Once the opening credits conclude and you disembark, you immediately understand that you are not an aggressor-and that the Combine soldiers are in control. And its birth begins with a gaunt G-Man's call to action, and a train ride to City 17's rail station.īy clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's Instead, I hope to look at its various mechanics, narrative devices, and map designs-to explore the anatomy of Half-Life 2. My dissection isn't intended to speculate on the story elements that give rise to so many wonderful theories and extrapolations. I have much to share with you-so much, in fact, that I want to close out Video Game History Month with a multipart analysis. Of course, a few thousand words isn't enough to express what makes Valve's masterpiece so enthralling.
But Half-Life 2 is not one of the greatest games of all time simply because the G-Man speaks such mysteries with his halting voice, but because it is so thoughtfully assembled and thematically consistent. There are plentiful theories as to who this man is, who employs him, and what his relationship is to Gordon. These words from G-Man, spoken just moments after Half-Life 2 begins, resonate throughout the game.