Wikiprojekt:Half-Life/en/Technologia bojowa Kombinatu w grze Half-Life 2

Ten artykuł przedstawia zestawienie technologii bojowej wykorzystywanej przez Kombinat w grze Half-Life 2, first person shootera z 2004 roku.

Kombinat od momentu zdobycia panowania na Ziemi wynalazł i wyprodukował dużą liczbę urządzeń z których niektóre służą do celów ofensywnych, inne zaś do defensywnych i na co dzień służą do inwigilacji ludzi i tłumienia buntów oraz zamieszek w City 17. Większość technologii Kombinatu prezentuje urządzenia podobne do tych, które wynaleźli ludzie, lecz zostały one ulepszone oraz wykonane z materiałów sprowadzonych przez Kombinat. Przykładem mogą być urządzenia takie jak bojowe helikoptery lub pojazdy kołowe, których inspiracją wyglądu i funkcjonalności były ludzkie wynalazki.

Skaner

Widziany pierwszy raz: Half-Life 2, Rozdział pierwszy: "Point Insertion"

• Całkowita energia: 30
• Zadawane obrażenia: Uderzenie (25)
• Nazwa bytu: npc_cscanner

Skanery miejskie, albo po prostu skanery, to podobne do piranii, latające kamery strażnicze używane przez Kombinat do monitorowania mieszkańców City 17. Są zbudowane z wbudowanego aparatu i świecącego reflektora. Nie posiadają broni, ale światło reflektora i emitowany przy robieniu zdjęcia blask flasha chwilowo oślepić fotografowaną osobę. Są lekko opancerzone, i mogą być łatwo zniszczone przez uderzenie weń jakimś przedmiotem, zestrzelenie za pomocą jakiejś broni, lub po prostu przez uderzenie o jakiś twardy obiekt lub przedmiot. Kiedy otrzymają krytyczne obrażenia, próbują uderzyć w atakującego w nadziei zadania mu ran. Są zasilane przez pojedynczą baterię Kombinatu i mogą zostać zniszczone, gdy im ona wypadnie.

Jak sama nazwa wskazuje, skanery są używane w miastech, lub pobliskich lokacjach, takich jak kanały lub wybrzeża. Wygląda na to, że są masowo produkowane w Cytadeli i mają wiele zastosowań - oczywistą rolę nadzoru, jak i rozpoznawanie i polowanie na zaginionych lub poszukiwanych. Zazwyczaj towarzyszą funkcjonariuszom Civil Protection i nie odgrywają znaczącej roli w walkach. Skanery rzadko podróżują same, więc ich pojawienie się oznacza zazwyczaj, że w pobliżu są jakieś jednostki Kombinatu. W nagłych przypadkach są wysyłane z Cytadeli w liczbie setek tysięcy sztuk, aby przeprowadzić poszukiwania w całym mieście i poza nim. jednym z przykładów może być to, co wydarzyło się podczas rozmowy z Barneyem, przed otrzymaniem łomu. Pojawiło się mnóstwo skanerów mających na celu znalezienie i zatrzymanie Freemana.

Uznaje się, że jeden ze skanerów został użyty na ostatnich etapach "ewolucji" Doga, robota zbudowanego przez Eli Vance'a do ochrony jego córki, Alyx, aby miał coś przypominającego twarz.

Manhack

Widziany pierwszy raz: Half-Life 2, Rozdział trzeci: "Route Kanal"

• Całkowita energia: 25
• Zadawane obrażenia: Cięcie (20)
• Nazwa bytu: npc_manhack

Manhacki (nazywane przez żołnierzy Kombinatu "trzewiowcami") są latającymi użądzeniami podobnymi do żyroskopów. Każdy posiada trzy ostrza, które stale kręcą się z zawrotną prędkością. Ruszające się ostrza wydają charakterystyczny dźwięk, który często bywa dobrym wskaźnikiem na to, że manhack jest w pobliżu. Ostrza są na tyle silne, by przebić się przez drewniane obiekty, ale za słabe na materiały takie jak metal, czy beton. Mają mało koncepcji samoregulacji zachowania, odbijają się od ścian i przedmiotów w ramach naprowadzania na cel.

