Tear Jerker / Black Mesa

• The updated graphics, better acting and animation bring to life the sheer tragedy of the Black Mesa Incident. Of special note is the Nightmare Fuel-laden deaths of the scientists in the elevator during Unforeseen Consequences. While the same scene in the original Half-Life was filled with Narm and Black Comedy, the terrified screams and begs of the scientists inside drive home that, even if unintentionally, you killed innocent people just to pass through.^note Even if you can save them.
  • The various deaths of the Black Mesa personnel can be hard to witness since Gordon can't do anything to save these innocent victims from their gruesome demises.
  • Even some of the smaller scenes get a touch of sadness to them. The security guard at the end of Office Complex deserves a mention here. From his dialogue, he wishes for Gordon to make it out, but also reminds him not to forget him or the scientists with them. Of course, as we all know, that wish would fall short.
  Security Guard: Keep going 'till you reach the surface! Now don't ya go and forget about us now, ya hear?
• In We've Got Hostiles, First-time players will likely think that the HECU will be major allies in fighting against the Xen invasion and rescuing the Black Mesa personnel after the foreshadowing in Office Complex. The reveal that the HECU has been sent to silence all living witnesses in the facility is shocking and upsetting.
  Scientist: Rescued at last... Thank god you're here! Wait, what... No! No! Argh!
  • The fact that Gordon is forced to fight the HECU in self-defence and kill many soldiers can be tough for some players, since at this point in the game, Gordon has been fighting against Xen aliens, not other Humans.
  • The HECU also go on to designate Gordon as the main target, blaming him for the downfall of Black Mesa when Gordon had no idea what that fateful experiment would cause.
  HECU Commander: Squad, We found Freeman!
• The latter portion of Surface Tension fleshes out the deteriorating situation that the HECU are caught in. You can find several radios throughout the expanded segments of the chapter, where many desperate calls for backup are denied.
  • The second-to-last Radio transmission for the chapter (which occurs in the middle of an abandoned field hospital right before the Gargantua chase) is especially saddening:
    E-3-J: (laboured breathing) Any station, any station, this is Echo-3-Juliet. My team... was ambushed... I am injured... I'm losing a lot of blood here. Left leg...
    E-5-R: Echo-3-Juliet, this is Echo-5-Romeo, I need you to tie a tourniquet a hand's length above the wound. Get one out of your IFAK now. ^note  IFAK = Individual First Aid Kit
    E-3-J: (laboured breathing) IFAK's gone.
    E-5-R: Say again?
    E-3-J: (weaker breathing) My IFAK's gone... I'm, uh... I'm—
    E-5-R: Ok, you're gonna need to find another pack and get a tourniquet out of it.
    E-3-J: (silence)
    E-5-R: Are you still there? Echo-3-Juliet, can you hear me?
  • After you clear the area where Mastiff-1 gets destroyed by a Manta, you find a lone Marine sitting behind cover on the rooftops silently weeping. Another moment reminding you that the HECU are in a world of shit, and they can't stop it.
  • The fate of the security guard who's beaten to death by an Alien Grunt in a locked room.
    Guard: I tell you what... that... could've been a lot worse.
    (Grunt teleports in)
    Guard: (startled) Wait, WHAT?!
    (door shuts)
    (Guard screams, Alien Grunt savagely beats him)
  • Speaking of Surface Tension, there's a scene where you'll find a dying security guard begging for help until a scientist tries to save his life only to be shot by a HECU Sniper. Or getting blown up by the nearby minefield.
• Forget About Freeman really conveys just how poorly things are going for the HECU — a soldier informing the rest of his comrades that the last evacuation craft has left the base, only to be killed by an unknown entity. The distant tremors of air strikes can be felt throughout the level as HECU forces try to cover their retreat, and an air raid siren can be heard as you reach the surface. Even the intense final battle that occurs when Gordon reaches the surface is tinged with melancholy, as you can see a trio of Ospreys retreating alongside a HECU vehicle convoy, only for the latter to be vaporized by an alien aircraft. As the fight goes on, more Ospreys flee while attack helicopters and jets duel with Alien Aircraft to buy time for the escapees. Combined with a later radio broadcast revealing that an evacuation of New Mexico is now in effect, and it becomes clear you aren't just watching the defeat of the HECU — you're witnessing the beginning of the end for mankind.
