Getting My Dad Into Video Games - Half-Life (Chapter 1 - Unforseen Consequences)

Hey all! So before I go any further I want to explain where this is coming from. My Dad has a passing interest in certain video games, but he hasn't really sat down and played through a single-player narrative-driven game in his life. There were a few examples I thought of: Ocarina of Time, Halo, Deus Ex - a few examples of games that he would enjoy watching and playing, no matter which side of the coin he was on. But I decided that Half-Life was the perfect balance for him.

In this series, I'll be documenting our journeys through specific games, and mentioning some of his comments and feelings towards whatever he's learning or experiencing. I want to have these experiences with him because I don't know how much time I'll have left to spend with him, and I'd be really distraught if he didn't at least experience a few of the games that defined the industry. So, without further ado - here's my Dad's first reactions to the journey through the Black Mesa Research Facility.

Once I started up the game, there was a debate over whether or not he would actually be controlling Gordon Freeman. He doesn't like getting stuck when looking for his objective, and he hasn't played a keyboard and mouse shooter in over 20 years. I eventually decided while listening to his reasoning that the best course of action would be to play through it and have him ask questions and request certain actions. Less stress, and he can still be immersed and appreciate puzzle solutions.

With this in mind, he was at least able to acknowledge that the game eases you in quite well in its first moments. You go from looking around in a train car, to exploring Black Mesa as you grab your suit and talk with scientists, to the incident that transpires, to whacking things with the crowbar, and finally picking up a pistol to ease you into the gunplay. And to tie all this together, you're acquainted to the layout of Black Mesa first, before you have to go back through it again - crowbar in hand. He joked that he wouldn't even be able to find the HEV suit, but he also said that the game eases you into weapons much like Doom did. And that was a sign. A sign that he was appreciating tutorials that teach through practical implementation. Does this mean he'd be willing to play the future Half-Life games? We'll have to wait and see. (Probably not.)

Let's take a step back though. The train car scene. He nodded when I mentioned that they're really wasn't anything like it in 1998, and various different games would pay homage to it in the future. It acquainted you to the world you were about to explore. We also got our first glimpse of the G-Man as I looked around. Whether or not he'll remember that, I don't know.

He noted that the NPCs walked slowly at the beginning. That security guard did really enjoy taking his time getting to you when the train car stopped. He also asked what the objective was at this point, to which I replied "you'll have to find out," and as he came to realize, your objective is based on context. Get your suit, and go to the test chamber. Push the cart. Get to the surface. Survive the military. That kind of thing became apparent very quickly.

And yes, I showed him that you could indeed blow up the casserole in the microwave.

Speaking of the Black Mesa incident, he was dumbfounded. As Gordon kept getting beamed in and out of his dimension, he was lost. And when he was beamed to Xen, I heard audible confusion. I can only hope this intrigued him, and after that things go to hell, as I'm sure those of you that have played Half-Life are aware of this. Blood everywhere, dead scientists - one of them performing CPR on a security guard. He asked:

"What happened?"

And to this day, no Half-Life fan really has an answer to that. There are a lot of things we don't have answers to. To be honest, I'm okay with that.

...For the most part. He doesn't know about Episode Two yet, so we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

As I explored the facility, he made passing comments about the headcrabs and zombies, acknowledged the great level design of the game, and chuckled at the scientist hiding in the dumpster. When I killed the security guard for his pistol (which I never do, by the way), he gasped and said "well that wasn't very nice!" I still feel guilty about taking his pistol, honestly. But I wanted to show him that the people you escort can die, and they can also die by your hand.

It really is a traumatic experience being in Black Mesa during that incident. I'm sure that got across to him. The "what happened?" question is something that I'll cherish, I think. We'll be playing more tomorrow, heading into Office Complex, I believe.

Hopefully you look forward to our continued adventures!