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MAN I hope this article has not been printed somewhere else... Here it goes;
Translated by: Incoming
Taken from: Swedish PC GAMER
Issue: June 2004
WAITING FOR GORDON
It's clear that Valve's eagerly awaited actionfiest is close. Nylund (reviewer) has already built up a defence by the entrance to the office in order to quickly be able to grab the reviewcopy. Meanwhile rumors are spreading that Kraftling (staff member) is planning a strategic attack against the postcar. The rest of us have managed to keep our plans secret so far. What is it with Half-Life 2 that gets grownups (oh well) to become children again ? / Mikael Hjalmarson
"This year it's gonna happen !" Yeah, imagine how lyric you can get as a writer when the gamedevelopers throws out some crumbs like images and finalized information. As I was writing that sentence last year, it was only a couple of months left until the release. I mentally sorted out all earlier games that were released in the vicinity and put them into the category "Good, but soon Half-Life 2 will arrive". The summer of 2003 passed slowly and all shooters that were released felt weak during the wait for the holy date which everybody marked with red in their calendars. Now, as I'm sitting here, it strikes me that exactly 365 days actully has passed since I wrote about our first big preview. It is very obvious that something has gone wrong somewhere along the way, and concerning Valve's history I would be too stupid if I let myself be burned one more time. That's why I begin this article with the following waterproof statement: it will get here when it gets here !
UNCERTAINTY
You are once again wounerably standing with two empty hands. The train arrives at its station and the doors open. You and your fellow humans are strictly guided through long corridors and big stairs. The road is lined with huge TV-screens which are continously pouring propaganda. The mood is oppressive and the other peoples' bent down posture reveals that you are not the only one who feels observed. You have to be on your guard. The slightiest mistake can lead to assault with nightsticks, as best. It can also get worse if the searching robots finds their targets. Has it always been like this ?
No, life is pretty different now for Gordon Freeman, the unlikely hero who has captured all our hearts. It is up to you to find out how the unlucky researcher got himself into such a sharp situation like this. In the end of Half-Life, we got to chose between death or a new job, but the road to the oppressed' streets in City 17 is mysticle.
The introduction in Half-Life 2 shows that Valve has not lost its sting when it comes to design. You don't need any big explosions, weapons or disgusting monsters to get to your nerves. The developers have managed to transfer the claustrophobic feeling from Black Mesa's narrow hallways to the open city, but on the other hand, the artist now have much finer brushes to work with. The image being painted is not very beautiful. Gordon's new home makes Orwell's vision of Euroasia in the book "1984" pale, however we must hope that obligatory morning gymnastics is not on the timetable. The streets are continously patrolled by tortured soules which can be divided into three groups. At the bottom we have "metrocops", the aggressive police who are more than happy to practice their power upon the citizens. They are usually equipped with nightsticks which you're gonna have to taste should you ever get too intrusive. Exactly what connections these masked sadists have to the forces in the original is so far unknown. Sometimes they look almost like some new variation of the deadly assassins from the earlier games.
Hovering robots constitutes another big threat. They are scanning the small people's faces in a hunt for criminals and other people who don't want to be in this rough life. The robots give clear signals about your faith as you're being scanned. Green means a good day. Other colors means big bruises and other unpleasant things. The third weapon in the fight against rebels makes itself constantly noted. A dull pounding reveals that a strider is in the vicinity. We have all seen these tall legged robots in the movies that have been released since the game was introduced last year. These mecanical monsters are built to walk on the sea bed but they work really well as a heavy instrument against criminals. Striders comes in different sizes and the higher classes are really huge. The pilots can blow their targets away with the giant laser or use the sharp legs as bizarre spits. It gets interesting because of this since the developers are considering turning the strider into a vehicle like all the other. If they don't believe that it ruins the game balance it could be possible to climb into the seat of the strider and really let it all out on the surroundings. Otherwise your only contact with these beasts will involve huge healthrisks for your own part.
