12 Things You Didn't Know About Half-Life 2

00:00:03.049it feels like a lifetime ago that valves

00:00:06.089flagship franchise half-life first

00:00:08.160graced our presence and few PC gamers

00:00:10.530will need an introduction first

00:00:12.120releasing in 1998 it became a critical

00:00:14.549success and was widely regarded as one

00:00:16.260of the best games ever made

00:00:18.210seeing developers valve follow it up

00:00:19.949with two expansions and a multiplayer

00:00:21.810mode this led to developments of a

00:00:23.430sequel half-life 2 which eventually

00:00:25.230released back in 2004 much like the

00:00:27.810original title it also saw critical

00:00:29.519acclaim and saw a much wider audience

00:00:31.019through its inclusion with involves

00:00:32.610orange box years later on home consoles

00:00:34.920seeing two follow up episodes released

00:00:36.809in 2006 and 2007 these were intended to

00:00:39.989be an episodic trilogy but the infamous

00:00:42.270episode 3 never materialized despite

00:00:45.000previous promises leaving the storyline

00:00:47.280on a cliffhanger ending it's been 13

00:00:49.649years as episode 2 but next week as of

00:00:52.170time of recording half-life finally

00:00:54.449makes its grand return through half-life

00:00:56.280Alex a virtual reality exclusive set

00:00:58.859between half-life 1 and half-life 2 with

00:01:01.620Alex almost here it's worth looking back

00:01:03.449upon half-life 2 coming with an

00:01:05.400interesting development history both

00:01:06.780before and after its release it became

00:01:09.000one of the PCs most widely studied games

00:01:11.670I'm rich from what coogee gaming and

00:01:13.590these are 12 things you didn't know

00:01:15.150about half-life 2 number 12 a series

00:01:18.570marred by delays for many years you

00:01:20.939couldn't escape the inevitable half-life

00:01:22.6803 confirmed jokes that came with any

00:01:24.750major gaming news having seen half-life

00:01:27.0602 episode 3 faced delays to the point

00:01:28.860where fans just gave up on it many were

00:01:30.900surprised that half-life Alex stuck to

00:01:32.700its initial confirmed release window

00:01:33.990historically though it's a series

00:01:35.729notable for delays half-life 1 was

00:01:37.799initially scheduled for a November 1997

00:01:39.840release but valve was unsatisfied with

00:01:42.000it so they completely reworked the game

00:01:43.770and released it a year later instead

00:01:45.600half-life 2 faced similar issues though

00:01:47.729this receives much greater public

00:01:49.170attention aiming to be finished by the

00:01:50.880end of 2003 it became increasingly

00:01:53.040apparent with involved that this

00:01:54.540deadline would not be met and a playable

00:01:56.670bill was leaked confirming this speaking

00:01:59.070of the leak valve managed to dupe the

00:02:01.229leaker getting him to send his address

00:02:02.759to valve saying he's got himself a job

00:02:04.680to which they then sent the FBI to his

00:02:06.659house nicely done

00:02:08.310working through high levels of crunch

00:02:09.840after Christmas half-life 2 finally

00:02:11.910released in October

00:02:12.9902004 number 11 half-life 2 survivor

00:02:16.430half-life inspired numerous spin-offs

00:02:18.900but chances are you are completely aware

00:02:20.790that Valve even created an arcade

00:02:23.100version developed between valve and

00:02:25.140Taito corporation half-life 2 survivor

00:02:27.270was a japan exclusive title that

00:02:29.010released back in 2006 controlling gordon

00:02:31.770freeman you utilize two two joysticks

00:02:33.570and floor pedals to control him in a

00:02:35.250manner not unlike Time Crisis it

00:02:37.230contained three modes such as story

00:02:38.940which swim down to campaign to just the

00:02:40.890shooting sections mission which allowed

00:02:42.540you to play its story and multiplayer

00:02:43.920and battle adapting half-life 2's

00:02:46.140deathmatch mode it shut down four years

00:02:48.210later though fans have attempted to

00:02:49.620revive it through an unofficial PC port

00:02:51.600it's a unique half-life experience and

00:02:53.640one of many oddities in the franchise's

00:02:55.620history number 10

00:02:57.030g-man is never referred to as g-man

00:02:59.400g-man is undoubtedly the most enigmatic

00:03:01.740character in half-life acting as an

00:03:03.990interdimensional bureaucrat this

00:03:05.550mysterious character watches you across

00:03:07.140half-life and features prominently at

00:03:09.000the end before taking a more active role

00:03:10.830in his interactions with Gordon across

00:03:12.780half-life 2 much like the hood in

00:03:14.670Thunderbirds though this mysterious

00:03:16.170character is never actually given a name

00:03:18.030in game and the nickname refers to an

00:03:20.130American expression government man g-man

00:03:22.440has only been called this nickname in

00:03:24.090half-life 2 his credits and an

00:03:25.440interviews with valve employees so far

00:03:27.210and his true name remains unknown

00:03:28.830keeping his identity closely guarded and

00:03:31.020his real motives a mystery it's unlikely

00:03:33.330that half-life Alex will shed any

00:03:34.680further light on this but considering if

00:03:36.570I was mentioned that Alex is a return to

00:03:38.550the world and not the end of it we may

00:03:40.410find out more number 9 peggle extreme'

00:03:43.320when popcap games first released their

00:03:45.510puzzle game peggle back in 2007 it

00:03:48.000received positive critical reception and

00:03:49.770proved highly addictive combining

00:03:51.660elements of pinball and pachinko seeing

00:03:53.670an expansion to follow-up titles one

00:03:55.620entry that often gets forgotten is

00:03:57.090peggle extreme' it might seem odd to

00:03:59.010list this here but peggle extreme'

00:04:00.720uniquely featured levels inspired by

00:04:02.400half-life 2 along with portal and Team

00:04:04.500Fortress 2 featuring ten levels and five

00:04:06.660challenges and initially came packaged

00:04:08.340with the PC version of the orange box

00:04:09.959but was later released as a free

00:04:11.190download in 2008 learning the valve

00:04:13.890staff often play peggle in their offices

00:04:15.750popcap games proposed a crossover that

00:04:17.700paid tribute to Valve's orange box

00:04:19.109titles 1 that Valve happily accepted and

00:04:21.840even further fun facts peggle extreme'

