List of creatures in the Half-Life series
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The following is a list of creatures from the Half-Life universe.
Contents |
[edit] Creatures from Xen
Xen is where the majority of the aliens in Valve's Half-Life Series originate.
[edit] Gargantua
The Gargantua, nicknamed "Garg", is a fictional creature from the 1998 computer game Half-Life by Valve Software.
The creature is approximately 4 metres tall, mostly blue in color, and has one yellow eye that glows red when it perceives a hostile unit. In place of hands, it sports two claw-like appendages which can be opened to emit jets of intense heat. These claw weapons are designed to open vertically, not horizontally. Though the flamethrower weapon is short-ranged, it is still effective, known to blow up machinery, as in Half-Life Uplink. Gargantuas can make loud roars that can damage structures. An example of the loud roars is in Half-Life: Uplink, near the ending sequence before the player gets trapped, the creature's loud roar made a vent collapse and the player is forced to go through and the next roar causes the vent to fall on to the platform the player gets stuck at in the start of the ending sequence. It can also send a shockwave towards its opponents by powerfully stomping the ground. This shockwave can also traverse vertical structures. The Gargantua moves fast and is very strong: it can smash or toss large obstacles from its path with ease. Gargantuas are very determined pursuers, and have been known to wait patiently for their target to come out of an area they can't reach for a considerable amount of time before moving on to do something else.
Gargantuas can be found on Xen, though their true origin is unknown. They share some physical characteristics with Vortigaunts, such as their backwards-jointed legs and hoofed feet. However, each Vortigaunt sports three arms (two at the shoulders and one jutting from the chest) while the Gargantua has four arms (two at the shoulder position and two spiked arms at the abdomen). Note that many of the species of Xen share common morphological characteristics.
The Gargantua is a kind of sub-boss creature. It is completely bulletproof, and requires a large amount of explosive, electrical, or energy damage before being destroyed. It is almost impossible to kill with normal bullets. Gargantuas can be seen in Half-Life in the chapters "Power Up," "Surface Tension," "Interloper," and "Nihilanth." In the Opposing Force expansion, a Gargantua can be seen in the chapter "Foxtrot Uniform" tied up on top of the hydroelectric dam, while marines and Race X Shock Troopers fight around and against it. In most of these locations, there is a convenient way to escape or destroy the Gargantua so that the player does not have to expend scarce ammunition on it, such as detonating explosives on it or calling in an airstrike against it. A Gargantua also appears during the final sequence of the Half-Life demo Uplink, where it kills several Black Mesa personnel before slowly heading towards the cornered player, at which point the demo ends. Though it is less poweful than a Gonarch, the entire body does not have a weak spot. The Gargantua's role in combat is heavy weapons, the equivalent of a tank. Its strength allows it to destroy barriers, push or throw vehicles, and its flamethrower easily kills enemies. Due to its patience and persistence, Gargantuas can also be used as guards because of their extreme hostility.
[edit] Half-Life 2
In Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar, an early script for the beginning of Half-Life 2 mentions that "something that resembles the old Gargantua" was going to be seen from the train ride in the opening scene of the game. However, this introduction scene was heavily cut down throughout development, and the Gargantua is not in the final game.
[edit] Nihilanth
| Nihilanth | |
|---|---|
 The Nihilanth is a gigantic alien, who leads the forces of Xen. |
|
| Game series | Half-Life series |
| First game | Half-Life |
The Nihilanth is the final boss in Valve's first-person shooter Half-Life. In the game, the Nihilanth is the controlling intelligence behind the invasion of Earth. Hovering silently in an enclosed cavern dozens of stories tall, it has been commanding the forces of Xen and holding open a dimensional rift connecting Xen to Earth, enabling its creatures to attack.
[edit] Physical attributes
Physically, the Nihilanth resembles a gigantic, oddly-proportioned fetus with its head alone outsizing the rest of the body, and its brain cavity forming most of the head's bulk. Its legs, minuscule in relation to its body, appear either to be vestigial, or are the remains of amputation. The creature sits on a large mechanical levitating contraption consisting of a large base with spikes underneath. Like the rest of the intelligent Xen races, the Nihilanth has a third appendage protruding from the middle of its pectoral chest region. Its unusually long arms end in disproportionately huge hands and fingers, and it wears metallic wristbands, which look similar to bands worn by the Vortigaunts.
