Half-Life storyline



"They're waiting for you Gordon, in the Test Chamber."

- Black Mesa Scientist

This article describes the Half-Life storyline, chapter by chapter.

Hazard Course (optional)


The Hazard Course or Black Mesa Hazard Course is the training chapter of Half-Life. It trains the player to use the HEV Suit, how to move around within the environment and interact with it and how to use weapons. Scientists watch as Gordon trains and dodges environmental hazards.

Trivia

 * In Opposing Force, the player can visit the Hazard Course at the duck-jump training room by using the Displacer in Xen, at the first place Shepard acquires it. The room appears to still be functioning, as the Hologram and success markers still function. A nearby Vortigaunt mistakes the Hologram for a real person, attacking it. It soon realizes it is fake though, and proceeds to attack the player.


 * In Half-Life: Decay, one of the chapters happens to be Hazardous Course, in which Doctors Collete Green and Gina Cross walk through the destroyed remains of the course. The hologram in the course is Gina Cross, one of the main characters in Decay.

Black Mesa Inbound


Black Mesa Inbound is the first chapter of Half-Life. It serves as the introduction to the game and follows the player character, Gordon Freeman, as he rides a train through the facility to Sector C. The public announcement system introduces the facility to the player.

Dr. Gordon Freeman starts his day riding a tram deep into the heart of the Black Mesa Research Facility on his way to the Anomalous Materials Lab to begin work. Nothing seems to be out of place, except a chemical leak that forces the tram to momentarily stop. It is at that point that Gordon notices a strange man in a blue suit watching him from another tram.

Anomalous Materials


It follows Gordon Freeman as he arrives at the Anomalous Materials laboratory in Sector C, dons his HEV Suit, and participates in a mysterious experiment in the test chamber.

Later on, once he reaches his destination, Gordon once again sees the suited man arguing heatedly with a scientist behind soundproof glass. After donning his HEV suit, he proceeds to the test chamber. After pushing an alien sample into the scanning beam, immediately something goes terribly wrong. A "resonance cascade" has been triggered, creating an interdimensional portal between Earth and a bizarre world called Xen. Gordon is briefly teleported there during the ordeal, at one point encountering what appear to be sentient life forms.

Trivia

 * If the sample is pulled from the spectrometer, one of the Vortigaunts teleporting in there won't teleport out; instead, he stands on the cart and attacks Gordon. He will be there after the map change, floating in the air, therefore it is not advised to remove the sample.
 * Continually use the microwave oven located on the way to the locker room and it will explode. The "microwave casserole" incident mentioned by Magnusson in Episode Two is a reference to this. However, inconsistencies in the storyline can be reached due to the randomly generating scientist model in Half-Life, which occasionally comes up with an African-American scientist for Magnusson's line. As shown in Half-Life 2 Episode 2, Magnusson is Caucasian.
 * In Gordon Freeman's locker can be found several Easter Eggs: a baby's picture and the books The Orchid Eater and The 37th Mandela, written by the series' writer Marc Laidlaw. Other lockers bear the names of Valve employees, such as Marc Laidlaw, Kelly Bailey, Ted Backman, Chuck Jones, John Guthrie (which is open in Unforeseen Consequences and contains an American flag and ammo for the pistol), Ken Birdwell, etc.
 * Behind the desk where the security guard is sitting, at the beginning of the chapter, there is a red and green switch. If used, it will momentarily set off an alarm.
 * In the same room the security guard is sitting, there is a small set of machinery in the lower left corner. There is a red and a green button on the front of it. Upon pressing the use key on either of them (they are part of the same model), a laptop folds out on top of the set of machinery. The owner of the laptop, a scientist, sees this and scolds you, saying he's "expecting a very important message" and closes the laptop and locks it preventing Gordon from using it.

Unforeseen Consequences


It details Gordon Freeman's efforts to reach the surface to get help in the aftermath of the Resonance Cascade. This chapter introduces the player to weapons, combat and environmental hazards, among other things.

The title alludes to the G-Man's words to Eli Vance prior to the Resonance Cascade, where he told him to "prepare for unforeseen consequences". As revealed by Eli to Gordon in Half-Life 2: Episode Two, G-Man is where he got the sample from.

Finding himself back in Black Mesa, Gordon is told that all communication outside Black Mesa has been lost, and requested by his colleague Eli Vance to try to make it to the surface in order to aquire help. Black Mesa has received massive structural damage, and to make matters worse, aliens from Xen begin randomly teleporting all around them. Most are simply reacting naturally to their new surroundings, but even more hostile are the creatures Gordon saw earlier (known as Vortigaunts), who seem to attack with a single-minded intent to kill. Also strange is that Gordon occasionally finds the man in the suit, the G-Man, watching him from out-of-reach places, always walking off before Gordon can get to him.

