The Story is Ridiculous.

[Asknoone]

It's not blatantly obvious. Why would the Combine steal our technology if they're so advanced? What would they make people do if they were enslaving them?

Stalkers, slaves, those skinny humans you see in the Citadel...did you pay any attention to what Breen was saying?

They don't have local teleportation technology either, they want that because they can't teleport locally.

 

[Myxomatosis]

Stalkers, slaves, those skinny humans you see in the Citadel...did you pay any attention to what Breen was saying?

They don't have local teleportation technology either, they want that because they can't teleport locally.

Just to add a little bit. The stalkers are enslaved to build all the synths and crap, atleast from what I saw. But yeah, the story is easy enough to pick up on (generally), I just don't think you were paying attention mate.

 

[Angry Lawyer]

Synths are self-replicating - the Stalkers merely perform maintenance.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[Sulkdodds]

1. How the combine got to Earth?

Well, this IS a tricky one, but seeing as by the end it's quite clear they're from a different dimension, and seeing as it's the sequel to Half-Life you assume that they teleported and that it was somehow linked to HL1. Since HL1 involved the tearing of holes in the fabric of the universe, surely it's not that big an intuitive leap to figure out that the rifts opened in the first game have stayed open.

2. How Barney managed to infiltrate the Metrocops?

It doesn't really matter that much I think, but you DO hear someone saying they'd like to join. So obviously, it's mainly just a matter of volunteering.

3. What the combine want from Earth? (A few people said resources, but that's not clear to the casual gamer.)

What does Earth have to offer? Nothing really, except its resources. Certainly I can't think of any other reason aliens might invade. Or hell, maybe they're just imperialistic.

 

[jet jaguar]

References to small details are no way of telling a story. That'd be like a movie that doesn't explain why things happen or how they became that way. Even a bad movie like Waterworld explained that the icecaps melted. Half-Life 2 is immersive and very much fun to play, but the detective-work just makes you want to WTF quite loudly.

Nothing was mentioned of the portal wars in the game, was it? How should we know that? A much better story would have started with Gordon on the Subway with at least a briefing from the G-Man.

Half-Life was told theatrically, Half-Life 2 is told obscurely. If that's what they were going for, they got it. :-/

P.S. I won't accuse anyone, but there are fanboys who exist that would say it's a good story just because it was produced by Valve and not because of the quality of the stories. Not thinking for yourself is the start of a very dismal future.

Couldn't have said it better myself. HL2 was merely a set up for the long ago agreed upon HL3 and it was clearly written that way. There's a balance between rewarding long time fans and newcomers, I don't think Valve did a good job of recognizing that balance. Hell, I'm a long time fan and I was still frustrated by the lack of exposition in HL2's story.

 

[Sparta]

Well, this IS a tricky one, but seeing as by the end it's quite clear they're from a different dimension, and seeing as it's the sequel to Half-Life you assume that they teleported and that it was somehow linked to HL1. Since HL1 involved the tearing of holes in the fabric of the universe, surely it's not that big an intuitive leap to figure out that the rifts opened in the first game have stayed open.

It doesn't really matter that much I think, but you DO hear someone saying they'd like to join. So obviously, it's mainly just a matter of volunteering.

What does Earth have to offer? Nothing really, except its resources. Certainly I can't think of any other reason aliens might invade. Or hell, maybe they're just imperialistic.

You've also got to remember that this is only a sequel and not the end of the series. So there are always going to be more questions than answers to make sure we come back and play the next one.

 

[Mechagodzilla]

"Nothing was mentioned of the portal wars in the game, was it?"
The entirety of HL1 and its various expansions were the portal storms, as experienced by people in Black Mesa. The fact that the rest of the world is full of barnacles, antlions and such shows that the same things that happened to Black Mesa happened to the rest of the planet. It doesn't really need more explanation than that.
Unless you mean the 7 hours war, but that's explained too. The combine teleported to earth and attacked the weakened population so effectively that Breen negotiated a surrender after only 7 hours of combat.

