Re: A Cool Half-Life Thing

On Sat, 13 Jul 2024 16:00:11 -0000 (UTC), candycanearter07
<candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote:

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote at 18:17 this Friday (GMT):

>
Anyway, I quite enjoyed the video and, in some ways, I think I'll now
accept it as my new 'head canon' for the Half Life games. Maybe you'll
enjoy it too.

>
>
Interesting. Does the Combine invasion still happen? Is Portal mentioned
at all?

Yes to both.

In the re-imagined history, after several days of slowly being pushed
back by invading Xen forces, the US Army achieves victory when the
attackers suddenly stop fighting (although the why -that Freeman
killed the Nihilanth- isn't actually known). Portal storms then ravage
the world for a few months, leaving the nations of the world weakened.
The Combine then appear in orbit and -after a few weeks of silent
observations- assault the planet with orbital strikes until Wallace
Breen negotiates a surrender. However, in order to make them a bit
more grounded they are not an interdimensional threat, but an
interstellar one (albeit one with the ability to create teleportals
that traverse interdimensional space to do its magic).

Aperture Science exists, but its role has been much reduced. They're
mostly a scientific consulting firm, specializing in robotics and
artificial intelligence. They did partner with the US Atomic Energy
Commission in the 1970s for a variety of teleportation experiements
using the Research Vessel Borealis, but they never achieved the
'success' they did in the games; no huge underground 'testing
chambers', no psychotic AI, no portal-gun.



Like I said, the project is, overall, a well-thought out recreation of
how the Half Life universe, and in many ways the actions of the
parties involved feel a lot more realistic than as portrayed in the
games. It isn't 100% true to all the 'canon' facts of the games, but
the liberties it takes aren't too gratuitous, and overall I think it
makes for a more interesting story. But YMMV. Still, it's worth a
watch (or a read).