User:Divine234/sandbox

Red Kormbat

http://thumb9.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/609856/168608942/stock-photo-letters-and-symbols-in-fire-letter-r-168608942.jpg

the sequel to Half-Life, is a first-person shooter video game and part of the Half-Life series. Developed by Valve Corporation, it was initially released on November 16, 2004, following a protracted five-year,[8] $40 million development cycle,[9] during which a substantial part of the project was leaked and distributed on the Internet.[10]

The game was developed alongside Valve's Steam software. It introduced the Source game engine and, because of Steam, was the first single-player video game to require online product activation.[11][12]

Like its predecessor, Half-Life 2 was met with critical acclaim.[13][14] It was praised for its advanced physics, animation, sound, AI, graphics, and narrative. The game won 39 "Game of the Year" awards[15] and the title of "Game Of The Decade" at the 2012 Spike Video Game Awards.[16][17][18][19] Over 6.5 million copies of Half-Life 2 were sold at retail by December 3, 2008,[20] (not including the number of sales via Steam).[21] As of February 9, 2011, Half-Life 2 has sold over 12 million copies.[22]

Contents •1 Gameplay •2 Synopsis ◦2.1 Setting ◦2.2 Plot •3 Development ◦3.1 Leak ◦3.2 Ports and updates ◦3.3 Distribution ◾3.3.1 Café dispute •4 Soundtrack •5 Reception ◦5.1 Critical reception ◦5.2 Awards •6 Mods •7 Sequels •8 See also •9 References •10 External links

Gameplay

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a1/Antlions1HL2.jpg/220px-Antlions1HL2.jpg

A screenshot of the player engaging a group of antlions with a pulse rifle. Along the bottom of the screen, the player's health, suit charge level, and ammunition are displayed.

Like its predecessor, Half-Life 2 is a single-player first-person shooter broken into several chapters, permanently casting the player as the protagonist Gordon Freeman. The sequel has nearly the same mechanics as Half-Life, including health-and-weapon systems and periodic physics puzzles, except with the newer Source Engine and improved graphics. The player also starts without items, slowly building up an arsenal over the course of the game. Despite the game's mainly linear nature, much effort was put into making exploration rewarding and interesting; many optional areas can be missed or avoided.

A diverse set of enemies are present, which usually require being approached with different tactics: some coordinate in groups to out-maneuver or out-position the player; others, like the Manhack, fly directly at the player through small openings and tight corridors; some use predictable but powerful attacks, while others hide before swiftly attacking the player. Gordon can kill most enemies with his weapons, or make use of indirect means, exploiting environmental hazards such as explosive pressurized canisters, gas fires or improvised traps. At one point in the game, Gordon can be joined by up to four armed Resistance soldiers, and can send his team further from him or call them back; however, they can still die easily due to lack of damage protection. Squad members are indicated on the HUD (squad member icons with a cross sign are field medics).

Many of the game's new features utilize its detailed physics simulation. Two sections of the game involve driving vehicles. Instead of button-based puzzles from Half-Life, environmental puzzles are also introduced with makeshift mechanical systems, revolving around the player's new ability to pick up, move, and place objects. Solutions involve objects' physical properties, such as shape, weight, and buoyancy. For example, in Chapter 3, Route Kanal, the player is required to stack cinder blocks on a makeshift see-saw ramp to proceed over a wall. Alternatively, the player can use these to build a crude staircase, so sometimes, multiple approaches lead to the desired outcome.

Part-way through the game, Gordon acquires the Gravity Gun, which allows him to draw distant objects towards himself or forcefully push them away, as well as to manipulate larger and heavier objects than he is able to alone. These abilities are required to solve puzzles later in the game, and can also be used to great effect in combat, as any non-static object within proximity to the player has the potential to be used as a makeshift defense (e.g. a file cabinet) or a deadly projectile (e.g. a gasoline can or a buzzsaw blade).

The game never separates the player with pre-rendered cutscenes or events; the story proceeds via exposition from other characters and in-world events, and ensures that the player controls Gordon for the entirety of the game. Much of the backstory to the game is simply alluded to, or told through the environment.

Synopsis

Setting

Half-Life 2 presents a dystopian alternate history of Earth, where the resources of the planet, including the human race itself, are being harvested by an oppressive multidimensional empire, known as the Combine. The game is set around the fictitious City 17, roughly 20 years after the events of its predecessor Half-Life.

During Half-Life, the scientists, including Gordon Freeman, at the Black Mesa Research Facility, accidentally caused an inter-dimensional instability known as a resonance cascade and later as the "Black Mesa Incident", when an experiment on an alien crystal sample went wrong.[23] Alien creatures, such as the Vortigaunts and headcrabs, from the borderworld of Xen, flooded into the facility. Gordon fought his way through them and the government cover-up response combat units, making it to the Facility's Lambda Complex. There, the Lambda scientists helped Gordon teleport to Xen, where Gordon destroyed a large alien entity keeping the rift open. Gordon was then suddenly extracted by the mysterious G-Man, who had been watching Gordon over the course of the game. Impressed with his ability to survive against all odds, the G-Man offered him a job before placing him into stasis, which Gordon had no option but to accept.

Some time after the ending of Half-Life, the instability at Black Mesa had attracted the attention of the Combine empire, and they invaded Earth. Humanity surrendered at the conclusion of the resulting "Seven Hour War". City 17 became the home of the gigantic Combine Citadel, and Dr. Wallace Breen, the Administrator of Black Mesa who had negotiated the surrender, was appointed representative and Administrator to supervise the survivors on behalf of the Combine.[24] Unable to breed due to a Combine suppression field, humanity matured. The Combine implemented a brutal police state of Civil Protection officers and Overwatch soldiers by recruiting and biologically assimilating humans and other species. Meanwhile an underground "Lambda Resistance" of humans and Vortigaunts, now working together, was formed, and saw Freeman as a savior who would lead them to freedom.

Plot

Gordon Freeman is brought out of stasis by the G-Man, who inserts him into a train arriving at City 17.[25] After arriving at the station and eluding Combine forces, Gordon joins Lambda resistance members including Barney Calhoun, a former Black Mesa security guard now working undercover as a Combine CP officer, and Alyx Vance, the daughter of one of Gordon's former colleagues, Dr. Eli Vance. After a failed attempt to teleport to Eli's resistance base known as Black Mesa East from Dr. Kleiner's makeshift laboratory in City 17, Gordon, re-equipped with the HEV suit and a crowbar, is forced to progress on foot through the city's old canal system. After obtaining an airboat, he battles his way to Black Mesa East, several miles from the city.[26][27]

Gordon is reintroduced to Eli and meets another resistance scientist, Dr. Judith Mossman.[28] Alyx introduces Gordon to her large pet robot D0g and gives him a "Gravity Gun", an instrument which allows Gordon to pick up and move any large object with ease. Black Mesa East soon comes under Combine attack and Eli and Mossman are captured to be taken to a Combine prison, Nova Prospekt. Gordon and Alyx are forced to take separate paths to Nova Prospekt; Gordon takes a detour through the zombie-infested town of Ravenholm, receiving help from its last survivor, Father Grigori. After making his way through the town and a mine, Gordon arrives at a Resistance outpost. There, he is provided with a Dune Buggy, which he uses to travel along a crumbling coastal road to Nova Prospekt. Along the way, Gordon encounters frequent Combine patrols, and assists the Resistance in fending off raids.

Gordon manages to lay siege to Nova Prospekt by using alien "pheropods" to command the hordes of antlions that infest the coast. Reaching the prison, he reunites with Alyx. They manage to locate Eli, but also discover that Mossman is a Combine informant. Before they can stop her, she teleports herself and Eli back to City 17's Citadel. The Combine teleporter explodes as Gordon and Alyx use it to escape Nova Prospekt.

Upon reaching Kleiner's lab, Gordon and Alyx learn that they were caught in a "slow teleport", during which a week has passed. In their absence, the Resistance, who heard about what had happened at Nova Prospekt, has mobilized against the Combine, turning City 17 into a battleground.[29] During the fighting, Alyx is captured by the Combine and taken to the Citadel, as Gordon fights through the city with the aid of D0g and Barney to reach it.[30] Inside the Citadel, he is caught in a Combine "confiscation chamber" that destroys all of his weapons except for the Gravity Gun, the energy enhancing its capabilities and turning it into a superior weapon.

