Why is it called "Half Life"?

[Maximilian]

Its about a research facility gone wrong and then in the sequal an alien race taking over the world which kind of started with the research facility gone wrong. Whats the half life of things got to do with anything?

My favourite FPS series and i dont understand the name!

 

[Scarpozzi]

I think it was just making a point that they were doing nuclear testing and it caused mutations. It's kind of like resident evil, the pilot for MacGyver and all the other underground research facilities.....they're doomed from the beginning.

 

[TheVrolok]

Originally posted by: Scarpozzi
I think it was just making a point that they were doing nuclear testing and it caused mutations. It's kind of like resident evil, the pilot for MacGyver and all the other underground research facilities.....they're doomed from the beginning.

You take that back about MacGyver!

 

[Glitchny]

i think its just a reference to the tests that they are preforming on the alien material in the beginning of the first one. and then they accidentally cause the portals to open etc. With Half-Life referring to the atomic halflife of the alien rock or whatever

 

[sandorski]

Just a cool sounding name I'm guessing. I don't recall any experimentation gone awry. They did many things, but mostly they were just acquiring Aliens from the alternate dimension.

 

[angry hampster]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcJ1Ym4_g30

That is all.

 

[Geeker2010]

here is the dictionary defintion:

time taken to lose half of radioactivity: the time a radioactive substance takes to lose half its radioactivity through decay.
- time taken to lose half of drug: the time it takes for half a given amount of a substance such as a drug to be removed from living tissue through natural biological activity

If you ever need a definition of something, just type in the word followed by "definition" in google and that's all it takes...

 

[Glitchny]

Originally posted by: sandorski
Just a cool sounding name I'm guessing. I don't recall any experimentation gone awry. They did many things, but mostly they were just acquiring Aliens from the alternate dimension.

u kidding? the entire 10min intro of the game is you setting up an experiment and it going wrong...

 

[Dumac]

Originally posted by: sandorski
Just a cool sounding name I'm guessing. I don't recall any experimentation gone awry. They did many things, but mostly they were just acquiring Aliens from the alternate dimension.

Go play Half-life again.

 

[Canai]

Why was Doom called Doom and not "Demons running around from a teleporter to hell" and Quake not "Strogg ATTACK!!!!" and Deus Ex not "JC goes to a party"?

 

[slugg]

because it doesn't consume your WHOLE life, like World of Warcraft.

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: Dumac

Originally posted by: sandorski
Just a cool sounding name I'm guessing. I don't recall any experimentation gone awry. They did many things, but mostly they were just acquiring Aliens from the alternate dimension.

Go play Half-life again.

Wouldn't change my opinion. That wasn't Radiation, that was High Energy Beams and stuff. The Experiment opened a different dimension, which is why Gordon kept popping in and out of the alternate reality.

 

[SexyK]

Originally posted by: sandorski

Originally posted by: Dumac

Originally posted by: sandorski
Just a cool sounding name I'm guessing. I don't recall any experimentation gone awry. They did many things, but mostly they were just acquiring Aliens from the alternate dimension.

Go play Half-life again.

Wouldn't change my opinion. That wasn't Radiation, that was High Energy Beams and stuff. The Experiment opened a different dimension, which is why Gordon kept popping in and out of the alternate reality.

The rock was radioactive. The test went awry because they ran the energy beam analysis thing beyond its power limit. The experiment was not designed to open another dimension, it happened because the test went awry.

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: SexyK

Originally posted by: sandorski

Originally posted by: Dumac

Originally posted by: sandorski
Just a cool sounding name I'm guessing. I don't recall any experimentation gone awry. They did many things, but mostly they were just acquiring Aliens from the alternate dimension.

Go play Half-life again.

Wouldn't change my opinion. That wasn't Radiation, that was High Energy Beams and stuff. The Experiment opened a different dimension, which is why Gordon kept popping in and out of the alternate reality.

The rock was radioactive. The test went awry because they ran the energy beam analysis thing beyond its power limit. The experiment was not designed to open another dimension, it happened because the test went awry.

Yes, I realize that. They did open another dimension, intentional or not, though and that's where the problem started.

 

[toughwimp11]

yeah, i think it has something to do with radioactivity decay.

 

[Dream Operator]

Originally posted by: slugg
because it doesn't consume your WHOLE life, like World of Warcraft.

QFT!!

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: sandorski
Just a cool sounding name I'm guessing. I don't recall any experimentation gone awry.

Uh, the whole premise for the game was the experiment gone awry . . .

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: Bateluer

Originally posted by: sandorski
Just a cool sounding name I'm guessing. I don't recall any experimentation gone awry.

Uh, the whole premise for the game was the experiment gone awry . . .

Crap, that's poorly worded: I meant Experimentation on Alien Beings, specifically with Radiation.

 

[FerraraZ]

Half-Life is the time it takes to split an atom. This describes the beginning event of the game.

 

[biggestmuff]

Originally posted by: FerraraZ
Half-Life is the time it takes to split an atom. This describes the beginning event of the game.

 

[dighn]

I think it has something to do with the Lambda facility which is central to the plot, and lambda can be associated with half-life which fits into the general theme of the game as well (nuclear materials, barely surviving)

 

[Modeps]

Originally posted by: FerraraZ
Half-Life is the time it takes to split an atom. This describes the beginning event of the game.

Go back to school.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Originally posted by: Modeps

Originally posted by: FerraraZ
Half-Life is the time it takes to split an atom. This describes the beginning event of the game.

Go back to school.

 

[Jeff7]

Maybe it's a long-running joke, like that "Better Nate than lever" thing, and the punchline is coming in Episode 3.

 

[JJ650]

Like everyone said, it's related to the the time it takes for a radioactive particle to decay by 1/2.

Even the mathmatical symbol for half-life, Lambda, has always been depicted in the game and on the box art.

And if you don't recall the whole Mesa Facility tram ride and the experiment gone horribly wrong, you need to really go back and play the game again. One of the best setups for an in-game story ever.