"How the combine got to Earth?"
I don't know how you missed this one, since it's directly explained to you in the game by Dr. Mossman. The combine have the ability to teleport from one universe to another. They teleported directly to earth some time after the portal storms ended (at the end of HL1).

"How Barney managed to infiltrate the Metrocops?"
The game makes it fairly clear that the Metrocops are a volunteer force, and the volunteers are made to follow strict rules that prevent them from disobeying.
The opening scene shows how Barney pretends to be loyal, but does a variety of covert tricks when no-one is looking.

"What the combine want from Earth?"
People say they want the resources, but that's not completely clear. The ocean has been drained and the citadel is digging into the ground beneath the city, but those are the only evidence so far.
What the combine are taking, rather prominently, are people. Repeated announcements describe how the soldiers are shipped to other planets, while stalkers and vortigaunts are enslaved for menial chores. The combine came to earth to get slaves.
They also want teleportation technology and other things that they do not know about or have not yet invented.

"Why would the Combine steal our technology if they're so advanced? What would they make people do if they were enslaving them?"
Answer 1: Because they don't have the technology.
The combine are not extremely advanced. They really just have basic teleportation and a huge army.
They get their power by stealing things they don't have.
So, they try to steal earth's superior teleporters.

Answer 2: The slaves do whatever the combine want them to do.
The soldiers fight, the stalkers repair things, etc. The combine are big slugs. They need other creatures to do things for them.

Really, almost every question you can think of in the story can be answered by just paying attention the things you are shown and told and maybe even making your own conclusions.

The only questions that can't be answered this way are the ones that concern abstract things like character motivations (mostly the G-man's) and things that are left deliberately unsaid for future games.
And, of course, irrelevant questions like how many stomachs an antlion has.

Questions that have been raised but not yet answered:
-Was the accident in the first game really an accident?
-Who is (and what are the motivations behind) G-man/G-man's employers/G-man's clients?
-What's the combine's homeworld like?
-Did Dr. Breen survive Gordon's attack?
-Were the combine in any way related to Nihilanth?
-What happens to Gordon next?

And that's about it.
Everything else i can think of is either explained in the games or trivial.

 

[Asknoone]

"Nothing was mentioned of the portal wars in the game, was it?"The entirety of HL1 and its various expansions were the portal storms, as experienced by people in Black Mesa. The fact that the rest of the world is full of barnacles, antlions and such shows that the same things that happened to Black Mesa happened to the rest of the planet. It doesn't really need more explanation than that.
Unless you mean the 7 hours war, but that's explained too. The combine teleported to earth and attacked the weakened population so effectively that Breen negotiated a surrender after only 7 hours of combat.

"How the combine got to Earth?"
I don't know how you missed this one, since it's directly explained to you in the game by Dr. Mossman. The combine have the ability to teleport from one universe to another. They teleported directly to earth some time after the portal storms ended (at the end of HL1).

"How Barney managed to infiltrate the Metrocops?"
The game makes it fairly clear that the Metrocops are a volunteer force, and the volunteers are made to follow strict rules that prevent them from disobeying.
The opening scene shows how Barney pretends to be loyal, but does a variety of covert tricks when no-one is looking.

"What the combine want from Earth?"
People say they want the resources, but that's not completely clear. The ocean has been drained and the citadel is digging into the ground beneath the city, but those are the only evidence so far.
What the combine are taking, rather prominently, are people. Repeated announcements describe how the soldiers are shipped to other planets, while stalkers and vortigaunts are enslaved for menial chores. The combine came to earth to get slaves.
They also want teleportation technology and other things that they do not know about or have not yet invented.

"Why would the Combine steal our technology if they're so advanced? What would they make people do if they were enslaving them?"
Answer 1: Because they don't have the technology.
The combine are not extremely advanced. They really just have basic teleportation and a huge army.
They get their power by stealing things they don't have.
So, they try to steal earth's superior teleporters.

