Half-Life 2 - Episode 2 - Unfamiliar Ceilings

[BobisOnlyBob]

Sooooo...the one bit at the very beginning of this video? That's in reference to something you can do at the start of Half-Life

before you get your HEV suit

, where there's a casserole in the staff room microwave you can overheat and explode.

Petty grudges among physicists run deeeeep, man.

Petty grudge? That was the same day the resonance cascade went down. He could've had a nice microwave meal, but no, someone ruined it the same day aliens invaded the earth, and not long after, the eight-hour war and The Combine. You think he's had a nice microwave casserole since? I'd bear a grudge too.

[thatguyif]

Thanks SAJewers (:

So yeah...this set piece? Yeah, it sucks a lot. I feel like you got the gist of most of it, but the main thing that you didn't quite grasp is to just use your car against the Hunters as often as possible. Don't get out of the car until the Hunters are gone or if it would take too much time to ram the last one. At the same time, it's extremely imprecise to do that, so I don't entirely blame you for not doing that.

Petty grudge? That was the same day the resonance cascade went down. He could've had a nice microwave meal, but no, someone ruined it the same day aliens invaded the earth, and not long after, the eight-hour war and The Combine. You think he's had a nice microwave casserole since? I'd bear a grudge too.

There is a certain type of person, a vain and self-centered type of person, that care more about themselves and what they feel (even if sometimes they defer those feelings to someone/thing else as a slight of hand) than anything. It's this type of person that would care about that casserole far more than the end of the world, even if the person responsible had a hand in both. And they will continue thinking about that stupid casserole for years, even when the world has gone to shit and there are far more important things to be concerned about.

Magnusson is that type of person.

[BobisOnlyBob]

There is a certain type of person, a vain and self-centered type of person, that care more about themselves and what they feel (even if sometimes they defer those feelings to someone/thing else as a slight of hand) than anything. It's this type of person that would care about that casserole far more than the end of the world, even if the person responsible had a hand in both. And they will continue thinking about that stupid casserole for years, even when the world has gone to shit and there are far more important things to be concerned about.

Magnusson is that type of person.

You're absolutely right but I would still be pissed about the casserole specifically in those exact circumstances.

[SAJewers]

Ah, so you're saying the problem is that Half Life 2 doesn't have a minigun. Got it.

https://youtu.be/4s2oGjrkmCw?t=1252

[Petzi]

Maaan, I was worried raocow wouldn't like that amazing strider battle. I think it's one of the coolest parts of the entire game series, even though it's definitely meant to be a higher challenge with a learning curve to it. It's just a whole bunch of new concepts to grasp all at once.

I noticed something really cool when watching episode 56: That part where you have to throw bombs at a helicopter with the gravity gun? It's probably meant to subtly train the player to shoot the Magnusson device at the striders. I kind of feel like checking out the developer commentary again to see if they mention this.

[raocow]

oh huh I bet you're right :O

[Grounder]

FOR THE FAMILY

[thatguyif]

Sooo...this is was a way to end. It's interesting too, because we honestly don't know where this series is going. It's been on ice since 2007 with a lot of on and off going on. I will speak of certain things known.

First, the so-called "Epistle 3." Basically, the writer of the Half-Life series up to that point, Marc Laidlaw, left Valve in 2016. On his personal blog in 2017, he posted this "letter" that was both a theoretical

genderswapped

Episode 3, and (what many many people missed but I saw right away) an explanation as to why he left Valve in the first place. Long story short:

Gordon and Alyx bury Eli, then fly to the Arctic, crashing before they reach the last location of the Borealis. They find a massive Combine fortification in ice, along with some kind of hallucination. They find Breen as an Advisor and eventually kill him before meeting Mossman, who's been captured. It turns out the Borealis had been able to achieve instantaneous teleportation anywhere in time and space without needing a significant power source. The Aperture Science people realized the Combine could easily take it and address the flaws in their portal system, and thus put the ship in a phase loop that kept it from being tangible for any length of time, thus causing the hallucination. Mossman and Alyx argue over whether to save the Borealis for use by the Resistance (Judith) and following Eli's demand to destroy it (Alyx). They eventually get on the Borealis and learn to control its teleportation. The team decide to send the ship into the Combine's invasion nexus, destroying it. However, Mossman attempts to shut off the Bootstrap Device powering it, which leads to Alyx killing her. Gordon and Alyx then fly the ship into the nexus. Moments before death, the G-Man intervenes and absconds Alyx away, leaving Gordon alone (as he, as predicted, felt Gordon to be no longer useful to him). Just before the collision, Gordon is once again saved by Vortigaunts. The Epistle ends with the implication that this would be the end of Gordon's story, regardless of what comes next in Half-Life.

Now, Laidlaw has since suggested that this "Epistle" was a fanfic. In certain ways, he's probably still correct. But it's highly likely that at least some of the ideas were put in place, and it's also an examination of Valve's company culture over the last decade, which Laidlaw suggested to be less than positive.

