The game cannot be experienced out of order until it has been completed chronologically in its entirety. 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.
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. In the Half-Life series, these environments are separated into “chapters” via the game’s initial menu screen (fig. 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).