Eventually, Gordon is captured riding in a Combine transport pod and is taken to Dr. Breen's office, where he and Dr. Mossman are waiting with Eli and Alyx in captivity. Dr. Breen begins to explain his plans for further conquest of the humans by the Combine, contrary to what he had told Dr. Mossman. Angered, Mossman frees Gordon, Alyx, and Eli before Breen can teleport them off-world. Dr. Breen tries to escape through a portal, but Gordon pursues him and destroys the portal reactor with the super-charged Gravity Gun. Breen appears to be annihilated in the resulting explosion. Just before Gordon and Alyx can meet a similar fate, time is frozen. The G-Man reappears, praising Gordon for his actions in City 17 and the Citadel. Making vague mention of "offers for [Gordon's] services", the G-Man places him back into stasis.[31]

Development

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/bb/HalfLife2_City17_TrainStationSquare.jpg/220px-HalfLife2_City17_TrainStationSquare.jpg

A square in City 17, showing the Source engine's lighting and shadow effects

For Half-Life 2, Valve Corporation developed a new game engine called Source, which handles the game's visual, audio, and artificial intelligence elements. The Source engine comes packaged with a heavily modified version of the Havok physics engine that allows for further interactivity in both single-player and online environments.[32] The engine can be easily upgraded because it is separated in modules.[citation needed] When coupled with Steam, it becomes easy to roll out new features. One such example being high dynamic range rendering, which Valve first demonstrated in a free downloadable level called Lost Coast for owners of Half-Life 2.[33] Several other games use the Source engine, including Day of Defeat: Source and Counter-Strike: Source, both of which were also developed by Valve.[34]

Integral to Half-Life 2 on both the Windows and Mac platforms is the Steam content delivery system developed by Valve Corporation. All Half-Life 2 players on PC are required to have Steam installed and a valid account in order to play.[35] Steam allows customers to purchase games and other software straight from the developer and have them downloaded directly to their computer as well as receiving "micro updates." These updates also make hacking the game harder to do and has thus far been somewhat successful in staving off cheats and playability for users with unauthorized copies.[36] Steam can also be used for finding and playing multiplayer games through an integrated server browser and friends list, and game data can be backed up with a standard CD or DVD burner. Steam and a customer's purchased content can be downloaded onto any computer, as long as that account is only logged in at one location at a given time. The usage of Steam has not gone without controversy.[37] Some users have reported numerous problems with Steam, sometimes being serious enough to prevent a reviewer from recommending a given title available on the service. In other cases, review scores have been lowered.[38]

The book Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar, revealed many of the game's original settings and action that were cut down or removed from the game. Half-Life 2 was originally intended to be a darker game with grittier artwork, where the Combine were more obviously draining the oceans for minerals and replacing the atmosphere with noxious, murky gases. Nova Prospekt was originally intended to be a small Combine rail depot built on an old prison in the wasteland. Eventually, Nova Prospekt grew from a stopping-off point along the way to the destination itself.[39]

Leak

Half-Life 2 was merely a rumor until a strong impression at E3 in May 2003, where it won several awards for best in show. Originally slated for release in September 2003, the game was delayed in the wake of the cracking of Valve's internal network.[40] The network was accessed through a null session connection to Tangis which was hosted in Valve's network and a subsequent upload of an ASP shell, resulting in the leak of the game's source code and many other files including maps, models and a playable early version of Half-Life 2 and Counter-Strike Source in early September 2003.[41] On October 2, 2003, Valve CEO Gabe Newell publicly explained in the Halflife2.net (now ValveTime.net) forums[42] the events that Valve experienced around the time of the leak, and requested users to track down the perpetrators if possible.

In June 2004, Valve Software announced in a press release that the FBI had arrested several people suspected of involvement in the source code leak.[43] Valve claimed the game had been leaked by a German black-hat hacker named Axel "Ago" Gembe. After the leak, Gembe had contacted Newell through e-mail (also providing an unreleased document planning the E3 events).[44] Newell kept corresponding with Gembe, and Gembe was led into believing that Valve wanted to employ him as an in-house security auditor. He was to be offered a flight to the USA and was to be arrested on arrival by the FBI. When the German government became aware of the plan, Gembe was arrested in Germany instead, and put on trial for the leak as well as other computer crimes in November 2006, such as the creation of Agobot, a highly successful trojan which harvested users' data.[45]

[46][47]

At the trial in November 2006 in Germany, Gembe was sentenced to two years' probation. In imposing the sentence, the judge took into account such factors as Gembe's difficult childhood and the fact that he was taking steps to improve his situation.[46]

Ports and updates

On December 22, 2005, Valve released a 64-bit version of the Source game engine that theoretically took advantage of x86-64 processor-based systems running Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows Server 2003 x64, Windows Vista x64, or Windows Server 2008 x64. This update, delivered via Steam, enabled Half-Life 2 and other Source-based games to run natively on 64-bit processors, bypassing the 32-bit compatibility layer. Gabe Newell, one of the founders of Valve, stated that this is "an important step in the evolution of our game content and tools," and that the game benefits greatly from the update.[48] The response to the release varied: some users reported huge performance boosts, while technology site Techgage found several stability issues and no notable frame rate improvement.[49] At the time of release, 64-bit users reported bizarre in-game errors including characters dropping dead, game script files not being pre-cached (i.e., loaded when first requested instead), map rules being bent by AI, and other glitches.[50]

An Xbox port published by Electronic Arts was released on November 15, 2005. While subject to positive reception, critics cited its lack of multiplayer and frame-rate issues as problems, and the game received comparatively lower scores to its PC counterpart.[51]

During Electronic Arts' summer press event on July 13, 2006, Gabe Newell announced that Half-Life 2 game with grittier artwork, where the Combine were more obviously draining the oceans for minerals and replacing the atmosphere with noxious, murky gases. Nova Prospekt was originally intended to be a small Combine rail depot built on an old prison in the wasteland. Eventually, Nova Prospekt grew from a stopping-off point along the way to the destination itself.[39]

Leak

Half-Life 2 was merely a rumor until a strong impression at E3 in May 2003, where it won several awards for best in show. Originally slated for release in September 2003, the game was delayed in the wake of the cracking of Valve's internal network.[40] The network was accessed through a null session connection to Tangis which was hosted in Valve's network and a subsequent upload of an ASP shell, resulting in the leak of the game's source code and many other files including maps, models and a playable early version of Half-Life 2 and Counter-Strike Source in early September 2003.[41] On October 2, 2003, Valve CEO Gabe Newell publicly explained in the Halflife2.net (now ValveTime.net) forums[42] the events that Valve experienced around the time of the leak, and requested users to track down the perpetrators if possible.

In June 2004, Valve Software announced in a press release that the FBI had arrested several people suspected of involvement in the source code leak.[43] Valve claimed the game had been leaked by a German black-hat hacker named Axel "Ago" Gembe. After the leak, Gembe had contacted Newell through e-mail (also providing an unreleased document planning the E3 events).[44] Newell kept corresponding with Gembe, and Gembe was led into believing that Valve wanted to employ him as an in-house security auditor. He was to be offered a flight to the USA and was to be arrested on arrival by the FBI. When the German government became aware of the plan, Gembe was arrested in Germany instead, and put on trial for the leak as well as other computer crimes in November 2006, such as the creation of Agobot, a highly successful trojan which harvested users' data.[45]

[46][47]

At the trial in November 2006 in Germany, Gembe was sentenced to two years' probation. In imposing the sentence, the judge took into account such factors as Gembe's difficult childhood and the fact that he was taking steps to improve his situation.[46]

Ports and updates

On December 22, 2005, Valve released a 64-bit version of the Source game engine that theoretically took advantage of x86-64 processor-based systems running Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows Server 2003 x64, Windows Vista x64, or Windows Server 2008 x64. This update, delivered via Steam, enabled Half-Life 2 and other Source-based games to run natively on 64-bit processors, bypassing the 32-bit compatibility layer. Gabe Newell, one of the founders of Valve, stated that this is "an important step in the evolution of our game content and tools," and that the game benefits greatly from the update.[48] The response to the release varied: some users reported huge performance boosts, while technology site Techgage found several stability issues and no notable frame rate improvement.[49] At the time of release, 64-bit users reported bizarre in-game errors including characters dropping dead, game script files not being pre-cached (i.e., loaded when first requested instead), map rules being bent by AI, and other glitches.[50]