[edit] Attack methods
The Nihilanth attacks by launching energy balls, which come in two types: a swarm of purple-colored electrical orbs that causes immense damage, and a slow-moving, green-colored orb (similar in appearance to the teleportation portals constructed in the Black Mesa Research Facility) which homes in on and teleports its target to other sections of its lair populated by Xen aliens. It also uses these green orbs to teleport Vortigaunts and other Xen creatures into its main chamber to help defend it against intruders. This may not be intended as the creatures appear only when the green orb flies into a wall or rock or is destroyed by the player and triggers the teleportation. A series of gold-colored "energy spheres" orbit around the Nihilanth's head, rendering it impervious to damage. These are consumed as the Nihilanth suffers damage from the player, but specialized crystals within the upper portion of its chamber replenish the spheres as they vanish. When the player destroys these crystals and does sufficient damage to its body so that all the "energy spheres" are consumed, the Nihilanth's head opens up like a flower, revealing a shining, massive portal as was described by the scientist who tasked you with taking it out (they were aware that this opposing portal was created by the intense mental strength of another being). Sufficiently damaging this portal destroys the Nihilanth. Additionally, once the Nihilanth uses up all its golden energy orbs, and cannot replenish them, it can only attack with one electrical orb, instead of a swarm of ten, or a teleportation orb.
[edit] Notes
- Gordon Freeman was tasked with killing the Nihilanth because it was the only force holding the dimensional rift open after the satellite delivery rocket was used by the Black Mesa Lambda Labs to reverse the resonance cascade. It is believed that the Nihilanth's death triggered the portal storms, and Marc Laidlaw, one of the writers of the Half-Life, has said that they continue to the present day.[1]
- The material that makes up the crystals protecting the Nihilanth is the same as the crystal sample which Gordon Freeman placed into the anti-mass spectrometer, triggering the resonance cascade in Black Mesa and portal storms across Earth. This is clarified in the expansion Half-Life: Decay, although it is never made completely obvious. In Half-Life: Blue Shift, the player is required to align a teleportation signal located on the planet Xen, which uses a crystal similar in size to the ones in Nihilanth's chamber. Multitudes of smaller crystals, found in groupings of two or three, can be found in random places on all Xen levels. A similar crystal can also be seen in Half-Life 2 in Eli's lab, housed in a small analogue of Black Mesa's anti-mass spectrometer that can simulate a small resonance cascade. In Half-Life 2: Episode 2, it is revealed that the crystal Gordon pushed into the anti-mass spectrometer (thus putting the whole Half-Life series storyline into motion) was delivered to the Black Mesa complex by the G-Man.
- The crystals are surprisingly durable: each one can swallow up to 2 RPG shots before shattering, making them stronger than steel (helicopters take only one before going down).
[edit] Gonarch
A Gonarch is a fictional creature in the 1998 first-person shooter computer game Half-Life. Only a single Gonarch is encountered by Gordon Freeman during the game. It is located within a chapter named "Gonarch's Lair" set in the border world Xen, and acts as a boss in a protracted battle that takes place in the closing stages of the game.
[edit] Description
Very little is known about a Gonarch's life cycle. What is known is that a Gonarch is the last stage of a female headcrab's life and that like most Terran non-human organism with a high mortality rate, very few female headcrabs reach this stage. While appearing very similar to a headcrab's anatomy there are a few differences. Gonarchs are supported by four razor sharp limbs. Standing at several meters tall, they dominate Gordon in size and power. Gonarchs are easily one of the largest and toughest known creatures from Xen. Heavily armored with an exoskeleton, they can take massive amounts of projectile and explosive damage, taking even more explosive damage to kill than a Gargantua. The only unarmored part of a Gonarch is a large soft sac that hangs from the underside of the creature.