Są wykorzystywane przez Kombinat w miejscach zbyt niebezpiecznych dla skanerów i niszczenia wrogów w niedostępnych dla żołnierzy miejscach. Manhacki nigdy nie podróżują same, i zazwyczaj występują w grupach po cztery lub więcej sztuk. Niektórzy CP mogą je przenosić i używać w kryzysowych sytuacjach. Mogą być śmiertelnie niebezpieczne w miejscach takich jak ciasne przejścia i kanały.

Wydają się być dość odporne na ogień z broni, ale można je łatwo zniszczyć przez uderzenie w nie jakimś twardym przedmiotem. Początkowe trafienia mogą je zdezorientować i spowodować na kilka sekund brak zainteresowania celem, który szybko znika. W walce z nimi bardzo efektowny jest Gravity gun. Pierwszy tryb działania może je odrzucić w kierunku ściany (mogącej je od razu zniszczyć), lub innych manhacków i wrogów. Jeeśli został przyciągnięty przez Gravity Gun, można go używać jak piły łańcuchowej.

Originally, a section of the game was designed where the Combine allowed citizens to, what seemed to them, play virtual reality games in something known as the "Manhack Arcade." The citizens playing these games had no idea that they were, in fact, controlling manhacks in real-life, and killing fellow citizens with them. This is perhaps a reference or inspired by the film Toys, where in one part teenagers unknowingly controlled remote-controlled military robots in a vast arcade with varying games to "play." The concept never made it into the final version of the game.

As a sidenote, manhacks resemble the description and have the same use as the Buzzball/Sneetch devices from the Stephen King novel Wolves of the Calla.

Rollermine

Widziany pierwszy raz: Half-Life 2, Rozdział piąty: "Black Mesa East" - jako zabawka Dog (niekatywny); Half-Life 2, Rozdział siódmy: "Highway 17" (aktywny).

• Całkowita energia: b.d.
• Zadawane obrażenia: Shock (10)
• Nazwa bytu: npc_rollermine

Rollermines are electrically charged, spherical devices slightly larger than soccer balls that react to movement within a sizable radius. Rollermines are used as offensive and defensive traps by the Combine. As the name implies, they roll towards enemies in an attempt to electrocute them. Extensively used along the coastal roads, the mines are deployed from the air by Combine dropships, in groups of two to four. Upon landing, the mines will remain inert or, if they land on softer terrain like soil or gravel, they will burrow themselves into the ground, remaining almost invisible. When an enemy target is detected, the roller mine will pop out of hiding and roll towards it in a relatively straight line. They inflict damage to people via close-range electric shocks.

The mines can magnetically cling to a target vehicle and interfere with the steering, forcing the driver to either stop or drive off the road. Besides the damage inflicted by any resulting car wreck, attached rollermines do not shock the occupants of a vehicle, concentrating instead on shocking the vehicle itself. For this reason, rollermines are usually deployed in tandem with Combine soldiers, who would ambush the stranded individuals. Attached mines cannot be removed except through excessive force, and touching them will cause electrocution. They are also deployed in buildings and structures, taking any intruder by surprise. Rollermines can be destroyed with explosive devices, or alternatively may be picked up with the gravity gun and launched out of the way (or at enemies). Complete submersion in water also causes them to short-circuit and explode. Additionally, they can be eluded by being outrun, as they give up once a target is too far away.

Take note that Dog uses an inert rollermine as the ball during the game of fetch Gordon plays with him in the Black Mesa East scrapyard. If Dog's ball is not destroyed during the shelling of Black Mesa East, it is possible to carry it with the gravity gun through much of Ravenholm. In doing so, the ball can be used to distract the many zombies there, who will attack it instead of Gordon, making them easy targets (The rollermine can also "run over" most basic forms of headcrab, thus killing them).[1] Dog's ball is destroyed if it is caught in any nearby explosions.

