Conclusion

Conclusion is the nineteenth and final chapter of Half-Life (1998). It involves the player's first face to face encounter with the G-Man in various Xen-based locations, and gives them the choice of entering into a mysterious contract with him or being thrown, unarmed amongst a group of angry Alien Grunts. Though both options are played out and reward the player with the end-credits, the game's sequels assume that the player takes the former option.

The chapter title is not actually shown in-game as other chapters are, but it appears in the title of any games manually saved in this final area.

Criticism

The Conclusion chapter indicates to the player that though the conflict Half-Life represents is over, the mystery of the suited man who oversaw it all remains. Though clearly indicating a sequel would be made, there was little criticism of this technique and players became intrigued as to the G-Man's identity, using his words and the visuals in this chapter to form the basis of theories and to understand the questions that could potentially be answered later in the series.

One popular moment in this chapter is the return of the Black Mesa tram in the final, offer of employment scene. Though apparently traveling through a starfield, the tram clearly links the end of the game with the opening Black Mesa Inbound tram journey. Opposing Force would repeat this motif and Gordon Freeman's City 17 adventures begin and end in the same way, even if spanned over two products.

Trivia

• Conclusion is the single map c5a1.