00:04:23.850is actually the first peggle game i

00:04:24.900played you know that you

00:04:26.100corne that like hosts the game he's

00:04:28.110eaten by a headcrab on the title screen

00:04:29.820brilliant number eight episode four

00:04:32.940whilst they continued their attempts at

00:04:35.040developing Episode three valve had

00:04:36.600already begun plans for making episode

00:04:38.430four its existence was revealed by Gabe

00:04:40.590Newell in May 2006 explaining that this

00:04:42.840will be a standalone

00:04:43.710episode separate from the episodic

00:04:45.480trilogy whilst not much became known of

00:04:47.580episode 4 at the time further details

00:04:49.710were revealed back in 2015 that it was

00:04:51.510under development with Warren specters

00:04:53.010company Junction point studios it would

00:04:55.260have brought in new mechanics with

00:04:56.520Spector teasing a maganet gun that would

00:04:58.350operate differently from the gravity gun

00:05:00.000and that both would have been super

00:05:01.860complementary revealing this chapter

00:05:03.780would revolve around Raven home with a

00:05:05.130focus on father Grigori Specter

00:05:07.080confirmed the junction point ended up

00:05:08.400doing a concept development for valve

00:05:09.750while also working for Disney on a

00:05:11.220project that became Epic Mickey before

00:05:13.380it was cancelled episode force

00:05:14.970development wasn't abandoned however and

00:05:16.890this soon passed to Arkane Studios

00:05:19.290number 7 the other episode 4 upon taking

00:05:23.040up development of episode 4 Arkane

00:05:24.900Studios continued more inspectors idea

00:05:26.700of a standalone episode based around

00:05:28.380Raven home and gained a new working

00:05:30.090title return to Raven home though actual

00:05:32.610development was completely restarted due

00:05:35.100to take place canonically before the end

00:05:36.750of episode two its existence as revealed

00:05:38.610back in 2012 by series writer Marc

00:05:40.920Laidlaw and would have kept the

00:05:42.300inclusion of father Grigori it sought

00:05:44.160various leaks in 2013 revealing

00:05:45.960screenshots and random assets intended

00:05:47.820for the game after previously coming up

00:05:49.380on the Seavey's of former project

00:05:50.790developers later confirm by Arkane

00:05:52.890Studios that you wouldn't assume the

00:05:54.180role of gordon freeman they instead

00:05:55.590pointed to a different very interesting

00:05:57.840character and Laidlaw later confirmed it

00:05:59.790would have stuck more closely to the

00:06:01.080atmosphere of horror sadly we'll never

00:06:03.210fully know just what they had planned

00:06:04.920number 6 ruined casserole the start of

00:06:08.190half-life had some surprisingly

00:06:09.630light-hearted moments in it and provided

00:06:11.310many interactive moments uncommon for

00:06:13.170games in 1998 such as passing toilet

00:06:15.510roll to a Black Mesa scientist in

00:06:17.360trouble in the grand scheme of things

00:06:19.410these actions didn't mean anything but

00:06:21.180they provided a level of interactivity

00:06:22.410otherwise unseen at the time it was

00:06:24.900quite a surprise than to see half-life

00:06:26.310to make a very specific throwback to

00:06:28.470this section through the absolute

00:06:30.090bastard that is dr. Magnussen a fellow

00:06:32.700surviving scientist from Black Mesa

00:06:34.650a supporting character that helps the

00:06:36.090resistance with tech developments he

00:06:37.530tells Gordon on one OK

00:06:38.689before leaving I might just forgive you

00:06:40.639for that debacle at Black Mesa you know

00:06:43.580the one I mean involving a certain

00:06:45.889microwave castle

00:06:47.360it's an incredibly obscure reference to

00:06:49.159this opening section of half-life 1

00:06:50.599where you could interact with a

00:06:51.679microwave and ruin someone's lunch by

00:06:53.329jamming the power button who could have

00:06:54.979known that many years later dr.

00:06:56.239Magnussen would still hold this incident

00:06:57.919against you even after the combine

00:07:00.169invasion see he's an [ __ ]

