Was Breen really the bad guy in Half-Life 2 ?
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- Опубліковано 8 вер 2024
- This took way longer than i expected, got bussy with stuf in real life and never had enough time to wrap this one up, i hope i did a decent job on this video.
If you have any critique please tell me in the comments :)
Insperation for the comparisons of viche france and breen's role as the administrator ( Thank you Finalgald :D )
/ why_do_people_in_half_...
[S2FM] Combine Hell March
• [S2FM] Combine Hell March
Black Mesa Employee Welcome Tape (1990)
• Black Mesa Employee We...
Black Mesa Official Trailer
• Black Mesa Official Tr...
Robert Culp
en.wikipedia.o...
The First 17 Minutes of Half-Life: Alyx (don't have enough money for a vr headset so i used this footage)
• The First 17 Minutes o...
Various footage that i personally recorded with OBS from:
Black mesa
Half-life 2 Cinematic mod (MMOD)
Half-life 2: Episode 2 Cinematic mod (MMOD)
I decided to use footage from the cinematic mod + MMOD because of its graphical enhancement, if this is disliked i will in the future use base Half-Life 2 footage.
#halflife2 #gaming #gman #gmod #breen #gordonfreeman #gmanimation #sfm #halflife #commentary
He's a complicated character. I did save humanity from COMPLETE extinction, but like I the worst way possible.
Breen needs more video essays!
The Combine defeated Earth’s entire combined military forces in 7 Hours. Each night I get more sleep than that. I often bingewatch TV shows, and let’s face it UA-cam videos, and game longer than that.
If Breen didn’t negotiate, the human race would be extinct instead of enslaved. And the dead can’t fight back.
@@MildMisanthropeMaybeMassive"Seven hours. That's faster than what Joe Average does per day! That means while Joe Average clocked in, punched numbers, and clocked out, the Combine wiped us off the floor!" -Civil Protection series
how did bro manage to fit a ww2 campaign into a half life game
I thought it would be cool to explore the similarities between ww2 nazi collaberators and breen :)
ww2 lore real?
Or it can be based off satellite communist gvt that serve Soviet Moscow.
@@jonaspete Exactly ! I was going to go in to more satellite states like former communist countries in eastern europe or places like south korea in the 1960s but i figured that it would have been to long of a video and i wanted to focus on vichy france.
bro thinks he's gonna get an extra ration for making this video
Might be joining civil protection just to get a decent meal.
He's saved humanity but lost in thoughts and started to believe combine.
Theory: the advisors aren't in charge of the combime
They are but just middle managment
The true combine leaders probably don't even know of earth's existance.
That's how insignifficant it is to them.
Intresting theory!
I thought that was lore
I'm willing to bet that what is running the Combine isn't a leader or leaders, it could be a space colonization management program that outlasted its creators, infinitely expanding without reason, generating nonsensical brutalist structures and merging metal with organic life, kinda sorta like in manga Blame!, which would explain the insane brutalist architecture. Or it could also be a civilization in its final stage, where a community is so unified in their goals and thinking they become a single interconnected entity that absorbs everything else into itself. That would explain why it treats its units as parts of its body and Freeman as a cancerous tumour
thats actually confirmed by breengrub
That's pretty much commonly agreed to be true
But here is my head-canon that may or may not be similarly accepted:
There is no upper management or overlord lords of the whole Combine Empire, it just automatically does the spreading through intelligent being carrying out basic goals. Something between a hive mind and an bee-hive like structure except the drones are diverse and there is some hierarchy and regular management on "micro" scales
Humans act very predictably when they are in a mass. So what if the whole empire of intelligent beings were very simple from looking at the whole
I do think that it's clear through all his speeches, especially the one addressing the Trans-human soldiers, that he is always bargaining with the combine to keep mankind around and not just genocide and assimilate it right away, so he's not totally egoistic, he probably thinks living as pawns of the combine is the only alternative left with earth being completely ravaged
I actually believe that this is breen simply relaying what the advisors told him, he mostly does this to keep he's head above the water and preventing the combine advisors to become even more suspect of breen so he could keep he's position.
Very intresting though, should have put this in the video.
He was manipulated by the combine, however he knew the difference between right and wrong and rolled with the combine anyhow...
Perhaps he was manipulated to some degree yes, but i still think he was fully aware of what was going on during the combine occupation and knew what they we're inplementing. Making him as much responsible for earths hardship as the advisors.
@@TheTornado25 Absolutely, he allowed himself to be manipulated to facilitate doing what he believed to be right, so I could not agree with you more.
