Half-Life 2 - Game Study

Half-Life 2, VALVE

Upon recent readings I have picked up on how well the story is told in Half-Life 1 & 2. I went back and played Half-Life 2 to remind myself of the beginning and how it introduced the story, and felt amazed at how well and how quickly you become immersed into the game and it's story.

Notes On Playing The Game

I have played and completed this game before, but as part of my research I decided to play the start of it again to refresh my memory. The reason for choosing this game is due to how it famously begins with no back story/cut scene explaining where you are or what is happening. This technique is worth noting as I plan on having no cut-scenes or back story introductions in my piece.

What I first noticed was how quickly you become immersed and tied to the game. As soon as I arrived via train to this mysterious place I felt intrigued to learn more. When interacting with characters there is a lot of ambiguity in what is said, which again, leaves the user to imagine and decipher for themselves. Within a very short time you are already being whisked away and on the run. This all happens so fast that you don't even realize you are playing a game. You become absorbed in the characters motive to just run and do what other people are telling you to do.
-This is something that I really want to accomplish in my piece. Like Half-Life 2, there will be no explanation to where you are or who you are. Upon exploring the environment and discovering certain items, the truth will become clear.

Another interesting thing I noticed was how your character (Gordon Freeman) does not talk. This made all the dialogue in the game even more interesting as the other characters, would speak to you but not receive a response. This technique allows the player to feel even more immersed with the character/game as the character is not saying things that perhaps, the player would disagree with - which would ruin all immersive play.


Notes from Gamasutra Article

http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/JakeShapiro/20121025/180169/quotPICK_UP_THAT_CANquot_Storytelling_in_HalfLife_2.php

As L.B. Jeffries writes in “Half-Life 2: Giant Ants, Head Crabs and Barnacle Creatures,” the fact that Freeman never talks “makes it so that identity is still highly malleable in the player’s mind… the game is not just giving the player a role to assume, they’re giving you space to make your own tweaks to the identity by having it be a broad one.”

- I noticed this while playing and felt it was a fantastic technique. The dialogue used by other characters has been cleverly developed so that you hardly notice that you do not say anything back to them.

No one tells you what to do. No text appears on the screen to tell you what to do. There’s no music, no direction, nothing; apart from short monologues at the very beginning and end of the game, there are no cutscenes. You’re just placed into the gameworld, and must figure everything out for yourself.

 - This relates to the beginning of the game. By immediately placing you into the game with no introduction/cut scene helps enhance the immersion as it lets you explroe and discover who you are and where you are by yourself.

You see some people being beaten by the police, but unlike a regular FPS where you can blast these bad cops to kingdom come, you can only watch or walk away. The story unfolds around you in realtime. From overhearing the people around you, you deduce there’s been an alien invasion of Earth, and humans are all slaves...there’s no epic cutscene to depict this. No flashback. Everything is presented as the protagonist sees it. The story is told through the gameplay.

- The idea of everything happening in real-time, with cues as oppose to flashbacks/cut-scenes again helps immerse the player as it does not disrupt the game play with a cinematic. This means you are on constant alert to hear what is going on around you and to see what is going on.

HL2 teaches you basic gameplay mechanics through the story. This “pick up that can” moment is the crux of Valve’s technique. The storytelling is human storytelling.

- Again, teaching the game mechanics within the game helps to maintain the story whilst teaching the user how to play. Without even realizing it, they discover they know how to carry out different skills.

Although the game is very linear, the player feels like it’s not. There are no arrows pointing you in the right direction, and instead the player’s observations of the gameworld encourage them to go where Valve wants them to go.

- This is the strength of environmental storytelling. A linear game can be manipulated so it is not obvious that there is only one way. More importantly, it must be designed so it does not appear that the game is forcing you in a direction. This is something I wish to apply to my piece, however I am also looking to make it a non-linear story.

Personal Notes

Linking the techniques from Half-Life 2 into my interactive story will have some variations. I want to accomplish telling a story through the environment, whilst enhancing player experience. I want to - like Half-Life 2, have the user discover the story as they explore in hope that it will immerse them more into the story.

My supervisor mentioned that as Half-Life 2 may be a great piece to explore and study, it is perhaps a little outdated. He suggested that I look into Silent Hill P.T. as it is much more suited to my project - especially with the horror element attached to it.