00:07:02.839he's an absolute [ __ ] number five

00:07:05.569nods to 1984 George Orwell's 1984 novel

00:07:09.139was an unforgiving read set amongst a

00:07:11.509political dystopia it imagined England

00:07:13.550as a province of Oceania a super state

00:07:15.379that rules through government overreach

00:07:16.849repression totalitarianism and mass

00:07:19.339surveillance led by the mysterious Big

00:07:21.289Brother it became one of the 20th

00:07:22.939century's most influential books and

00:07:24.800valve took influence from it when

00:07:25.939designing half-life 2 which featured

00:07:27.559giant broadcasting screens across city

00:07:29.26917 when dr. Breen makes his

00:07:30.979announcements how the start of half-life

00:07:33.0192 even shows a room called room 101 when

00:07:35.4491984 protagonist Winston was tortured

00:07:37.729it's reminiscent of Big Brother and

00:07:39.379half-life 2 doesn't stop there making

00:07:41.719direct reference to the oranges and

00:07:42.949lemons nursery rhymes scene with an all

00:07:44.599Wells novel via graffiti and chapter 6

00:07:46.759also includes a rebel named Winston as

00:07:48.619further reference valve also recreated

00:07:50.989the famous 1984 Mac advert when they

00:07:53.089brought steam to max using characters

00:07:55.009from half-life 2 Orwell's novel inspired

00:07:56.959valve in so many ways and even to this

00:07:58.819day Creative Media still looks upon it

00:08:01.099for inspiration

00:08:02.089number four valve used real people as

00:08:04.399reference models it may seem like common

00:08:06.709practice these days to base characters

00:08:08.449off real-life actors for Triple A games

00:08:10.039something especially true with the rise

00:08:11.779of motion capture technology and it's

00:08:13.550often used to create the most realistic

00:08:15.050graphical experience possible but it

00:08:16.969wasn't always the case back in the early

00:08:18.9192000s it was still uncommon for

00:08:20.419developers to take this approach often

00:08:21.949creating characters from the ground up

00:08:23.360instead and not being inspired by actors

00:08:25.819but keeping the models different enough

00:08:27.379to not get sued valve decided against

00:08:29.419that approach and hide a number of

00:08:30.800actors utilizing their faces for

00:08:32.360character textures whilst they certainly

00:08:34.099weren't major actors valve hired Frank

00:08:36.050Sheldon Fujima and Roger Quay for

00:08:37.699Wallace Breen Jamil Mullen for Alex

00:08:39.349mance and more it's a small detail but

00:08:41.509one that helped give life to half-life

00:08:42.9492's cast making them seem human also fun

00:08:45.920fact the guy who visually depicted Eli

00:08:47.990Vance was a homeless guy outside of

00:08:49.399valves offices

00:08:50.209I hope they paid him number three Ivan

00:08:52.670space biker with his bright orange HEV

00:08:55.310suit green eyes and striking glasses

00:08:57.320Gordon Freeman is one of gaming's most

00:08:58.790iconic protagonists visually but he

00:09:01.490wasn't always like this

00:09:02.900Val but stuck with their initial plans

00:09:04.400he could have been a completely

00:09:05.960different retaining his brown hair and

00:09:08.120green eyes this version of Gordon dubbed

