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Storyline
The "resonance cascade", as witnessed by Gordon Freeman.Half-Life begins with a
long expository sequence that situates the player in the game's environment
prior to serious action or gameplay. The player-controlled character, Dr. Gordon
Freeman, starts his day riding a tram deep into the heart of the Black Mesa
Facility, where most of the game is set, on his way to the Anomalous Materials
Lab to begin work. The tram ride gives players a perspective of the facility,
setting the mood and serving as a vehicle for some comic relief moments. The
ride also marks the first appearance of the G-Man, first shown as a strange man
in a blue suit watching Gordon from another tram. When the player arrives at the
Anomalous Materials Lab, a front desk security guard informs Gordon that a
system crash occurred shortly before he arrived, which has complicated
communications between the Black Mesa scientists. The player must then acquire
his Hazardous Environment suit before proceeding to the test chamber.
On his way to the test chamber, Gordon receives a briefing from a group of
scientists. Before entering the test chamber, his co-workers inform him that his
job is to push a "specimen" into the scanning beam for analysis. As soon as he
does so, a fictional time-space catastrophe called a "resonance cascade" occurs.
This event opens a portal between Earth and a bizarre world called Xen. During
this, the player is briefly teleported there and at one point sees alien life
forms known as Bullsquids and Vortigaunts.
Back in Black Mesa, Gordon exits the test chamber and sees that most of the
scientists he had spoken to minutes before are dead. After finding some
survivors, the player discovers that there are no means to communicate with the
world outside Black Mesa. Scientists then implore the player to make his way to
the surface to get help. Black Mesa has suffered massive structural damage, and
to make matters worse, aliens from Xen begin randomly teleporting all around
them. Some are shown to be "wild" alien animals who attack the player because
they are unfamiliar with their new surroundings and feel compelled to defend
themselves. Others, such as the Vortigaunts, are depicted as more intelligent
and attack Gordon with a clear intent to kill. The player can also occasionally
glimpse the G-Man, who watches from out-of-reach places and always disappears
before Gordon can get to him.
As the player progresses through the game, he runs into scientists who inform
him that human soldiers are on the way to the base to rescue them. However, once
the player encounters the soldiers, he discovers that the Hazardous Environment
Combat Unit, which has taken control of Black Mesa, is not just killing the
aliens, but is also killing everyone connected to Black Mesa. After fighting the
soldiers and eventually reaching the surface of the complex, Gordon is informed
by scientists that the secretive Lambda Team may have the means to solve the
problems brought on by the cascade. Gordon must then reach the Lambda Complex at
the other end of the facility to assist them.
The player is subsequently faced with several tasks, such as killing a giant,
rapidly growing tentacle creature, riding across the facility on a railway
system in order to reach a satellite rocket that must be launched in order to
reverse the resonance cascade, and fighting a group of mysterious Black Ops,
before being captured by Marines and dumped in a garbage compactor. The player
escapes without being crushed and makes his way to an older, secret part of the
Facility where he discovers an extensive collection of specimens collected from
Xen long before the resonance cascade.
Gordon again reaches the surface, which has become a war zone. The Vortigaunts,
along with Alien Grunts and a giant monstrosity, have begun fighting the
Marines, who are beginning to lose. They've called in reinforcements, but it
isn't enough to turn the tide. Gordon must scale cliffs and navigate bombed out
buildings while avoiding both sides. Finally, Gordon reaches relative safety
underground.
The Marines begin to evacuate Black Mesa and airstrikes begin. At one point, the
player must use the military equipment to call an air strike to re-enter the
base. Gordon navigates underground water channels and tries to avoid scores of
alien soldiers as they pick off remaining Marine stragglers. After much
struggle, Gordon finally reaches the Lambda Complex, which is revealed to be the
location where they developed the teleportation technology that allowed
scientists to travel to Xen in the first place. The player reaches the handful
of surviving personnel, who have holed themselves up in a small stronghold, and
discovers that, unfortunately, the satellite he launched was not able to reverse
the effects of the resonance cascade because an immensely powerful being on the
other side of the rift is keeping the portal between the worlds open. The player
must kill this being to prevent the Xen aliens from taking over completely. The
scientists activate the teleporter and Gordon is relocated to Xen.
Freeman on Xen.On the strange border world, Gordon encounters many of the aliens
that had been brought into Black Mesa, as well as the remains of HEV-wearing
researchers that came before him. The player engages in one of the few
boss-style battles against Gonarch, a giant headcrab with a huge egg sac. After
fighting his way through an alien camp, Gordon arrives at a huge alien factory
complex, which engineers and builds the Alien Grunt soldiers. After fighting his
way through mysterious, levitating creatures, he finds a giant portal and enters
it.
In a vast cave, Gordon finally confronts the Nihilanth, the creature who was
maintaining the rift, and destroys it. As the creature dies, it explodes in a
giant green blast that overpowers Gordon's senses. After awakening, Gordon's
movement is restricted as he is confronted by the G-Man. Both are transported to
various locales around Xen, while the G-Man praises the player's actions in the
border world. The G-Man explains that his "employers", believing that Gordon has
"limitless potential", have authorized him to offer Freeman a job. The final
teleportation takes the player to the original tram car, which appears to be
flying through space. If the player refuses the job offer, the G-Man teleports
him to a location in front of a considerable number of alien enemies, stating,
"No regrets, Mr. Freeman," as the screen fades out. If the player accepts, by
stepping into a portal, he finds himself floating in nothingness and hears the
G-Man's voice one last time: "Wisely done, Mr. Freeman. I will see you up
ahead."
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