Office Complex


In it, Gordon Freeman, minutes after the Resonance Cascade, enters the office complex area, where several scientists are barricaded, hiding from the rampant aliens in the complex. He hears rumours that the military have arrived to rescue the people trapped in the facility.

"We've Got Hostiles"


It finds Gordon Freeman making good progress, passing through various storage and staging areas, continuing his hunt for a way to the surface. Gordon learns that the soldiers rumored to be coming on a rescue mission have already arrived. He attempts to join up with them, but walks into a room to witness a Marine taking out a survivor. It is then that he discovers that the Hazardous Environment Combat Unit, which has taken control of Black Mesa, is not just killing the aliens, they are also killing everyone connected to the project, including Gordon Freeman.

When he eventually reaches the surface, Gordon finds himself in an area totally under the control of the military and, worse, in the middle of an artillery bombardment - taking cover, he is forced back into the underground complex. However, it is revealed that the surviving members of Lambda Team (in the Lambda Complex at the other end of the facility) may be able to close the dimensional rift; Gordon begins the journey across Black Mesa to reach them.

Blast Pit


From here, Gordon has several adventures, such as killing a giant Tentacle,

It finds Gordon Freeman entering an abandoned, largely sealed-off area of Black Mesa dating back to its earlier days as a missile complex, full of mothballed machinery and now used as a dumping ground for toxic waste from the rest of the facility, where the HECU soldiers have yet to get a good foothold because of the high concentration of aliens in the area. It is here that Gordon faces a deadly new foe, the Tentacle. However, after reactivating the fuel and oxygen lines, Gordon is able to kill the Tentacle by using the rocket engine at the top of the silo that the Tentacles were inhabiting.

Trivia
The level is mirrored in the Opposing Forces level "Vicarious Reality", except the Tentacle is replaced with the pit worm, and is killed by flooding the room with acid.

Power Up


In it, Gordon Freeman tries to go onto the surface, but is thwarted by a clash between a Gargantua and HECU soldiers. He then learns from a dying security guard that if he restores the generator, he can ride the monorail to the surface. Freeman enters the Houndeye-infested subterranean areas and activates the generator, restoring power to the vicinity. Afterwards, he is forced to kill the Gargantua from earlier to be able to board the monorail it guards.

On A Rail


As Gordon Freeman rides Black Mesa's monorail, he learns from a security guard that he must ride to the satellite control room to launch a satellite, which the Lambda team can use to reverse the effects of the resonance cascade.

Apprehension


As Gordon Freeman continues towards the surface, he encounters a terrifying new aquatic creature, the Ichthyosaur, and acquires a deadly new weapon to fight it. Later, after battling another rescue crew, the Black Ops (or assassins), Freeman is captured by the HECU. They remove all of his weapons, and leave him for dead in a trash compactor. However, Freeman escapes once again, making his way back into the battle.

Residue Processing


After escaping, Gordon eventually winds up in a secret part of the facility where he discovers that scientists had been "collecting" specimens from Xen long before this whole mess occurred.

Questionable Ethics


In it, Gordon Freeman continues to rearm himself against the HECU, and rejoins the battle against these enemies. Gordon also encounters the alien military units, the Alien Grunts, and he finds one of the most powerful weapons in the Half-Life universe, the Tau Cannon. Soon, he heads outside to search for the Lambda Lab.

Surface Tension


In it, Gordon Freeman fights against the HECU and the Xenians on the surface areas of Black Mesa.

After arming himself with advanced prototype weaponry, Gordon again reaches the surface. It has become a warzone. The Vortigaunts, along with Alien Grunts and Gargantuas, has begun making determined attacks against the marines, and the tide of the battle is beginning to turn in favor of the aliens. The marines call in reinforcements, but it isn't enough. Gordon must scale cliffs and navigate the bombed out buildings while avoiding both sides as the forces of Xen begin to dominate the battlefield. Finally, Gordon reaches relative safety underground.

Trivia

 * Like "Half-Life, "Blue Shift", "Opposing Force" or "Decay", "Surface Tension" is a scientific pun, referring to the properties of water which makes certain objects float above it. It is also a pun referring to tension (conflict) in the surface (topside).


 * A part of a map in this chapter was used to create the map "Hunted" in Team Fortress Classic.


 * The canyon scene was mirrored at the end of the Half-Life 2 chapter Sandtraps, the Headcrab in the last pipe being replaced by a Fast Zombie. The Apache scene is also mirrored at the end of Lost Coast.

