

END OF THE GAME SPOILER - Things I was asking myself:

Spoiler

How exactly did those little machines take all my weapons and give me that white, badass manipulator? How did I get this 200 energy suit? The Citadel is just beginning to explode...Did I just kill lots of my friends and resistance fighters just to stop Breen from escaping? Will this get rid of the grip the combine has on humanity? Cue the G-man...answer some of my questions dammit. Uhh...thanks for being mysterious and just walking away into oblivion...ok...fix your tie..great...roll credits..."God Dammit!"..

Well, I think HL2's story is meant to make you try to piece together your own answers, think why whatever could have happened, and be creative:

Spoiler

If you were listening, it says unidientified weapons found or something, and since some anti-gravity thing slowed you down, I'm guessing that it pulled your weapons away from you via that. If you were looking, the machines were zapping your guns to destroy/move them, and when it tried to do it to the grav gun, it couldnt. I'm guessing that the machines gave the Manipulator some sort of extra power. And it certainly is fun shooting everyone around , and if you were listening to the G-Man at the end, his first word is "Time", so I'm guessing that somehow, time has been frozen, since the explosion freezes.

 

[Warbie]

It's about experiencing the world of City 17 and taking mental notes.

Noone is denying that.

The point is - after the begining there really isn't that much to experience in terms of story/characters.

I loved meeting the doc and Alyx for the first time, looking around the lab, seeing the pet headcrab (which made me laugh out loud), getting the suit, the whole teleporter scene.

The train station, complete with the 'Big Brother' menacing feel was also excellent , as was meeting Dog.

These were the parts that made Hl2 stand out (not the average combat or easy difficulty) Unfortunately, they are few and far between.

 

[Lanthanide]

Warbie - I agree.

I thoroughly enjoyed Dr Klieners first scene, and the parts that lead up to it (in the tenements, running from the combine over the rooftops). I loved the view of the citadel with all the scanners flying out (although you hardly see any for the rest of the game, even back in City 17). The next parts were quite fun too, running through the train station while trains are thunderring through, quite original. However, after that it got pretty dull. I particularly hated the airboat ride (it was completely pointless - go to Eli for no real reason, once you arrive - run away) and the buggy - levels were too long and the vehicles were annoying to control, it's like there was hardly any friction in the world.

I hated the entire Ravenholme/Coast/Nova Prospekt part, I just wanted to get back to City 17 and the story. Then when you finally do get back, everything has changed anyway.

 

[Gunner]

That's the point of my post, a lot of the questions you asked there we do get information on; we DO get information about what and why Breen is doing what he is doing, we even get to see the true bad guys if you are looking for it. That's my point about Half-Life 2; there is no narative or text that tells the player "this is what is happening now", "quick, look at that", "you should probably listen to what is being said here". It's about experiencing the world of City 17 and taking mental notes.

OH really? well you can probably explain what happened in the ten years between the BMR incident and C17. Where was Gordon during that period of time? what has he been up to? is he just a pawn? did everyone in C17 die once the Citadel collapsed? Who was Breen talking to? And what did Breen mean when he said Gordon had genes implanted?

Basically you're claiming I didn't pay any attention to the game, which is completely wrong.

 

[BloodyMario]

We spend all this time going to Eli's lab on that lame lame lame airboat yet we have no idea why we're going there other than because we were told to.

Hehe you just proved the point the original poster was trying to make. You would know why they sent Gordon to Eli's lab if you payed more attention.

 

[Spartan]

I think the reason for this perception is that the story of HL2 is told in a unique way.

It also has a lot to do with the "quick fix" attitude of modern gamers -- we expect everything to be there for us, and if we don't see it then we miss it.

I don't have a quick fix attitude. I don't expect everything to be blatantly obvious. I just want a story, which Half-Life 2 doesn't give me. No events from Half-Life are explained or expanded upon. No backstory is available. Gordon just moves from place to place and shoots things without knowing what's going on.

Half-Life 2's story is not told in the way most games tell their story; it doesn't use cut scenes to drip feed information to the player, and a lot of the story is told irrelevent of whether the player is viewing it or not.

We all know that.

The whole world of Half-Life 2 is part of the story; everything from the video screens of Dr. Breen to a simple photograph or book, telling the relationships of a character or group of characters. Therefore, if you don't SEE the photo, you miss part of the story.

I understand hiding pieces of interesting but largely irrelevant information into small details, but are you trying to tell me that the entire story of the game, including answers to questions about the previous game, are hidden in video screens (that are hard to find) or photographs? I think not.