The large bag of flesh which hangs from the creature, commonly referred to as its "sac", seems to be a reproductive housing. During the battle with Gordon, it releases underdeveloped baby headcrabs at a rapid rate. These baby headcrabs, while mostly harmless, can be greatly troublesome en masse. Nothing is currently known about how Gonarchs reproduce. While Gonarchs appear to be mindless breeding machines, there is some evidence that they can feel emotion of some kind. When one of its offspring is killed, it will make an unusual and sad-sounding cry, suggesting it mourns for its dead young. Gonarchs are known to make other noises as well--most notably, when they are angry or injured, they will emit a loud cry, very similar to that of an elephant.
Entering a Gonarch's lair results in immediate attack, suggesting that they are highly territorial creatures, that they are highly protective of their young, or both. They attack by charging at their victim, then attempting to puncture them with their massive legs. They also have something of a ranged attack, by forcing yellowish balls of acidic material from the top of their shells, which they hurl through the air like mortars, raining down upon the victim. With all their traits combined, Gonarchs prove to be skilled at defending themselves and their young, and are one of the toughest enemies Gordon faces in Xen. Upon death, a Gonarch explodes violently.
[edit] Name
Within Valve Software, the creature is known as "Big Momma" (cf. its model name, big_mom.mdl), a name that was given to it early on by staff developing Half-Life. Regarding the species name, one theory is that it is a portmanteau of the words "gonad" and "monarch". "Gonad" stems from the resemblance of the large sac that hangs beneath the Gonarch to a scrotum, while "monarch" references the Gonarch's role as a "king" enemy. This theory is supported by the book Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar, in which the following appears :
Sometimes we're just sitting around and we're tired and somebody comes up with a goofy idea like, "Why don't we put a giant testicle on a 20-foot-tall armored spider?", and Big Mama is born.
[edit] Half-Life 2
While the Gonarch is not encountered in Half-Life 2, an amputated part of it exists as an unused model file in the leak version of Half-Life 2. This amputated part, essentially nothing but the sac that hangs beneath the Gonarch's body, is covered by many metallic supports (see here). It is likely that this model was created to explain how the Combine produce large quantities of headcrabs for use as weaponry (it is possible that this is the very same sack from Half-Life, since it was more or less intact after Gonarch's demise). This fusion of living material with technology is entirely in keeping with the Combine forces that are encountered in Half-Life 2.
[edit] Bullsquid
Bullsquids are a fictional alien species in the science fiction computer game Half-Life. They are bipedal, highly aggressive creatures that appear throughout the Black Mesa Research Facility due to a dimensional rift. Bullsquids appear to be able to survive, if not thrive, in environments that are unfriendly or even toxic to humans, including sewers and pools of radioactive, chemical, or biological waste. In Xen, the border world from where they came (but to which they are not native), bullsquids are sometimes found near pools of an unknown liquid that has healing properties to humans. Note that the bullsquid is referred to as the Bullchicken in the console, i.e. "give monster_bullchicken"; this is probably because in the beta version and artwork they were named as such and remained like that, while their official name now is "bullsquid". Bullsquids are notably the first Xen lifeforms to be seen in the game, when Gordon Freeman is accidentally teleported to Xen for a few seconds.
[edit] Physical description
The body of a bullsquid is vaguely similar in appearance to that of a small theropod, with two short, muscular legs and a thick tail that tapers to a point. The thorax abruptly joins the creature's head with no neck or other visible separation. A typical specimen stands roughly one metre tall and about two metres in length. Two slit-pupiled eyes are mounted on either side of its head.
The bullsquid's most striking feature, however, is the collection of bright red, tentacular protrusions which surround its mouth and allow it to grasp prey. The tentacles are most probably red because bullsquid tend to eat human remains, covering the tentacles in blood. The bullsquid can also charge an opponent with surprising speed and force; these two attributes (tentacles and a tendency to charge) lend the creature its portmanteau name.
The bullsquid's overall coloration is roughly comparable to that of a spotted cat: its skin is a sandy brown covered on its upper surfaces with dark spots. The tail features a pair of prominent, outlined spots, one on either side, that are noticeably different than the dark spots on its back. These spots are similar in appearance to the bullsquid's eyes and may serve as a form of mimicry to confuse potential predators or lure prey much like the eyespots on various terrestrial animals. The creature's skin appears to be slimy, similar to that of a terrestrial amphibian such as a frog.
