At first, I was the same way (the river boat levels almost made me need to keep a bucket by the computer). Thankfully, blowing up stuff helped keep my mind of of it. :)

I've been getting that with GTA IV with the cameras lagging behind the cars so bad, its like being in the back seat going to stinson beach. First time a game has ever made me sick after a while, HL2 I had no probs.

IF you get motion sick while playing a FPS, you might want to try it on a console (or hooking your P.C to a TV). I've ad a few friends who can't play them at all on the P.C and do fine on the PS3/ Xbox 360, so sitting further from the screen might help.

I think this is supposed to be what happened after Half Life 1, and before Half Life 2 in City 17. So the tower is where the citadel will later be located, and the guys in hazmat suits are an early form of the combine.

Also, it's not just the sounds, the singularity at the top of the tower you see at the end of Half Life 2 when the portal gets reopened, and the brain interface I guess is supposed to be something like what Gordon sees when wearing his hazmat suit.

But does the HL storyline have people vanishing into thin air all of a sudden, like what's going on here? And...

WHAT'S IN THE BOX??

Its The Black Box, the followup to The Orange Box, and will contain Half-Life 2: Episode 3, Portal 2, and L4D3. Unfortunately the sheer awesomeness contained within will tear the fabric of our mundane reality and lead to the end of the world.

yes!

and my first instinct is:
NOTHING! ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! STUPID! You're SO STUPID!

I'd like to one-star your face, you dumb football helmet

Thus, a "student film." Later on, this guy will become a professional and get access to real scripts and get offered real projects backed by real money. If he was making something truly original, he wouldn't be turning it in as a school project and we wouldn't be seeing it on YouTube.