As of Episode One, rollermines can be reprogrammed by Alyx to be "friendly", if the player picks one up with the gravity gun and holds it in front of her. Once reprogrammed, rollermines will emit an orange light instead of their signature blue, will follow the player slowly, as well as being unstable (it will blow up after some time). If thrown into a room full of enemies, the reprogrammed Rollermine will follow the enemies and attempt to kill them. Whilst the game states that these co-opted rollermines only last a certain period of the time before self-destructing, it seems that these rollermines remain active until their scripted task (destroying a group of soldiers, for example) is complete, at which time the Rollermine will emit a red light and self destruct.

Some fans have noted the rollermines have a resemblance to a katamari from the Katamari Damacy video game series.

Hopper mine

Widziany pierwszy raz: Half-Life 2, Rozdział jedenasty: "Anticitizen One"

• Całkowita energia: b.d.
• Zadawane obrażenia: Detonation (splash damage)
• Nazwa bytu: combine_mine

Hopper mines are anti-personnel proximity mines that hop into the air towards the target before exploding, much like a bouncing betty. These mines are carried and deployed by shield scanners. They are vaguely cone-shaped with three sharp "legs". When dropped, the mines use these legs to bounce around until they land right-ways up on a smooth surface. They then jam the legs into the ground, attaching themselves very firmly.

When an enemy target comes close, the mines light up and give off a warning chirp. If the enemy target gets too close, the mines will toss themselves unpredictably, nearly two meters (six feet) into the air, and explode upon contact with whatever they happen to hit on the way down, which is usually the ground. They also detonate if smashed too violently. Otherwise, they are impervious to nearly all forms of handheld weaponry, save for the gravity gun.

Because of their danger, immovability and extreme durability, hopper mines are impossible for most enemies to disable or defuse. Thus, they are used by the Combine almost exclusively to deter attacking enemy personnel, creating makeshift but often impassable barriers in seconds. They are used both indoors and outdoors, mostly in vital choke-points and occasionally concealed as traps.

Hopper mines use a friendly fire identification system which resets whenever they are picked up. The mines interpret a "friendly" unit as whichever faction placed it last. Thus, a mine placed by a citizen with a gravity gun will attack Combine, and a mine dropped by a shield scanner will attack citizens. This system is signaled through a color-coded light at the top of the device:

• Green: The mine is armed and considers whoever is close to it to be a friend.
• Red: The mine is armed and considers whoever is close to it to be an enemy.
• Blue: The mine is neutral and has not yet armed itself.
• No light: The mine has not yet been activated.

The ability to be turned against the Combine is most likely not an intentional feature of the mine or, instead, a reprogramming function built into the gravity gun, which was designed with mine removal in mind. When the gravity gun is first given to Gordon by Alyx, she mentions that she found the gun useful for clearing mine fields. Players have also theorized that this is because of a programming mistake by the Combine and that a hopper mine will consider whatever placed it last to be an ally . Based on what Alyx said, this makes more sense. In any case, the mines are unlikely to be placed by anything other than the Combine's shield scanners. If thrown using the gravity gun's primary fire, the mine explodes on contact with whatever it hits first. Alternatively, as a last-chance effort, as a mine hops in the air it may be shot away using the gravity gun's primary fire. This is particularly useful if a mine remains unnoticed until after it has hopped. In addition, if the mine can be caught by the gravity gun before hitting something, it will not explode. The legs will flail in an attempt to jump, thinking it must still be grounded. After being dropped, the mine will reset itself.

Sentry

Widziany pierwszy raz: Half-Life 2, Rozdział dziewiąty: "Nova Prospekt"

• Całkowita energia: b.d.
• Zadawane obrażenia: Działko pulsacyjne (3)
• Nazwa bytu: npc_turret_floor

Sentries (referred to by the Combine as "sterilizers") are automated gun turrets mounted on a tripod. The Combine sentry shares a similar appearance and function with those used by the fictional Hazardous Environment Combat Unit of the United States military in the original Half-Life. However, the Combine version does not use secondary laser "tripwire" detectors, using motion detection sensors instead. The Combine sentry also has a narrower field of view and range of motion, whereas the HECU's turret is able to rotate and fire in nearly any direction.

