Team Fortress
Game Information
See the official Team Fortress 2 wiki for more information.
TF2 Retrospective:
The Gold Rush Update
Story Information
The story of Team Fortress 2 can trace its roots back to Zephaniah Mann of the Mann & Sons Munitions Concern, a wealthy Englishman who lived in the early 1800s. He was convinced by his sons, Blutarch and Redmond, to purchase large tracts of land in frontier America, which he hoped to convert to large pits of gravel for weapons manufacturing. During his journey to the New World, he contracted many diseases only to discover the land he purchased was a worthless desert. Zephaniah Mann passed away in 1850, leaving behind a Last Will and Testament.
Though the land was to be divided between Blutarch and Redmond, each brother immediately attempted to steal the other's land by hiring nine mercenaries. The result was a protracted stalemate, leading each brother to use a life-extending machine. Team Fortress 2 itself details the portion of the war in 1968. By then, the war developed to the point that the two factions Builder's League United (BLU) and Reliable Excavation & Demolition (RED) each controlled roughly half of the word. Despite this, the fight for the land remained a stalemate, with each side still using nine mercenaries to continue the fight.
Speculation
As stated above, BLU and RED each control about half the world by 1968 . With these factions possessing such power, certainly they would have an influence in the vast amounts of funds being placed into various Research & Development facilities as the military-industrial complex expanded. Perhaps one or both of the factions influenced how much money went to the Black Mesa Research Facility. Perhaps the money being spent on research influenced the gradual movement of Aperture's focus from shower curtain manufacturing to scientific research.
On the other hand, Team Fortress Classic appears to take place in a more futuristic setting, with much more advanced weaponry that bears many resemblances to the various security, military, and experimental weapons seen at Black Mesa. It is also worth nothing that many of the contested lands RED and BLU fight over are in the southwest United States, and the Black Mesa Research Facility is located in New Mexico. It is likely that Team Fortress Classic takes place sometime around or after the Black Mesa Incident, with the remnants of RED and BLU continuing their fighting.
Half-Life
Story Information
See the Half-Life Saga Story Guide.
Speculation
The Gman was a driving force behind many of the events in the Half-Life series. However, there are suggestions he may be part of a larger faction, making several references to his "employers" in Half-Life and Half-Life: Opposing Force. Could this faction have hand an influence in other major events?
Portal
Story Information
Aperture Science was a major competitor with Black Mesa Research Facility for grants and funding. However, the research of Aperture Science was a bit unorthodox, perhaps due to the influence of its founder Cave Johnson. Portal details the story of a test subject in a seemingly abandoned testing facility controlled by the artificial intelligence program GLaDOS. Testing is focused primarily on the use of the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device.
Speculation
The history of Aperture Science is riddled with suspicious activities from the very beginning. Even before his mercury poisoning, founder Cave Johnson appeared to be mentally unbalanced. Despite this, there are no records of anyone within Aperture Science actively opposing or objecting to the direction Cave Johnson was taking his company.
The exact point in time in which the events of Portal occur is not exactly known. GLaDOS mentions that the world outside the enrichment center changed a great deal, suggesting a massive world-changing event. Perhaps this could be a reference to the Black Mesa incident or the virus outbreak in the United States. However, given GLaDOS's often deceptive nature, nothing can be confirmed at this point.
Left 4 Dead
Day of Defeat
Counter-Strike
Ricochet
Alien Swarm
References