Take, for example the tenaments section; you can play it as simply an action game; or, if you take the time to look around, you will find that this whole section was designed to give you the back story of what happened between Black Mesa and the "present" day. I won't post spoilers of where/what these things are but just spend some time in the tenaments and I think you'll be surprised.

Yeah, that's really professional. Hide the entire story so only a few people get it. If it's hidden or difficult to find, it shouldn't be important.

Videogames are showing much more potential, and I think this transition of the players has stated with Half-Life 2.

Half-Life 2's way of telling a story may be good, but only if there is a story to tell.

 

[Lanthanide]

Hehe you just proved the point the original poster was trying to make. You would know why they sent Gordon to Eli's lab if you payed more attention.

I just played through Red Letter Day again. Alyx says they used to send people via the old canals but now they have a new way, the teleporters. Then Kliener says he's going to send Gordon over to Eli, along with Alyx.

I don't see any 'reason' for going to Eli at all. If you found the real reason, then just share it with us instead of trying to be all superior and "I'm more observant than you, neener neener neener".

 

[BloodyMario]

I just played through Red Letter Day again. Alyx says they used to send people via the old canals but now they have a new way, the teleporters. Then Kliener says he's going to send Gordon over to Eli, along with Alyx.

I don't see any 'reason' for going to Eli at all. If you found the real reason, then just share it with us instead of trying to be all superior and "I'm more observant than you, neener neener neener".

The whole point of the "underground" is to get people out of City 17. They want Gordon to escape the city and Eli's lab is a stop on his way out. And you are the one acting all superior saying HL2 doesn't have a story because it's not obvious to you.

 

[BackFyr]

Yeah, that's really professional. Hide the entire story so only a few people get it. If it's hidden or difficult to find, it shouldn't be important.

IMHO::

Realistically, if you were transported 10 yrs into the future... and were thrown into the middle of a huge uprising from an overly oppressing people with every second being truely valuable... I dont think many people are gunna sit down and tell you exactly what happened since you came back - especially in the position of Gordon and the underground movement... these boys have to be moving indefinately or the combine will catch them - so it makes sense that the only info you can gather is from small, sometimes difficult to find tidbits...

What it all boils down to is during the experimenting of the games overall story / action balance.... the story being explained was determined to be boring for the length of time they were using to explain it [Gamespot's final hours] - so I THINK Valve made a design decision and compromised... some of the story would be explained.. if you wanted to know more you'd have to search for it... if you didnt... then kill kill kill.... these appeases the Doom type FPS players, and the ones who want the story can go look for it and discover it.... 'least thats what I think valve prolly did...

 

[Asknoone]

Perfectly worded. Its more of a case of putting 2 and 2 together...the sotry is ace and is told in a wonderful fashion...much better thasn trawling through PDA'S and cutscenes

 

[Spartan]

IMHO::

Realistically, if you were transported 10 yrs into the future... and were thrown into the middle of a huge uprising from an overly oppressing people with every second being truely valuable...

I dont think many people are gunna sit down and tell you exactly what happened since you came back - especially in the position of Gordon and the underground movement...

Gordon never asks. And I think that "realistically" the events wouldn't be so fast-paced. Every time you meet someone you can be sure that the Combine will crash through the roof or ceiling without any delay. Anyway, that's a pretty poor excuse to make a game without a story.

if you wanted to know more you'd have to search for it... if you didnt... then kill kill kill....

Well what am I supposed to find? Everyone tells me that I have to "find" the story, but where? Do they even know? Someone mentioned that the tenements sequence explains what happened between HL1 and HL2 (unlikely), but I never found anything.

 

[BackFyr]

well a good example is in Klieners lab, there are some news clippings describing how the combine got there... stuff like that

 

[Peabody McFee]

OH really? well you can probably explain what happened in the ten years between the BMR incident and C17. Where was Gordon during that period of time? what has he been up to? is he just a pawn? did everyone in C17 die once the Citadel collapsed? Who was Breen talking to? And what did Breen mean when he said Gordon had genes implanted?

Basically you're claiming I didn't pay any attention to the game, which is completely wrong.

Yes, actually.

What happened in the ten years between the BMR incident and C17?

Spoiler

News articles found in the tenements section tell you that immediately after Black Mesa there was a "Portal Storm", where portals began opening all over the world. They also tell you that Dr.Breen was instated (whether by democratic election or other means) to be the Earth representitive; however, after much of the Earth was attacked he surrendered within 7 days.

Where was Gordon during that period of time?

Spoiler

The clue is what Kleiner tells you after Gordon and Alyx teleport from Nova Prospekt. You find that you have been "slow" teleported a week from when you left. An effective time machine. This would also explain why Gordon doesn't remember the time between leaving Black Mesa and arrving in City 17.