The sentry's gun is loaded with the Combine's ubiquitous pulse ammunition, of which it has an essentially limitless supply, although in Episode One, some with no ammunition remaining may be found in game. Sentry guns use a friendly fire detection system, allowing them to differentiate between Combine, alien and citizen. An individual gun's programming can be accessed and modified remotely through a separate computer terminal when necessary. Note that in Chapter 9a, Entanglement, Alyx reprograms a number of sentry turrets, allowing Gordon to deploy them as defense against oncoming hordes of Overwatch soldiers.

The guns are often deployed as static defenses by the Combine, used to guard areas that are infrequently patrolled, or as a means to supplement a larger defense network. The turrets are fitted with small handles and are light enough to pick up and place by hand. When not in use, they are generally stored locked in small forcefield-equipped lockers. While the sentries appear to be indestructible, they are unable to target properly when knocked over (this is actually quite easy to do, since the turret's legs are very close together, resulting in a very high center of gravity and thus making the turret easy to tip). When this happens, they automatically set off a high pitched alarm and fire in random directions for a couple of seconds, before shutting down until righted.

Against non-Combine enemies, assuming the sentry is still under Combine control, the gravity gun can be used to pick up the sentry from the rear, allowing direction of the firepower of the sentry gun to be in front of the player, shooting at any available enemies. However, using this tactic in the company of allies will cause them to be fired upon as well.

Turret

Widziany pierwszy raz: Half-Life 2, Rozdział trzeci: "Route Kanal"

• Całkowita energia: może zostać unieszkodliwione jedynie przy pomocy granatów
• Zadawane obrażenia: Działko pulsacyjne (3)
• Nazwa bytu: npc_turret_ground (naziemne), npc_turret_ceiling (zamontowane pod sufitem)

Combine turrets are placed in the floor, and unlike sentries, cannot be moved. Turrets will activate if their laser trigger is disturbed. They will spring up and begin firing at anything they consider to be hostile. Turrets have a 45-degree firing arc, which is indicated by two blue lasers emitted from the turret while it's activated. It is very easy to avoid turret-fire by simply staying out of the visible arc. While the turret is activated and idle, it emits a repetitive beeping sound, and if there are no hostile units in its vicinity, it will deactivate and retract back into the floor.

The turret, much like a sentry, is extremely tough and durable. The protective top of the turret, which resembles a large, metal tile, cannot be destroyed with any available weaponry. The only way to destroy a turret is by activating it, and then placing an explosive, such as a grenade, inside its pit, where its unprotected mechanisms lie. Once destroyed, the turret will retract back into the floor and its blue laser will deactivate.

Combine turrets can be found in the Overwatch Nexus, and are placed in areas containing equipment critical to the Combine, such as generators, or can be set up to guard hallways leading to such equipment, or other vital objects. They are usually placed in pairs, where they can cover each other with fire, or create crossfires for hostiles.

Special types of turrets exist which are only encountered in one room in the Overwatch Nexus. These turrets function in a similar manner to the standard turrets, except they have red lasers, and rather than being floor-mounted are attached to the ceiling. These turrets can only be destroyed by an extreme amount of fire (almost all the ammunition the player can carry) and feature a much more powerful pulse gun than the standard turrets which can tear anything to shreds within a matter of seconds. This, along with their close grouping, ensures almost certain death for anyone who activates them. In Episode One, a set of ceiling turrets can be seen targeting enemies in a tunnel. However, as with the mobile sentry gun, the sudden influx of Antlions and headcrab zombies invading the city has left them abandoned and without ammunition. When the player approaches them, they deploy and attempt to fire in vain.

Although both types of turrets are only used extensively in the Overwatch Nexus, the Combine have installed such turrets in other structures and locations around City 17 which are not frequently patrolled by personnel, yet are important and require protection.

