The making of Half-Lives
31-Dec-2004Via Greg Costikian, GameDevBlog: Notes on Half-Life 2 - the best analysis of what makes Half Life and Half Life 2 “good” I’ve seen.
Not everyone has played Half-Life all the way through; but everyone who played it at all remembers the opening sequence - the train ride that gives you an overview of Black Mesa, followed by the bang-up, James Bond beginning with the exploding equipment and the invasion of the creatures, with you in control the whole time.
I have to agree. The opening story hooks in Half Life are intriguing, humourous, worth the price of admission on their own, and a likely reason that so many people remember HL so fondly.
Also, a review of the making-of book which actually looks like it might be worth reading. The quote on this sample page spread was surprisingly candid, even for a making-of.
“We wanted the end of the game to feed directly into the beginning. From the first seconds of the game, we wanted the player to see where his journey would take him, so that when he finally got to the Citidel, he would have the strongest possible relationship with it. We had failed to do that in Half-Life 1, and we were determined not to repeat our mistake.” - Marc Laidlaw
