fig. 1

The game Half-Life 2 (2004) and its predecessor and sequels employ 3D navigable environments in a manner that functions similarly to other first-person shooters – that is, the player, as the game’s protagonist, progresses through a series of virtual environments that are inextricably linked to the events in the game whether player-controlled or predetermined by the designer(s). In the Half-Life series, these environments are separated into “chapters” via the game’s initial menu screen (fig. 1).

In terms of organization, this structure can be seen as analogous to “chapters” in literature, though comparing it beyond its hierarchical purpose can be problematic. I will explore the interplay between forms of organization in literature, film, and video games further in later sections, but for now it is important to note that in the Half-Life series, “chapters,” or levels, are accessible in a predefined chronology – upon beginning any of the games in the series, a player must begin with Chapter 1 and progress to Chapter 2, etc. The game cannot be experienced out of order until it has been completed chronologically in its entirety. Each of the 14 chapters in Half-Life 2 exists within a finite physical space – from the first level, “Point Insertion,” which begins on the outskirts of City 17 inside of a moving passenger rail car and moves to a train station, continuing through a derelict city square into Eastern-bloc style tenement apartments. From the first chapter to the conclusion of the game in the chapter “Dark Energy,” the player (as nuclear physicist Gordon Freeman) advances through environments as variable as a coastal highway, a disused urban canal system, a secret lab with an entrance disguised as a soda machine, a formerly idyllic village infested with mutilated zombies, and the underside of a bridge, where the player must precariously navigate steel scaffolds or fall to their death.