Mounted pulse gun

First Seen: Half-Life 2, Chapter Three, Route Kanal

• Health total: N/A
• Weapon damage: 15
• Entity: func_tank; brush entity, cannot be spawned during play

Mounted pulse guns are simply stationary pulse rifles just like the ones carried by Combine soldiers but with a different outward appearance (a longer barrel, slightly different shape and color scheme). They can be found many places in Half-Life 2, including the canals, the wasteland, City 17, Nova Prospekt, etc. Soldiers on defensive structures attach mounted pulse guns to a nearby shield wall. Once in place, the gun can be fired by humans and transhumans with a high degree of lethality. Mounted pulse guns have unlimited ammo and an attached flashlight, as well as a targeting laser. The mounted gun is a reliable defense, but any explosive damage to the shield wall that the gun is mounted to will render the gun useless.

Ceiling mounted camera

First Seen: Half-Life 2, Chapter One, Point Insertion

• Health total: N/A
• Weapon damage: N/A
• Entity: npc_combine_camera

Seen in many City 17 citizen checkpoints and the Citadel, ceiling mounted cameras are automated machines primarily used to identify individuals based on their appearance, using a built-in camera, and take appropriate action depending on the information gathered from the pictured individual. They have the ability to grant access to an entrance for valid citizens or stalkers, or denying access to entrances for invalid citizens or unidentified individuals, which includes Gordon Freeman, while sounding an alarm and taking several photographs of the individual. Certain cameras may be seen programmed to redirect an invalid individual to an alternate access point or room, where they may be interrogated, or are directed to special destinations.

Ceiling mounted cameras are also seen assigned as detection devices, watching for any intruders who may enter an area or room, and notifying Combine forces of the intrusion. Certain rooms under use by Combine units may also contain several ceiling mounted cameras for observation of units and security, and may be deactivated using a Combine command panel.

APC

First Seen: Half-Life 2, Chapter One, Point Insertion

• Health total: 750
• Weapon damage: Mounted gun (5) Missile launcher (25)
• Entity: prop_vehicle_apc (does not work when spawned during play)

Armoured personnel carriers are the main ground vehicle used by both the Combine's Civil Protection and Overwatch forces, for transport as well as for combat. Resembling large armored trucks or vans, Combine APCs are a good example of how Earth-based designs are often adopted by the Combine and re-interpreted with their alien technology.

The APC has a door on its right side as well as a set of double doors at its rear. The rear doors are likely for troops to enter through, while the front door is probably for the driver who possibly serves as the vehicle's gunner as well when not driving. The APC has unusual, striped tires which do not appear to be made out of rubber, and do not resemble any tire design on Earth. The hubcaps are made out of what resembles plates of metal arranged in a semicircle, leaving the rest of the wheel exposed.

The APC also features a very quiet engine even when going at high speeds, and is more than likely a four wheel drive vehicle. For a vehicle as large and as powerful as the APC, the differential and the driveshaft look undersized. Rather than this being the result of Combine technology, the true reason for this is likely to be nothing more than a way for the developers to save polygons, as those components are located under the vehicle and never really seen in-game. Another example of this could be the fact that the APC also lacks an exhaust pipe, but it is also possible that it uses a highly efficient, Combine-technology engine that doesn't produce exhaust and thus has no need for an exhaust system. The APC does seem to run on some sort of fuel, however, as there is something resembling a fuel tank cap on the left side of the vehicle. However, this may also be a cover for a plug reel, as it may also be powered by Combine energy, which would also explain the quietness of the engine.

The APC can carry a driver as well as four fully equipped soldiers and is armed with a mounted pulse gun and integrated missile launcher. The APC's biggest asset, however, is speed. Civil Protection officers use APCs as rapid response vehicles to reach conflict sites and crime scenes within minutes. Overwatch soldiers, on the other hand, use the vehicles mostly as fast and reliable transportation through the wastelands outside the metropolis. An APC can also be quickly carried over problematic terrain by a Combine dropship if required. When not in use, the APC can be hooked up as a power source for Combine devices such as force field pylons.

