Half-Life

Half-Life

First Person Shooter

Valve, 1998

Valve’s epic FPS revived the genre in 1998, and became one of the highest-reviewed games of all time. The scientist Gordon Freeman (the playable character) unwittingly causes an alien invasion of Earth, starting at the Black Mesa Research Facility, New Mexico. He must fight to the surface to inform rescuers of the danger, and to direct them to trapped survivors below. However, a special US Marine Corps detachment, the ‘Hazardous Environment Combat Unit’ is dispatched instead of rescue teams, to cleanse Black Mesa of all forms of life. Gordon must assist fellow scientists in eradicating the alien threat, at the same time as avoiding and fighting off the HECU.

Notable Archetypes

The Hero - Gordon Freeman

Gordon is not a typical videogame hero. He is an MIT graduate and a theoretical physicist by trade, rather than a bare-chested, testosterone-charged alpha-male. He is thrust into the role of hero when the experiment he was performing backfired and opened a portal to another world (Xen), causing the Black Mesa Research Facility to be swamped by hostile aliens. He fights to the surface for the good of his fellow scientists and Black Mesa personnel, enduring various hardships along the way. At some point, he becomes more than just a would-be messenger to the (theoretical) rescuers above ground; he becomes a key player in the development of human history.

The Shadow - The G-Man

Throughout the game, the player can witness a mysterious figure apparently observing their progress. He wanders through Black Mesa calmly, seemingly impervious to the dangers all around. His composure and indifference contrasts Gordon’s desperate bid for freedom and safety (for himself and everyone else at Black Mesa). At the end of the game, the G-Man displays extraordinary abilities when he takes Gordon into another dimension and coerces him into employment (until his ‘services’ are required). This is original in that it is classically the Self who absorbs and actualises with the Shadow, not the Shadow who integrates and subjugates the Self.

The Dragon Forces - US Marines Hazardous Environment Combat unit (HECU)

The marines are called in to cleanse the entire Black Mesa facility including all forms of life, alien or not. They persistently block Gordon’s path to the surface, and crop up in most of the game world (apart from their notable absences from Residue Processing and Xen). The HECU provide additional resistance to Gordon’s journey, another barrier between him and the surface. Their policies on human elements within the facility are arbitrary and brutal, making no compromise or compassion.

The Devil Figure - Nihilanth

The portals flooding Black Mesa with Xen aliens are propped open from their side by a powerful telepathic entity known as ‘Nihilanth’. Nihilanth is the father figure to all of the Xen aliens, and is the puppet master behind much of the carnage occurring on Earth, specifically in Black Mesa. His influence and power is witnessed throughout the game as Gordon is attacked from all sides by his minions, and especially when the HECU are overwhelmed, as they are on several occasions, by the aliens.

The Departure

The Call to Adventure - 6

A very basic and very explicit ‘fake’ call is for the player to make his way to the Anomalous Materials Test Chamber. However, the true call to adventure is the pleading for help by Gordon’s fellow scientists, injured and trapped. It’s up to the player to reach the surface and direct rescuers to the locations of the helpless. The Call to Adventure is strengthened and honed several times during the game. Once the HECU assault begins, Gordon’s task of reaching the surface is no longer enough. Shortly after their arrival, however, Gordon’s vague Call to Adventure is focused. He meets a scientist who tells him that he should travel to the ‘Lambda Core’ facility, where other scientists may have developed a way of stopping the alien invasion.

Refusal of the Call - N/A

Although the player can wander around Black Mesa before heading to the test chamber, once the real call (of getting to the surface) is received, the narrative moves only forwards, with no refusals or reluctance from the Hero.

Supernatural Aid - 4 (Out of sequence)

The player is sent to retrieve his Hazardous Environment Suit, or HEV, in order to survive the high radiation levels of the experiment. This HEV suit is the typical Campbellian protective amulet, acquired near the start of the Hero’s Journey, and staying with him to the end. The HEV suit is what allows Gordon to survive the hardship and adversity he faces throughout the game, from bullet impacts to toxic waste.

The Crossing of the First Threshold - 7

After acquiring the HEV suit, Gordon hurries to the test chamber, to take part in an experiment on an outlandish resin. Standing before a huge sealed steel door, he waits for two scientists to debrief him and unlock the door via retinal scanners. They speak to Gordon and each other for several minutes, disagreeing about the safety of the test. Although one of them has confidence in the test, due to the administrators’ assurance that “nothing will go wrong”, the conversation instills a strong sense of unease in the player. The doors open and the player steps across the threshold, from the known, safe, and welcoming, into the unknown - a huge orange chamber, complete with observation window and massive laser. The air of foreboding is built by the nervous scientist’s voice over an intercom, reassuring Gordon (somewhat) that the test is progressing within safe and expected boundaries.

The Belly of the Whale - 8 (Out of sequence)

In a section of the game known as ‘Residue Processing’, Gordon is knocked out by marines and dumped in garbage compactor. After escaping the compactor, he must fight through the enclosed, dark, environment with no weapons (to start with) and no friendly forces. The acquisition of weapons and supplies as Gordon progresses through the level represents his spiritual growth, with him eventually emerging from the darkness a stronger, more determined, hero.

However tempting to say so, Xen is not the Belly of the Whale. Xen is so other-worldly (literally) as to be far past the typical scope of Belly of the Wale, and results in atonement rather than character growth / progression.

