Half-Life for PC – Know Your Enemy

Half-Life is a first-person shooter set in a H.P. Lovecraft meets Arthur C. Clarke fantasy world. You play as Gordon Freeman, the survivor of a malfunction at the Black Mesa Research Facility, and it’s your job to put things right again. But there are those that seek to stop you, a vast cast in fact of nightmarish creatures and vengeful military personnel stand in your way. Here is a run down of the enemies in Half-Life.

The Headcrab
Reminiscent of the facehugger in Ridley Scott’s Alien, the headcrab can be found throughout Half-Life. It’s infant-like cooing and slow movement speed lure you into a false sense of security until they leap ten feet through the air and bite you on the face. One of these blighters will be waiting for you around almost every corner of the Black Mesa Research Facility, and if they aren’t it’s best to check anyway, just in case.

It may look harmless, but it’ll try to eat your head in the blink of an eye

The headcrab can be taken out relatively easily. I found that waiting for it to pounce before dodging to the left and giving it the old ‘one-two’ with the crowbar did the job pretty well, however, they like to hang out in groups, and they like to sneak up on you too. The best method for getting rid of them is a double-tap with the pistol from a safe distance. If you thought that was bad enough, you should see what happens when one gets a hold of an unsuspecting scientist:

The Houndeye
At first glance, these cute little yappers present no threat as they come bounding up to you. Then they blink a few times and fire out a white-hot shock-wave that drains big chunks of your life energy. They will go down fairly easily, with a single blast from the shotgun usually enough to finish them off, but their tendency for hunting in packs means that if you have to reload at any time you’re pretty much toast.

Down boy!

If it wasn’t for the fact that they try to kill you, I’d bet these would make pretty good pets.

Vortigaunt
When one of these is near, it’s a good idea to find some cover. The vortigaunts are human-like in statue and they make this gabbling noise that suggests they are intelligent – they seem to be the foot-soldiers of this whole fiasco. But, get too close and you’ll get a bolt of green electricity straight in the face.

Et tu, Brute?

The vortigaunt teleports in without a moments notice, and they usually bring their buddies along for the ride. Often they beam in behind you and at other times they come in swarms, making for some pretty interesting set-pieces during the game. Their green beams are pretty easy to get out the way of as they have quite a long wind-up, and a close quarters blast to the head with the shotgun will for the most part send them packing.

The Alien Grunt
or Pineapple guys as I call them owing to their unique ability late in the game to emerge from large pineapple-like pods whenever something hits them. The Alien Grunts are dangerous enemies, their right arms shoot out several buzzing flies which are able to pursue you even around corners.

They’re big too, and able to absorb a lot of firepower. The Gluon gun or some kind of explosive seemed to be the best way to deal with them, other than that, running away seemed to be the best option for the majority.

The Barnacle
These guys are great. They hang from the ceiling, dangling their tongues to the floor and ensnaring the uninitiated. By the amount of human remains contained in each of these monsters, I’d say that they are to blame for the majority of deaths in the facility. Their tongues blend in well with the various wires and cables hanging around in the now dilapidated research centre, and Gordon often finds himself moving mysteriously skyward as a barnacle reels in the bait. It doesn’t take much to kill one of these, providing you have the range, and it’s best to clear the room of them before entering – that is if you are able to spot them of course.

The Tentacle
These formidable beasts are encountered only a few times in the game, but their appearances are memorable. Apparently noise-sensitive, you have to either sneak past them, or distract their attention with a grenade – and make sure you do, as one hit is often enough to knock you for six.

Forget the Sarlaac

The only time you actually kill these guys is with the aid of a blast from a rocket-engine – hardy doesn’t even begin to describe them, so save your ammo for something more squishy.

The Snark
Speaking of squishy, the Snark can be either your best friend, or your worst enemy. Quicker on their feet and smaller than the headcrabs, the snarks are a nightmare to deal with in close quarters. They will swarm you in seconds and start taking chunks off you from all directions. It doesn’t take much to kill them, but you have to get them in your sights first.

Fortunately, you can also use them as a weapon should you happen across one of their nests. Just make sure you are close enough to your enemy before you release them or they will turn back on you. After they run around for a while squeaking, the snark will explode in a plume of green gloop.

The Bullsquid
There’s a cold slapping sound as a ball of green mucus slams into the wall just above your head, you look around to see where it has come from and then you spot one of these in the distance:
The sniper of the alien world, the Bullsquid shoots high-speed phlegm missiles from long range. Combine this with a resilience against almost anything besides the magnum pistol and you have got one tricky customer.

HECU Marines
As if all these gruesome aliens were not enough, you also have to contend against numerous human enemies. Encountered most frequently are the Hazardous Environment Combat Units, or HECU Marines. They come in different varieties from the squad leaders with red berets to the foot soldiers. Most of the time they lie in wait for Gordon around corners and on ledges. From there they pelt you with painfully accurate fire from their MP-5s, chucking in a grenade or two for good measure.
Where there’s one you know there’s a whole load more waiting around the corner. The best strategy is to find some good cover, lay some trip mines and wait for them to come to you. HECUs often get into fire fights with the aliens in Black Mesa, so a lot of the time you can just sit back and watch the fire fight before moving in to mop up whatever is left.

Black Ops
Several times in the game you will encounter the black ops units. Operating in small groups, the black ops units use hit and run tactics to devastating effect. You’ll definitely hear them coming, but its unlikely that you will see them until its too late and they are already firing at you with their powerful handguns.
They’re fast, so you’re going to want to find a good spot to dig in as they are no match for your firepower.

Icthyosaur
Unfortunately, I don’t have any screen-grabs of this particular beast as any time there is water in video games I lose all composure. Prime examples of this are the lake sequence in Resident Evil 4 and the sunken corridors of Big Shell you have to navigate in Metal Gear Solid 2, if there’s water I’m not going to do well. I now have another experience to add to my list with the inclusion of the Icthyosaur in Half-Life. The only weapon that seems to fire underwater is the tranquilizer gun and it takes so many darts to put this thing to sleep, especially in the panic caused by running out of oxygen and the guttural growling of the Icthyosaur which I will no doubt hear in a nightmare in the not too distant future. Thanks Valve.

The Gargantua
There are only a few of these giant aliens wandering around the Black Mesa Facility, but you’ll soon know when one is near. The gargantua are immune to conventional weapons as far as I can tell, and their plasma shock-wave attacks hurt.

HAL anyone?

The cold red stare of the gargantua is enough to make you turn tail and run, which is precisely what you should do if you encounter one.

The Alien Controllers
Whereas the shrieks which emanate from the alien controllers are enough to put your teeth on edge.

What are you screaming about?

Good luck trying to get close enough to one of these fellas for a kill-shot as they fly about in all directions shrieking and hurling balls of light at you. The magnum is your best bet here with it’s fast, powerful hits and good range.

Warning: Spoilers

The Nihilanth
The Nihilanth is the main boss of Half-Life. Not only does it shoot incredibly powerful balls of white light at you, but it also shoots out portals which whisk you away to infuriating puzzle rooms. And when you’re not being teleported away, it is teleporting in back-up to kick your butt.
It took a lot of attempts to beat this guy, even after I had to resort to a walkthrough to find out how exactly to finish it off. The Nihilanth is one tough customer, who will absorb everything you have to throw at him. To beat it, you have to get inside its head.