Deleted Content - Portal 2

"A man with a briefcase was just here to see you!"

(Spoilers for Half Life and Portal below)

Portal 2 and Half Life exist in the same universe.  Black Mesa and Aperture were constantly competing for government resources but had two different philosophies on products.  Aperture tried to make the best products ever by constantly testing them but rarely sold them while Black Mesa sold products that people weren't completely sure about.  Both companies ended up being death traps.  Black Mesa triggered an invasion of earth while Aperture managed to load people's consciousness onto computers which then go crazy and kill all the scientists on "Take Your Daughter To Work Day".   

Despite that, the two games haven't had much crossover.  In Half Life 2 you find plans for the "Borealis" ship that were signed by GLaDOS, while in Portal Aperture and Black Mesa are competing for grants, and in Portal 2 you can find the Borealis (Well, it's dock)  and some more competition between the companies.

There was going to be more.  

In the early cuts of "Portal 2" Wheatley was apparently supposed to mention a man in a briefcase had dropped by to see Chell.  Anyone who's played Half Life could make the connection, The G-man was interested in Chell.

It was cut so it's now non canon, but it's interesting to speculate.

What role would Chell have played in the larger Half Life universe?  She left Aperture without her gun (and she can't really portal onto many surfaces outside of Aperture) so how could she have helped?  The G-man has been known to take an interest in people his "Superiors" don't like, could she have been one of them?  Considering how both she and Gordon are mutes (Though Chell is mute by choice.  She doesn't want to give GLaDOS and the other robots the satisfaction of a reply)  would one break and talk or would they both be kept silent? Would we switch between the two characters?  Are robots immune to the G-man's "Somebody Else's Problem" glamor? 

So many questions, but something to think about.  What do you think the G-man would have done in Portal 2?

 

Level Design - Half Life 2 opening

I've never played Half-life 1, but when Half-life 2 opens, you know you are in one heck of a weird world.

Gordon Freeman is a silent protagonist, so he doesn't divulge any information.  We get all the information from the world around him.

For starters, opening up to that image of the G-man is INCREDIBLY creepy.  He does nothing, he threatens nothing, but something just screams "WRONG!"  which is the point.  The G-man was developed to fall firmly into the Uncanny Valley so you can pick him out easily and realize how "off" he seems. The fact that we wake up in the middle of a subway car with no knowledge of how we actually got there only adds to the creepiness.

Once we exit, we are greeted by a semi abandoned train station.  It may have trains, but people aren't reacting right. People are missing, the stations are trashy, and the place simply feels wrong.  It doesn't help the police don't really look like police with those masks and are hassling everyone.  When Gordon steps through a door, he triggers a response and he gets escorted back to be tortured. 

When he finally escapes, he goes through the streets of a completely desolate town, the PA confirms how everyone is now a slave, people are scared and the standard of living is low. 

You know something is wrong.  Other then the PA deal (which is background noise) each individual element wouldn't be too noticeable.  We have security now a days in train stations, places aren't always clean, things generally look fine if you look at them individually. It's the whole that causes problems.  The fact that what spells out the fact the world is in danger isn't an explosion, but a train station speaks volumes about the value of setting.