Bullsquids display a very territorial disposition, as they have often been seen attacking other creatures and even members of their own species. They viciously attacked headcrabs in Half-Life, usually not stopping until all headcrabs in the vicinity had been eliminated.
Although being intensely territorial, the bullsquid seems to be much more docile while in the border-world, or Xen, as seen in multiple areas in Half-Life and Half-Life:Opposing Force. When seen in the mysterious fluid that has such healing properties to Humans, the bullsquids do not attack, but just look on as you run by or kill them.
[edit] HD Pack/PS2 Remake Differences
The Half-Life High Definition Pack version and the Playstation 2 Remake version of the bullsquid features a few key physical differences from the original version.
- The tail has a hooked claw at its tip. This may have been introduced to explain the large amount of damage caused by the bullsquid's spin attack.
- Each tentacle surrounding the bullsquid's mouth ends in a distinct sharp claw or perhaps more appropriately, "tooth", based on their white coloration.
- The prominent "eyespots" on the either side of the tail are missing.
- The eyes are black and glossy as opposed to white and relatively dull on the original version.
[edit] Offensive abilities
The bullsquid has an array of offensive capabilities: At close range, a hostile bullsquid will either maul its victim with its teeth, or suddenly spin around, delivering a powerful strike with its tail, often causing a gibbing. Additionally, the bullsquid is able to "spit" a toxic, bile-colored substance from its mouth. While not overly accurate, or fast, it causes moderate damage, even at very long range.
[edit] Half-Life 2
While not in Half-Life 2 itself, the book Raising the Bar explains that the creatures were, at least, going to be visible or mentioned during it. Dr. Eli Vance's lost leg was to be explained as a result of a bullsquid attack, and one of the scenes during a plot-reveal scene would have shown bullsquids frollicking outside a supermarket. In the leaked pre-alpha of the game, it seems that bullsquids were mainly intended to be fought underwater while swimming. Their skin color was changed to a deep maroon, while another alternate texture made them pale green.
[edit] Houndeye
The Houndeye, or Sound Dog, is a fictional alien in the science fiction computer game Half-Life.
The Houndeye is one of the alien species which appears in Black Mesa following the opening of a portal to Xen, and has an appropriately alien appearance. Possessing three legs and only a thorax, the Houndeye is a faint yellow-green in colour, with electric blue tiger-like stripes adorning the spine of the animal. In place of a head there is a large, black, compound eye that is protected by a single eyelid. They apparently communicate through a series of high-pitched sounds somewhat similar to the barking of dogs.
The Houndeye is an excellent example of a social animal in terms of pack hunting. While a shy and timid creature by itself, groups of three or more creatures display resonant behaviour, emitting destructive harmonics capable of injuring those they attack. This behaviour came about through Valve's original plan of Houndeyes being neutral or even friendly towards the player, until they realised that playtesters shot them down regardless and dropped the idea.
Although they are not seen displaying this trait often, Houndeyes appear to be carnivorous creatures, as one is seen eating a dead security guard in Half-Life: Blue Shift. A Houndeye's mouth is located on the underside of its belly, close to the eye, filled with what appears to be fang-like incisors.
The Houndeye is the only remnant of a type of creature that was to be more common in Half-Life. Originally there was to be a "Panthereye" creature, similar to but stronger than the Houndeye. The Panthereye was re-integrated into at least Half-Life mods, one called Point of View, which allows players to take the role of a Vortigaunt, the other called Azure Sheep, where the player takes the role of Barney Calhoun in a very different storyline, both of which are made by the same group of designers. The panthereye also appears in the third episode of the They Hunger mod by Black Widow Games.
According to the book Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar Houndeyes were one of the enemy types in the early Half-Life 2, first seen by the player on an old projector slide in which they and bullsquids terrorized an American suburb. The texture for the Houndeye's compound eye was to shine and could reflect its surroundings. Houndeyes could also work in herds, led by a dominant Houndeye, and had faster movement speeds.