He started all of this by causing resonance cascade
@@russianoverkill3715not without gman giving the crystal
@@Darnk715 breen could've just refused
“Idk why dr breen is so afraid of Gordon freeman”
I mean, if you were at black mesa and saw a single scientist literally fight an entire alien army (and multiple gargantuan creatures) without breaking a sweat, it makes sense that breen would be pretty terrified when that one man army turns his sights over to him
Gordon freeman is the nerdy John wick calling it now
Fair point, but considering the combine took over earth in just 7 hours and have military capabilities far beyond human understanding it was still a uphill climb for gordon and the resistance and without the gmans mededeling there would not have been a rebellion, breen knew that the gmans medelling meens trouble and the advisors blame breen for this making him scared to lose he's power
Gordon being a nerdy John wick is totally something i can get behind xD
@@TheTornado25 Overwatch is just the small police/military force on Earth, it's not the entire Combine/Universal Union as a whole.
@@wedoalittletrolling723 True, but compared to the human population (whats left of it) it is still a very capabel force
Well, it's in lore that Gordon fought off both the alien and US army and probably the Black Ops as well, and he did it while helping many scientists and security guards survive. He was already almost mythical during HL1 on the radio comms, with the scientists getting word of his movements ("Someone had to be here to let you in, I drew the short straw"), and the army tried to target him specifically (Forget about Freeman).
For why Breen is afraid of him, I think it's more that he knows that the resistance will fight full force while they have the Hero of Black Mesa fighting alongside them, than what he thinks Gordon alone is capable of.
However, I have a fun theory that all my points about him being mythical are aided by the fact that he was ground zero for the resonance cascade, basically giving him superpowers. Imagine hearing that the guy that saved your life took a nuke to the face that morning.
Yes, Breen was a bad guy. He sold out humanity to the combine and only cared about himself, disregarding Mossmans' plea to keep Eli.
sure he "sold" humanity, but without that peace humanity would have likely been exterminated. He had good intentions and this peace was what gave humanity the chance to create the resistance... but when time came and Gordon became the leader of the resistance, Breen stayed loyal to the Combine and this made his choice.
During the events of HL2 he most certainly is the bad guy
@@meganoob12 i wonder what would've happened if Breen decided to side with the resistance at the last moment, then again Eli wouldn't still trust him but he could redeem himself in some way.
In breen we trust
Combine infiltrator detected
@@TheTornado25 don't blame
They got some cool toys and biological augmentations🥳😎
Combine collaborator
Breen is evil, here I saved you time.
Yes
Robert Culp played the best Columbo villain(s).
Ironically so did Robert Guillame who was Eli’s actor.
Agreed ! I was originaly going to talk more about Robert Culp but i figured i might aswel make a separate video talking about all the half life 2 actors. There are just allot of great castings in the game that really surprises me.
Was Breen a gad guy? Well during the story of Half-Life 2 he certainly was.
He probably wasn't evil to his core and his negotiated peace with the combine was in good intend and in the end it was what made the resistance possible in the first place. The other option was complete eradication of humanity as a species...
Bun when Gorden enters the frame and the resistance grows in power Breen failed to see the opportunity to free Humanity, but rather cowered in fear to the Combine and did all their bidding.
So yes... during HL2 he was a bad guy.
He's evil, I mean, the confrontation you have at the end is proof enough that he's vile. But most of the rhetoric that he spills on the game through the Breencasts he tries to come across as the unwilling middleman between the Combine and humanity that's trying to save everyone, but he's more like someone who's thoroughly enticed by the technological wonders the combine has and wants humanity to bend the knee so he can witness everything it has to offer. I mean, in pre-release versions of the confrontation at the end of the game he pretty much goes off about the impossible sci-fi wonders of the combine.
I honestly think he has more blame for the Black Mesa incident than anyone else except G-Man, it's too convenient that the administrator of the same place that caused the resonance cascade and the portal storms was also the only one able to communicate with the combines and the world's governments had no choice but to let Breen decide on all the terms of humanity's surrender (as per HL:Alyx's newspaper prop). Just because the Breengrub in Epistle 3 is depicted a little more sympathetic I think people are willing to give Breen the benefit of the doubt, but I believe he's just evil and is using humanity as a stepping stone for all the technology of the combine.
My headcannon:
Breen surrendered knowing that there would be an uprising later, he did it to get some time for humanity to organize. He could not collaborate with the resistance becasue the Advisors would know, so he had to fully commit to its paper. He knew that this meant that he would be killed by the resistance when the time came.
Becasue Freeman was put on stasis, that uprising came many years later than Breen expected and grew complicit and comfortable on its position, plus "forgot" that the original plan included him being killed.
When Freeman abruptly appeared at his office he got cold feet and started to move things around in a rush to keep the status quo as he did not want to die.
