# Half Life 1 (Source) (Possible spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 4, 2008, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-life-1-source-possible-spoilers/458819 "2008-08-04T17:05:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-life-1-source-possible-spoilers/458819/1 "2008-08-04T17:05:36Z")
Having recently gone through HL2,HL2E1,HL2E2 and even Lost Coast, I decided to get hold of HL1 to see how it all started. After getting over the initial dated look of the game (and the spazziness of the Doctor and Guard NPCs) I thoroughly enjoyed it. But now I think I’ve got to the final ‘Boss’ and I have no interest to go on. I don’t want the hassle of doing away with a boss only to find that there’s no more game left. I suffer this with other games. Right now I’ve stopped playing Quake 4 because I’m on a boss. On a side note, I have this unshakeable feeling that I played HL1 years ago, but other than breaking boxes with a crow-bar, and the doctors in lab coats I don’t recognise this as the game I played. I am thinking I must have played a demo, with a level not in the final game. I also remember it looking more up-to-date than HL1 (but it couldn’t have been. The memory is yearrrrrrs old!) Having gone through the enitre game (probably) is there any worthwhile reward for dispatching the final boss? ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-life-1-source-possible-spoilers/458819/2 "2008-08-04T18:15:05Z")
You…beat the game? That’s not a reward? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-life-1-source-possible-spoilers/458819/3 "2008-08-04T18:19:19Z")
I do recall a Half-Life demo that consisted of a level that was not in the game. There was a radar tower in it perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-life-1-source-possible-spoilers/458819/4 "2008-08-04T18:29:44Z")
[QUOTE=Least Original User Name Ever] You…beat the game? That’s not a reward? [/QUOTE] Not if it’s a chore. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-life-1-source-possible-spoilers/458819/5 "2008-08-04T18:35:46Z")
[too late for] edit: Plus the fact that the last boss has a particularly annoying way of throwing me into a new room with nasties to get rid of before getting the chance to get one shot off on the boss. I hate final bosses that spawn annoying sub-enemies that surround you. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-life-1-source-possible-spoilers/458819/6 "2008-08-04T18:40:05Z")
[QUOTE=Revtim] I do recall a Half-Life demo that consisted of a level that was not in the game. There was a radar tower in it perhaps? [/QUOTE] Yeah that rings a bell. The radar tower (or more to the point - the surface) was the first encounter of alien enemies. Another thing: What is the explanation for the story? Why are there humans trying to kill me? (And the aliens) Why three ‘groups’ each an enemy of the other? And what is the ‘story’ leading up to HL2, with the big tower? ---
**Author:** ![Stormcrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/0ea827/32.png) [@Stormcrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stormcrow)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-life-1-source-possible-spoilers/458819/7 "2008-08-04T18:59:53Z")
[QUOTE=Lobsang] Having gone through the enitre game (probably) is there any worthwhile reward for dispatching the final boss? [/QUOTE] I would say yes. It’s very tough to explain exactly what it is, without spoiling it, and I don’t want to sell it too hard, since its not a super-major payoff, but I like the ending of HL 1. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-life-1-source-possible-spoilers/458819/8 "2008-08-04T19:04:42Z")
[QUOTE=Lobsang] Another thing: What is the explanation for the story? Why are there humans trying to kill me? (And the aliens) Why three ‘groups’ each an enemy of the other? [/quote] The military is trying to cover up what happened at Black Mesa. They’re doing this by shooting everyone involved in the experiment, including the character you’re playing. The aliens just want to conquer the world, of course. > [@](#): > > And what is the ‘story’ leading up to HL2, with the big tower? After the aliens find out about Earth, they start opening their own portals, and pretty quickly conquer the planet. The big tower is the command center for their occupation of the planet. Your character misses all of this, because at the end of the first game, you’re put into some sort of stasis or time-warp by the creepy guy in the business suit. The creepy business guy is, apparently, some other sort of alien who is opposed to the aliens who conquered the Earth, but what his full agenda is has yet to be discovered. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-life-1-source-possible-spoilers/458819/9 "2008-08-04T22:36:33Z")
If the big tower is the command center for the alien occupation of the planet then why is it full of combine soldiers, who also fight the non-humanoid aliens? And are the ‘simple’ aliens in any way related to the aliens wanting to take over the planet? (Simple meaning the headcrabs, and the things that come out of the ground) And, another source of curiosity - why are the vortigons enemies in the first game but friends in HL2? ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-life-1-source-possible-spoilers/458819/10 "2008-08-04T22:41:47Z")