[edit] Chumtoad
A chumtoad is a fictional alien creature found in Valve Software's Half-Life series of science fiction video games. It was originally designed for the first game of the series, Half-Life, but was not included in any official game until one cameo appearance in Half-Life: Opposing Force and two in Half-Life: Blue Shift. It has not appeared in any official game since.
[edit] Description
Chumtoads are small, amphibious creatures found on Xen. Similar in morphology to Earth's toads, they are very low on the Xen food chain – serving as the favorite prey of many Xen creatures. The name is a compound of "chum" (i.e. shark bait) and "toad", in reference to these traits. Chumtoads are notable for their bright purple colouration, their single red, catlike eye, their spiked backs, and their long, blue tongues.
Unlike most Xen creatures, chumtoads are not inherently dangerous to humans. They tend to lounge on rocks until threatened, at which point they have the natural ability to teleport – vanishing in a puff of purple energy. Chumtoads are the only known Xen aliens whose teleportation energy isn't green.
Chumtoads maneuver around with short, quick hops similar to that of a real toad. They also have the ability to swim and to leap to great heights if ever startled. Chumtoads are known to play dead at times by rolling over onto their backs and twitching violently, most likely to confuse their predators. Additionally, they are apparently able to croak, but Chumtoads were not given any sounds in Half-Life.
[edit] Habitat / "Chumtoad's Lair"
To date, only one environment containing chumtoads has been discovered in a Half-Life game. Its location can be found in the chapter "Focal Point" of Half-Life: Blue Shift. Very soon after arriving on Xen, Barney Calhoun enters a series of cramped, narrow tunnels full of headcrabs. Nearing the exit of this maze, he passes through a large cavern with an extremely deep pool at its centre.
At the very bottom of this pool, between a boulder and three Xen plants, a small crack in the wall of the cave can be seen emitting bubbles of air. After widening this hole, the player can enter a small air pocket in a cave where the title "Chumtoad's Lair" appears on the screen. In the Lair, three chumtoads sit amongst Xen plants and snark nests, illuminated by Xen crystals. The creatures later vanish when approached. It is unknown whether these water-filled caverns are a typical chumtoad habitat or merely one type of lair.
Due to its extensively hidden and random nature, the Chumtoad's Lair is considered an Easter egg.
[edit] Other appearances
One in-game chumtoad appearance is found in Opposing Force. At the start of the chapter "We Are Not Alone", if the vertically positioned ventilation grille above the blast doors is shot 25 times (using any weapon), the horizontally positioned ventilation grille nearby will break and a hidden chumtoad will drop out if it.
Another in-game Easter egg appearance by a chumtoad is also found in Blue Shift. In the chapter "Insecurity", if the unlabeled cardboard box in Barney's locker is shot 68 times with the handgun(all of the ammo that can be acquired by the player at this point), it will break and reveal a hidden chumtoad that will stick its tongue out repeatedly.
Unlike those in the Chumtoad's Lair, these chumtoads in both cases do not teleport away.
[edit] Development
The original role of the chumtoad in Half-Life was as bait that a player could use to lure or distract enemy aliens. The bait idea was never developed, and the chumtoad was eventually cut from the game.
The unused model, however, was included in the game's files and fully coded as an item. Instead of bait, this version served as a weapon. Normally docile until picked up, the chumtoad would begin attacking anything that strayed too close – including the player or allied NPCs if no other targets were available. This AI was implemented in the final game as the behaviour for the snarks.
Before settling on the name "Chumtoad", various other names were considered including "Chubtoad" and "Choad".
The source files for the chumtoad are included in the Half-Life SDK, where it is referred to as a "chubtoad". According to the textures provided, the chumtoad was once planned to have six eyes instead of one, and would have had green, orange, and blue-colored variations.
[edit] Mod applications
As the (mostly) unused chumtoad exists in the games' files, it is frequently appropriated by various unofficial Half-Life modifications. In Sven Co-op, a fan-made Half-Life mod, a heroic chumtoad (dubbed "Chubby the Chumtoad") appears in various maps, one sitting with its girlfriend "Chubbina". In Poke646, another mod, the chumtoad is called the "explod-a-toad". It secretes a purple pool, marking its territory. If the player, or anything else, wanders into the purple fluid, the toad will explode. Also of note, in the mod Point of View, the chumtoad is included, and is very much like the Snark, only more powerful. In Azure Sheep, a single player mod that lets the user take control of Barney, the Chumtoad is used as a weapon and is also an enemy that sometimes comes out of grates and attacks the player. When used as a weapon or when found naturally, the Chumtoad explodes after a given amount of contact with the player or enemy.