An Xbox port published by Electronic Arts was released on November 15, 2005. While subject to positive reception, critics cited its lack of multiplayer and frame-rate issues as problems, and the game received comparatively lower scores to its PC counterpart.[51]

During Electronic Arts' summer press event on July 13, 2006, Gabe Newell announced that Half-Life 2 The game was developed alongside Valve's Steam software. It introduced the Source game engine and, because of Steam, was the first single-player video game to require online product activation.[11][12]

Like its predecessor, Half-Life 2 was met with critical acclaim.[13][14] It was praised for its advanced physics, animation, sound, AI, graphics, and narrative. The game won 39 "Game of the Year" awards[15] and the title of "Game Of The Decade" at the 2012 Spike Video Game Awards.[16][17][18][19] Over 6.5 million copies of Half-Life 2 were sold at retail by December 3, 2008,[20] (not including the number of sales via Steam).[21] As of February 9, 2011, Half-Life 2 has sold over 12 million copies.[22]

Contents •1 Gameplay •2 Synopsis ◦2.1 Setting ◦2.2 Plot •3 Development ◦3.1 Leak ◦3.2 Ports and updates ◦3.3 Distribution ◾3.3.1 Café dispute •4 Soundtrack •5 Reception ◦5.1 Critical reception ◦5.2 Awards •6 Mods •7 Sequels •8 See also •9 References •10 External links

Gameplay

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a1/Antlions1HL2.jpg/220px-Antlions1HL2.jpg

A screenshot of the player engaging a group of antlions with a pulse rifle. Along the bottom of the screen, the player's health, suit charge level, and ammunition are displayed.

Like its predecessor, Half-Life 2 is a single-player first-person shooter broken into several chapters, permanently casting the player as the protagonist Gordon Freeman. The sequel has nearly the same mechanics as Half-Life, including health-and-weapon systems and periodic physics puzzles, except with the newer Source Engine and improved graphics. The player also starts without items, slowly building up an arsenal over the course of the game. Despite the game's mainly linear nature, much effort was put into making exploration rewarding and interesting; many optional areas can be missed or avoided.

A diverse set of enemies are present, which usually require being approached with different tactics: some coordinate in groups to out-maneuver or out-position the player; others, like the Manhack, fly directly at the player through small openings and tight corridors; some use predictable but powerful attacks, while others hide before swiftly attacking the player. Gordon can kill most enemies with his weapons, or make use of indirect means, exploiting environmental hazards such as explosive pressurized canisters, gas fires or improvised traps. At one point in the game, Gordon can be joined by up to four armed Resistance soldiers, and can send his team further from him or call them back; however, they can still die easily due to lack of damage protection. Squad members are indicated on the HUD (squad member icons with a cross sign are field medics).

Many of the game's new features utilize its detailed physics simulation. Two sections of the game involve driving vehicles. Instead of button-based puzzles from Half-Life, environmental puzzles are also introduced with makeshift mechanical systems, revolving around the player's new ability to pick up, move, and place objects. Solutions involve objects' physical properties, such as shape, weight, and buoyancy. For example, in Chapter 3, Route Kanal, the player is required to stack cinder blocks on a makeshift see-saw ramp to proceed over a wall. Alternatively, the player can use these to build a crude staircase, so sometimes, multiple approaches lead to the desired outcome.

Part-way through the game, Gordon acquires the Gravity Gun, which allows him to draw distant objects towards himself or forcefully push them away, as well as to manipulate larger and heavier objects than he is able to alone. These abilities are required to solve puzzles later in the game, and can also be used to great effect in combat, as any non-static object within proximity to the player has the potential to be used as a makeshift defense (e.g. a file cabinet) or a deadly projectile (e.g. a gasoline can or a buzzsaw blade).

The game never separates the player with pre-rendered cutscenes or events; the story proceeds via exposition from other characters and in-world events, and ensures that the player controls Gordon for the entirety of the game. Much of the backstory to the game is simply alluded to, or told through the environment.

Synopsis

Setting

Half-Life 2 presents a dystopian alternate history of Earth, where the resources of the planet, including the human race itself, are being harvested by an oppressive multidimensional empire, known as the Combine. The game is set around the fictitious City 17, roughly 20 years after the events of its predecessor Half-Life.

During Half-Life, the scientists, including Gordon Freeman, at the Black Mesa Research Facility, accidentally caused an inter-dimensional instability known as a resonance cascade and later as the "Black Mesa Incident", when an experiment on an alien crystal sample went wrong.[23] Alien creatures, such as the Vortigaunts and headcrabs, from the borderworld of Xen, flooded into the facility. Gordon fought his way through them and the government cover-up response combat units, making it to the Facility's Lambda Complex. There, the Lambda scientists helped Gordon teleport to Xen, where Gordon destroyed a large alien entity keeping the rift open. Gordon was then suddenly extracted by the mysterious G-Man, who had been watching Gordon over the course of the game. Impressed with his ability to survive against all odds, the G-Man offered him a job before placing him into stasis, which Gordon had no option but to accept.

Some time after the ending of Half-Life, the instability at Black Mesa had attracted the attention of the Combine empire, and they invaded Earth. Humanity surrendered at the conclusion of the resulting "Seven Hour War". City 17 became the home of the gigantic Combine Citadel, and Dr. Wallace Breen, the Administrator of Black Mesa who had negotiated the surrender, was appointed representative and Administrator to supervise the survivors on behalf of the Combine.[24] Unable to breed due to a Combine suppression field, humanity matured. The Combine implemented a brutal police state of Civil Protection officers and Overwatch soldiers by recruiting and biologically assimilating humans and other species. Meanwhile an underground "Lambda Resistance" of humans and Vortigaunts, now working together, was formed, and saw Freeman as a savior who would lead them to freedom.

Plot

Gordon Freeman is brought out of stasis by the G-Man, who inserts him into a train arriving at City 17.[25] After arriving at the station and eluding Combine forces, Gordon joins Lambda resistance members including Barney Calhoun, a former Black Mesa security guard now working undercover as a Combine CP officer, and Alyx Vance, the daughter of one of Gordon's former colleagues, Dr. Eli Vance. After a failed attempt to teleport to Eli's resistance base known as Black Mesa East from Dr. Kleiner's makeshift laboratory in City 17, Gordon, re-equipped with the HEV suit and a crowbar, is forced to progress on foot through the city's old canal system. After obtaining an airboat, he battles his way to Black Mesa East, several miles from the city.[26][27]

Gordon is reintroduced to Eli and meets another resistance scientist, Dr. Judith Mossman.[28] Alyx introduces Gordon to her large pet robot D0g and gives him a "Gravity Gun", an instrument which allows Gordon to pick up and move any large object with ease. Black Mesa East soon comes under Combine attack and Eli and Mossman are captured to be taken to a Combine prison, Nova Prospekt. Gordon and Alyx are forced to take separate paths to Nova Prospekt; Gordon takes a detour through the zombie-infested town of Ravenholm, receiving help from its last survivor, Father Grigori. After making his way through the town and a mine, Gordon arrives at a Resistance outpost. There, he is provided with a Dune Buggy, which he uses to travel along a crumbling coastal road to Nova Prospekt. Along the way, Gordon encounters frequent Combine patrols, and assists the Resistance in fending off raids.

Gordon manages to lay siege to Nova Prospekt by using alien "pheropods" to command the hordes of antlions that infest the coast. Reaching the prison, he reunites with Alyx. They manage to locate Eli, but also discover that Mossman is a Combine informant. Before they can stop her, she teleports herself and Eli back to City 17's Citadel. The Combine teleporter explodes as Gordon and Alyx use it to escape Nova Prospekt.