The other questions you pose, such as

Spoiler

did everyone die when the Citadel collapsed

are part of the story that makes you want to come back to it. It's just a cliff hanger to be answered at a later date. If you had all the questions answered, for example "who is the Gman", you would have no reason to play Half-Life 3.

 

[Netherworld]

I was surprised both how little story there actually is in HL2 (Marc Laidlaw apparently has a -book- on the HL universe, why couldn't he included a few chapters of info rather than a few pages?) and how it's told.

The main characters at the start simply assume that Freeman knows what is going on, and hence never tell him ANYTHING at all. This is a bit stupid. We spend all this time going to Eli's lab on that lame lame lame airboat yet we have no idea why we're going there other than because we were told to. So you get there, and then you just have to run away again, and it's not until chapter 9 after a lot of pointless\contrived escaping that you even get back to the original plot.

It would not have been hard to have some of the resistence members talking amongst themselves about "the good old days" or the horrors of the portal storm and what happened to friends/family during this time etc.

great point

in the 6yrs or so it took to make it seems the story was written in 6mins. If you can actually say it has a story. Dont get me wrong i love the way there arnt any cut scenes in hl but in those momments that you are in "the playable" cut scenes, you actually cant do anything other then listen to what people are saying, so technically what is the point? id rather have a cut scene (which i despise) explaining about history and more importantly the future, then just stand there waiting for them to press a button or say quick you must go etc.. etc..

 

[Lanthanide]

Spartan - I specifically went through the tenements and checked every room and every wall. Nothing more there than there was the first time. Whoever said it was obviously imagining something was there that wasn't.

The whole point of the "underground" is to get people out of City 17. They want Gordon to escape the city and Eli's lab is a stop on his way out. And you are the one acting all superior saying HL2 doesn't have a story because it's not obvious to you.
Reply With Quote

Well duh, I know what it's for. But you still haven't said WHY they want Gordon to escape. They just do. Perhaps it's not safe in Klieners lab? They never say one way or the other. And IMO it's much more dangerous running through the underground to get to Eli's lab than it is to just stay put at Klieners - 1 week later they still haven't found his base of operations.

Furthermore, why do they want Gordon to go to Eli's lab anyway? Isn't the whole point of Gordon being there to get into the Citadel and stop Breen? So why should he risk his life trying to get away from City 17? Does he go to Eli's lab to get the gravity gun? Why couldn't they just teleport it to Klieners lab?

I think they wanted Gordon to help Eli out with the teleportation technology, but they had it working already anyway, and again, why couldn't he help do that at Klieners lab? Eli has himself and Mossman, whereas Kliener is just all by himself.

So as you can see, you still haven't answered WHY he has to go to Eli's lab, and as I've just pointed out there's a big load of inconsistencies as to why he'd ever want to go to Eli's place in the first place.

 

[Lanthanide]

Yes, actually.

What happened in the ten years between the BMR incident and C17?

Spoiler

News articles found in the tenements section tell you that immediately after Black Mesa there was a "Portal Storm", where portals began opening all over the world. They also tell you that Dr.Breen was instated (whether by democratic election or other means) to be the Earth representitive; however, after much of the Earth was attacked he surrendered within 7 days.

Actually those were all at Eli's lab. I just went to the Tenements to check what you were talking about, nothing there at all - and here I had my hopes up for an actual storyline. Sigh.

Where was Gordon during that period of time?

Spoiler

The clue is what Kleiner tells you after Gordon and Alyx teleport from Nova Prospekt. You find that you have been "slow" teleported a week from when you left. An effective time machine. This would also explain why Gordon doesn't remember the time between leaving Black Mesa and arrving in City 17.

Your answer is inconsistent.

Spoiler

There was a lot of teleportation going on in Black Mesa, both from Earth to Xen and back collecting Xenien specimans, and Earth to Earth locations. None of these had time lapses. Furthermore, when Mossman kidnaps Eli and uses the combine portal right before you do, when you arrive at Klieners lab he says "Eli is at the citadel". If the portal really did delay your teleportation arrival, Kliener could not have possibly known where Eli was because he would have only arrived at the citadel a few moments before you arrived at his lab. Or, if there still was a time delay, but it was random, he could have easily said (I mean the script could have) "we didn't know for several days, until the vortigaunts found he was at the citadel". But he didn't. Also he only works out that the portals are delayed when YOU arrive there first, so clearly Mossman's trip wasn't delayed or he would already know this. Anyway, all of this is pointless because we're talking about different teleportation technology - one is stuff invented by Black Mesa research executed using Combine equipment, while the other was created by the Gman at the end of HL1 in the tram. So sorry, your answer doesn't work. And because the game never tells us, I guess we don't know

 

[Peabody McFee]

Actually those were all at Eli's lab. I just went to the Tenements to check what you were talking about, nothing there at all - and here I had my hopes up for an actual storyline. Sigh.