Initiation

The Road of Trials - 9 (Out of sequence)

Around one third into the game, Gordon is sent to the ‘Lambda Core’ to rendezvous with some scientists who may have a way of impeding the aliens. On his way, deep inside Black Mesa, Gordon comes up against a colossal alien tentacle residing in a rocket test chamber (the ‘Blast Pit’). In order to destroy the scourge, the rocket positioned above its head must be activated. To do so, the player must enter the Blast Pit itself multiple times and run past the lethal (but blind) tentacle, using grenades and other loud devices as distractions. After completing the tasks (trials) of turning on the rockets fuel and oxygen supply, as well as one other trial needed to access a control panel, the rocket can be ‘tested’, incinerating the demonic tentacle and clearing the player’s path. After the tentacle has been destroyed, the player must use a decommissioned railway system to travel to the Lambda Core, coming up against many new dangers in the train’s path. Another important trial for Gordon is that he must launch a satellite dish in order for the Lambda scientists to carry out their plan. This means Gordon battling more marines as he makes a detour to the appropriate launch facility.

The Meeting with the Goddess - 8

Gordon finally reaches the Lambda Core, with the HECU pursuing him all the way. The Lambda Core is where most of the remaining scientists have barricaded themselves, and is home to all manner of exotic technology, including teleportation devices. It is this teleportation technology that allows Gordon to travel to Xen and eliminate the source of the invasion: a hugely powerful alien being, holding the Xen side of the portal open. The trials completed by Gordon (notably launching the satellite, and reactivating the Lambda reactor) were all in order to reach the core and its Black Mesa operatives. They equip Gordon with ammunition, HEV energy, medical care and even a ‘long jump unit’ HEV upgrade, and teleport him to Xen.

Woman as the Temptress - 10 (Out of sequence)

Gordon’s employment by the G-Man is a classical Campbellian ‘mystical marriage’. This often-misinterpreted stage is, at its core, the realisation of the rottenness of nature, and the Hero’s participation. Oedipus discovering the true identity of is beautiful wife is the classical Woman as the Temptress, and Gordon’s subjugation at the hands of his Shadow is not far removed from this marriage. He has become the very opposite of what he set out to achieve; from savior of his fellow man, to the pawn of a shadowy power broker.

Atonement with the Father - 4

Gordon atones with himself rather than any father figure; He saved many scientists from the HECU, as well as saving Earth from the horrors of Xen. His Call to Adventure is answered.

Apotheosis - N/A

The Ultimate Boon - N/A

Return

Refusal of the Return - 7 (Out of sequence)

Although not a refusal of a return to the situation at the start of the game, the player has the chance to refuse the G-Man’s offer of employment (ironically, choosing the honourable refusal of his dubious ‘offer’ results in certain death)

The magic Flight - 2

The G-Man takes Gordon through space (and maybe time / dimensions) aboard a magical flying train carriage. This section scores so low because of the lack of danger, and the lack of pursuit.

Rescue from Without - 8

After Gordon defeats the alien ‘Nihilanth’ on Xen, The G-Man appears from nowhere, stops time itself, and takes Gordon away to a place of safety to make him an offer he can’t refuse.

The Crossing of the Return Threshold - 8

The G-Man places Gordon into stasis after his ‘offer’ of employment is accepted, removing him from any semblance of danger, and putting him into a place of pure safety (and pure nothingness) until his services are required.

Master of the Two Worlds - 7

Gordon defeated his (and the Earth’s) enemies in Black Mesa and on Xen. Since Gordon was subjugated by his Shadow (the G-Man), he is hardly a ‘master’ of anything. This is a reversal of the roles by Half-Life’s story designer (Valve’s in-house writer, Marc Laidlaw).

Freedom to Live - 7

Technically zero; Half-Life’s ending purposefully plays on the Freedom to Live stage, leaving Gordon stranded in (or out of) space and time entirely.

Conclusion

The most interesting aspects of this game in terms of the Hero’s Journey are the act of integration of Self by Shadow, and the layering of the Call to Adventure. The integration of the Self is a rather unusual plot twist, and allows for simple and believable narrative development (i.e. a sequel), and has a knock-on effect on the Master of the Two Worlds and Freedom to Live stages. The layered Call to Adventure, however, is interesting in that it is endemic in videogames. The Call to Adventure is rarely an explicit task being issued to the hero, rather it is the demonstration (or merely implication) that something is wrong in the game world, and as the player explores this world more, under the impression that he is the one to repair it, he meets characters who confirm this impression and give him the means to do so. Gordon knows of the problems in the gameworld (alien assault, murderous marines) and that he is a hero of some sort (a lone warrior, armed to the teeth and HEV suit in tow). Along his journey, he meets scientists who guide him toward the Lambda complex, where he learns how to solve the problems witnessed in the game. Also noteworthy is Half-Life’s Return. The entire return section happens in around five minutes, and all takes place in the same tiny, bare, location. The G-Man initiates the Return by removing Gordon from the dangerous other-world, Xen (Rescue from Without). Five minutes later, the game is over, with all other Return stages accounted for. This is symptomatic of videogame Returns, taking a disproportionately short time to complete (as well as the Departure section).

The use of separate entities for Dragon / Devil forces is another unusual narrative feature. Normally, the Dragon Forces are under the direct influence and control of the Devil Figure. For example, Fallout’s Super Mutant Army, headed by the Master.