Upon reaching Kleiner's lab, Gordon and Alyx learn that they were caught in a "slow teleport", during which a week has passed. In their absence, the Resistance, who heard about what had happened at Nova Prospekt, has mobilized against the Combine, turning City 17 into a battleground.[29] During the fighting, Alyx is captured by the Combine and taken to the Citadel, as Gordon fights through the city with the aid of D0g and Barney to reach it.[30] Inside the Citadel, he is caught in a Combine "confiscation chamber" that destroys all of his weapons except for the Gravity Gun, the energy enhancing its capabilities and turning it into a superior weapon.

Eventually, Gordon is captured riding in a Combine transport pod and is taken to Dr. Breen's office, where he and Dr. Mossman are waiting with Eli and Alyx in captivity. Dr. Breen begins to explain his plans for further conquest of the humans by the Combine, contrary to what he had told Dr. Mossman. Angered, Mossman frees Gordon, Alyx, and Eli before Breen can teleport them off-world. Dr. Breen tries to escape through a portal, but Gordon pursues him and destroys the portal reactor with the super-charged Gravity Gun. Breen appears to be annihilated in the resulting explosion. Just before Gordon and Alyx can meet a similar fate, time is frozen. The G-Man reappears, praising Gordon for his actions in City 17 and the Citadel. Making vague mention of "offers for [Gordon's] services", the G-Man places him back into stasis.[31]

Development

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/bb/HalfLife2_City17_TrainStationSquare.jpg/220px-HalfLife2_City17_TrainStationSquare.jpg

A square in City 17, showing the Source engine's lighting and shadow effects

For Half-Life 2, Valve Corporation developed a new game engine called Source, which handles the game's visual, audio, and artificial intelligence elements. The Source engine comes packaged with a heavily modified version of the Havok physics engine that allows for further interactivity in both single-player and online environments.[32] The engine can be easily upgraded because it is separated in modules.[citation needed] When coupled with Steam, it becomes easy to roll out new features. One such example being high dynamic range rendering, which Valve first demonstrated in a free downloadable level called Lost Coast for owners of Half-Life 2.[33] Several other games use the Source engine, including Day of Defeat: Source and Counter-Strike: Source, both of which were also developed by Valve.[34]

Integral to Half-Life 2 on both the Windows and Mac platforms is the Steam content delivery system developed by Valve Corporation. All Half-Life 2 players on PC are required to have Steam installed and a valid account in order to play.[35] Steam allows customers to purchase games and other software straight from the developer and have them downloaded directly to their computer as well as receiving "micro updates." These updates also make hacking the game harder to do and has thus far been somewhat successful in staving off cheats and playability for users with unauthorized copies.[36] Steam can also be used for finding and playing multiplayer games through an integrated server browser and friends list, and game data can be backed up with a standard CD or DVD burner. Steam and a customer's purchased content can be downloaded onto any computer, as long as that account is only logged in at one location at a given time. The usage of Steam has not gone without controversy.[37] Some users have reported numerous problems with Steam, sometimes being serious enough to prevent a reviewer from recommending a given title available on the service. In other cases, review scores have been lowered.[38]

The book Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar, revealed many of the game's original settings and action that were cut down or removed from the game. Half-Life 2 was originally intended to be a darker game with grittier artwork, where the Combine were more obviously draining the oceans for minerals and replacing the atmosphere with noxious, murky gases. Nova Prospekt was originally intended to be a small Combine rail depot built on an old prison in the wasteland. Eventually, Nova Prospekt grew from a stopping-off point along the way to the destination itself.[39]

Leak

Half-Life 2 was merely a rumor until a strong impression at E3 in May 2003, where it won several awards for best in show. Originally slated for release in September 2003, the game was delayed in the wake of the cracking of Valve's internal network.[40] The network was accessed through a null session connection to Tangis which was hosted in Valve's network and a subsequent upload of an ASP shell, resulting in the leak of the game's source code and many other files including maps, models and a playable early version of Half-Life 2 and Counter-Strike Source in early September 2003.[41] On October 2, 2003, Valve CEO Gabe Newell publicly explained in the Halflife2.net (now ValveTime.net) forums[42] the events that Valve experienced around the time of the leak, and requested users to track down the perpetrators if possible.

In June 2004, Valve Software announced in a press release that the FBI had arrested several people suspected of involvement in the source code leak.[43] Valve claimed the game had been leaked by a German black-hat hacker named Axel "Ago" Gembe. After the leak, Gembe had contacted Newell through e-mail (also providing an unreleased document planning the E3 events).[44] Newell kept corresponding with Gembe, and Gembe was led into believing that Valve wanted to employ him as an in-house security auditor. He was to be offered a flight to the USA and was to be arrested on arrival by the FBI. When the German government became aware of the plan, Gembe was arrested in Germany instead, and put on trial for the leak as well as other computer crimes in November 2006, such as the creation of Agobot, a highly successful trojan which harvested users' data.[45]

[46][47]

At the trial in November 2006 in Germany, Gembe was sentenced to two years' probation. In imposing the sentence, the judge took into account such factors as Gembe's difficult childhood and the fact that he was taking steps to improve his situation.[46]

Ports and updates

On December 22, 2005, Valve released a 64-bit version of the Source game engine that theoretically took advantage of x86-64 processor-based systems running Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows Server 2003 x64, Windows Vista x64, or Windows Server 2008 x64. This update, delivered via Steam, enabled Half-Life 2 and other Source-based games to run natively on 64-bit processors, bypassing the 32-bit compatibility layer. Gabe Newell, one of the founders of Valve, stated that this is "an important step in the evolution of our game content and tools," and that the game benefits greatly from the update.[48] The response to the release varied: some users reported huge performance boosts, while technology site Techgage found several stability issues and no notable frame rate improvement.[49] At the time of release, 64-bit users reported bizarre in-game errors including characters dropping dead, game script files not being pre-cached (i.e., loaded when first requested instead), map rules being bent by AI, and other glitches.[50]

An Xbox port published by Electronic Arts was released on November 15, 2005. While subject to positive reception, critics cited its lack of multiplayer and frame-rate issues as problems, and the game received comparatively lower scores to its PC counterpart.[51]

During Electronic Arts' summer press event on July 13, 2006, Gabe Newell announced that Half-Life 2 would ship on next-generation consoles (specifically, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3) along with episodes One and Two, Team Fortress 2, and Portal[52] in a package called The Orange Box. The Windows version was released on October 10, 2007, as both a retail boxed copy, and as a download available through Valve's Steam service. The Xbox 360 version was also released on October 10, 2007. A PlayStation 3 version was released on December 11, 2007.[53]

On May 26, 2010, Half-Life 2, along with Half-Life 2: Episode One and Episode Two, was released for Mac OS X.[54] Portal was made available for the platform on May 13, 2010, and despite the notable absence of Team Fortress 2 on the platform, Valve began selling The Orange Box for OS X on May 26, 2010. OS X support for Team Fortress 2 was added on June 10, 2010, completing the package.[55] In May 2013, Valve released a beta update to Half-Life 2 which included support for the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset, with a full release of the feature coming later that year in June.[56]

Distribution

A 1 GB portion of Half-Life 2 became available for pre-load through Steam on August 26, 2004. This meant that customers could begin to download encrypted game files to their computer before the game was released. When the game's release date arrived, customers were able to pay for the game through Steam, unlock the files on their hard drives and play the game immediately, without having to wait for the entire game to download. The pre-load period lasted for several weeks, with several subsequent portions of the game being made available, to ensure all customers had a chance to download the content before the game was released.[57]

Half-Life 2 was simultaneously released through Steam, CD, and on DVD in several editions. Through Steam, Half-Life 2 had three packages that a customer could order. The basic version ("Bronze") includes only Half-Life 2 and Counter-Strike: Source, whereas the "Silver" and "Gold" (collector's edition) versions also include Half-Life: Source (ports of the original Half-Life and Day of Defeat mod to the new engine). The collector's edition/"Gold" version additionally includes merchandise, such as a T-shirt, a strategy guide and CD containing the soundtrack used in Half-Life 2. Both the disc and Steam versions require Steam to be installed and active for play to occur.[58]

A demo version with the file size of a single CD was later made available in December 2004 at the web site of graphics card manufacturer ATI Technologies, who teamed up with Valve for the game. The demo contains a portion of two chapters: Point Insertion and "We Don't Go To Ravenholm...". This demo is currently available on Steam. In September 2005, Electronic Arts distributed the Game of the Year edition of Half-Life 2. Compared to the original CD-release of Half-Life 2, the Game of the Year edition also includes Half-Life: Source.[59]

