This is a full spoiler retrospective video review and critique of the industry-defining Half-Life franchise of games. It looks at the arc of development from 1998-2020 that took Gordon Freeman from the popularizer of mouselook to the herald of virtual reality. It also covers Half-Life associated and adjacent games, like Portal 1 and 2, Source Multiplayer titles, and some iconic single-player mods. This is a remake of a video I'd done in 2013. That video has now been delisted in favor of this updated, tidier edition. A link to it has been provided below for anyone still curious, as well as download links for mods. Again, spoilers throughout.
_______TABLE OF CONTENTS_______
Half-Life-- 00:18
Opposing Force-- 16:57
Blue Shift-- 21:50
Decay-- 25:43
GoldSrc Multiplayer Mods-- 27:39
They Hunger-- 29:50
Half-Life 2-- 32:43
Episode 1-- 54:41
Episode 2-- 59:29
Portal-- 1:06:56
Source Multiplayer Mods-- 1:12:02
MINERVA: METASTASIS-- 1:16:29
Portal 2-- 1:18:30
Black Mesa-- 1:28:52
Long Time to Wait/Lost Coast-- 1:39:09
Half-Life Alyx-- 1:41:01
Credits/Special Thanks-- 2:09:12
_______Changes From 2013 to 2020 Version_______
-Edited the whole script for clarity, cohesion, and substance. Kept about 40%. Replaced a lot of the rest.
-Added some extra paragraphs where I'd plain forgotten to put them before.
-Added a section on Decay.
-Did a Half-Life universe focused segment on Portal 2 from scratch.
-Expanded the Black Mesa section.
-Added a full-spoilers Half-Life Alyx section.
-Slightly retooled the old Lost Coast transition paragraph but kept it, mostly.
-Much greater clip density throughout.
-New voice work.
-Just tried to make it better. Make it, you know, less garbage to watch.
_______LINKS_______
They Hunger Mod for Half-Life 1:
https://www.moddb.com/downloads/they-hunger-1-2-and-3
Timeline Trilogy Mod for Half-Life 1:
https://www.moddb.com/mods/timeline-series/downloads/timeline-complete-steam-compatible
MINERVA for Half-Life 2:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/235780/MINERVA/
Original 2013 Version of This Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ih1Q2DasYTQ
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