The engine’s innovative mechanics have had a strong influence on the gaming industry in general, including puzzles sequences, game physics, facial animation and AI development. This chapter is the player’s first experience of the new and improved Source Engine. As the narrative is set approximately twenty years after the Black Mesa incident, players are left to piece together what has happened in this time. Valve’s biggest task in the opening scenes was not only to get both new and returning players up to speed, but to also introduce these new concepts to the narrative. The environment is used as an introduction to narrative concepts such as the re-introduction of G-man, the Combine, game mechanics and characters. Point Insertion acts as a tutorial ground, allowing players to get used to the game environment and Half Life lore, 6 years after the original Half Life title was released. Number 5: Point Insertion, the opening chapter of Half life 2 What better day for the script to see the light of day than this, the 10th October 2013, the sixth birthday of Half-Life 2: Episode Two! All is brought together nicely with the addition of pictures and videos for the reminiscing types. With the growing hype surrounding Source 2 and Half-Life 3, I decided to focus this week’s relatively relaxed post on the most memorable chapters from the Half Life 2 saga.

Half life 1 chapters