The APC has a siren which will typically be activated during a Civil Protection raid. It is never used by Overwatch personnel. Personnel inside the APCs can attack using the powerful short-range gun turret and volleys of longer-range, very accurate homing missiles. Luckily, enough gunfire can blow these missiles out of the sky or, at least, force them off course. APCs are sturdy enough that they are often used to simply smash into or run over the enemy. They are also very well shielded, offering complete protection from most conventional weapons (a Hunter-Chopper's Gauss Cannon, however, can easily destroy them. Certain APCs have also been witnessed taking damage from explosive munitions, such as sub-machine gun launched grenades and rocket propelled grenades).

The player does not get to drive a Combine APC during the game. The concept was dropped during development when playtesters complained that the APC was too slow compared to the other vehicles. This seems a strange complaint given the high speeds the APC seems capable of when driven by Combine forces during the game. In game terms, however, it seems fair that Gordon Freeman would not be able to drive an APC, for reasons such as his lack of understanding of the controls and the possible presence of a Combine-only identification device within the APC.

It is interesting to note that in the first chapter, when in an apartment building, Gordon and some tenants observe Combine filing out of an APC and storming a nearby building; if using the noclip command, Gordon can fly to the APC, and if pressing the "Use" key, enter it. Upon entry, a window shows up telling the player that "Shift" is for turbo and "Space" is for handbrake; however, the APC cannot be moved. In addition, attempts to move and lift an APC using a modified gravity gun (via the use of the game's console) may result in massive frame rate drops and eventual crashing of the game; the only other vehicle to possess such a problem is the game's dune buggy.

Hunter-chopper

First Seen: Half-Life 2, Chapter Three, Route Kanal

• Health total: 5600
• Weapon damage: Mounted pulse turret/Gauss cannon (5) Mines (30)
• Entity: npc_helicopter

Incredibly powerful, the hunter-chopper is a combat helicopter used, as the name implies, for search-and-destroy missions against weaker targets. Like the APC, this vehicle is a conventional Earth design (similar to a Mil Mi-24 Hind) co-opted by the Combine and modified using its own technologies. It utilizes a two-man crew of Overwatch soldiers; one pilot and one gunner. The hunter-chopper is armed with a powerful pulse turret on a fixed mount and has the ability to drop explosive timed mines. The gun has a wide spread and is used mainly on slow or stationary targets. Before firing the hunter-chopper emits an audible "whining" sound that can be used as an indication of when the gun is charging up. The hunter-chopper also has the ability to launch a barrage of "dumb" rockets, and this is seen only once in Black Mesa East. Remaining in the base's scrapyard after the scanners and headcrab shells arrive, a hunter-chopper enters the area and barrages a sewer-hole opening with these rockets.

The spherical mines are used offensively - dropped directly in front of enemy vehicles and onto weaker structures. They detonate either upon contact with an enemy, or after a short timer counts down. The mines also float on water, allowing them to be used against boats and other water-craft. One hunter-chopper maneuver involves launching around fifty mines simultaneously during one high-speed bombard - effectively saturating an entire area. Hunter-choppers are among the fastest Combine units able to keep pace with, or outrun, almost any opponent. They are used mainly within the city and its outlying canals to search out and eliminate specific targets, especially those on foot. The hunter-choppers work both as lone attackers or as support units for other attack forces depending on the mission. At locations further from the city, however, such as the coast or locations where there is a large number of enemies, the Combine will typically choose to use gunships instead.

A group of City 17 escapees in the canals through unknown means managed to get hold of a hunter-chopper's pulse turret. When Gordon Freeman arrives at their camp, a Vortigaunt fits this gun onto his air boat. Gordon Freeman is then able to use it to take down the hunter-chopper that has been hunting him from the start of his mission.

The hunter-chopper is seen again in Half-Life 2: Lost Coast, but the chopper takes on the AI of a gunship, and they are also depicted in pre-release gameplay videos for Episode Two: a vehicle sequence features the hunter-chopper in pursuit of the player while driving the new vehicle along a railroad area, and is seen dropping the same spherical mines used in Half-Life 2's air boat sequence.

Headcrab shell and launcher

First Seen: Half-Life 2, Chapter Three, Route Kanal

• Health total: N/A
• Weapon damage: N/A
• Entity: Cannot be spawned during play.