I like the idea that his speeches are so evil on purpose, so to the combine it sounds like standard propaganda but to the humanity it just sounds utterly stupid.
also maybe he wanted to capture Gordon to see if the combine were willing to leave earth in exchange for the greatest killing machine as a army.
breen is the reason the resistance exists, if he hadnt struck a deal to enslave humanity earth would go extinct
true, but in HL2 he stays loyal to the Combine even when he had the chance to free humanity.
There are two arguments to be made depending on the time frame you talk about.
@@meganoob12 i think he stayed loyal because he didnt think the resistance would win, he wanted eli to give up to save humanity from what he believed was an impossible battle, i think, had he survived and saw the superportal close, would actually support the resistance
@@minelayer26 also i think it's because the resistance wants him dead, and Eli doesn't trust him at all, i mean he legit sold his species to an interdimensional empire.
"Sold". What other options did he had@@wedoalittletrolling723
They are waiting for you gordon, in the testing chamberr.
Well he did cause the resonance cascade(YES GORDON FREEMAN DID THAT BUT BREEN WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR AUTHORIZING THE EXPERIMENT)
I personally believe that it was preventable if breen had more of a spine and did the right thing rather than giving up humanity for power
I love breen
He’s big pp head.
Respect for playing the cinematic mod without the ugly remodelled character models
Breen bless. Glory to our Benefactors.
Good to see that massive blackholes also watch my video's! :)
My headcanon Is if breen didnt take the "Job" of Earth’s Administrator. Combine would be like in Half life 2 beta. More Parasitecs that in Offical Relise of the game
Im thinking about it now if germany had won ww2 and developed more futuristic weapons but the black mesa incident still happened had the humans may won or have stood a chance against the combine?
I don't get why some people try to apologize for Breen's actions like he wasn't a slick totalitarian leader. Good vid anyway.
he was literally a MASCOT, the administrator (ie the ones in space) are the real ones controlling everything.
I cant put my finger on it, but the graphics look off. What mod are you using to do this? Aswell as what chapter is Breen in a room on a monitor talking about Gordon?
He's using FakeFactory Cinematic Mod
bro is NOT getting ANY sterilized credits for this one 🙏😭😭
About the citadel been 5 years only is logic since hl2 told us that the administration of Breen there is new, so why not?
I just found it weird that the main base of operations for the combine was built so late (seen how all smaller citadels in different cities are conected to it)
@@TheTornado25 this can show us some possible things:
-they care barely for the administration of Earth
-The Citadel is really complex to build(which give it a more legendary status for me)
-A 20 years time is nothing for the CMB
And this citadel is the only one on Earth, that statement of more citadels is a bad understanding of one sentence of kleinercast where he mention a network of citadel reactors, inside that citadel that we blow up.
We only know the depot as another base that has the main task of producing soldiers and the development of the human teleportation technology.
this was a good video but the cinematic mod footage is wild 😭
Thanks ! Might not use cinematic mod anymore in the future seeing how people dislike it because of the terrible models, i just liked the whole cinematic make-over. Makes for good footage in video's imo
Would the combine ever actually integrate humanity?
Without Gordon initiating the rebelion ? 100% yes
@@TheTornado25 No like, would they ever make us live ok?
Or would we be slaves until we are all synths
@neimenovani7256 we don't know. We don't know, how combine nobles or elite lives. We don't know the original combine population lives like
@@der-Dritte yup
@@neimenovani7256 it could be like a ai hive mind or some shit by how efficient and turning random alien animals into weapons of war
I love this kind of theory, discussion, and debate.
I'm going to say, that ultimately, Breen might actually be a GOOD guy. I know, it's not what you're supposed to think. He might even seem like the worst person ever in mankind's history, if you don't think about it too much. But, I'll explain why I think this.
So, how can Breen be a GOOD guy, when, over the last 20ish years, he's the face and representative of the occupying force, broadcasting propaganda speeches, and even administering coordinated efforts against the Resistance?
Simple.. what other choice did he /have/? What else could he have *possibly* done?
He became aware of this enemy - an enemy that's insanely powerful, an enemy that if it so wished, could wipe out mankind entirely in a matter of days, an enemy that's SO technologically advanced that just by broadcasting some sort of radio waves, can prevent pregnancy.
And, he somehow convinced them that instead of destroying man entirely, it would be better for them if he was to manage the occupation, and that mankind had more to offer, and that it would be easier to try to convince willing participants.
In other words, I'm thinking he's one HELL of a salesman, and even a con man.
Imagine if instead, he wanted to BUY AS MUCH TIME AS POSSIBLE for the Resistance, because he must has known a Resistance effort will form. That he's dragging out the process for as long as possible.
