Were you attached?

[iNetter]

I don't know about anyone else, but I actually got really attached to the characters. Every time I was doing something with Alyx and we were in a way cooperating and talking with eachother, I got really pissed every time we would have to split up, and I'd have to be alone fighting combines by myself, I wish they would have more scenes with her in them. Did anyone else feel this?

 

[chriscanadian]

One example of me getting emotionall is when you had to leave that guy who kept calling you "brother". I think valve did an exelent job of creating sadness (with the sad music and the classic "die fighting" additude he had) when we had to leave him fighting off the ant lions.

 

[Irrious]

Are you talking about gregory or someone else? Cause he was fighting off headcrabs not ant lions =P

 

[Messermeier]

I don't know about anyone else, but I actually got really attached to the characters. Every time I was doing something with Alyx and we were in a way cooperating and talking with eachother, I got really pissed every time we would have to split up, and I'd have to be alone fighting combines by myself, I wish they would have more scenes with her in them. Did anyone else feel this?

same here, especially since i saw that ending :hmph:

 

[iNetter]

Are you talking about gregory or someone else? Cause he was fighting off headcrabs not ant lions =P

He's talking about the crazy guy in Ravenholm.

 

[Hazar]

the most I got involved was hating mossman

Spoiler

when she betrays you

 

[Jakeic]

alyx just annoyed me, she was like falling over herself to "connect" with you.

 

[bam23]

Maybe a little happiness when you first meet Eli. It was like meeting a grandfather for the first time in 20 years you know?

By the way,

Spoiler

Mossman doesn't really betray you. In fact, she contributes to your escape by releasing you from that big metal thing.

 

[Feath]

I got really attached to the buggy for some reason. It was the way that you had to open gates and stuff to continue. I put so much effort in just making sure it could go from one place to the next that I was really pissed off that the Combine took it.

 

[bliink]

I didnt like mossman.. she was manipulative and self-serving.
I did like barney.. he was funny and cute
I did like alyx... but more as an aide than anything else
I didnt particularly worry about eli, but you do feel bad when you see how much alyx 'worries' about him
I hate the gman
I didnt like breen... he was just, evil and condecending (sp?).
and I really liked kleiner.. such a funny old guy- all his little mannerisms and lamarr

 

[DrkBlueXG]

Yea, Valve did a great job in creating lifelike movements and actions for them all. I did feel a bond between me(gordon) and Alyx.
I wonder who they picked to model the facial appearance of Alyx?

 

[BelisariusRomani]

Actually, I liked Breen. Not as a person, mind you; I'd like to see somebody punch him in the testicles, because he has it coming. He's a monster, but he has a redeeming feature - as far as I can tell, he plays it straight with you. He's deluded, and bought into his own insane rhetoric about "humanity's future," but he never lies to you. In fact, I get the feeling that he knows more about Gordon's past, and Gordon's purpose, than anybody else in the game, and while he tries to bait you with that information, he nevertheless doesn't bullshit you.

Or that's my interpretation of him, anyway. It was kind of a shame to see him die, when he could have answered so many questions. Funny that the G-Man appears as soon as Breen is dead, rather than when the threat is over, actually; Breen just represented humanity to the Combine, and I'd guess there'll be hell to pay in the next few weeks or months for everybody on Earth.

 

[DoctorGordon3]

Lemarr and Kliener i really liked. Poor Kleiner when he couldnt find him...

Barney was great too.

 

[LittleB]

For some reason Eli had a warmth in his eyes that I really felt connected to, like bam23 said about the grandfatherly-ness

 

[Shadow-warrior]

Game wasn't long enough to feel connected to any of them.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Lemarr and Kliener i really liked. Poor Kleiner when he couldnt find him...

Barney was great too.

Loved Kleiner and Lamarr. And Barney. Gregori is inofficially now the coolest character in a game. Ever. Period.

 

[NB.]

Game wasn't long enough to feel connected to any of them.

same here

edit: and yeah agree with rimmer, grigori is just the man :thumbs:

 

[Swift]

I think I connected most with Alyx (what valve wanted). The part that hit me the most was when she puts her hands up against the glass as your elevator goes down. Think she says something along the lines of "Be careful Gordon!".

Barney is great, Valve really made him feel like he was one of your good friends. "about that beer I owe you" or the "Good Job Gordon, I can really see that MIT education at work" joke.

Father Gregori was awesome. His voice actor was great and his charectar development was just as good. I love how he talks about the zombies and whatnot like there his flock, "They have become Unruly" .

Doctor Kleiner is also cool, Lamarr helps his charectar progression.

The GMan? what can I say, possibly the coolest charectar I have ever known. I really enjoy mysterious charectars that are clever and have a certain oddity to them. Gman fits the bill perfectly.

Another thing I noticed was how realistic Alyx's and Judith's little spat was. Personally I'm glad that Alyx is the obvious love interest.

