When we talk about Valve‘s two beloved first-person sci-fi shooter series, it’s easy to think of Half-Life as ‘the serious one’ and Portal as ‘the funny one’. After all, Half-Life is the one about military occupations and alien invasions, while Portal is the one with the petty killer robot who sings about her defeat and gets turned into a potato. Half-Life is the one with vivid detours into horror, while Portal is the meme-y one that gave us “the cake is a lie”. Half-Life 2 has the eerie, mysterious G-Man, warbling in Red Lodge-inspired circular speech patterns. Portal 2 has Cave Johnson, the blowhard Aperture founder voiced by JK Simmons, monologuing to himself. They are not the same.
And yet, upon returning to Half-Life 2 recently, I found that not only is Valve’s masterpiece funny, it might actually be funnier than Portal. Okay, probably not, but humor is not the centerpiece of Half-Life’s identity in the way that it is for Portal, so the moments when it is really funny stick out all the more.
Half-Life 2 Establishes A Wacky Tone Early On
I noticed this early on in my recent run through the game. Though what sticks out on an initial playthrough is how oppressive Earth has become in Gordon’s absence, when you return to the game, you notice just how quickly the gang gets goofy. No sooner has Barney escorted you to Dr. Kleiner’s lab than the old scientist is talking about how he has a pet headcrab named after actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr. We quickly see that the Vortigaunts now live in peace alongside the humans, but no matter how deep we get into the game, we never see anyone else attempting to tame a headcrab. Which is probably for the best since it’s Lamarr’s fault that Gordon gets teleported to the wrong location.
This scene sets a wacky tone for the game, as Kleiner and Barney explain that they hope this teleportation attempt will turn out better than it did for “the cat,” prompting Alyx to repeatedly ask “What cat? What happened to the cat?” and, humorously, never get an answer.
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Half-Life 2 (and the series as a whole) is remembered for its “no cutscenes” approach to storytelling. It never takes control away from the player, so it feels like people are talking around you, not like control has been wrested so you can watch a conversation play out. The most obvious benefit is that it feels more immersive — at least when Valve does it. The characters feel like they can just exist in the space. This allows for more opportunities for blink-and-you’ll-miss-it character interactions and visual jokes.
Is It Casual Now?
I really keyed into this during Black Mesa East, the level where Gordon meets back up with Eli and Alyx after escaping from City 17. As Gordon takes the elevator down to the lab, it passes by a floor where several Vortigaunts — once Gordon’s fearsome enemies — are cooking, clad in starchy white chef hats. It’s a great gag (that feels inspired by Men in Black’s Worms) but you wouldn’t even see it if you were facing the other direction.
Once you get to the lab, there’s another fun bit. Half-Life 2 repeatedly hints that Alyx has a crush on Gordon, and Eli razzes her about that here, saying, “There’s nothing Gordon can’t handle. With the possible exception of you.” Alyx reacts how you would expect, with an annoyed, slightly embarrassed, “Dad.” But as she says it, Eli goes, “Ahhh.” That line doesn’t read as anything when written out, but as Robert Guillaume delivers it, it reads as, “I zinged ya!” It’s a small moment, but it conveys an easy, father-daughter familiarity that would be more difficult to pull off so casually in a typical cutscene.
Half-Life 2’s humor stands out because it isn’t trying to. Valve is happy for you to go off exploring the nooks and crannies of the lab while the story just happens. You’re free to miss it but, because it requires your attention, it feels that much more rewarding when you catch those funny little moments.
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