>>20928178yeah its not gonna be very good gunplay.
the physics engine was so new and revolutionary, that they wanted to show off how it works.
>the spinning bars at the trainstation>the vending machines>stacking the boxes after meeting Barneyit all leads up to their magnum opus, the zero point energy field manipulator.
valve REALLY wants you to use the gravity gun through this scene, because they wanted to show off their new tech, which is what they do in every game they make. that's why HLA was they way it was. it wasn't supposed to be substantial new story to this universe, it was just a VR tech demo starring Alyx in the same way that Ravenholm is a physics tech demo starring Gordon.