Your answer is inconsistent.

Spoiler

There was a lot of teleportation going on in Black Mesa, both from Earth to Xen and back collecting Xenien specimans, and Earth to Earth locations. None of these had time lapses. Furthermore, when Mossman kidnaps Eli and uses the combine portal right before you do, when you arrive at Klieners lab he says "Eli is at the citadel". If the portal really did delay your teleportation arrival, Kliener could not have possibly known where Eli was because he would have only arrived at the citadel a few moments before you arrived at his lab. Or, if there still was a time delay, but it was random, he could have easily said (I mean the script could have) "we didn't know for several days, until the vortigaunts found he was at the citadel". But he didn't. Also he only works out that the portals are delayed when YOU arrive there first, so clearly Mossman's trip wasn't delayed or he would already know this. Anyway, all of this is pointless because we're talking about different teleportation technology - one is stuff invented by Black Mesa research executed using Combine equipment, while the other was created by the Gman at the end of HL1 in the tram. So sorry, your answer doesn't work. And because the game never tells us, I guess we don't know

My appologies, it was in Eli's lab not the tenaments -- but I'm not sure how you can conclude that beacuse I got the location wrong that nullifies its validity to the story.

You're whole second paragraph is irrelevent to this discussion; you are talking about various experimental technologies and then state "your answer doesn't work" while not giving any reasons.

 

[AmishSlayer]

Well, I think HL2's story is meant to make you try to piece together your own answers, think why whatever could have happened, and be creative:

Spoiler

If you were listening, it says unidientified weapons found or something, and since some anti-gravity thing slowed you down, I'm guessing that it pulled your weapons away from you via that. If you were looking, the machines were zapping your guns to destroy/move them, and when it tried to do it to the grav gun, it couldnt. I'm guessing that the machines gave the Manipulator some sort of extra power. And it certainly is fun shooting everyone around , and if you were listening to the G-Man at the end, his first word is "Time", so I'm guessing that somehow, time has been frozen, since the explosion freezes.

Spoiler

I noticed time had stopped even though you could still move around very slowly.

Side Thought - It would've been way cooler to have time about as slow as you could move. Have Alyx's reaction slowly develop as the explosion englufs everything around you. It could be timed with the G-man's monologue so when it's done...the explosion is about to get to you

Anyways...I couldn't hear it say "Unidentified weapons when it took them from me...and I figured the manipulator somehow got a power surge because the meter was all busted when you got it back...but I was wondering how the hell your Suit got all juiced up and why enemies' weapons disintigrated like they did. The power cores that you shoot from your pulse rifle disintigrated enemies the same way but left their weapons. I know they wanted you to use just the manipulator to finish the game...but it's just inconsistent.

One thing that sorta bugs me...the AI is pretty average. Valve treats the player like they are the average gamer (crappy at games). Then Valve is making the story...and they treat the gamer like they're completely enthralled by the whole HL2 experience and want to search every nook and cranny reading little postings in places and going out of their way taking time to look for newspaper snippets to find answers.

Why the inconsistency? They treat the gamer like they suck but like they are in love with the game and analyze every detail about every thing. The average gamer wouldn't pay any more attention to the story than what's put in front of them.

I looked for more info because I was curious. I saw the "Portal Storm" article thingy and the "Earth Surrendurs" one...but these little sidenotes still aren't an excuse to leave out a solid story...

EDIT: Another thing that made it feel less realistic...Nobody cared about what happened to you. I assume they assumed (stay with me here) that Gordon just escaped Black Mesa like anyone else (Eli even says the last time he saw you was when he sent you for help) and you somehow know what's going on (or just died or something)...but if they all somehow stuck together...where was Gordon through all this? They all just say..."Wow...Gordon Freeman...I don't believe it" and move on. Whee...I'm back...aren't you interested that I'm alive? Aren't you interested to hear why I wasn't involved in your little underground railroad? Aren't you interested to hear why I haven't come back to help you with research?

Of course they can't ask...because they won't get an answer...Gordon doesn't talk (Which I don't find that great). It doesn't make sense (in HL-terms) for these "realistic characters" to ask what any real person would...and that makes it less realistic and I felt less attached to the half-developed storyline and the characters in it...

 

[Shadow-warrior]

Just this minute finished it and I feel empty...

Spoiler

No questions were answered and we are still basically at the same place as the end of HL1 - Gman is still mincing about with his fancy words and Gordon is still thinking WTF is happening?!?!

