Half-Life universe

Group Description

Half-Life is a series of games developed by Valve, which share a common setting and recurrent gameplay elements. The main installments are predominantly linear, story-driven first-person shooters with light puzzle-solving elements, connected by an overarching storyline and a common protagonist, the scientist Gordon Freeman. Portal games, originating in 2007, are set in the same universe and share a few gameplay elements with the main Half-Life games, though they form a separate storyline and are mostly dedicated to puzzle-solving.

Story

The overarching story of Half-Life begins in the fictional Black Mesa Research Facility in New Mexico, where a failed experiment leads to the opening of an inter-dimensional portal, causing alien beings from the world Xen to invade Earth. Gordon Freeman, a theoretical physicist, escapes from the facility and attempts to stop the alien invasion, eliminating their leader. However, he is confronted by a mysterious person known as the G-man, who puts him into stasis. Nearly twenty years later, Freeman finds himself in City 17, a dystopian society governed by the Combine, a group of humans and aliens who have meanwhile used the dimensional rift to conquer the Earth. Freeman and his friends begin a struggle against Combine, still unaware of the G-man's true intentions.

Gameplay

Half-Life games are for the most part composed of straightforward first-person shooter gameplay. However, some of the tasks in the games require specific actions, sometimes resulting in moderate platform exercises (jumping) and mild puzzle-solving activities. The games include many scripted events and action-oriented set pieces, complementing their linear nature. The first Half-Life (1998) was also notable for popularizing seamless cutscenes, during which the player's control of the main character was retained.

Awards

PC Powerplay (Germany)

Issue 06/2005 - #9 Likeable Secondary Character (for Barney)

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Year

Game Title	Year	Platform	Publisher	MobyScore
Portal 2	2011	Macintosh, PlayStation 3, Windows, Xbox 360	Valve Corporation	4.07
Portal 2: Sixense MotionPack DLC	2011	Windows	Sixense Entertainment	...
Half-Life 2 Complete	2008	Windows	Valve Corporation	5.00
Portal: Still Alive	2008	Xbox 360	Valve Corporation	1.72
Half-Life Complete	2008	Windows	Valve Corporation	...
Half-Life 2: Episode Pack	2008	Windows	Valve Corporation	4.67
Half-Life 2: Episode Two	2007	Macintosh, Windows	Buka Entertainment	4.25
Portal	2007	Macintosh, Windows	Valve Corporation	4.16
The Orange Box	2007	PlayStation 3, Windows, Xbox 360	Electronic Arts, Inc.	4.15
Half-Life 2: Episode One	2006	Macintosh, Windows	Valve Corporation	4.05
Half-Life 2: Holiday 2006 Collection	2006	Windows	Electronic Arts, Inc.	4.67
Half-Life 1 Anthology	2005	Windows	Electronic Arts, Inc.	5.00
Half-Life 2 (Game of the Year Edition)	2005	Windows	Electronic Arts, Inc.	4.73
Half-Life Deathmatch: Source	2005	Windows	Valve Corporation	3.00
Half-Life 2: Lost Coast	2005	Windows	Valve Corporation	3.96
Half-Life: Source	2005	Windows	Valve Corporation	4.16
Codename: Gordon	2004	Windows	Valve Corporation	3.23
Half-Life 2: Deathmatch	2004	Macintosh, Windows	Valve Corporation	3.86
Half-Life 2 (Collector's Edition)	2004	Windows	Vivendi Universal Games, Inc.	3.96
Half-Life 2	2004	Macintosh, Windows, Xbox	Electronic Arts, Inc.	4.07
Half-Life 2 (Gold Edition)	2004	Windows	Valve Corporation	3.87
Half-Life: Generation (3rd release)	2002	Windows	Sierra Entertainment, Inc.	1.94
Half-Life (Platinum Collection - 2002)	2002	Windows	Sierra Entertainment, Inc.	2.33
Half-Life	2001	PlayStation 2	Sierra On-Line, Inc.	3.40
Half-Life: Blue Shift	2001	Windows	Sierra On-Line, Inc.	3.57