[QUOTE=Stormcrow] I would say yes. It’s very tough to explain exactly what it is, without spoiling it, and I don’t want to sell it too hard, since its not a super-major payoff, but I like the ending of HL 1. [/QUOTE] In that case I will persevere. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-life-1-source-possible-spoilers/458819/11 "2008-08-04T23:49:13Z")
[QUOTE=Lobsang] If the big tower is the command center for the alien occupation of the planet then why is it full of combine soldiers, who also fight the non-humanoid aliens? And are the ‘simple’ aliens in any way related to the aliens wanting to take over the planet? (Simple meaning the headcrabs, and the things that come out of the ground) And, another source of curiosity - why are the vortigons enemies in the first game but friends in HL2? [/QUOTE] First of all, the combine are the aliens that are invading. They go through the universe conquering other species and either enslaving them or merging with them. In the case of the combine overwatch soldiers, they are humans who have been implanted with combine technology and have become cyborgs. The humans who willingly join the combine become what is called “Civil Protection” and they aren’t implanted. The face of the combine is the “Ambassadors” who are only glimpsed at in Episode 1. They don’t become relevant until Episode 2. Now the Vortigaunts were a slave race of the Combine. The combine used them to help conquer and enslave the world of Xen, from which most of the other aliens (headcrabs, grunts, etc.) encountered in HL1 came. The Vorts view Freeman as an almost Christ-like figure since it was his actions in HL1 that freed them from their slavery. It is their opinion that the least they can do for humanity (and the universe at large, for that matter) is to return the favor. They aid the human resistance against the combine as much as they can. ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-life-1-source-possible-spoilers/458819/12 "2008-08-05T13:42:23Z")
You might find the [Half Life Story Guide](http://members.shaw.ca/halflifestory/) useful; it gives all of the know facts about the story from the games themselves and a handful of other sources. Be warned that it, of course, has spoilers for the entire series (but if you’ve played everything but the final boss in HL1 you know almost all of this stuff anyway). ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-life-1-source-possible-spoilers/458819/13 "2008-08-05T13:54:50Z")
[QUOTE=Lobsang] And, another source of curiosity - why are the vortigons enemies in the first game but friends in HL2? [/QUOTE] It’s a bit complicated, but it took them some time to get their bearings and they were enslaved by the higher-up aliens in HL1. Remember, the only thing they knew about humanity during Half-Life was a crowbar running at them from the dark 😉 Nah, as someone said upstream, Gordon’s actions at the end of the first game freed them from the oppressive Combine/Zen (Xen?) mind control which had enslaved them and so they help humanity fight back. It’s also interesting, because the Vortigaunts are shown as highly powerful telechinetics and have quite strong powers of the mind (see: the start and end of HL2:E1). ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-life-1-source-possible-spoilers/458819/14 "2008-08-07T01:23:51Z")
Dang, how’d you get through the entire HL2 saga without knowing any of this stuff? Eli, Barney, Judith and Alyx – not to mention the Vortigaunts and even the so-called “G-man” (suit-wearing dude in both HL1 and HL2) – do a lot of explaining. > [@](#): > > The face of the combine is the “Ambassadors” who are only glimpsed at in Episode 1. They don’t become relevant until Episode 2. Nitpick: I think you mean “Advisors,” assuming you’re talking about the slug bastards. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-life-1-source-possible-spoilers/458819/15 "2008-08-07T11:50:20Z")
[QUOTE=choie] Nitpick: I think you mean “Advisors,” assuming you’re talking about the slug bastards. [/QUOTE] Yeah, that was it. I knew it was an A word. Klaatu Barada Necktie! ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-life-1-source-possible-spoilers/458819/16 "2008-08-08T14:51:09Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] The creepy business guy is, apparently, some other sort of alien who is opposed to the aliens who conquered the Earth, but what his full agenda is has yet to be discovered. [/QUOTE] I don’t know that I buy G-Man as an alien. Almost all of the speculation about his identity that I’ve seen assumes that he’s a human, and some people have even speculated that he might be [Gordon Freeman](http://www.highjumpers.de/anders/gman/freeman_gman3.jpg) himself. His creepiness comes from his prescience and his weird voice. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2008, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-life-1-source-possible-spoilers/458819/17 "2008-08-10T07:46:37Z")
> [@Jurph](#): > > I don’t know that I buy G-Man as an alien. Almost all of the speculation about his identity that I’ve seen assumes that he’s a human, and some people have even speculated that he might be Gordon Freeman himself. His creepiness comes from his prescience and his weird voice. I read him as a Gardhyi, like in Star\*Drive. An alien with unknown motivations who goes around influencing human events.