Headcrab shells, also known as headcrab canisters or headcrab rockets, are one of the more nefarious pieces of technology that the Combine possesses. These shells rain down from the sky and release a payload of deadly headcrabs. Due to its use of living organisms in attacks, headcrab shells are classified as a form of biological weaponry.

Fired from a launcher only seen in the Lost Coast map, the headcrab shells are shot with a loud explosion and streak towards their target in a steady arc, leaving temporary vapor trails behind. These large projectiles can crash through most barriers, embedding themselves several feet, even into concrete. At this point a hatch at the rear of the shell opens and reveals a metallic pipe-shaped container. Up to a half-dozen headcrabs climb from the end of this pipe and leap out into the crash site. Usually these are only basic headcrabs although fast headcrabs have been observed exiting a shell. Poison headcrabs are also used in shells, as seen in Lost Coast and Episode One.

Once landed the headcrabs go about their usual practice of attempting to kill or enslave any human they encounter. The headcrabs will then simply infest the surrounding area, concealing themselves by burrowing into the nearby soil or taking up residence in pipes, vents, and other darkened hiding places. This infestation renders a significant area surrounding the crash site completely inhospitable to human life. While one shell is not a huge threat by itself, as headcrabs are generally weak, the effects can be horrific when the Combine shell an area with scores of these munitions. This happened to the mining town of Ravenholm prior to the events of Half-Life 2 which was inhabited by a large number of escapees from City 17 and was quickly overwhelmed by the parasites, to the point where there is only one human survivor left in the town.

The Combine uses headcrab shells in much the same way as they use manhacks, only on a wider scale, being an efficient way to eliminate entire centers of Resistance. In addition to being used on their own as an effective weapon, individual headcrab shells are also used in a tactical role during some operations where they are used to weaken smaller targets, create disarray, and force enemies out of entrenched positions.

Despite these horrific implications, this particular Combine technology does have one major weakness. Since the headcrabs are effectively "bottlenecked" into the shell, they can be defeated easily with gunfire or beaten to death with a hard object before they are able to climb out of the shaft.

Suppression device

First Seen: Half-Life 2, Chapter Twelve, "Follow Freeman!"

• Health total: N/A (cannot be destroyed, only disabled)
• Weapon damage: Pulse Mortar (instant death or splash damage)
• Entity: func_tank_mortar; brush entity, cannot be spawned from console during play.

The suppression device, also referred to as the suppressor, is a stationary Combine weapon, which functions much like a large mortar except instead of firing shells it fires an extremely powerful and concentrated pulse. This slams into the ground, destroying objects, and disintegrating living beings within a 3-5 meter (9-15 foot) radius from the impact. The suppression device has to "warm up" before it can fire the pulse and the ground where the pulse will land begins to glow blue. This allows the next target of the pulse fire to be acertained, and thus avoided.

The suppression device is powered by a series of Combine generators and possibly forms its ammunition from them as well. A suppression device was installed onto the roof of the "Overwatch Nexus" in City 17. During the game, Gordon, Barney, and a small band of Resistance fighters are required to disable all the generators in the building in order to power down the device in order that the Resistance on the streets can move more freely. The suppression device only appears once in the game but it is likely that the Combine may have installed similar devices in other parts of City 17 where there are large numbers of Resistance personnel.

It is unknown whether the suppression device functions on its own, or whether it has an operator, but the small interface and the binocular-like lenses suggest the latter, who is most likely a trained Overwatch soldier. No operator is seen during the game but it may be that he left the scene after the suppression device was disabled by the Resistance. Also, Combine personnel on the roof of the Overwatch Nexus suggest that they may have been guarding the operator, as well as the device itself.

The suppression device is not to be confused with the suppression field, which has a different function. The two are not linked to each other in any way.

See also

• List of humanoid and synthetic Combine in Half-Life 2
• List of Combine non-combat technology in Half-Life 2

References

• Half-Life 2 (PC), Valve Software, 2004. Official website
• Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar, David Hodgson, Prima Games. ISBN 0-7615-4364-3
• Half-Life 2: Prima Official Game Guide, David Hodgson, Prima Games. ISBN 0-7615-4362-7