Café dispute

On September 20, 2004, the gaming public learned through GameSpot that Sierra's parent company, Vivendi Universal Games, was in a legal battle with Valve Software over the distribution of Half-Life 2 to cyber cafés. This is important for the Asian PC gaming market where PC and broadband penetration per capita are much lower (except Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan). Therefore, cyber cafés are extremely popular for playing online games for large numbers of people.[60]

According to Vivendi Universal Games, the distribution contract they signed with Valve included cyber cafés. This would mean that only Vivendi Universal Games could distribute Half-Life 2 to cyber cafés — not Valve through the Steam system. On November 29, 2004, Judge Thomas S. Zilly, of U.S. Federal District Court in Seattle, Washington, ruled that Vivendi Universal Games and its affiliates, are not authorized to distribute (directly or indirectly) Valve games through cyber cafés to end users for pay-to-play activities pursuant to the parties' current publishing agreement. In addition, Judge Zilly ruled in favor of the Valve motion regarding the contractual limitation of liability, allowing Valve to recover copyright damages for any infringement as allowed by law without regard to the publishing agreement's limitation of liability clause.[61]

On April 29, 2005, the two parties announced a settlement agreement. Under the agreement, Vivendi Universal Games would cease distributing all retail packaged versions of Valve games by August 31, 2005. Vivendi Universal Games also was to notify distributors and cyber cafés that had been licensed by Vivendi Universal Games that only Valve had the authority to distribute cyber café licenses, and hence their licenses were revoked and switched to Valve's.[62]

Soundtrack

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/50px-Question_book-new.svg.png This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2013)

The Soundtrack of Half-Life 2

Soundtrack album by Kelly Bailey

Released 2004

Recorded 1997−2003

Genre Video game soundtrack, electronic,[63] ambient[63]

Length 60:18

Album ratings

Review scores

Source Rating

IGN 7/10[63]

Purchasers of the Gold Package[64] of the game were given (among other things) a CD soundtrack, titled The Soundtrack of Half-Life 2, containing nearly all the music from the game, along with three bonus tracks. This CD was available for separate purchase via the Valve online store.

Tracks 15, 16, 18 and 42 are bonus tracks that are exclusive to the CD soundtrack. Many of the tracks were retitled and carried over from the Half-Life soundtrack; The names in parentheses are the original titles. Tracks 34, 41, and 42 are remixes. All listed tracks were composed by Kelly Bailey.[citation needed]

[show]Track listing

Reception

Critical reception

Reception

Aggregate scores

Aggregator Score

GameRankings 95.48% (PC)[13] 89.83% (Xbox)[66]

Metacritic 96/100 (PC)[75] 90/100 (Xbox)[76]

Review scores

Publication Score

1UP.com A+[13]

Edge 10/10 (PC)[65]

Game Informer 9.5/10 (PC)[13] 7.25/10 (Xbox)[66]

GamePro 5/5 starshttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png(PC)[68] 4.5/5 starshttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Star_half.svg/11px-Star_half.svg.png(Xbox)[66]

Game Revolution A−[13]

GameSpot 9.2/10 (PC)[67] 8.3/10 (Xbox)[66]

GameSpy 5/5 starshttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png[69]

GameTrailers 8.5/10 (Xbox)[66]

IGN 9.7/10 (PC)[70] 9.4/10 (Xbox)[66]

Maximum PC 11/10[71]

Official Xbox Magazine 8.5/10[66]

PALGN 9/10[66]

PC Gamer US 98%[72]

Play Magazine A (PC)[13] 9/10 (Xbox)[66]

The Cincinnati Enquirer 4/4 starshttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.pnghttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Star_full.svg/11px-Star_full.svg.png[73]

The New York Times Positive[74]

See also: Critical response to The Orange Box

Half-Life 2 was highly acclaimed by both the public and critics alike. Forbes reported on February 9, 2011 that the game has sold 12 million copies.[77] It received an aggregated score of 96% on both GameRankings and Metacritic.[19][75] Sources such as GameSpy,[69] The Cincinnati Enquirer,[73] and The New York Times[74] have given perfect reviewing scores, and others such as PC Gamer[72] and IGN[70] gave near-perfect scores, while the game became the fifth title to receive Edge magazine's ten-out-of-ten score.[65] Critics who applauded the game cited the advanced graphics and physics.[68][74] Maximum PC awarded Half-Life 2 an unprecedented 11 on their rating scale which normally peaks at 10, calling it "the best game ever made".[71]

In a review of The Orange Box, IGN stated that although Half-Life 2 has already been released through other mediums, the game itself is still enjoyable on a console. They also noted that the physics of Half-Life 2 are very impressive despite being a console title. However, it was noted that the graphics on the Xbox 360 version of Half-Life 2 were not as impressive as when the title was released on the PC.[78] GameSpot's review of The Orange Box noticed that the content of both the Xbox 360 releases, and PlayStation 3 releases were exactly alike, the only issue with the PlayStation 3 version was that it had noticeable frame-rate hiccups. GameSpot continued to say that the frame rates issues were only minor but some consider them to be a significant irritation.[67]

Several critics, including some that had given positive reviews, complained about the required usage of the program Steam, the requirement to create an account, register the products, and permanently lock them to the account before being allowed to play, along with installation difficulties and lack of support.[74]

Awards

Half-Life 2 earned 39 Game of the Year awards,[15] including Overall Game of the Year at IGN, GameSpot's Award for Best Shooter, GameSpot's Reader's Choice — PC Game of the Year Award, Game of the Year from The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, and "Best Game" with the Game Developers Choice Awards, where it was also given various awards for technology, characters, and writing. Edge magazine awarded Half Life 2 with its top honor of the year with the award for Best Game, as well as awards for Innovation and Visual Design. The game also had a strong showing at the 2004 British Academy Video Games Awards, picking up six awards, more than any other game that night, with awards including "Best Game" and "Best Online and Multiplayer."[79]

Guinness World Records awarded Half-Life 2 the world record for "Highest Rated Shooter by PC Gamer Magazine" in the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008. Other records awarded the game in the book include, "Largest Digital Distribution Channel" for Valve's Steam service, "First Game to Feature a Gravity Gun", and "First PC Game to Feature Developer Commentary".[80] In 2009, Game Informer put Half-Life 2 5th on their list of "The Top 200 Games of All Time", saying that "With Half-Life 2, Valve redefined the way first-person shooters were created".[81]

Half-Life 2 was selected by readers of The Guardian as the best game of the decade, with praise given especially to the environment design throughout the game. According to the newspaper, it "pushed the envelope for the genre, and set a new high watermark for FPS narrative". One author commented: "Half-Life 2 always felt like the European arthouse answer to the Hollywood bluster of Halo and Call of Duty".[16] Half-Life 2 won Crispy Gamer's 'Game of the Decade'[17] tournament style poll. It also won Reviews on the Run's,[18] IGN's[19] best game of the decade and Spike Video Game Awards 2012 Game of the Decade.

