MINERVA - read-only archives

Speculate away!

Less speculation, more heavily hinted at and promised by Valve:

BIG set piece battles alongside many NPC allies against terrifying new enemies over a snow-covered landscape. Or... oh, yes, how about a defense battle from on top of the Borealis as first the rebels struggle to bring its engines and teleport systems online, then as it crawls its way through the ice to clear ocean... and free to teleport back to safety. All the time fending off maurauding Combine gunships and other new, even more powerful and alien craft.

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Deep within the bowels of the Borealis, Gordon grabs a rocket launcher and reloads while Alyx crawls inside the huge teleport field generator to repair it. "This is going to take a while, Gordon."
A rebel soldier screams "INCOMING!" and the entire ships shudders with the sound of rending metal. Two large impacts come from the ice beside the ship. Racing up the metal staircase to the top deck, Gordon is shocked to see a spindly-limbed headcrabs leaping from a freshly punched hole in the bridge tower. Soldiers rush to destroy the parisites with AR2s and shotguns while others lean over the railings on either side and let loose.
Joining one huddle of shivering ex-citizens, Gordon sees a deep crack and impact crater has appeared in the ice. It's occupant, a ball of steel and gray-green shell taller than a man, unfurls onto four thick legs and spins two rippling forarms towards the ship. Caught in a moment of awe and shock, Gordon is thrown back through the air by twin blasts of plasma that rip gaping holes into the Borealis' hull.

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Oooh, yeah, that could be good... :P

Well, I can imagine we'll be seeing even more of the Combine Advisors, and hopefully this time we'll get to shoot the murdering beastys.

Heh, yeah ... of course, now I'm thinking about how different the Ep2 gameplay videos were from the final product.

On another note, it occurs to me that this might be Gordon's first break from his suit since Kleiner's lab in City 17 ...

Having No HEV suit would drasticly change gameplay I imagine. Perhaps Gordon was captured and his suit taken away. Then a heroic rescue attempt by our friend Barney and some rebels, leads to a harrowing firefight through a combine facility to reclaim your precious armor

No, I meant something like, he takes a break from wearing it before they go to the Borealis. I can't imagine he'd be comfortable it permanently. I'm picturing a scene at the beginning where Alyx says "hey, it's time to put on your suit, Gordon" ...

I had a vision while trudging in the snow, being that there may be a possible arctic setting, and my then current want for some bit of advanced combine technology to power me though the hip deep snow, perhaps some kind of heavily armed mechanical killing machine with a hint if FLAMETHROWER, it's high time a game had a GOOD flam flame thrower, I mean one that uses an accurate napalm type based fuel ejected under pressure, with the slightest bit of stickyness and a good 75 foot range. Now that would be the ultimate snow day.