Location  >  Section 3 - FAQ




Here are some questions i've gotten frequently.


A-1 How come nobody in HL2 tells you what's been going on the last few years? Because they assume you already know. That'd be like you having to inform a U.S. soldier fighting in Afghanistan about the events of 9/11. You assume he knows what's going on, because (obviously) it happened in his lifetime, and not only that, he's already fighting to rid the world of the people who planned the attacks. So you'd naturally assume that he was aware of recent history. This is precisely why everyone in City 17 assumes that Gordon (the player) also lived through the Portal Storms, because they changed the world so much that everyone was affected by them. Additionally, people are also beginning to forget that the Portal storms and the Combine conquest ever happened , as something has been placed in their water supply to 'help' them forget their past. 

A-2 Whose side are those Ant-Lions on? It's pretty safe to say that they are manifestations of Xen wildlife. How can we determine this? Remember that big Ant Lion Guard battle? After that your Vortigaunt buddy comes and produces those pheromones out of the Ant-Lion's carcass. So it's a good bet he's got experience with the biology of the Ant-Lion, and thus we can make a good bet that the Ant-Lion is from Xen.

A-3 I overheard Breen talking about a host-body. Does that mean he's not human? Listen to that segment again. Breen wants to get off Earth, through a Combine off-world portal. The Combine are telling him that he's going to have to go in a host-body to survive the environment through the portal, which Breen objects to, and then finally agrees to. When we see the Combine escape pods leave the Citadel at the end of Episode 1, it could be possible that Breen is traveling inside one of them.

A-4 What are those things eating up the city as well as Nova Prospekt? I would imagine that they're simply consuming the city to use the raw materials for whatever the Combine need raw materials for. Notice that in Nova Prospekt they are simply consuming garbage.

A-5 Where did you find that picture of the newspapers? Eli's lab. When Eli gives you a chance to look around, do so. You'll find them at the corner of the room.

A-6 Why is everyone "expecting" Gordon, and how do all the Rebels know who he is? As I see it, Gordon disappeared after Black Mesa in 2000, when he was put into stasis by the G-man. As the surviving scientists and humans began putting together the history of the portal storms and the Combine Invasion, they must have spoken of Gordon as a heroic savior, having shown great bravery and prerogative. These stories could have developed quite a following (Gordon being one of the few who battled the Xen and survived). Many people may have eagerly believed in Gordon's eventual return, and hoped that this fearsome warrior's presence would spark a rebel resurgence. That's why when Gordon reappears and starts making a mess, the rebels (heavily influenced by Black Mesa lore, and using the Lambda symbol as their logo) recognize him, and begin doing whatever they can to help.

A-7 Why did you include Portal in the guide when the linkage between the two is sketchy at best?The creators have stated that Portal is indeed a part of the Half Life Universe. I could have waited a bit longer until the link between Aperture Science and the Half Life games was further fleshed out, but Portal is awesome. Seriously, go play it.

A-8 What's a slow-time-warp? Remember in Half-Life 2, when the Combine portal causes you and Alyx to arrive in Dr.Kleiner's laboratory one week after you depart from Nova Prospekt? This is an example of a slow-time-warp. It allows the subject to travel forward in time (and maybe even backward). This type of time-warp is what G-Man uses on Gordon to keep him in stasis until he is needed for an assignment.

A-9 So who is this Gordon Freeman bloke? He's a normal guy. Actually, he's a pretty smart normal guy. Freeman was born in Seattle, Washington. A physics buff, Gordon was especially obsessed with teleportation (from the HL manual). After receiving his doctorate from MIT in 1999, he spent a short time at the Institute for Experimental Physics in Austria (Read the "Experiments" section of this page for more information), before he came to work at the Black Mesa Research facility in New Mexico on May 5, 2000 (which happened to coincide with a major planetary alignment). He is now working for G-Man, kept in stasis when not needed.

A-10 Check out these wacky Vortigaunt / Nihilanth lines I found! What do they mean exactly? I haven't the faintest idea, really. I've received a lot of emails about this but I simply can't find a way to integrate these cryptic messages usefully and accurately into the guide. They can be interpreted many ways and until we know more, their predictions and meanings are rather questionable and vague.

A-11 What happened to Adrian Shepherd of Opposing Force?
GMan imprisoned him in a slow-time-warp, to keep him from hurting anyone. GMan didn't kill him, so it's logical to assume that he might be needed for a future mission. What that mission is, we dont know.

A-12 I saw some other dead scientists wearing HEV suits during my trip to Xen in HL1. What's that all about?
They were members of Black Mesa that got through to Xen during the Resonance Cascade and tried to close the portal. They could also include teams that were sent to Xen prior to the resonance cascade and encountered the Xen "wildlife".

A-13 Why are the soldiers killing the scientists and hunting Gordon in HL1?
The soldiers were ordered to clean up Black Mesa and stop the invasion, and that meant killing the scientists that knew about it. GMan did not call the soldiers off Gordon once he took interest in him, as GMan wanted to test him.

A-14 What's this picture in Kleiner's Lab about?
The person scratched out is Dr.Breen. Gordon can be seen second from the right. The person next to him is not GMan. Though he has a slight resemblance to the GMan in HL1, he has no resemblance to the GMan in HL2.

A-15 In HL1, you can see a picture of a baby in Gordon's locker. Does Gordon have a son?
In the HL manual, the letter written by Dr Kleiner to Gordon states that Gordon is unmarried & without "dependents". So this baby is not his. It's probably a photo of the child of someone at Valve.

A-16 Dude, I just KNOW GMan is Gordon from the future. I've got all this proof and everything! I BELIEVE!!!! Either that or he's his father.
That's a perfectly valid theory, but it's not mine. My theory is in the guide and that's what it stands as. You can have your own theories, and make your own guides. Please don't repeatedly send me emails trying to convince me.

A-17 What does "Nova Prospekt" mean?
Mark Gottlieb writes: "Nova Prospekt" is a differently spelled Polish phrase meaning "New Prospective"... and comes from Polish literature.  It usually implies a "forced assimilation of beliefs."