GameDevEntry#5 - Half Life
Half Life is as a science-fiction first person shooter game that plays the role of a scientist named Gordon Freeman. Based on the story, Gordon Freeman is a MIT graduate in theoretical physics and he was recently hired by the Black Mesa Research Facility assigned in “Anomalous Materials Department” doing nuclear, subatomic and quantum research. By the way, Black Mesa Research Facility is a fictional organization that resembles or based on the Area 51, where captured extraterrestrial species is believed to be secretly studied and hid.
Turning back to the story line, the game begins by arriving of Gordon Freeman (player) to the facility to assist on an experiment conducted by the scientists there. However, the said experiment go awry that cause the whole facility partly devastated. And also because of the experiment, it created dimensional seams (portal) that can make the creatures/species from the another world --namely Xen-- to teleport in the facility.
The first main objective of the game is to escape the alien - infested facility to call a help for the injured scientists and personnel of the facility. However, the main objective has been changed at the middle of the game wherein Gordon Freeman also encounters a Special Force Unit sent by the government to eradicate the whole facility and all the people involved on it including Gordon Freeman, together with the aliens infesting there. It is to prevent the public leakage of the existence of the secret facility that conducting these kind of research and experiments. From the objective of escaping to the facility and call help, Gordon Freeman is decided to destroy the main root of the problem, it is to destroy the thing or can we said the creature who makes the dimensional seams(portal) that keeps sending creature from another world. And this creature will be, of course, found on that another world --Xen--.
What makes this game difficult for me(and makes me pissed off) is there was no player’s guide or instruction, map and even a subtitle whenever you are interacting in the AI on the game such as the scientists and facility personnel. Because of these, I can’t identify what I am gonna do or where I am going to, to get on the next chapter (stage/level). And one more thing that I annoyed off is because of the graphics of some important “little interface” in the game such as the buttons for the elevator, door, etc. It is so plain that make it looks only like a part of a wall or an equipment, to be simple, you can’t easily recognize what is clickable/interactive to not. Because of this flaws, i restart my progress up to the beginning because I don’t really know what the next thing I will do to get on the next chapter. On that time, I thought that I need a grenade to destroy a wall that I lack of as I used all of it in previous battle. So I decided to restart my whole progress and reserve a grenade for that chapter (I think it is Chapter 6 or 7). And when I got on that chapter again with a grenade in my inventory, I try to do what I think I need to do. I blow up the wall and door with the grenades but it doesn’t work, and I was like “what the fuq !!! , anong gagawin dito ?!!!”. Sa inis ko, letter e ako ng letter e sa bawat sulok ng kwartong yun (e=interaction, scientists, buttons, etc.). And then suddenly, the door opens ^_^. And I realized that there was a button there, a button that does not look like a button but only looks like a red circle in a wall.
It took me 6 days to finished this game. And honestly, I browsed some tips and what need to do for me to proceed on the next chapter because like I said there is no guide/map that will tell the player’s current objective and location. You may only know what your objectives are, through the interactions to scientist or facility personnel in the game, however the conversation doesn’t have subtitle so you need to listen carefully what these AIs will say.
Maybe the reason why this game doesn’t have this kind of guides and map is to portray a real life perspective wherein the only thing you need to survive is your capability to understand and act for a certain situation.
And last thing to say, the background sound of the game creeps me out.
-end