Also in several other Half-Life modifications, the Chumtoad made an appearance. In the USS Darkstar Mod, after the explosion when the player wanders back to where a scientist and a guard were studying two airborne creatures, the Chumtoad is seen on top of one of the lights. And in Heart of Evil, a Chumtoad navigates the player throughout a maze.
[edit] Race X
Race X is a hostile alien race featured in the computer game series Half-Life by Valve Software. They appear only in the Opposing Force expansion pack, and very little is revealed about them. Race X aliens appear late in the timeline of Half-Life, only a few hours before Gordon Freeman has teleported to Xen (an event that takes place in both Half-Life and Opposing Force). No explanation is given for the appearance of Race X aliens on Earth in-game, though the official strategy guide[2] states that the race's intentions are to invade the planet to acquire its natural resources.
[edit] Species
[edit] Pit Drone
Pit Drones are the first type of Race X aliens encountered in the game. They are short bipedal creatures with yellowish-tan skin and a small head which sports rows of sharp spines.
A Pit Drone's arms end in long scythe-like claws, which it can use to make vicious attacks. Fast and fairly intelligent, they tend to appear in groups of five or six, and are capable of making flanking movements and quickly surrounding their prey. They have two forms of attack: firing their head-spines when at long range, or charging towards the target to deliver a deadly slash with their claws. Some Pit Drones appear not to be capable of the head spine attack and, on closer inspection, have no spines in their head.
[edit] Shock Trooper
Shock Troopers are the most intelligent of the Race X aliens. Physically, they are humanoid with four arms and have a posture that makes them vaguely resemble Vortigaunts. They also closely resemble the biomechanical constructs from Robotech: The Sentinels. Their bodies are covered in plate-like sections, similar in appearance to insect exoskeletons. Their skin is pale blue, and is not mottled or patchy like the skin of Xen creatures. They have a single large eye, whereas Vortigaunts have six. This eye is apparently part of a common morphology between Race X creatures - every Race X alien with a large eye (including the Pit Worm) has two eyelids which regularly blink horizontally across the eyeball and what appears to be "tentacles" surrounding their mouth (which is under the head).
Their primary weapon is the Shock Roach; a living creature, similar to the Alien Grunts' hive-hand. The Shock Roach fires bolts of electricity, which it constantly recharges on its own. The Shock Roach cannot survive without a living host for very long; if its Shock Trooper dies, it will detach itself and pursue a new host. If it nears a player that already has a Shock Roach, it will attack in a similar way to a headcrab before dying.
Shock Troopers also have the ability to regurgitate and throw spore grenades, which they tend to use against distant or concealed enemies. Infant Shock Troopers will forcibly launch the same type of spore when squeezed, and can thus be used as a Spore Launcher weapon. (The Spore Launcher is listed as "baby strooper" in the game's files.) In one of the Spore Launcher's idle animations in Opposing Force, it emits an amphibious purr. They also have a very lethal melee attack that is capable of tearing Shephard to pieces.
Baby Shock Troopers are effectively tadpoles, an earlier stage that is only a head and torso, with tentacles trailing behind. Beyond the small size and lack of limbs, Baby Shock Troopers are also notable for having gills and two small eyes instead of the adults' single large one. They are amphibious, although immobile outside of water. Baby Shocktroopers are first found kept in a tank in the Sector E Biodome Complex of Black Mesa.
Shock Troopers are usually encountered in small groups, and often fight together with other Race X aliens, whom they seem to be allied with. Shock Troopers also possess a verbal form of communication, uttering strange electronic-sounding noises to each other. A skilled player can learn to recognize certain "phrases" muttered by a Shock Trooper prior to an attack and react accordingly.