  HECU Commander: Forget about Freeman! We're pulling out, anyone left down there is on his own... Wait, oh shit! No! No!
  • Even more poignant is if you reach the entrance of the Lambda Complex in that area and turn around to look at the sunset. Visible next to the door is a tattered American flag billowing in the wind high up on a flagpole, illuminated by the setting New Mexico sun. That sunset is the last of a recognizable world Gordon will see. The next time he sees the sky 20 years will have passed and Earth is in ruins, oppressed by an interdimensional empire known as the Combine.
• In the final stage of Gonarch's Lair, you finally duke it out with the titular monster. Yet towards the end of the battle, it weakly breaks off from the fight and tries to climb away, only to fall backward into a pit when its strength fails. As you fall in with it, the once mighty beast is now limping and moaning, but is still dangerous and must be fought. It feels less like a triumphant beat-down and more like the execution of an injured and panicked animal that was only defending its home from an alien invader... a sentiment you could doubtlessly sympathize with as you traversed Black Mesa.
  Nihilanth: Done... What have you done... what have you done...
• Interloper reintroduces docile Vortigaunts who won't attack you on sight, and also shows you how they are treated by Nihilanth and its minions; your first sighting of them on the level sees one being horrifically beaten by an Alien Grunt while weeping and they flee in terror once you introduce yourself. Later on, you bear witness to their living conditions in what appears to be the alien equivalent of a slum, and then the Controllers force them to attack you by activating their slave collars. Even if you manage to solve the situation by only killing the Controllers, so that the Vorts can step down peacefully, you still come across a dead Vort and another grieving over his fallen friend after getting killed due to the damage done by the Controllers when they arrived. Especially if you vow to not harm the Vortigaunts anymore, it's enough to make you go on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge towards the Nihilanth and his minions.
  • All this only goes to emphasize even more just how much the Vortigaunts respect Gordon and see him as a Messianic figure come the events of Half-Life 2.
  • With a little bit of Fridge Horror, what if the Vortigaunts on Earth were already brainwashed by the Controllers while those found on Xen aren't? Unfortunately, you had to kill them in self-defence throughout the chapters before you reach Xen.
  • At one point you need to overcharge an elevator to advance, but as you ascend further upward you stumble across half a dozen dead Vortigaunts who died in the industrial incident you caused. Sadly, Cruelty Is the Only Option.
  • In the final moments of the game, the entire facility you fought through to reach the Nihilanth is wiped out from the psychic feedback of its death. No matter how hard you strive and suffer to spare every Vortigaunt you can, it's impossible to save them. Their only chance of survival is for Gordon to fail in his mission, and that alternative would condemn them to a life of torturous servitude. There is simply no happy ending for the hapless beings.
• Outside the final portal to the Nihilanth's chamber, the voices of people you met both before and after the incident echo all around you. It hits that everyone in Black Mesa, every Scientist and Security Guard that has helped you is most likely dead, with some holding out hope for Gordon in their farewells. And the Vortigaunts would eventually be put under a new oppressor, known as the Combine.
• Everything Gordon goes through in the game can be considered this.
  • After an experiment goes wrong that he unwillingly caused, Gordon is forced to fight dozens of horrifying alien creatures and hostile Marines, all whilst navigating dangerous environments throughout Black Mesa and witnessing his numerous colleagues and marines die horrific deaths as he tries to find a way to end the disaster.
  • Then Gordon is forced to head to Xen and must eliminate the Nihilanth to end the invasion for good at the chance he may die in the process. Once again, Gordon is faced with even more dangerous environments and fights dozens of hostile alien creatures on Xen.
  • Despite surviving everything he goes through on Xen and Black Mesa, The G Man forces Gordon to work for him by placing him in stasis at the end of the game.
  • By the time Gordon returns to Earth twenty years later, he's forced to fight once again against the Combine and faces fresh new horrors in City 17, Ravenholm, and Nova Prospekt.

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