Mods

See also: List of Source engine mods and Source SDK

Since the release of the Source engine SDK, a large number of modifications (mods) have been developed by the Half-Life 2 community. Mods vary in scale, from fan-created levels and weapons, to partial conversions such as Rock 24, Half-Life 2 Substance and SMOD (which modify the storyline and gameplay of the pre-existing game), SourceForts and Garry's Mod (which allow the player to experiment with the physics system in a sandbox mode), to total conversions such as Black Mesa, Dystopia, Zombie Master or Iron Grip: The Oppression, the last of which transforms the game from a first-person shooter into a real-time strategy game.[82][83] Some mods take place in the Half-Life universe; others in completely original settings. Many more mods are still in development, including Lift, The Myriad, Operation Black Mesa, and the episodic single-player mod Minerva.[84] Several multiplayer mods, such as Pirates, Vikings and Knights II, a predominately sword-fighting game; Insurgency: Modern Infantry Combat, which focuses on realistic modern infantry combat; and Jailbreak Source have been opened to the public as a beta.[85][86] As part of its community support, Valve announced in September 2008 that several mods, with more planned in the future, were being integrated into the Steamworks program, allowing the mods to make full use of Steam's distribution and update capabilities.[87]

Sequels

Main articles: Half-Life 2: Episode One and Half-Life 2: Episode Two

Since the release of Half-Life 2, Valve Corporation has released an additional level and two additional "expansion" sequels. The level, released as Half-Life 2: Lost Coast, was meant to take place between the levels "Highway 17" and "Sandtraps" and is primarily a showcase for high-dynamic-range rendering (HDR) technology. The first expansion sequel, Half-Life 2: Episode One, takes place immediately after the events of Half-Life 2, with the player taking on the role of Gordon Freeman once again and with Alyx Vance playing a more prominent role. Half-Life 2: Episode Two continues directly from the ending of Episode One, with Alyx and Gordon making their way to White Forest Missile base, a hideout of the resistance. A third episode is set to be released in the future, completing a trilogy.[88] In an interview with Eurogamer, Gabe Newell revealed that the Half-Life 2 "episodes" are essentially Half-Life 3.[89] He reasons that rather than force fans to wait another six years for a full sequel, Valve Corporation would release the game in episodic installments.[89] Newell stated that a more accurate title for these episodes would have been "Half-Life 3: Episode One" and so forth, having referred to the episodes as Half-Life 3 repeatedly throughout the interview.[89] In a May 2011 interview with Develop, Newell stated that the episodic model had been replaced by even shorter development cycles and continuous updates via Steam.[90]

is a science fiction video game developed by Valve Corporation, the company's debut product and the first in the Red Kormbat series. First released in 1998 by Sierra Studios for Windows PCs, the game was also released for the PlayStation 2;[2] Mac OS X and Linux ports became available in January 2013.[3] In Half-Life, players assume the role of Dr. Gordon Freeman, a theoretical physicist who must fight his way out of a secret underground research facility whose research and experiments into teleportation technology have gone disastrously wrong.

Valve, set up by former Microsoft employees, had difficulty finding a publisher for the game, with many believing that it was too ambitious a project. Sierra On-Line eventually signed the game after expressing interest in making a 3D action game. The game had its first major public appearance at the 1997 Electronic Entertainment Expo. Designed for Windows, the game's engine, GoldSrc, was a heavily modified version of id Software's Quake game engine with code portions from the id Tech 2 engine.[1][4]

On its release, the game received universal acclaim, with critics praising the seamlessly flowing narrative, presentation and realistic gameplay, and it won over fifty PC Game of the Year awards.[5][6] Its gameplay influenced the design of first-person shooters for years after its release, and it is widely considered to be one of the greatest games of all time.[7][8] IGN ranked Half-Life as the number one greatest first-person shooter of all time, stating that "When you look at the history of first-person shooters, it all breaks down pretty cleanly into pre-Half-Life and post-Half-Life eras."[9] Half-Life had sold eight million copies by 16 November 2004,[10] and 9.3 million copies by December 2008.[11] By 14 July 2007, the Half-Life franchise as a whole had sold over 20 million units.[12] Half-Life was followed by the 2004 sequel Half-Life 2, which also received universal critical acclaim.

Contents •1 Gameplay •2 Plot ◦2.1 Setting ◦2.2 Story •3 Development ◦3.1 Name ◦3.2 Ports •4 Expansions and sequels ◦4.1 Expansions ◦4.2 Sequels ◦4.3 Remakes ◦4.4 Third-party mods •5 Reception and legacy •6 References •7 External links

Gameplay

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/65/Halflife_ingame.jpg/220px-Halflife_ingame.jpg

In this scene, the player must bypass a dam reservoir guarded by an Apache helicopter, a group of soldiers, and a cannon emplacement.

Half-Life is a first-person shooter that requires the player to perform combat tasks and puzzle solving to advance through the game. Unlike its peers at the time, Half-Life used scripted sequences, such as a Vortigaunt ramming down a door, to advance major plot points. Compared to most first-person shooters of the time, which relied on cut-scene intermissions to detail their plotlines, Half-Life's story is told entirely by means of scripted sequences, keeping the player in control of the first-person viewpoint. In line with this, the game has no cut-scenes, and the player rarely loses the ability to control Gordon, who never speaks and is never actually seen in the game; the player sees "through his eyes" for the entire length of the game. Half-Life has no "levels"; it instead divides the game by chapters, whose titles flash on the screen as the player moves through the game. Progress through the world is continuous, except for breaks for loading.[13]

The game regularly integrates puzzles, such as navigating a maze of conveyor belts, or using nearby boxes to build a small staircase to the next area the player must travel to. Some puzzles involve using the environment to kill an enemy, like turning on a steam valve to spray hot steam at their enemies. There are few "bosses" in the conventional sense, where the player defeats a superior opponent by direct confrontation. Instead, such organisms occasionally define chapters, and the player is generally expected to use the terrain, rather than firepower, to kill the "boss". Late in the game, the player receives a "long jump module" for the HEV suit, which allows the player to increase the horizontal distance and speed of jumps by crouching before jumping. The player must rely on this ability to navigate various platformer-style jumping puzzles in Xen toward the end of the game.[13]

For the most part the player battles through the game alone, but is occasionally assisted by non-player characters; specifically security guards and scientists who help the player, the former who will fight alongside and both who can assist in reaching new areas and impart relevant plot information.[14] A wide array of enemies populate the game including parasites of Xen such as headcrabs, bullsquids, headcrab zombies and Vortigaunts. The player also faces human opponents, in particular Hazardous Environment Combat Unit (HECU) Marines and black ops assassins who are dispatched to contain the extra-dimensional threats and silence all witnesses.[15] The iconic weapon of Half-Life is the crowbar. The game also features numerous conventional weapons, such as the Glock 17 pistol (with the HD pack enabled, it resembles a Beretta), Franchi SPAS-12 shotgun (with the HD pack enabled, the stock is folded up), MP5 submachine gun with an attached M203 grenade launcher (with the HD pack enabled, it resembles a M16), Colt Python .357 Magnum revolver, and rocket launcher as well as unusual weapons ranging from a crossbow to weapons from Xen and genetically engineered weapons such as an organic homing gun and flesh-eating parasites called "Snarks". Two experimental weapons, the tau cannon (nicknamed the Gauss gun) and the Gluon Gun, are built by the scientists in the facility and are acquired by the player late in the game.[13]

Plot

Setting

Most of the game is set in a remote desert area of New Mexico in the Black Mesa Research Facility, a fictional complex that bears many similarities to both the Los Alamos National Laboratory and Area 51, at some point during the 2000s. The game's protagonist is the theoretical physicist Gordon Freeman, who holds a Ph.D. from MIT. Freeman becomes one of the survivors of an experiment at Black Mesa that goes horribly wrong, when an unexpected "resonance cascade"—a fictitious phenomenon —rips dimensional seams, devastating the facility. Aliens from another dimension known as Xen subsequently enter the facility through these dimensional seams (an event known as the "Black Mesa incident").[13]

As Freeman tries to make his way out of the ruined facility, he soon discovers that he is caught between two sides: the hostile aliens and the Hazardous Environment Combat Unit, a U.S. Marine Corps special operations unit dispatched to cover up the incident by eliminating the organisms, as well as Dr. Freeman and the other surviving Black Mesa personnel to keep them from talking. Throughout the game, a mysterious figure known (but not actually referred to in-game) as the "G-Man" regularly appears, and seems to be monitoring Freeman's progress. Ultimately, Freeman uses the cooperation of surviving scientists and security officers to work his way towards the mysterious "Lambda Complex" of Black Mesa (signified with the Greek "λ" character), where a team of survivors teleport him to the alien world Xen to kill the Nihilanth, the semi-physical entity keeping Xen's side of the dimensional rift open.[13]

The game's plot was originally inspired by the video games Doom, Quake (both PC games produced by id Software), and Resident Evil (published by Capcom), Stephen King's short story/novella The Mist, and an episode of The Outer Limits called "The Borderland".[16] It was later developed by Valve's in-house writer and author, Marc Laidlaw, who wrote the books Dad's Nuke and The 37th Mandala.[17]

