Beetham Tower like Citadel from Half Life 2?

People have different opinions about the Beetham Tower: some admire the striking architecture of the building, others think it is too angular.

We were however surprised to learn that an increasing number of people have been comparing the Beetham Tower in Manchester to the 'Citadel' building from the Half Life 2 computer game.

Half Life 2 is a hugely popular science fiction first-person shooter computer game. According to GameSpy, Half Life 2 was one of the top 5 most played online game in 2008. Within the Half Life game, the enemy who are named the Combines have a headquarters on earth which is called the Citadel.

It is this headquarters of the evil Combine that many people say looks similar to the Beetham Tower in Manchester!

What do you think about this? We have our opinions! We wouldn't be surprised if the Half Life designers were inspired by the Beetham Tower when creating Citadel!

Here are a few screenshots from the Half Life 2 computer game showing Citadel:

So what do you think? Was Citadel in Half Life based upon the Beetham Tower in Manchester, or are all the people talking about the similarities misguided?

If you would like to find out more about Citadel from Half Life 2, you can read more about it here.