Now sure, you may be thinking "Didn't he order the capture of Eli?" Yes, he did. But again, what choice did he have? I have no doubt that at some point, his bosses were demanding results.
Maybe it's kind of like a General Manager of a large box store who pays his employees better and treats them better, not only because it makes his job easier but because he thinks it's the right thing to do, but this same GM has to balance it against the demands of his bosses. So sometimes, he may effectively be forced to enforce minor policy violations anyway.
You know... if I was in a position similar to that of Breen, I might have very well done the exact same thing, if I was able to.
The alternative, if you can call it that, is to spit in the fact of the Combine, which will just mean they'll wipe out mankind almost right away, with NO opportunity for a Resistance to form, and possibly find some way to fight back. There's nothing about the Combine from what I can tell, that required a representative. Breen talked them into it. He's making the best of an extremely bad situation, and to give the Resistance the best chance and shot possible.
Anyone else think the same way?
Really enjoyed reading your opinion :)
My own opinion of breen is this he certainly care about his fellow employees, since he wish to talk to eli instead of putting a bullet, however he is short sighted, unable to see writings on the wall since he is removed from from the scene, in black mesa all he sees is papers that say the equipment can manage the experiment, however there where warnings, then he work to negotiate with the combine after all they came when humanity was at a downpoint, he sees the combine as a empire capable for the good of humanity, but this was due to bieng very much in a tower, he only sees things on the papers.
He has humanity best interest as it seen, but he seem to buy into the combine propaganda, I dont think the combine even care about earth or has any intention to honour the deal. To them any race is but a tool, to remove any flaws rend it down to base components and to the combine, humanity are only fit to be the role of stalkers.
Really nice video, a pleasure to have it show up on my recommended. I am curious though, if you think Breen is working with the Gman, do you think the Gman could have whisked him away into stasis at the end of hl2? Since as far as I know we don't really know what happens to him after the citadel initially explodes.
But then again, maybe the Gman's goals with Breen have already been accomplished, and since he would have no use for him anymore, he could have just let him explode. Curious what your thoughts are!
Mark laidlaw (the man that wrote the half life story) basically stated that breen would return as a Grub and that you would have the option to Esther let him live or kill him and i personally believe that breen was reqruited by the gman and was later discarded because he had no more use to the gman's plans
yea
Neil Breen > Breen
Goated movie director
it's kind of sad people draw on villains for role models. we should be better people. not monsters.
Agreed
Yes, he was.
I feel like I can't get a good read on Breen because I don't know how much of what he says is his own views and how much is him needing follow the orders of the Combine.
Putting that puppet of an administrator aside, though...
There is the question of how powerful the Combine is.
I mean, they are an organized, hostile alien force that was able to establish total dominion over humanity in a matter of hours, and they have done the same to multiple other planets.
If you personally put credence into Epistle 3, they even have at least one dyson sphere.
Attempting to fight off the Combine feels extremely foolish-- flippant, even --because they would likely be inclined to just kill off humanity entirely should they really value what they're taking from Earth... and they already seemed to put in more than a minimal amount of effort.
Even if the resistance sees short-term successes, the ultimate success of the Combine seems inevitable, just in terms of the difference in technology and scale of force.
The resistance will lose if the Combine actually try to win... and, if humanity gets in the way of the harvesting the Earth by fighting off the Combine, I struggle to imagine why they wouldn't fight back harder.
Humanity is outmatched by an unfathomable margin.
It's a battle with no chance of winning... rather an anticlimax after--
...but... accept the demands... and you can eat, drink, live...
...Would you not begrudgingly accept that ultimatum?
_Basically, the world of Half-Life 2 is truly hopeless; everything the resistance fought for was for naught, and they're only sabotaging humanity's survival; thank you for coming to my TED Talk._
Its like breen said "In our current unparalleled enterprise, refusal to collaborate is simply a refusal to grow-an insistence on suicide, if you will."
Breen is evil. Living under Combine is not a living. Im with Gordon and resistance. ✊😁
Bro why do you interpolated the scene of Amrikaan Psycho!? And you also used A.I Upscaling... why do you hate movies!?
Very good video idea but man, PLEASE speak more clearly! I can barely understand what you say, you sound so muffled. Anyway I'll click like
Thanks! I'll be sure to keep that in mind for in the future
What are those hl2 maps or mods they look cool
Sorry for responding so late been really bussy, i use fakefactory cinematic mod for the maps and scenes
@@TheTornado25 that's fine tysm
Cinematic mod 🤢
It is pretty good imo, the man that created the mod is questionable tho. Maybe ill make a video about it some day.