Story

Dr. Gordon Freeman arrives late for work at 8:47 am in the Black Mesa Research Facility, using the advanced Black Mesa tram system that leads through the facility. He arrives at the Anomalous Materials Lab, his work place, and he is informed by the security officer that the scientists have a special experiment today, so he goes to the locker room and puts on the hazard suit. He goes to the lab's lower levels, and arrives at the Anti-Mass Chamber, where he is instructed that the specimen to be used that day is the rarest and also the most unstable specimen the lab has ever worked with. He is tasked with pushing the specimen into the scanning beam of the Anti-Mass Spectrometer for analysis. However as soon as he pushes it, it explodes, and creates a sudden catastrophe called a "resonance cascade",[18] opening a portal between Earth and a dimension called Xen.[19] Freeman is apparently teleported to an alien planet and catches glimpses of various alien lifeforms, including a circle of Vortigaunts, shortly before blacking out.[19]

Freeman awakens in the ruined test chamber and surveys the destroyed lab, strewn with the bodies of scientists and security personnel. Finding survivors, Freeman learns that communication to the outside is completely cut and is encouraged to head to the surface for help because of the protection afforded by his suit. His journey consists of sidestepping Black Mesa's structural damage and defending himself against hostile Xen creatures, such as the parasitic headcrab which attaches itself to a human host before enslaving it. Other survivors claim a rescue team has been dispatched, only to discover that the Hazardous Environment Combat Unit sent in is killing both the organisms and the personnel there as part of a government cover-up of the catastrophe.[20] addition of new tracks, to go with the expansion's overall biker/rock theme. LCHC also got the addition of a new radio show dedicated to extreme metal hosted by Max Cavalera (ex-Sepultura, Soulfly and Cavalera Conspiracy).

Additional tracks were added to the rotation of The Beat 102.7 (with DJ Statik Selektah & Funkmaster Flex) and Radio Broker as well as a new radio show on the talk station WKTT; The Martin Serious Show (a parody of Shock jock style radio programs, in particular The Howard Stern Show). Some of the new tracks include songs from the Australian hard rock heavyweights, AC/DC, along with Deep Purple, The Doors and Bon Jovi.

Development

The content was first announced during Microsoft's 2006 E3 press conference on 9 May 2006.[9] Peter Moore, then head of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business division described downloadable content as "epic episode packs", and not just an extra car or character. A press release during the conference said that the packs would add "hours of entirely new gameplay" to the game.[10] On 20 February 2008, it was initially announced that the extra content would be introduced starting August 2008.[11] As part of its second quarter financial reports Take-Two announced that the downloadable content had been delayed and would be released during the first quarter of its 2009 financial year (November 2008–January 2009).[12] On 13 November 2008, Take-Two executive chairman Strauss Zelnick warned that while they were aiming to release the first episode pack by January 2009, the date may have had to change to the second financial quarter of 2009 (February–April) depending on the completion date.[13][14] The 17 February release date was eventually announced one week after Zelnick's warning.[15]

Reception

[hide]Reception

Aggregate scores

Aggregator Score

GameRankings PS3: 94%[18] X360: 89.73%[19]

Metacritic X360: 90/100[16] PS3: 88/100[17]

Review scores

Publication Score

Eurogamer 8/10[20]

GameTrailers 9.2[21]

IGN 9.0/10

The game was acclaimed by critics who cited its improved motorcycle mechanics in comparison to the previous games, dramatic storyline, quality voice acting, addictive multiplayer component and other new content which added many hours of game time. Complaints with the game have included auto-aiming issues and weak gang AI, which were a noticeable problem in the original game.

Controversy

In the opening cutscene for the mission 'Politics', Tom Stubbs exposes his genitals in a full-frontal shot facing towards the camera after getting off a massage table and discussing his plans with Johnny. Parental advisory group Common Sense Media issued a public warning about the expansion pack due to a full-frontal male nudity scene during the cutscene. They claimed the game was "even more controversial than its predecessors" because it featured "full frontal male nudity".[22]

Red Mormbat Sleeping Dogs (2015)

Red Mormbat Sleeping Dogs is an upcoming online multiplayer action-adventure video game developed by United Front Games in conjunction with Square Enix London Studios and published by Square Enix. It is a spin-off to the 2012 video game Sleeping Dogs and the second installment in the Sleeping Dogs series.

Development

In October 2013, United Front Games confirmed that a game, titled Triad Wars, set within Sleeping Dogs' universe was in production. The developer confirmed that it would be published by Square Enix,[3] and would be shown to the public in 2014. Triad Wars was described by the developers as "something we've wanted to do for ages."[4]

United Front Games teased that Triad Wars would be a PC online game on 19 September 2014 [5] and a full reveal is planned to take place on 22 September 2014 make New York today what it is, but make sure they won't feel dated by the time the game comes out."[46] The developers contacted over 2,000 people in order to obtain recording and publishing rights.[27] They even hired a private investigator to locate the relatives of late Skatt Bros. member Sean Delaney to license the band's song, "Walk the Night".[47] Citing sources close to the deals, Billboard reported that Rockstar paid as much as $5,000 per composition and another $5,000 per master recording per track.[48] Developers originally considered letting players purchase music by going to an in-game record shop and for Niko to have an MP3 player, but both ideas were cut.[27] DJ Green Lantern produced tracks exclusively for the game's hip-hop radio station The Beat 102.7.[48] Record label owner and record producer Bobby Konders, who hosts the in-game radio station Massive B Soundsystem 96.9, went through the extra effort of flying to Jamaica to get dancehall artists to re-record tracks to make references to the boroughs of Liberty City.[48]

The Corporate Vice-President of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business division, Peter Moore, announced at E3 2006 that the game would appear on Xbox 360, by rolling up his sleeve to reveal a Grand Theft Auto IV temporary tattoo.[49] Rockstar Games initially appeared to be committed to the original 16 October 2007 release date; however, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter suggested that Take-Two may choose to delay the release of the game in order to boost its financial results for 2008 and to avoid competing with the release of other highly anticipated titles, such as Halo 3.[50] Rockstar responded by saying that Grand Theft Auto IV was still on track for release in "late October".[51] On 2 August 2007, Take-Two announced that Grand Theft Auto IV would miss its original release date of 16 October 2007 contrary to their previous statements, and would be delayed to their second fiscal quarter (February–April) of 2008.[52] In a later conference call with investors, Take-Two's Strauss Zelnick attributed the delay to "almost strictly technological problems ... not problems, but challenges."[53] It was later revealed that technical difficulties with the PlayStation 3 version of the game contributed to the delay, along with storage problems on the Xbox 360.[54] On 24 January 2008, Take-Two announced that Grand Theft Auto IV would be released on 29 April 2008.[55] As the release date approached, Rockstar Games and Take-Two marketed the game heavily through various forms, including television ads, Internet video, billboards, viral marketing, and a redesigned website. A special edition of the game was also released for both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.[56] At a Take-Two shareholder meeting on 18 April 2008, Take-Two CEO Ben Feder announced that Grand Theft Auto IV had already "gone gold" and was "in production and in trucks en route to retailers".[57] The game was eventually released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game consoles in Europe, North America, and Oceania on 29 April 2008,[55] and in Japan on 30 October 2008.[58] Overall, Grand Theft Auto than most earlier entries in the series[44] Although smaller than San Andreas, the main setting for Grand Theft Auto IV's predecessor Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Liberty City is comparable to it in terms of scope when "the level of verticality of the city, the number of buildings you can go into, and the level of detail in those buildings" are taken into account.[44] The goal for Liberty City was to have no dead spots or irrelevant spaces, such as the wide open deserts in San Andreas.[35] To achieve a realistic environment, the Rockstar North team, based in Edinburgh, Scotland, made two trips to New York for research, one at the start of the project (which was done with every previous Grand Theft Auto game) and another smaller one further into development.[43] A full-time research team, based in New York, handled further requests for information ranging from the ethnic minority of a neighbourhood to videos of traffic patterns.[37]

The story of Grand Theft Auto IV was written by Dan Houser and Rupert Humphries.[45] Unlike previous Grand Theft Auto games which have a strong cultural or cinematic influence, "[Grand Theft Auto IV doesn't] really have any cinematic influences",[35] as explained by Houser. "We were consciously trying to go, well, if video games are going to develop into the next stage, then the thing isn't to try and do a loving tribute or reference other stuff. It's to reference the actual place itself".[37] Houser also said, "In terms of the character, we wanted something that felt fresh and new and not something that was obviously derived from [a] movie. [...] Maybe [we] could do something ourselves that would live alongside that stuff".[37]

Music supervisor Ivan Pavlovich said "[we had] to pick the songs that fictional Liberty City.[27]

Following a partnership between Rockstar Games and Amazon.com, players are able to purchase real world MP3s through Grand Theft Auto IV's in-game mobile phone.[34] Players are able to find out the titles of songs played on the radio by texting ZiT on Niko's phone. They will then receive a text message providing the name of the song and the artist. If registered on the Rockstar Games Social Club website, a player will also receive a real world e-mail with a link to an Amazon.com playlist where all of the player's marked songs will be listed and available to purchase.