 

[azz0r]

I would have liked to see mossman try to flirt more - you could see she was trying, I felt the dialogue needed to be pushed alittle more though.

 

[Revenge]

It may really sound odd.... But the character I got the most attached to was the blonde medic in Little New Odessa (I dunno if she's blonde every time though...), she came upstairs with me to fight the gunship, healed me and gave me rocket ammo, etc. But the thing was that I could tell she was scared, she ran out to take a few shots at the gunship, but then suddenly screamed, put her arms infront of her face protectively and sprinted back into cover just as stream of bullets went flying past the spot she had been standing previously. After seeing the look on her face, all my protective instincts came flying out! I ended up running out of rocket ammo though, and had to run out and across the big open yard to get more from the shed. The first rocket I fired after that killed the gunship, and then I went around trying to find her, cos I was worried about her... I was heartbroken when I found her lying dead next to the shed I had run to... I hadn't realised that she had followed me out and died trying to protect me...

Secondly I got really attached to Barney, I liked his goofy teasing, it reminded me of a few real life friends who make those sorts of jokes and generally act like that.

Alyx wasn't really my type, but at the same time she wasn't "incompatible" if you know what I mean (nothing dirty there). By that I mean that I think I could get to like her in time, but it's not like I instantly clicked with her. Near the end where she starts to let her feelings for you show through, it felt a little weird because the feelings definately weren't mutual (the blonde resistance fighter had already stolen my heart by that point ).

You know, come to think of it, in general I connected extremely well with the resistance fighters in general. I just felt for them and my main motivation really was to help them, and not any of the main characters. I went into the citadel with the intent of doing some serious damage (either to the structure or to Breen) in order to help out the resistance, saving the people already inside was a secondary objective to me.

 

[Krofinzki]

I'm not too sure on how much I felt for the characters, but I definitly wanted to spend more time with them.. and I guess that's a pretty good achievement right there.

And I agree with you Revenge, I cared a lot for the resistance fighters too. They seemed more like they would need to be cared about

 

[wilka91]

Yeah Alyx is already my best friend, and also loved the Vortigaunts ... I'd love to have one!!! lol

 

[Mac]

Game wasn't long enough to feel connected to any of them.

well said.

 

[Frutkola]

#11

Alyx = Jamil Mullen

 

[GiaOmerta]

I connected alot with the resistance fighters.

Alyx was good people.
Barney is good people.

 

[groovy]

i masturbate to alyx vance every night before bed. her pixels and polygons make me hard!

 

[Tycell]

WHOOOOOA!! You guys need to step back and take a breather for a moment, there not real, I can understand if you can imagine what Gordon must be feeling but "getting attached" to the charicters?! There not charicters there pixels and sound waves.

How can you feel for somthing that isnt real, Oh BIG shock seeing a woman posting in here giving details and infact a list of there feelings towards the charicters by the way.

Some of you need to get out more.

 

[Dublo7]

Yeah I really hated Mossman.
I liked Alyx, but I wouldnt say I was that attached to her.

 

[groovy]

haha what i said above is a joke

games should be more vulgar, like in max payne 2, there are f words, there's raunchiness. it brings out emotions in you. hl2 did it to a certain extent when alyx yells out "BULLSHIT" and is about to deck mossman. the game with the best dialogue and vocals was max payne 2 by far. nothing beats that, especially with the dialogued comic strips.

 

[Solver]

I liked Alyx a lot, felt genuinely worried for her. It was a great touch how she, even when angry, would smile at you and speak in a nice voice tone. I liked Barney because he was just like me (Gordon) - hating the Combine, tough and shooting a lot. Besides, I was happy to see him at the trainstation, and his switch-MIT joke was great

Eli I wasn't together with for long enough, but he felt pleasant, and seeing how Alyx was understandably worried about him... Dr. Kleiner is a very interesting character. He might seem light-hearted, irresponsible and childish with his Lamarr pet, but it's obvious that he is a noble man and that he actually has very intense feelings of hatred against Breen, only he doesn't show those that much.

GMan... love him, as always. I love mysterious characters.

 

[Revenge]

WHOOOOOA!! You guys need to step back and take a breather for a moment, there not real, I can understand if you can imagine what Gordon must be feeling but "getting attached" to the charicters?! There not charicters there pixels and sound waves.

How can you feel for somthing that isnt real, Oh BIG shock seeing a woman posting in here giving details and infact a list of there feelings towards the charicters by the way.

Some of you need to get out more.

While that may apply to many people here, personally I view the characters in HL2 in the same way I view the characters in books I read, tv series I watch or even characters I acted as when I used to do those school plays back in high school. Yes I realise these people are not real, but the idea is to get fully immersed in the story and enjoy it to it's fullest.

I work 50 hours a week minimum, go out drinking atleast 2 nights a week if not more, and the majority of my friends absolutely hate gaming and computers in general. I get out plenty, but that shouldn't in any way stop me from being able to enjoy HL2 and get emotionally invested in the story and characters in it. I am only on the computer for roughly 2-3 hours a night, and I like to make the most of my time. Note that the more time I spend here is less time I spend ingame, and I am enjoying the debates here so much that I haven't even run HL2 in 3 days, but fully intend to try out a few things next time I do.

