Half-Life 2 as 'grown up' SatAM?

[Fes]

I'll wait for the laughter to die down :)

WARNING, if you haven't yet played HL2 and HL2:ep1 and would like to avoid spoilers, you might not want to read the rest.

Alright, this is going to sound really weird, but hear me out. a while back I was playing through HL2 again, as it's one of my favorite games. When I first played it I was captivated in a way that I hadn't been for a long time, but until recently I didn't really know why, then it hit me.

As I've been getting back into SatAM, similarities started occuring to me. Below are a couple examples of the ones that tipped me off (click for larger images).

The famous 'spy orbs':


Uncanny, no?

Now the imposing Combine citadel:


Robotnik's fortress much?

Other similarities are present but more subtle. Similar struggles for freedom from a vastly superior dominating force. An uncaring dictator as head of both (although Dr. Breen puts on a false front to appease the people, and also submits to the will of the combine generals, so he's more of a Snively and Robotnik rolled into one).

Stalkers could be considered roboticized citizens as they are people who have been altered and their will removed, made to do the bidding of the Combine.

Resistance bases are frequently rustic in nature, and the previews for episode 2 even show a wooded area which to me conjures thoughts of the great forest.

Also, the end of ep1 saw the destruction of the citadel similarly to the destruction of the doomsday device, leaving a power vacuum soon to be filled by the more mysterious otherworldly Combine that possess odd power reminiscent of Naugus.

Now, I'm in no way suggesting that Valve actually did this on purpose, but I find it just similar enough, even if it is by coincidence, to take note and look for other similarities as I play.

Anyone else have any thoughts? Am I crazy? :)

[Thony Hedgehog]

Nah, you're not crazy, I see some ressemblance too, but not in HL2.............in Reboot! Mouse always reminded me of Bunnie, the southern accent, the pink present on her..............and Dot with all her plans, that's Sally! The blue Bob = the blue streak, Miles being Enzo, Robotnik being Megabyte................The first season was ok, but the fun really begun in the second season, and the show was stopped with a major cliffhanger.........

The ressemblance I see in it are not as «physical» as the ressemblance in HL2 like Fes pointed out, but the concept of the show reminded me of SatAM. So no, you're not crazy Fes. Imaginative, but not crazy.

[Nz17]

Fes, you are not mad, good sir, but quite insightful!

I myself had exactly this thought, independently today, as I was waking up. That's what led me to search for anyone else who had had this thought and posted it on the Internet. This would make an excellent YouTube video!

The similarities between Valve's Half-Life 2 and Sonic The Hedgehog's SatAM are uncanny! It is almost as though Half-Life 2's writers copied and modified SatAM for their own use as HL2's official story. Does that mean Half-Life 2 is the most well-known piece of "SatAM writing" there is?

Gordon Freeman = a mute Sonic The Hedgehog, the guy who can always find a way out of a situation no matter the odds

Alex Vance = Sally Acorn, the "princess" of the resistance with a strong mettle who can open "secure," locked doors with a special computer that can also hack the enemy's computers

Eli Vance = the mechanical smarts of Rotor and the cybernetic limb of Bunnie Rabbot

City Scanners = Spy eyes / surveillance orbs

City 17 = Robotropolis, a dirty, polluted city with lots of garbage / graffiti

Doctor Breen = characteristics of Doctor Robotnik and Snively

D0g = a mechanical substitute for Dulcy: bigger than anyone else, strong, but not too bright, it/she is a valuable member of the team that gives them mobility and enables them like no one else can

Vortigaunts = the people of the underground kingdom as seen in the SatAM episode "Sub-Sonic"

7 Days' War = Robotnik's takeover of Mobotropolis in one day with control of 95% of the population during that day, and the rest of the world within one week

Worker bots / roboticized Mobians = Combine / cybernetically modified, half-mechanical, half-biological creatures

Barney = Uncle Chuck, a supposed ally of the Combine / Robotnik, who is actually a spy in disguise that only looks like his allies on the outside but is really working for the Resistance

Resistance = Freedom Fighters

Various scattered Resistance groups = the various independent Freedom Fighter groups

Gordon / Sonic is the only one that seems to always be able to escape Breen / Robotnik's plans and traps

Citadel = Robotnik's Headquarters

Colonel Odessa Cubbage = Antoine, a man with a foreign accent who tells questionable tall tales of bravery and valor to anyone nearby whether they want to hear them or not. He tends to hide and never actually stand up to the dangers, letting others face the perils while he invents excuses and stays out of sight. He carries himself with a greater air and station than he should and tries to give orders to others even when they are not under his command.

The destruction and fall of the Citadel = the fall of Robotnik's Headquarters and his reign during the Doomsday Project

Doctor Breen's consciousness living on after his presumed death = Doctor Robotnik living on in the Void after his presumed death

And according to the SatAM notes provided by Ben Hurst, Robotnik and Snively were inadvertent time travelers. Originally they were astronauts who traveled at nearly light speed in their space ship from Earth. However, upon returning to Earth, they discovered that while they had experienced time as traveling by normally, their ship's high speed meant that thousand(s) of years had actually passed by for the rest of the universe, seeing the Earth change into Mobius and the creatures there evolving into intelligent, bipedal anthropomorphic people, A.K.A. Mobians.

So Robotnik and Snively returning in their space ship to eventually conquer the Earth is very similar to the Combine arriving in their space ships to conquer the Earth in Half-Life 2!

Are all of these just mere coincidences? One or two I could understand, but this many similarities seems... suspicious. I suppose only the likes of Marc Laidlaw, one of the principle writers of Half-Life 2, knows for sure. What do you think?

[Nz17]

And Half-Life 2's Strider reminds me of SatAM's Shredder.

[Neon Black]

Nice necrobump But it's interesting to talk about!

I have also noticed the parallels between HL2's universe and characters and SatAM, though really, probably what is happening here is that both pieces draw on the same well-worn 'underground resistance' and 'dystopic future' tropes. The ideas certainly precede both by many, many years, and were almost cliche even at the time of each.

[Lynchenberg]

Nice necrobump But it's interesting to talk about!

I have also noticed the parallels between HL2's universe and characters and SatAM, though really, probably what is happening here is that both pieces draw on the same well-worn 'underground resistance' and 'dystopic future' tropes. The ideas certainly precede both by many, many years, and were almost cliche even at the time of each.

You know, I used to think a SatAM revival or something would be cool because it had so much potential but I've realized you're right. SatAM was a cliche even when it was on the air, from its look to its characters to its premise to its mythology. It just seemed more new than it was because it was likely my first exposure to that genre.

I think the unique element was blending that kind of imagery with innocent animals, but even then, ultimately it was always still very much a Saturday Morning affair. What seems to be The Lord of the Rings at three years old feels very different at (in a month, at least) twenty-nine.