Development

See also: Marketing for Grand Theft Auto IV

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cc/Mural_ad_GTA_IV_NYC.jpg/220px-Mural_ad_GTA_IV_NYC.jpg

Mural ad for the game on a wall in New York City, July 2007.

Work on Grand Theft Auto IV began in November 2004, almost immediately after the release of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004).[35] Around 150 game developers worked on Grand Theft Auto IV,[36] led by core members of the team that previously worked on Grand Theft Auto III (2001).[37] For the game, Rockstar used their proprietary Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE), which was previously used in Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis (2006), in combination with the Euphoria game animation engine.[38] Instead of pre-written animations, Euphoria uses procedural animation to control the way the player moves, enabling character movements to be more realistic.[39] The Euphoria engine also enables NPCs to react in a realistic way to the player's actions. In one preview, a player knocked an NPC out of a window and the character grabbed onto a ledge to stop himself from falling.[40] The game also uses middleware from Image Metrics to facilitate intricate facial expressions and ease the process of incorporating lip-synching.[41] Foliage in the game is produced through SpeedTree.[42]

Grand Theft Auto IV sees a shift in the series to a more realistic and detailed style and tone,[35] partly a result of the transition to consoles which offered high-definition graphics and the new and improved capabilities of such consoles.[37] Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser said "what we're taking as our watchword on [Grand Theft Auto IV] is the idea of what high definition actually means. Not just in terms of graphics, which obviously we are achieving, but in terms of all aspects of the design. [...] You know, trying to make something more realistic, more held together, but still retaining the overall coherence that the other games had."[35] Art director Aaron Garbut said one of the reasons they decided to set the game in New York because "we all knew what an amazing, diverse, vibrant, cinematic city it is," and since they were hoping the push the "detail, variety and life" to a high level, it seemed that "basing the game in a city so synonymous with these things was a great fit."[43] Dan Houser added "because we were working in high definition and we knew we'd need a shitload of research, we wanted to be somewhere where we had a foothold."[37] The developers consciously avoided creating a block for block recreation of New York City, Dan Houser said "what we've always tried to do is make a thing that looks real and has the qualities of a real environment, but is also fun from a game design perspective."[35] The Grand Theft Auto IV rendition of Liberty City is far more detailed and larger in size

fictional Liberty City.[27]

Following a partnership between Rockstar Games and Amazon.com, players are able to purchase real world MP3s through Grand Theft Auto IV's in-game mobile phone.[34] Players are able to find out the titles of songs played on the radio by texting ZiT on Niko's phone. They will then receive a text message providing the name of the song and the artist. If registered on the Rockstar Games Social Club website, a player will also receive a real world e-mail with a link to an Amazon.com playlist where all of the player's marked songs will be listed and available to purchase.

Development

See also: Marketing for Grand Theft Auto IV

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cc/Mural_ad_GTA_IV_NYC.jpg/220px-Mural_ad_GTA_IV_NYC.jpg

Mural ad for the game on a wall in New York City, July 2007.

Work on Grand Theft Auto IV began in November 2004, almost immediately after the release of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004).[35] Around 150 game developers worked on Grand Theft Auto IV,[36] led by core members of the team that previously worked on Grand Theft Auto III (2001).[37] For the game, Rockstar used their proprietary Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE), which was previously used in Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis (2006), in combination with the Euphoria game animation engine.[38] Instead of pre-written animations, Euphoria uses procedural animation to control the way the player moves, enabling character movements to be more realistic.[39] The Euphoria engine also enables NPCs to react in a realistic way to the player's actions. In one preview, a player knocked an NPC out of a window and the character grabbed onto a ledge to stop himself from falling.[40] The game also uses middleware from Image Metrics to facilitate intricate facial expressions and ease the process of incorporating lip-synching.[41] Foliage in the game is produced through SpeedTree.[42]

Grand Theft Auto IV sees a shift in the series to a more realistic and detailed style and tone,[35] partly a result of the transition to consoles which offered high-definition graphics and the new and improved capabilities of such consoles.[37] Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser said "what we're taking as our watchword on [Grand Theft Auto IV] is the idea of what high definition actually means. Not just in terms of graphics, which obviously we are achieving, but in terms of all aspects of the design. [...] You know, trying to make something more realistic, more held together, but still retaining the overall coherence that the other games had."[35] Art director Aaron Garbut said one of the reasons they decided to set the game in New York because "we all knew what an amazing, diverse, vibrant, cinematic city it is," and since they were hoping the push the "detail, variety and life" to a high level, it seemed that "basing the game in a city so synonymous with these things was a great fit."[43] Dan Houser added "because we were working in high definition and we knew we'd need a shitload of research, we wanted to be somewhere where we had a foothold."[37] The developers consciously avoided creating a block for block recreation of New York City, Dan Houser said "what we've always tried to do is make a thing that looks real and has the qualities of a real environment, but is also fun from a game design perspective."[35] The Grand Theft Auto IV rendition of Liberty City is far more detailed and larger in size revenge on him. Should Niko go through with the deal, he soon finds out that Dimitri took the heroin for himself, which endangers and angers Niko. At Roman's wedding, an assassin sent by Dimitri kills Roman with a stray bullet as Niko disarms and kills him. A devastated and vengeful Niko later tracks down Dimitri and Pegorino, witnesses the former kill the latter, before chasing and killing Dimitri. Should Niko choose to exact revenge, Niko ambushes and executes Dimitri. At Roman's wedding, Pegorino, furious after Niko's betrayal, commits a drive-by shooting. He targets Niko, but ends up killing Niko's girlfriend Kate. Niko soon tracks down, chases, and kills Pegorino, who had become hated and targeted by the entire underworld of Liberty City.[26]

Soundtrack

Main articles: Grand Theft Auto IV soundtrack and The Music of Grand Theft Auto IV

Like previous games in the Grand Theft Auto series, Grand Theft Auto IV features a soundtrack that can be heard through radio stations while the player is in a vehicle. Liberty City is serviced by 19 radio stations, three of which are talk radio stations. The other stations feature music from a large range of genres, including tracks from Genesis, David Bowie, Bob Marley, The Who, Queen, Kanye West and Elton John.

The theme song of Grand Theft Auto IV is "Soviet Connection" composed by Michael Hunter, who also composed the theme for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.[27] People who provide voices for the radio DJs include fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, musicians Iggy Pop,[28] Femi Kuti,[29] Jimmy Gestapo[30] and Ruslana,[31] and real-life radio talk show host Lazlow Jones.[32] Saturday Night Live actors Bill Hader and Jason Sudeikis appear on the liberal and conservative radio talk shows respectively, with Fred Armisen playing several guests on Lazlow's "Integrity 2.0".[32] Numerous other comedians, including Jim Norton, Patrice O'Neal, Rick Shapiro, and Robert Kelly, as well as radio hosts Opie & Anthony appeared on the radio and/or as characters in-game.[33]

The game uses a similar music system to that of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. In other games in the series, each radio station was essentially a single looped sound file, playing the same songs, announcements and advertisements in the same order each time. With the radio stations in Grand Theft Auto IV, each sound file is held separately, and sequenced randomly, allowing songs to be played in different orders, announcements to songs to be different each time, and plot events to be mentioned on the stations. Certain songs are also edited to incorporate references to the