"Forget About Freeman!"


In this chapter, the HECU determine that they're fighting a losing battle against the Xen aliens and, having continually failed to neutralize Freeman, abandon their mission and begin to evacuate the facility, calling in airstrikes and heavy artillery to cover their retreat. Meanwhile, Gordon makes his way into an underground storage garage to avoid the bombardments, and eventually fights his way through scores of aliens and several groups of the decimated HECU forces before reaching the Lambda Complex.

The Marines begin to evacuate Black Mesa and airstrikes begin. Gordon navigates underground water channels and tries to avoid scores of alien invaders as they pick off remaining marine stragglers.

Lambda Core


In this chapter, Gordon arrives at the Lambda Complex, where he believed the science team to be sheltering from the Xenians, only to find that the majority of the complex is now overrun by hostile creatures. He is informed that he must flood the reactor chambers in order to access the core, and that a team of scientists is waiting for him at the tip of the reactor. Gordon must then navigate through the Lambda Core, facing numerous assaults from the Xen forces (the primary enemy, now that the HECU has pulled out). In the end, he learns that a single large entity is hosting the invasion, and that he must teleport to Xen to stop it.

After much struggle, Gordon finally reaches the Lambda Complex, where he discovers that the Lambda Complex is where they developed the teleportation technology that allowed scientists to travel to Xen in the first place. The handful of surviving personnel, who have holed themselves up in a small stronghold, inform Gordon that, unfortunately, the satellite he launched was not able to reverse the effects of the resonance cascade because an immensely powerful being on the other side is keeping the portal between the worlds open, and Gordon must kill it to prevent the Xen aliens from taking over completely. They activate the teleporter and Gordon is teleported to Xen.

Port Seven of the Lambda Core's teleport system in the main room (which consists of three portals with three seperate ports) and its exit are used in the Uplink Addon which seamlessly adds the demo level Uplink to Half-Life's storyline. Unfortunately, the player still carries all his weapons through the Uplink level, making it much easier than originally intended.

Trivia

 * The scene near the end of the chapter with the scientist holding the shotgun was mirrored near the end of the Half-Life 2 chapter Entanglement, where Dr. Kleiner was holding a shotgun as Alyx and Gordon arrived in the teleporter.

Xen


It details Gordon Freeman arriving in the border world Xen.

On the strange borderworld, Gordon encounters many of the aliens that had been teleported into Black Mesa in their natural habitats, as well as the remains of HEV-wearing researchers that came before him.

Gonarch's Lair


In it, Gordon Freeman faces one of the Nihilanth's most powerful minions, Gonarch and her children.

Interloper


It features Gordon's continued journey across Xen, while supplies are running short, wasted on destroying the Gonarch. He also comes across the Xen army's Alien Grunt cloning facility, where the army is created. It can be noted that the Vortigaunts in one of the factories are not hostile to the player, and will ignore him unless attacked.

Nihilanth


It details Gordon Freeman going up against and killing the creature that has hosted the attack from the beginning: the Nihilanth.

In a vast cave, Gordon finally confronts the powerful and mysterious being that is holding the portal open: the Nihilanth. Gordon destroys the being's shield, allowing him to destroy its vulnerable brain. As the creature dies, it floats toward the ceiling, and explodes in a giant green blast that overpowers Gordon's senses. When he comes to, he is confronted by the G-Man. Both are transported to various locales around Xen, while the G-Man praises Gordon's actions in the border world (which he refers to as "a nasty piece of work"). He explains that his "employers", agreeing that Gordon has "limitless potential", have authorized him to offer Freeman a job. The final teleportation takes Gordon to the same tramcar that he rode on at the beginning of the game, but apparently flying through space at immense speed. Gordon accepts this offer by stepping though a portal, and, finding himself floating in nothingness, hears the G-Man's voice one last time: "Wisely done, Mr. Freeman, I will see you up ahead..." The story continues from this point in Half-Life 2.

Alternatively, the player may choose not to step into the portal in the final scene. This causes Gordon to be teleported into a giant cave facing rows of Alien Grunts and Manta Rays as the game ends with the G-Man's comment, "Well, it looks like we won't be working together. No regrets, Mr. Freeman." Gordon's appearance in Half-Life 2 suggests that this "bad ending" is not part of Half-Life canon. Although the grunts don't seem to do anything, and the screen fades out before any action is made, it is assumed that Gordon is killed, due to the G-Man's comment about the second choice, saying that the alternative is "A battle that you have no chance of winning." Following this scene is a status report saying, "Subject: Freeman; Status: Observation terminated; Post Mortem: Subject declined offer of employment.”