in what country does Half-Life 2 take place?

[NeoX]

i think Half-Life 2 take place in Russia, because there are cyrylics on buildings and posters, and Buildings looks like in russian style

[coolman552]

most people say bulgaria/ukraine

[Shadowlix]

It isn't set in one specific country, but rather in a "mix" of countries. For example the Overwatch Nexus resembles Serbia's Parliament Building, the trainstation in 'Point Insertion' is based on the Western Railway Station in Hungary etc. Because of the coast, it could also possibly be that it takes place all over Europe. You can read more about it here[half-life.fandom.com].

[Eno417]

I think it's Russia. That's the country that is most of the time named when it comes to this topic. As you already wrote there are also some things that are in Russian and in HL2 Ep 1 and HL2 Ep 2 you see more of these. Also there is a reason why the characters in the game call it "Black Mesa East" and that is another fact which suggests that the Game takes place in Russia. So yeah, I think Half Life 2 takes place in (what once was) russia.

[Mλrtin2H]

Originally posted by Shadowlix:

It isn't set in one specific country, but rather in a "mix" of countries. For example the Overwatch Nexus resembles Serbia's Parliament Building, the trainstation in 'Point Insertion' is based on the Western Railway Station in Bulgaria etc. Because of the coast, it could also possibly be that it takes place all over Europe. You can read more about it here[half-life.fandom.com].

the trainstation is the Western Railway Station in Hungary, not Bulgaria

[Shadowlix]

Originally posted by Mλrtin2H:

Originally posted by Shadowlix:

It isn't set in one specific country, but rather in a "mix" of countries. For example the Overwatch Nexus resembles Serbia's Parliament Building, the trainstation in 'Point Insertion' is based on the Western Railway Station in Bulgaria etc. Because of the coast, it could also possibly be that it takes place all over Europe. You can read more about it here[half-life.fandom.com].

the trainstation is the Western Railway Station in Hungary, not Bulgaria

My bad, mixed up the two countries (somehow misread Budapest as Bulgaria).

[FuSioN_408]

Viktor Antonov (the art director for HL2) based most of City 17 of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, so if its actually located somewhere its probably there. Still, there are some mayor differences between the two and it takes some time for you to find actually resembling pictures on Google.

[mrf]

maybe

[Turambar]

I always thought all was placed in Ukraine and City 17 was Odessa but after playing Alyx it seems that after all I was totally wrong and it take place in Russia. In Capsio sea at Volga River or maybe Ural river most probably... but the red line at Alyx eath globe is in any case showing the Volga River.

[Snark]

Most of City 17 was based off of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria however many other elements were taken from other countries to give it a recognizable feel while also making sure the setting is unique and has a character of its own. I'd say the setting is meant to be ambiguous but if I were to put a name on it, I'd say it's Bulgaria.

A lot of people keep bringing up the Russian text, Bulgaria was once a soviet country and continued to have the remains of soviet influence long after the soviet union fell apart. HL1 and the combine invasion that followed is speculated to have taken place in the late 90s or early 2000s, Bulgaria left the Soviet Union around 1989 so having both Bulgarian and some old Russian text on rusted signs or crumbled factories wouldn't be too far fetched. Makes more sense than having Bulgarian text in Russia.

Of course people don't know a thing about Bulgaria or the balkans, they just see communist buildings and immediately say it must be Russia. lmao.

[Turambar]

Originally posted by Snark:

Most of City 17 was based off of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria however many other elements were taken from other countries to give it a recognizable feel while also making sure the setting is unique and has a character of its own. I'd say the setting is meant to be ambiguous but if I were to put a name on it, I'd say it's Bulgaria.

A lot of people keep bringing up the Russian text, Bulgaria was once a soviet country and continued to have the remains of soviet influence long after the soviet union fell apart. HL1 and the combine invasion that followed is speculated to have taken place in the late 90s or early 2000s, Bulgaria left the Soviet Union around 1989 so having both Bulgarian and some old Russian text on rusted signs or crumbled factories wouldn't be too far fetched. Makes more sense than having Bulgarian text in Russia.

Of course people don't know a thing about Bulgaria or the balkans, they just see communist buildings and immediately say it must be Russia. lmao.

You are denying what is clear on Alyx... and forgetting that the whole world was ♥♥♥♥♥♥ in 7 hours. The people that we see in HL2 were childs during the war and moved by force into these cities from all around the world. While is true that VALVE wanted to make a multicultural city with lot of languages at first, the fact is that at the end english was forced.

In addition, city 17 is fictional, and with a bulgarian guy working at VALVe is logic that he helped with bulgarian texts, but that doesn't mean nothing at the end. On the other hand is evident that HL universe is not our Earth.

For example, there is no salt mine in upper Michigan but that doesn't avoid the fact that AS is in a salt mine at Upper Michigan.

Maybe in this world this city had a high population of bulgary inmigrants and for that reason their letters are all over the place, but is evident that in Alyx we can see clearly that we are around our Russian borderland and that borderland is crearly indicated there.

My point is that we can't know how war and tech changed that world compared with our own world. So I read you and I am sure that your observations are justified, thinking in our world, and I liked that. Personally I never thought in Russia despite the URSS symbols and after all since the begeanning VALVe said that all this was placed in East Europe... but even with your information I could still think in Odessa and Ukraine like a more plausible place, and in any case I considered Bulgary during a lot of time. But come on! Look at Alyx, is evident that they changed the idea and finally they choose Russia for whatever reason.

