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Plot
Most of the game is set in a remote desert area of New Mexico in a facility
known as the Black Mesa Research Facility, a fictional complex that bears many
similarities to both the Los Alamos National Laboratory and Area 51, during May
or December (as seen on calendars in the game) of 200X, meaning it takes place
sometime between the years 2000 and 2009. The game's protagonist is the
theoretical physicist Gordon Freeman, a survivor of an experiment that goes
horribly wrong when an unexpected "resonance cascade" (a completely fictitious
phenomenon; see also constructive interference and prompt critical) rips
dimensional seams, devastating the facility. Aliens from another world - known
as Xen - subsequently enter the facility through these dimensional seams (an
event known as the "Black Mesa Incident").
As Freeman tries to make his way out of the ruined facility to find help for the
injured, he soon discovers that he is caught between two sides: the hostile
aliens and the Hazardous Environment Combat Unit, a United States Marine Corps
Special Forces division dispatched to cover up the incident by eliminating the
aliens, as well as Dr. Freeman and the rest of the scientists. Throughout the
game, a mysterious figure known (but not actually referred to in-game) as the
"G-Man" regularly appears, apparently monitoring Freeman's progress. Ultimately,
Freeman uses the co-operation of surviving scientists and security officers to
work his way to the mysterious "Lambda Complex" of Black Mesa (signified with
the Greek "λ" character), where a team of survivors teleport him to the alien
world Xen to kill the Nihilanth, the creature keeping Xen's side of the
dimensional rift open.
The game's plot was originally inspired by the video games Doom and Quake, both
personal computer games produced by id Software, Stephen King's short
story/novella The Mist, and an episode of The Outer Limits called "The
Borderland." It was later developed by Valve's in-house writer and author, Marc
Laidlaw, who wrote the books Dad's Nuke and The 37th Mandala.
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