Shock Troopers have mastered teleportation technology and use it to travel in and out of combat. They also control the teleportation of Pit Drones and Voltigore. It is interesting to note that at one point, the player observes a Shock Trooper grab a Black Mesa scientist prior to teleporting away; effectively kidnapping him. In another scene in the game where a Garagantua is imprisoned on the dam, Shock Troopers will teleport behind the soldiers shooting at the Gargantua.
[edit] Voltigore
The Voltigore, not to be confused with Vortigaunts, are gigantic and lumbering creatures serving as the alien race's heavy support infantry. Voltigore have four legs and two arms that end in scythe-like claws, and are distinguished by vivid purple stripes on their bloated carapace similar to those on a houndeye, though in a different color. These aggressive creatures use their innate ability to harness electrical charges to create a devastating ranged energy bolt attack, bearing some similarity to the Vortigaunt's green energy stream, although the Voltigore's energy attack is purple, and is much more lethal. At close range, they attack viciously with their claws. A player can recognize a Voltigore from afar by the unusual, electric-sounding bellows of the creature. When a Voltigore dies, its carapace explodes, causing massive damage to nearby creatures.
Baby Voltigore can be found later in the game. They are much smaller and weaker, lighter in color, and lack the energy attack. Baby Voltigore are only found in concealed underground nests and are closely guarded by the adults. They also have a resemblance to Half Life 2's Antlion Guard.
[edit] Pit Worm
Encountered in a sewage processing area in the lower levels of Black Mesa, this dangerous creature resembles an enormous caterpillar, and bears resemblances to the Gohma boss from the Zelda series. It makes bird-like vocalizations. Its segmented body supports a head dominated by a single large eye. This eye is the pit worm's primary weapon, capable of firing a searing energy beam at nearby enemies. If enemies get too close, the worm also has large claws to strike out with. If the worm is shot in the eye, it will recoil, shielding it with its claws for a few seconds before striking aggressively at the player.
The pit worm obstacle is similar to the tentacle sequence from Half-Life, in that the player cannot simply use his weapons to defeat the creature, but must use the surrounding environment. The process of destroying the pit worm requires the player to dissolve it by turning a valve and activating a gearbox, dumping toxic waste onto it - obvious references to Valve Software and Gearbox Software, the developers of Half-Life: Opposing Force.
[edit] Gene Worm
The Gene Worm is the final boss of Half-Life: Opposing Force, and the most mysterious of the Race X aliens. This life form is the equivalent of a "biological resource management factory." [2] It's capable of taking any of Earth's natural resources and assimilating them to make them useful to the aliens' needs. If one fully entered Earth and became productive, it would effectively alter the planet enough to become useful as a new homeworld for Race X.
Physically, the creature resembles a green, worm-like creature with many tentacles, with a beak-like protrusion similar in both shape and position to that of the Xen tentacle. The Gene Worm attacks with its tentacles and also ejects a deadly biotoxin stream from its mouth. Its outer hide is impervious to damage; in order to kill it, the player must blind the creature by shooting both its eyes with the mounted laser guns on either side of the worm. This causes it to summon reinforcements by opening its abdominal cavity, revealing a portal orb that a Shock Trooper will teleport through. The player can inflict serious internal damage by firing at the orb with the laser turrets.
The Gene Worm is found deep underground in a seemingly abandoned industrial area of Black Mesa, and appears through a portal opening in a room there, apparently either unwilling or unable to fully enter this world. The room itself has been fitted with mounted weapons which are powered by Xen energy crystals. The player character, Adrian Shephard, is sent down to the portal by a Black Mesa security guard, who remarks "Some of your buddies went down earlier, and I haven't seen 'em since." These soldiers were only able to manage to set up the mounted weapons before their unseen demise, although nothing is seen of their remains, possibly converted into resources for the Race X.
[edit] Sprite
Taking on the appearance of what looks like a flying ball of light, Sprites are creatures that can be seen floating through the facility several times during the game, becoming more and more frequent in later stages of the incident. However, they cannot be harmed and they do not hurt the player in any way. On occasions they even seem to be guiding Adrian. They eventually all lead to the portal that brings the Gene Worm in, possibly acting as energy conduits to construct and charge the gate that connects the two worlds. It is unknown if these are biological aliens or technological creations of Race X. At the time Gordon Freeman pushes the Anti-Mass Spectrometer, many Sprites fly away from the resonance cascade.