Those crosses must indicate the other citys mentioned in HL2 those giant red arrows can't mean other thing that population were moved inside that red circle. You must be blind to deny that.

[smoking addiction]

bulgaria

[Snark]

Originally posted by Turambar:

Originally posted by Snark:

Most of City 17 was based off of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria however many other elements were taken from other countries to give it a recognizable feel while also making sure the setting is unique and has a character of its own. I'd say the setting is meant to be ambiguous but if I were to put a name on it, I'd say it's Bulgaria.

A lot of people keep bringing up the Russian text, Bulgaria was once a soviet country and continued to have the remains of soviet influence long after the soviet union fell apart. HL1 and the combine invasion that followed is speculated to have taken place in the late 90s or early 2000s, Bulgaria left the Soviet Union around 1989 so having both Bulgarian and some old Russian text on rusted signs or crumbled factories wouldn't be too far fetched. Makes more sense than having Bulgarian text in Russia.

Of course people don't know a thing about Bulgaria or the balkans, they just see communist buildings and immediately say it must be Russia. lmao.

You are denying what is clear on Alyx... and forgetting that the whole world was ♥♥♥♥♥♥ in 7 hours. The people that we see in HL2 were childs during the war and moved by force into these cities from all around the world. While is true that VALVE wanted to make a multicultural city with lot of languages at first, the fact is that at the end english was forced.

In addition, city 17 is fictional, and with a bulgarian guy working at VALVe is logic that he helped with bulgarian texts, but that doesn't mean nothing at the end. On the other hand is evident that HL universe is not our Earth.

For example, there is no salt mine in upper Michigan but that doesn't avoid the fact that AS is in a salt mine at Upper Michigan.

Maybe in this world this city had a high population of bulgary inmigrants and for that reason their letters are all over the place, but is evident that in Alyx we can see clearly that we are around our Russian borderland and that borderland is crearly indicated there.

My point is that we can't know how war and tech changed that world compared with our own world. So I read you and I am sure that your observations are justified, thinking in our world, and I liked that. Personally I never thought in Russia despite the URSS symbols and after all since the begeanning VALVe said that all this was placed in East Europe... but even with your information I could still think in Odessa and Ukraine like a more plausible place, and in any case I considered Bulgary during a lot of time. But come on! Look at Alyx, is evident that they changed the idea and finally they choose Russia for whatever reason.

Those crosses must indicate the other citys mentioned in HL2 those giant red arrows can't mean other thing that population were moved inside that red circle. You must be blind to deny that.

Nice ramble.

Could have just said "I'll ignore logic cause I desperately want it to be Russia".

[smoking addiction]

Originally posted by Snark:

Originally posted by Turambar:

You are denying what is clear on Alyx... and forgetting that the whole world was ♥♥♥♥♥♥ in 7 hours. The people that we see in HL2 were childs during the war and moved by force into these cities from all around the world. While is true that VALVE wanted to make a multicultural city with lot of languages at first, the fact is that at the end english was forced.

In addition, city 17 is fictional, and with a bulgarian guy working at VALVe is logic that he helped with bulgarian texts, but that doesn't mean nothing at the end. On the other hand is evident that HL universe is not our Earth.

For example, there is no salt mine in upper Michigan but that doesn't avoid the fact that AS is in a salt mine at Upper Michigan.

Maybe in this world this city had a high population of bulgary inmigrants and for that reason their letters are all over the place, but is evident that in Alyx we can see clearly that we are around our Russian borderland and that borderland is crearly indicated there.

My point is that we can't know how war and tech changed that world compared with our own world. So I read you and I am sure that your observations are justified, thinking in our world, and I liked that. Personally I never thought in Russia despite the URSS symbols and after all since the begeanning VALVe said that all this was placed in East Europe... but even with your information I could still think in Odessa and Ukraine like a more plausible place, and in any case I considered Bulgary during a lot of time. But come on! Look at Alyx, is evident that they changed the idea and finally they choose Russia for whatever reason.

Those crosses must indicate the other citys mentioned in HL2 those giant red arrows can't mean other thing that population were moved inside that red circle. You must be blind to deny that.

Nice ramble.

Could have just said "I'll ignore logic cause I desperately want it to be Russia".

imagine going on a almost schizofrenic rant to prove your point when you could just say "city 17 is in russia,my own headcanon"

[smoking addiction]

Originally posted by Professional introvert:

Headcannon: City 17 is actually in Montenegro.


Dr. Breen chose the location because its residents were to sleepy to even realize that they were being invaded by an alien empire.

Father Grigori is a proud member of the Serbian Orthodox Church. He made some traps and picked up a rifle in order to stop the Montenegrin government from seizing the Church's property. All of this came in handy when the Zombie infestation started.

The Russian text was initally put there by the Yugoslavian government in order to trick the Soviet military into thinking they're invading their own territory.

Yugoslavian space program indeed existed in the Half-Life universe and the White Forest base is a solid proof of that.

Dr. Magnusson is actually Josip Broz Tito's alter ego which he created after his "death" (Tito can't die, he's an immortal being of pure divine power).

canon

[smoking addiction]

Originally posted by Professional introvert:

Originally posted by smoking addiction:

canon

I forgot to correct that

i meant that this post is now canon *trol*