00:09:10.040Ivan the space biker featured a much

00:09:12.110thicker beard no glasses flattop haircut

00:09:14.060and a wildly different HEV suit it

00:09:16.880wasn't well received by play testers and

00:09:18.650that led to Gordon's eventual redesign

00:09:20.300though Ivan's character model can still

00:09:22.100be located within half-life one's files

00:09:23.870whilst this is more about the original

00:09:25.550game than half-life 2 it just goes to

00:09:27.500show what could have been for a fat

00:09:28.580agonist if valve committed to this

00:09:29.930Viking esque approach number two the

00:09:32.300gravity gun wasn't meant to be there

00:09:33.950half-life 2 zero-point energy field

00:09:36.110manipulator better known as the gravity

00:09:37.850gun is amongst Gordon's more iconic

00:09:39.650weapons and its primary intention is to

00:09:41.570heavy lifting or clearing minefields if

00:09:43.820used right it can be one of Gordon's

00:09:45.410most dangerous weapons though and proved

00:09:47.150an invaluable tool so you might be

00:09:48.830surprised to learn that Valve initially

00:09:50.270intended to remove it from half-life 2

00:09:52.430initially there were plans to include a

00:09:54.230fizz gun this item was also capable of

00:09:56.480picking up objects from different ranges

00:09:57.830moving them about but caused the number

00:09:59.480of glitches and exploits as such valve

00:10:02.090saw fit to remove it from half-life 2

00:10:03.950but the fizz gun later made its way into

00:10:05.450Garry's Mod using the same graphical

00:10:07.340model as the gravity gun number 1 the

00:10:09.680all-knowing vortigaunt half-life 2 is

00:10:11.960full of hidden references but these

00:10:13.760aren't always scenery clues one major

00:10:15.830example of this featured in chapter 4

00:10:17.600water hazards while gordon freeman

00:10:19.250encounters a load vortigaunt roasting a

00:10:21.020headcrab over an open fire if you try

00:10:23.270and speak with him he would provide many

00:10:24.920cryptic statements a lot of which

00:10:26.480referenced the events of half-life such

00:10:28.190as we see is still in black mesa clearly

00:10:31.460we see you in the Nayland chamber if you

00:10:34.190keep speaking to him he'll eventually

00:10:35.570start reciting every single vertical

00:10:37.370line in the game more interestingly he

00:10:39.680appears to break the fourth wall on two

00:10:41.360occasion and tells Freeman far-distant I

00:10:44.510look out something secret Steve's book

00:10:49.700we shall not claim it's one of the more

00:10:52.220interesting Easter eggs in game and help

00:10:54.080cement frame his connection with the

00:10:55.880vortigaunt race

00:10:57.110and that is my list is there anything

00:10:59.759about half-life 2 that I've not said

00:11:01.769here and are you excited for half-life

00:11:03.870Alex by Jove I know I am let me know in

00:11:06.810the comment section down below what you

00:11:08.009think of all this and don't forget to

00:11:09.389subscribe - what would you get me if you

00:11:10.620have not already I've been rich you can

00:11:12.449follow me on Twitter

00:11:13.230that's pick up change tow take care of

00:11:14.910yourselves and I will see you soon