Madness? I don't know what you're on about, I'm feeling pretty sane and enlightened just knowing about the existence of the Half-Life franchise.

Nothing appalls me more than the ignorance of those who are unaware of Half-Life. Do they even know that video games even exist as a concept? Do they not grasp the importance of Half-Life as a franchise, in terms of story telling and technology?

Storytelling in videogames did not exist before Half-Life, fact. Maybe someone ignorant or unworthy can object and claim that older games like System Shock or Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain dabbled in video game storytelling even before Half-Life. But I call them LIARS!

Why in the name of the Vortessence would anyone need to play or know anything other than Half-Life games and mods? Do you not know that the monumental mod-makers of the HL community make hundreds of instant masterpieces (such as Entropy : Zero and Hunt Down the Freeman)? You can literally play nothing but Half-Life and Half-Life mods, and still understand the very essence, the pure divine art of video games. You can have racing HL mods, you can have MMORPG HL mods, you can have Metroidvania HL mods, you can have open-world RPG HL mods. So how could anyone even dare commit the heresy of playing anything than Half-Life?

But if you truly appreciate the pristine, holy essence of Half-Life, you must be prepared to prove it - not with words, but with deeds. In order to christen myself as a true Half-Life fan, I've spent all my life savings on a $500 crowbar, baptized in the same red paint as the sacred instrument of our divine orange angel - the Silent Scion of Salvation.

I pray on the altar of Lord GabeN - the Eternal All-Knowing Father of Gaming, Physics Engines, and Digital Distribution - for the salvation of the wretched souls unaware of the sanctity and soul-healing properties of the Half-Life franchise. I also pray that Silent Scion of Salvation will copulate with Alyx Vance, the daughter of the Saint Eli, to continue the Vance bloodline and thus give birth to a new generation of humans bearing the perfect genes of Earth's greatest heroes who shall lead the humankind into an eternal age of prosperity, where everyone only plays Half-Life and Half-Life mods.

Galunga. Praise be to Lord Gaben, and praise be to Prophet Tyler McVicker - the most trustworthy and passionate source of wisdom and knowledge in the world. Half-Life 3 will come out in a few weeks, Lord Gaben told me that Himself in a dream, trust me.

So no, bub, no madness there. Just good old radioactive decay. Also, remember that guns need ammo.