Its without doubt the best FPS I've ever played and can't see it being topped for a long, long time BUT it felt like the entire game was just Gordon on the run from the combine, Why were these people looking on me as a hero? what was I really doing here? I was screaming out for answers but this felt like was a mere side chapter in the HL universe - almost like Gordons daydream ...and now we have to wait another few years for some real answers, damn you Valve!!!

 

[Lanthanide]

My appologies, it was in Eli's lab not the tenaments -- but I'm not sure how you can conclude that beacuse I got the location wrong that nullifies its validity to the story.

It doesn't nullify it. It's just what I already knew. Everyone says "there's heaps of story, you just have to look for it". The thing is, I have already found -everything- you are talking about, and I want more.

You're whole second paragraph is irrelevent to this discussion; you are talking about various experimental technologies and then state "your answer doesn't work" while not giving any reasons.

Right, I re-read what you said and I agree, I did go off on a bit of a tangent.

But it's still relevant - I'm just saying why there is no particular reason why the gmans portal at the end of HL1 should delay your arrival by x (10?) years. It could, sure, but I want a reason why. It could just have easily been any other number of things - perhaps you were conscious all this time and the gman's just wiped your memories. Or you were in suspended animation. There is nothing in HL2 that tells us one way or the other what happened. Yet you say that you do know the answer - when really all it is is more speculation.

All that Valve seems to have given us in HL2 in a world that we must accept with little or no explanation as to why the world is the way it is - some of the Hows are answered (7-hour war etc), but pretty much none of the reasons are explained. "The combine are here, just accept it. The ant lions are here, just accept it." etc etc.

This is fine for places that have completely new settings, like Star Wars for example. You find out about the universe as you go along without anyone specifically sitting down and telling you what has happened (for the most part). But for storylines set on Earth in the near future, I think there really does need to be some sort of way of reconciling the past with the present and how it all changed and fits together. In HL1 this wasn't a problem because we were in modern-day Earth, just in an underground science laboratory. Now we are in a future city in a world that has drastically changed, but we don't really know why, and only have sketchy details on how.

 

[Shadow-warrior]

Indeed, it feels like I'm playing Luke Skywalker whos been suddenly transported to Middle Earth.

 

[Lobster]

I like stories with gaps, and i loved this one, lets me fill them in myself in my own mind, the linear experience from the beggining to the end tells more than any dialogue does, but then half-life 1 was completely open and full of holes to, thats why i liked it so much, "Get to surface, Find lambda complex, Kill nihilinth, The End" so much of it was done through events in the gameplay rather than somone telling u them.

Its funny, on one side i see people saying that stories in games suck and they should just give you a gun and kick you out the door, and on the other, people want constant dramatic storybooking, so difficult to please all the people all the time, but i think they struck a decent balance. (my opinions only)

 

[Wildhound]

The answers are there, you just have to know where to look.

Listen to everything, play the game through again if you need to. I've yet to piece it all together, but I have got a very good idea of most of what's going on.

I'll put it this way; it's all in there somewhere. Except perhaps an explanation for the G-man. But then they're probably never going to explain him, that's all part of the mystery and intrigue.

It's an ingenious way of telling a story, and it's very hard to explain WHY. You either get it or you don't I suppose. I think it's supposed to be more about Gordon's struggle than the bigger picture.

The fact is that you're playing as someone who's not in the loop. You've been gone for ten years, you SHOULDN'T know any of these things. If you really were there, you really would take the time to find out though, and that would mean looking at newspaper clippings and listening to every conversation you can manage to overhear.

 

[Arathiel]

well... Gordon Freeman is pretty much a pawn, right? In both HLs, he never really has any say in what he does, he just shows up, and people expect that he knows what's happening and what to do. He just goes with the flow, shoots anything that gets in his way, and well, saves the universe or whatever. But I think he's really in dark about a lot of what's going on... so, since we're trying to be immersed as far as possible into gordon's role, why shouldn't we be in the dark as well? It seems likely that everything will be revealed to gordon eventually, so I for one am going to wait and experience that revelation with him, instead of demanding to know everything right now

 

[Razak]

well it seems most people want their story spoon fed to them. They can comprehend the depth of the story because they cant figure and tie things together. I love when stories do this. It isnt lack of story, but the way it is delivered. Ive been keeping details on every little thing that happens in the game. Trying to soak up everything I can. Tell me why should there be answers if this is not the final half life game? If you knew everything about the story, what would make you come back and play HL3? I think people have a hard on for halo still. They have books that already tell the story for you. If you cant respect the way the story is told then maybe you should play something more simple.