After spending a considerable amount of time enjoying roughly five play-throughs in Half-Life 2, I've noticed the European influences on the setting. Specifically distinct similarities with Victorian England.
The first you will notice is on the first level, "Point Insertion," where players are introduced to the crumbling dystopia, City 17. Buildings are squeezed together, with only few alleys, street squares, and streets for breathing room. Also, the streets are narrow and accompanied by looming buildings to suggest an air of suffocation.
Notice the cramped feeling the architecture portrays.
This coincides well with the living conditions of the lower class in Victorian England. Families of 20 or more could be huddled in one room complete with open bathroom and kitchen. As the player progresses to City 17's apartment complexes, they will notice groups of people living in one basic room. And they're far from content. Distraught and pacing, the citizens are coming to terms with the inevitable. Metro police are constantly raiding these complexes, robbing citizens of their peace.
Which brings me to my next point. The dawn of technology ushered in a need for workers. Factories were large productions so they needed a large amount of people to work for an insubstantial amount of pay. I can see the Combine organization as a metaphor for keeping up with the demands of the factory. At this time in England, the Industrial Age was the future, as it clashed with the old fashioned nature of London. The Citadel perfectly embodies this. As ravens soar through the smog filled air, they are treated to an abrupt and cold image of the Citadel encompassing the setting in the background. I've interpreted this image as a metaphor for how the Industrial Age abruptly changed the way of life for many lower class in Victorian England.
One of the more prominent and memorable images from City 17.
The Combine soldiers and police embody that just as well. Ripping people from their homes, or complexes in this case, the industry, or Combine, forced those people to suffer and risk so much in order to feed their families a peace of bread for dinner. At ungodly hours as well. Most worked up to 17 hours a day, much like how the Combine forced citizens to work at any time they so choose. In summary, the Combine mimics how the factories forced common people to suffer for meager results.
Distraught citizens evoke a sense of anticipation.
And that's all in the first level.
At this point the player has established a common understanding that the Combine is a force to be reckoned with, influencing virtually every aspect of this alternate universe of modern Europe. And while the Industrial Age didn't influence virtually every aspect of Victorian England's life, it did, however affect more than just the city and factories.
Abandoned country-sides littered with broken down establishments and boarded up houses tell stories of futile resistance against the dawn of the Combine. Much like old-fashioned farmers were forced to give up their country life, for that of the cramped factory life. In other words, an extremely dramatic lifestyle change. Farmers were forced to succumb to the technological advancements as rebel fighters were forced to succumb to the overwhelming power of the Combine.
One of the more intriuging visuals I noticed were the broken ships sunken into the ground. The Combine's influence has deprived the environment of precipitation as they relinquish the earth of a large amount of its water supply. The tides have gone out, leaving these once useful ships.
This vessel shows signs of age, with the rusty hull, and abandoned look.
The broken ships and fleeting tide represent a separation of nature and business. The Industrial Age forced workers to all join one profession, and leave behind the homestead. The Combine also forced workers (the boats) to part ways with the nature (the tides).
Due to cramped living conditions in Victorian London, Cholera spread like wild fire. As the main cause of death, people were suffocated by germs. The people gained water supply through the dirty feces coated rain puddles in the alleys. This could be interpreted as the head crab epidemic in the Half-Life 2 universe. Released through Black Mesa, these violent creatures were exploited by the Combine as a means of weapon. Literally, head crabs jump from the germ invested dirty irradiated puddles, mimicking the spread of Cholera. These events can be seen as the Industrial Age influencing a spread of the deadly Cholera, rapidly attacking citizens.
Head crabs are parasites, which couple with the victims head and take control of the body.
My final and favorite comparison of the Victorian Age and Half-Life 2 universes, would be the children or lack thereof. The Combine, along with all of their restrictions, prohibited procreation, resulting in a world with absolutely no children. This absence can be interpreted as a loss of innocence or joy. Much like how the average family in Victorian England required every ounce of help they could get, including the children. Deprived of education and childhood in general, children followed their parents into the factory where they spent hours on end in horrifying working conditions.
This Combine propaganda seems to suggest the effect of the procreation restrictions.
For instance, the park by which Gordon passes in City 17 has an eerie spiritual feel. Rusted swings and slides and abandoned dolls are reminiscent of the theme of lost innocence.
This rusty playground creeks with eeriness.
These theories aren't definite, but they help myself to better understand how dramatic and unique this setting is. Half-Life 2 is filled with intriguing images and vistas that tell many stories of past histories. It's interesting to imagine all of the possibilities of influence that can change any gamer's perception of what life there is in the settings achieved by video games. Are there any suggestive images you have picked up while playing Half-Life 2?
I hope to continue deep analysis of the video game culture. The potential is vast and opportunities to better understand just what these games mean is truly inspiring. The idea for this article was inspired by the work of The Journal of Cartoon Overanalyzations; a website dedicated to the vast ways in which artists implement their experience and influence and funnel that into a metaphorical presentation by which the artists please many childhood audiences world-wide.