- - - - - INFO - - - - -
THE HALF-LIFE SERIES
Valve has high beliefs in future distributions via Steam and it is easy to understand why. When people pays through that service the company doesn't have to share the profits with publishers and distributioners. To increase the interest for Steam Valve is planning to release further episodes and minor games for Half-Life 2 after the H-L 2 release. With a little luck we could have a prequel about Alyx, for example, about her life before she meets our friend Gordon.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Translated by: Incoming
Taken from: Swedish PC GAMER
Issue: June 2004
WAITING FOR GORDON
It's clear that Valve's eagerly awaited actionfiest is close. Nylund (reviewer) has already built up a defence by the entrance to the office in order to quickly be able to grab the reviewcopy. Meanwhile rumors are spreading that Kraftling (staff member) is planning a strategic attack against the postcar. The rest of us have managed to keep our plans secret so far. What is it with Half-Life 2 that gets grownups (oh well) to become children again ? / Mikael Hjalmarson
"This year it's gonna happen !" Yeah, imagine how lyric you can get as a writer when the gamedevelopers throws out some crumbs like images and finalized information. As I was writing that sentence last year, it was only a couple of months left until the release. I mentally sorted out all earlier games that were released in the vicinity and put them into the category "Good, but soon Half-Life 2 will arrive". The summer of 2003 passed slowly and all shooters that were released felt weak during the wait for the holy date which everybody marked with red in their calendars. Now, as I'm sitting here, it strikes me that exactly 365 days actully has passed since I wrote about our first big preview. It is very obvious that something has gone wrong somewhere along the way, and concerning Valve's history I would be too stupid if I let myself be burned one more time. That's why I begin this article with the following waterproof statement: it will get here when it gets here !
UNCERTAINTY
You are once again wounerably standing with two empty hands. The train arrives at its station and the doors open. You and your fellow humans are strictly guided through long corridors and big stairs. The road is lined with huge TV-screens which are continously pouring propaganda. The mood is oppressive and the other peoples' bent down posture reveals that you are not the only one who feels observed. You have to be on your guard. The slightiest mistake can lead to assault with nightsticks, as best. It can also get worse if the searching robots finds their targets. Has it always been like this ?
No, life is pretty different now for Gordon Freeman, the unlikely hero who has captured all our hearts. It is up to you to find out how the unlucky researcher got himself into such a sharp situation like this. In the end of Half-Life, we got to chose between death or a new job, but the road to the oppressed' streets in City 17 is mysticle.
The introduction in Half-Life 2 shows that Valve has not lost its sting when it comes to design. You don't need any big explosions, weapons or disgusting monsters to get to your nerves. The developers have managed to transfer the claustrophobic feeling from Black Mesa's narrow hallways to the open city, but on the other hand, the artist now have much finer brushes to work with. The image being painted is not very beautiful. Gordon's new home makes Orwell's vision of Euroasia in the book "1984" pale, however we must hope that obligatory morning gymnastics is not on the timetable. The streets are continously patrolled by tortured soules which can be divided into three groups. At the bottom we have "metrocops", the aggressive police who are more than happy to practice their power upon the citizens. They are usually equipped with nightsticks which you're gonna have to taste should you ever get too intrusive. Exactly what connections these masked sadists have to the forces in the original is so far unknown. Sometimes they look almost like some new variation of the deadly assassins from the earlier games.
Hovering robots constitutes another big threat. They are scanning the small people's faces in a hunt for criminals and other people who don't want to be in this rough life. The robots give clear signals about your faith as you're being scanned. Green means a good day. Other colors means big bruises and other unpleasant things. The third weapon in the fight against rebels makes itself constantly noted. A dull pounding reveals that a strider is in the vicinity. We have all seen these tall legged robots in the movies that have been released since the game was introduced last year. These mecanical monsters are built to walk on the sea bed but they work really well as a heavy instrument against criminals. Striders comes in different sizes and the higher classes are really huge. The pilots can blow their targets away with the giant laser or use the sharp legs as bizarre spits. It gets interesting because of this since the developers are considering turning the strider into a vehicle like all the other. If they don't believe that it ruins the game balance it could be possible to climb into the seat of the strider and really let it all out on the surroundings. Otherwise your only contact with these beasts will involve huge healthrisks for your own part.
- - - - - INFO - - - - -
THE HALF-LIFE SERIES
Valve has high beliefs in future distributions via Steam and it is easy to understand why. When people pays through that service the company doesn't have to share the profits with publishers and distributioners. To increase the interest for Steam Valve is planning to release further episodes and minor games for Half-Life 2 after the H-L 2 release. With a little luck we could have a prequel about Alyx, for example, about her life before she meets our friend Gordon.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
They confused Otis with Barney
