This differed from games at the time, making Half-Life distinct, as well as defining conventions that would last for years to come. Two of the intended results of this style of presentation were to increase immersion and to maintain a contiguous narrative that keeps the player's interest throughout. These sequences range from the introduction of major plot points such as the Resonance Cascade to bringing the player into a particularly difficult part of a level. The game tells the story by flowing into scripted sequences that are integrated as part of the game rather than as cutscene intermissions. However, the most distinctive aspect of the game is not the plot itself, but rather the way it is presented to the player. Valve’s in-house writer and author, Marc Laidlaw, who wrote the books Dad's Nuke and The 37th Mandala, later developed and expanded the plot.

Half-Life's plot was originally inspired by the computer games Doom and Quake (both produced by id Software), Stephen King's novella The Mist, and an episode of The Outer Limits called ' The Borderland'. Ultimately, Gordon uses the cooperation of surviving scientists and security officers to work his way to the mysterious Lambda Complex, where a team of scientists teleport him to the alien world Xen, where he must destroy the Nihilanth, the creature keeping Xen's side of the dimensional rift open. Throughout the game, a mysterious figure known as the G-Man regularly appears, apparently monitoring Freeman's progress. The game is set during May 200- in a remote area of New Mexico, USA at the Black Mesa Research Facility a fictional complex that bears many similarities to both the Los Alamos National Laboratory and Area 51.Īs Freeman tries to make his way out of the ruined facility to find help for the injured, he soon discovers he is caught between two sides: the hostile aliens, and the Hazardous Environment Combat Unit, a military force dispatched to cover up the incident - including eliminating Freeman and the rest of the Black Mesa Science Team. After an experiment that goes horribly awry when an unexpected Resonance Cascade (an apparently completely fictitious occurrence) rips dimensional seams that devastate the facility, Gordon must fight to escape the now alien-infested facility as creatures from another world - known as Xen - subsequently enter through these dimensional seams. Gordon Freeman, a recent MIT graduate in theoretical physics, and also a recent employee at Black Mesa.

In Half-Life, players assume the role of the protagonist, Dr.

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