 

[Digital_Junkie]

I agree. You can't enjoy a good story unless you "let go" of the real world a little for a time. Having said that, yes I was attached to all the major friendly characters; especially Alyx and Barney.

But it's more than just "Whoa, you gots hot polygons!" or "Damn he's a cool guy" While I agree that Father Gregori is one of the kick-assinest people ever in a game, I didn't get that attached to him until I watched him fight the unwinnable battle through the flames in front of the mausoleum, that was pretty sad. But while with him I didn't feel a connection because of his "You can follow me and live or stay and die" way of fighting.

Barney and Alyx were the type of people you know would pick you up and carry you to safety if you broke your leg or something. And they truly needed you to help them back.

Another character I really liked was Dog. I have no idea how they showed emotion in him but they, amazingly, did. I really liked fighting with him because you saw how furious he was at losing Alyx; and with him by you there wasn't a chance you'd lose the fight.

What really got me attached to certain characters was having them in life-or-death situations with me. That's probably an infinitesimal fraction of the bond made between soldiers... One of the first guys that joined me and my "troop" of resistance fighters had a gray beard and was with me nearly to the end. He survived everything from snipers to striders to gunships and was a real asset in fights; being one of the few guys that had decent aim. He also knew how to take cover and wouldn't run after me in an unwinnable situation. I cared for him the most and even re-loaded the game a few times later on when I saw he that he'd died. I finally had to abandon him when I had the choice to either have him live, or continue the game... That was a sad day...

 

[Asknoone]

I loved fighting alongside barney, it was jsut great.

And when i finally reached the citadel wall i thought "well this is it...cya barney"

 

[Octavian]

I grew attached to all of the characters. Facial expressions and body language were top notch. I think the best was when Eli Vance was locked up and told Alyx and Gordon that everything was going to be fine. But judging from his eyes and face, you could tell he was worried. I was most wowed there.

Dog just was cool.
Gregory too, though he had his own fortress (the church) so he always had a sanctuary.
Though I always kept an extra round in my revolver for that bloody wench.
Breen, I kept the crowbar for.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

I loved fighting alongside barney, it was jsut great.

And when i finally reached the citadel wall i thought "well this is it...cya barney"

But at least he went out of the game in a way worthy of a true resistance fighter!
"And if you see Dr Breen, tell him I said; **** you!"

 

[SiR]

i must admit, i did stop a few times to pat my little pet antlions on the nose.

I felt a bit responsible for my little following friends... antlions and the later rebels, I felt a bit guilty when they got killed

 

[Mr.Wotsit]

Dr.Breen was pure class.
Beyond that, the other characters were pretty dull and uninspiring and anyone who says that Alyx is attractive to them needs a kick in the balls. Or a girlfriend who will apply said kick.

 

[jollyrancher666]

I started calling the Ant lions my "babies".

Ant lions had better AI and less inane chatter than the freedom fighters. I really got tired of hearing "sorry", and "oh - let me get our of your way, Dr. Freeman". When I sent ant lions to kill, they KILLED! Wish I could have had them the entire game.

 

[Zlatko]

I felt no connection to any of the characters..i feel that if you were to have a connection with the characters, there would have to be some dialogue..but seeing as gordon doesnt say anything..this makes it extremely difficult.

No connection to anyone..Father Grigory was just a walking ammobox..that's about it.

Eli was cool, but only on a old man, i dont wanna see him break his pelvis type cool.

Dog was cool..that thing killed a bunch of soldiers for me.

The rest (including Alyx) were 100% dispensible

The Ant Lions were badasses, i loved those things. I used them against everything..and oddly the game kept giving me phermones all throughout the game to use..even when i couldnt use them.

 

[MiccyNarc]

Alyx? I never got attached to her. She was cool, she was good looking, but I didn't get any emotional attachment.
Dr. Kleiner was my favorite. He was a funny guy, absentminded, someone that I want to look after and protect. I'd hate to have anything bad happen to him.
Eli Vance and Mossman...couldn't care less about them.
Breen was cool...and I have to admit, he may have right, and I think I did the wrong thing by killing him. And this is the singleplayer discussion forums where spoilers are allowed, so I'm not including tags. Don't like spoilers? Get out of this forum.
Anyway, moving on to Barney, he's cool. His jokes were funny, sort of things I might say, so there was a connection there.
The people I got the most attached to were the resistance. When you talked to them, they'd say stuff that would make you feel pity for them, or laugh.
My favorite one was a blonde girl. "Talked" to her (pressed E) and she commented that she couldn't get a tune out of her head. Then she proceeded to whistle it.
One of the coolest things I've ever seen in a game.
She was also the most convincing of the bunch. She looked frightened, her eyes were wide, she looked very nervous.