Half life 2 riot act series#

Shortly after Gordon defeated the entity known as the Nihilanth in Half-Life, a cascade of dimensional interference rumbled across the universe and caught the attention of the Combine. All human life is controlled by the Combine, an omnipresent alien race with technology and firepower light-years ahead of humankind. Awoken after 20 years in some sort of stasis by the mysterious G-Man, Gordon is introduced into a hellish police state, an almost note-perfect rendition of Orwell's Oceania. The G-Man invited Gordon into the void, and everything went black.ДЇast-forward six years and Gordon makes his triumphant return in Half-Life 2. The game ended anachronistically, with the reappearance of the enigmatic 'G-Man' character, the shadowy figure who may or may not work for the government and appears to be everywhere at once. It was the basic 'what hath science wrought?' plotline, but presented with an unprecedented level of interactivity. As Gordon dons his Hazardous EnVironment suit and fights his way to the surface, he encounters a variety of enemies, from mind-controlling 'head crabs' and helicopters, to robots and monsters the size of small skyscrapers. It turns out the team has accidentally opened a rift to a dimension of unspeakable power and danger. The test-chamber wrenches itself apart as strange lights, explosions, and visions of alien creatures flash before his eyes. Gordon's team is experimenting with 'anomalous materials' when their research goes horribly wrong.

Half life 2 riot act series#

As the opening unfolds, the player is taken through a labyrinthine series of caverns and ever-deeper shafts below ground level. Gordon Freeman, PhD, is a brilliant scientist working in an elite research facility in the American Southwest known simply as The Black Mesa. For those few who may not be familiar with the Half-Life mythos, allow me to explain. The adventures of Gordon Freeman are written in stone in the lexicon of gaming.

Few game series loom as large on the video game scene as Half-Life.