Answer 2: The slaves do whatever the combine want them to do.
The soldiers fight, the stalkers repair things, etc. The combine are big slugs. They need other creatures to do things for them.

Really, almost every question you can think of in the story can be answered by just paying attention the things you are shown and told and maybe even making your own conclusions.

The only questions that can't be answered this way are the ones that concern abstract things like character motivations (mostly the G-man's) and things that are left deliberately unsaid for future games.
And, of course, irrelevant questions like how many stomachs an antlion has.

Questions that have been raised but not yet answered:
-Was the accident in the first game really an accident?
-Who is (and what are the motivations behind) G-man/G-man's employers/G-man's clients?
-What's the combine's homeworld like?
-Did Dr. Breen survive Gordon's attack?
-Were the combine in any way related to Nihilanth?
-What happens to Gordon next?

And that's about it.
Everything else i can think of is either explained in the games or trivial.

QFT

Couldn't have put it better myself.

 

[ríomhaire]

-Was the accident in the first game really an accident?

evidence points to no. Dr. Rosenburg says the dampening fields should have taken care of a resonance cascade. There are 3 posibilities
Breen turned them off. Supports the "Breen was in touch with Combine" theory
The g-man turned them off. Supports multiple theories
the system crash turned them off. Supports accident theory.

 

[Angry Lawyer]

-Were the combine in any way related to Nihilanth?

Wow, someone who's actually impartial to the whole Xen thing. Mecha, I salute you.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[Mechagodzilla]

evidence points to no. Dr. Rosenburg says the dampening fields should have taken care of a resonance cascade. There are 3 posibilities
Breen turned them off. Supports the "Breen was in touch with Combine" theory
The g-man turned them off. Supports multiple theories
the system crash turned them off. Supports accident theory.

In other words, something broke the machine and no-one knows what.

Also, the Nihilanth thing is equally 50-50. It'll likely be explained to some extent in a future game, but there is not yet enough info.

 

[ríomhaire]

In other words, something shut down the machine and no-one knows what.

Pretty much, infact Gearbox got Rosenburg to say is wasn't an accedent outright.

 

[Mechagodzilla]

Pretty much, infact Gearbox got Rosenburg to say is wasn't an accedent outright.

He said that the protective fields were foolproof, and that sabotage was probably the only reason for failure. But the other scientist, Dr. Keller, dismisses the idea, so Rosenberg may have been exaggerating.

It's implied to be sabotage to the point that I assume it is, but it's not clear enough to be a 100% sure thing.

 

[stuboy]

Half-Life 2 uses subtle exposition for many reasons;
1) Vicariousness. It is supposed to be literally 24 hours in the life of Gordon Freeman, seen through his eyes. That's why he never talks; the player is Freeman.
2) If everything was explained in a two-minute "previously on Half-Life" mpeg that would just be very naff.
3) Valve wants you to think a bit, but the bare-bones of the story should be obvious enough to even the most superficial player; aliens invade earth, plunder resources, shadowy figure sends you in to sort it out, recieves assistance from a bunch of scientists he used to know, has to kick ass of combine puppet governor etc.
4) Valve wants to keep fanboy threads like this going.

 

[r2000]

The combine are a unique force. They have so many different types of enemies to hit you with, that its impossible to defeat them. Counter one race, and they have another. To them, humanity is just another raise to add to the list. Plus if you noticed, humans are small creatures. Thats an advantage. They can hide. They can be silent. They can think better than synths, which are IMO, large bugs.

Are we experiencing a troll infestation by chance?

 

[Asknoone]

Half-Life 2 uses subtle exposition for many reasons;
1) Vicariousness. It is supposed to be literally 24 hours in the life of Gordon Freeman, seen through his eyes. That's why he never talks; the player is Freeman.
.

Sept for the fact its set over 3 days

R2, don't double post.