[edit] Combine
The Combine first appeared in Half-Life 2. Although they mostly deploy transhuman soldiers, they also have many creatures at their disposal, collected during their conquest of some worlds and biomechanically modified to suit their needs (thus their name, synths).
[edit] Overwatch Soldier
Also referred to as the Transhuman Arm of Sector 17 Overwatch, these are actually humans, brainwashed and biomechanically enhanced to make effective and loyal infantry. They are deployed via dropships and work in squads to outsmart and overwhelm their opponents. They frequently consult with their fellow squadmates during combat to conduct synchronised attacks and flanking maneuvers. They mainly use MP7s, shotguns and the Overwatch Standard Issue Pulse Rifle, though they also throw grenades if they go up against larger groups or to flush the opponent out of cover, similarly to HECU soldiers from Half-Life. They are responsible for patrolling the highways, raiding Resistance bases and staffing Nova Prospekt and the Citadel.
[edit] Overwatch Elite
These soldiers are more radically modified than their regular counterparts. The result is that they are smarter and tougher. Their outfit is also different: they are clothed in white body armor and a white helmet with a single, red eye in the middle as well as two eardomes at the sides. They only appear at high-security places such as the teleportation room in Nova Prospekt and the critical levels of the Citadel like Doctor Breen's office and the Core. In combat, they aren't equipped with grenades, but they can use the Pulse Rifle's devastating secondary attack.
[edit] Strider
The Combine equivalent of a tank, Striders are massive tripods whose hide is invulnerable to small arms fire, although several hits from an RPG can kill them (in Episode Two, Dog kills one by ripping open it's carapace and tearing something from the Strider's innards, causing the beast to spray out massive amounts of blood and collapse). Their weaponry consists of a belly-mounted anti-personnel pulse cannon and a Singularity Cannon, capable of demolishing entire buildings (though they are scripted not to use them in regular combat). If the opponent runs under it, the Strider attempt to impale it with it's legs. Striders can also fold their legs to see and fire into ground-level doors and windows.
[edit] Hunter
Hunters are a smaller version of the Strider. They are a little over 2 meters tall tripods with two blue eyes, one on top of the other.Their size enables them to go everywhere a human can. They are also swift enough to outrun most humans with their gorilla-like gait. Their main weapon is a special cannon that shoots out explosive flechettes. A Hunter can also head-butt their enemies or knock down and impale them. Even Alyx was fatally wounded by one.
[edit] Gunship
The only flying synth observed so far, Gunships are relentless pursuers. They detect their enemeies with two cluster eyes on the sides of their bodies and possibly echolocation (evidenced by their low "pings"). They continually move and swerve around, demonstrating pinpoint accuracy over hundreds of meters. This is achieved by their construction: they have a tail-mounted hoverfan as their main engine, granting them VTOL capability and extreme maneuverability while they are fast enough to outrun an RPG. They have an inertial compensation organ in the nose, giving them deadly aim at high speeds. They are smart enough to avoid damage by outmaneuvering and destroying incoming rockets. All in one, they are vastly superior to crewed Hunter-Choppers in every aspects (Hunter-Choppers need to charge up before firing; they are also less maneuverable). When defending high-priority targets, Gunships are deployed in pairs; aside from doubled firepower, they also defend each other from rockets. Not only rockets can destroy a Gunship; at the top of the Citadel, Gordon fights off two using gravity gun-thrown fusion orbs.
[edit] References
- ^ Laidlaw, Marc (2005-09-06). Halflife2.net - Info received from Valve. Retrieved on 2008-01-04. “Those things came through during the portal storms, which continue erratically to this very day.”
- ^ a b Junio, Kristy (1999). Half-Life Opposing Force: Prima's Official Strategy Guide. Prima Games. ISBN 0-7615-2590-4.
- Valve, Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar ISBN 0-7615-4364-3.
- Hodgson, David (2004). Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar. Prima Games. ISBN 0-7615-4364-3.
[edit] External links
- Chumtoad in Half-Life: Blue Shift video at YouTube.