Then, this year happened with the release of Half-Life Alyx. There is something to said there:

The story centers around Alyx in the years before Gordon's arrival in City 17. She has found out about activity in City 17's Quarantine Zone. There, she uncovers the Vault, a specialized Combine prison for one person. Based on intel, the Resistance finds out and assumes the person being held is Gordon himself. Alyx investigates and breaks in, seeking to free the prisoner. Eventually Eli realizes that it's not Gordon in the prison and attempts to warn Alyx but is blocked by interference. When she finds the prisoner...it's G-Man. After being freed, he makes an offer to Alyx, showing her the end of Half-Life 2 Episode 2 with Eli being killed. She decides to save her father, and does so. The G-Man then explains that she is of "extraordinary value" (referring to his speech in Episode 2 about her being an "investment"), and a valuable replacement for someone failing or unwilling to work for him, which is revealed to be Gordon. He then puts her in stasis, "awaiting assignment." The game then ends with a complete retcon of Episode 2's ending, with Eli alive but Alyx missing. Eli immediately recognizes what happened, and gives Gordon his crowbar, saying they have "work to do," while G-Man watches in the distance briefly.

So needless to say, things be quite interesting. I don't know how much of Epistle 3 will be kept. But who knows. It's also hard to say whether Valve will release the next Half-Life on VR or not, which complicates things.

[TehRealSalt]

I dunno what Viktor's going to do with their life now that this series is over

[Dark Hunter]

A direct link to Epistle 3, if anyone wants to read it for themselves: https://www.marclaidlaw.com/epistle-3/

As was previously stated, this is a general idea of where the writers saw the story going at the time work stopped on the Episode. Marc himself points out that, had work continued, the story would almost certainly have been revised some more, but still...

The events of Half-Life: Alyx have rendered this sequence of events impossible, but it's still interesting to look at.

[BobisOnlyBob]

A direct link to Epistle 3, if anyone wants to read it for themselves: https://www.marclaidlaw.com/epistle-3/

As was previously stated, this is a general idea of where the writers saw the story going at the time work stopped on the Episode. Marc himself points out that, had work continued, the story would almost certainly have been revised some more, but still...

The events of Half-Life: Alyx have rendered this sequence of events impossible, but it's still interesting to look at.

Here's the popular translation of "Epistle 3", swapping the nonsense terms for their canonical counterparts.

[Grounder]

A direct link to Epistle 3, if anyone wants to read it for themselves: https://www.marclaidlaw.com/epistle-3/

As was previously stated, this is a general idea of where the writers saw the story going at the time work stopped on the Episode. Marc himself points out that, had work continued, the story would almost certainly have been revised some more, but still...

The events of Half-Life: Alyx have rendered this sequence of events impossible, but it's still interesting to look at.

Here's the popular translation of "Epistle 3", swapping the nonsense terms for their canonical counterparts.

And here it is with even MORE nonsense!

[SAJewers]

half life alyx lp when /s

[thatguyif]

I dunno what Viktor's going to do with their life now that this series is over

Troll someone else, what do you think

[Leet]

He's going to keep hatewatching DarkSydePhil, if you paid attention

[wyldstrykr]

I dunno what Viktor's going to do with their life now that this series is over

what about the dont backseat guy tho?

[Piesonscreations]

Obviously, the endgoal for the Half-Life series is to defeat the G-Man and whoever he's working for, and take control of one's destiny. Basically, Half-Life would turn into Gurren Lagann.

[Petzi]

I did check the developer commentary on that helicopter fight, and it doesn't mention it being a Magnusson Device tutorial. But it DOES mention that it was an Episode 3 feature that got pulled into Episode 2: https://youtu.be/mbvneBPCmO8?t=3158

It's also hard to say whether Valve will release the next Half-Life on VR or not, which complicates things.

Gabe Newell said in an interview he mostly researches brain-computer interfaces nowadays, so I'm betting that's what the next Half-Life is gonna be around.

Ahahahah I'm so happy this series happened! I'm really looking forward to Portal, I'm wondering how it's gonna be. On one hand, most of the fun of that game comes from the dialogue, but on the other hand, the dialogue isn't break the pace nearly as much as in Half-Life 2.

And I'm really happy and surprised that no one spoiled the cliffhanger. I mean, look at this guy's naïve attitude: https://youtu.be/ux3B-kiQLA0?t=817

[ano0maly]

About how the episode ends... the people at White Forest are willing to set up a sophisticated defense in response to the squadron of striders, and yet they just let advisors swoop into their helicopter storage? And it made me think, do you ever get to actually confront and deal with the advisors properly in the Half-Life series? It seems like whenever they show up they just ruin your day, and now they're responsible for putting an end to Eli Vance and Episode 2.

The fact that Valve killed off Eli,

and presumably Lamarr

, and how Eli never got to tell Gordon the story he wanted to share, and how the Borealis plot point is unresolved (Eli and Isaac Kleiner were voicing disagreements about what to do with it but we would never find out what happens to it)... I can see why people would be frustrated that Half-Life 3 or even Episode 3 did not materialize.

Around the time of the release of Half-Life: Alyx, an article was published that explained why the next episode never came; part of the reason is that they just couldn't come up with something they were satisfied, when they wanted each title to have a significant impact.

Valve Explains Why Half-Life 2: Episode 3 Was Never Made

I do think this was an unexpected one of the top LPs of the year. Despite the slight feeling of jank that seemed to be constantly present, it did a very good job with what it was trying to do with the physics engine - the navigation and "platforming" for an FPS, and solving puzzles. And the presentation of the story is quite immersive, with an almost continuous experience through it all.

[MonkeyShrapnel]

Valve has a chronic fear of the number 3, so Half-Life 3 is forever non-existent