They're back, and better (or worse) than ever before!
Unmarked spoilers on this page!
- What's more terrifying than the Series Mascot, the ever-freaky and always elusive Headcrabs? Wearing a VR headset and having the little bastards jumping at your face! Valve has wanted to make Headcrab jumpscares more and more terrifying as the series progressed, and they definitely have finally found their ultimate solution...
- Even worse, this is one of the first things in the game's reveal trailer, and now that they're in higher-definition than ever, you get to see their gruesome detail, the claws of their scrawny legs, and their underside "mouths" trying to eat your damn face. In the final game, you can even grab headcrabs, and having one squirm helplessly in your hand is unsettling (and kinda sad) to watch.
- This can be somewhat dampened by the fact that headcrabs aren't very good at landing on their feet like their previous incarnations. Sure, they're still pretty scary, but the sight of them tumbling around like clumsy little goobers after a missed pounce can make them seem almost adorable... if it weren't for them still trying to leap at your damn face, of course. You also have more flexibility in terms of dealing with them, such as beating them into a wall, or creative use of physics objects.
- This can be somewhat dampened by the fact that headcrabs aren't very good at landing on their feet like their previous incarnations. Sure, they're still pretty scary, but the sight of them tumbling around like clumsy little goobers after a missed pounce can make them seem almost adorable... if it weren't for them still trying to leap at your damn face, of course. You also have more flexibility in terms of dealing with them, such as beating them into a wall, or creative use of physics objects.
- The headcrab zombies are back and gruesome as ever, now having a variety of hosts and Body Horror in full return. Even worse, there are now armored headcrabs with dark flesh and red spikes, which can't be killed except with a shot directly inside their mouth. Which is only exposed when they're about to leap at you...
- Pre-release footage shows a bunch of headcrabbed subway workers, one of which is trying to make out details on a map and another is slamming themselves against a worker's entry. The zombies being conscious was a long known fact, but actually being able to act on those memories still is even worse.
- Not to mention listening to the updated Headcrab zombies this time around they sound much more human which makes it even more clear than ever how the hosts are still alive, aware, and in horrible pain considering they are crying and begging for help.
- And then there's the Fridge Horror provided by this YouTube comment:I always assumed the zombies in Half-Life 2 were fresh, but in this game all the zombies are still in their casual clothing or work uniforms. They've been in this state for at least 15 years.
- Unlike Gordon Freeman, who's implied to wear a helmet and for that reason is comparatively more secure from the headcrab attacks, Alyx has no such luxury. If a headcrab hits your face, it will latch on, blocking your vision and repeatedly biting your face until you knock it off with your hands. Remember, this happens in VR.
- Even worse, this is one of the first things in the game's reveal trailer, and now that they're in higher-definition than ever, you get to see their gruesome detail, the claws of their scrawny legs, and their underside "mouths" trying to eat your damn face. In the final game, you can even grab headcrabs, and having one squirm helplessly in your hand is unsettling (and kinda sad) to watch.
- Whether it's a new Headcrab type or a new Xen alien altogether, info leaks and other things point towards a new enemy type of a similarly crab-like creature with a long pincer tail, that seemingly can hop onto corpses and temporarily reanimate them to attack potential prey. Egh.
- Chapter 5: The Northern Star introduces this Reviver (named "Lightning Dog" by Alyx herself) in all its glory. Its main ability is generating electricity, with it occasionally releasing electrified smokescreens or electric orbs. However, the nightmare fuel kicks in when it spots a zombie corpse in an empty room, and digs into its open chest. When that happens, the zombie jolts back to life, sparking with electricity. Even though you're separated from it by a chain-link fence the first time, just letting it get close will damage you. You have to shoot the zombie a few times to drive the Lightning Dog out, then chase the alien and kill it. Later on, they introduce a new attack where the zombie can send a homing beam of electricity at you. (homing only applies if you move too slowly). In other words, it's a different form of headcrab, and it's so unlike any other kind of headcrab or headcrab zombie encountered before.
- The music that plays while fighting the Revivers is incredibly discordant and grating on the ears, like the electricity has somehow gotten into the music itself and corrupted it.
- During Chapter 5, one of the meaty "flora" you end up finding in the Hotel are juvenile Tentacles. You know, that thing that was big enough to use a rocket silo as a nest and was completely immune to anything short of that rocket being fired directly overtop it? No wonder the Combine prioritized getting rid of Xen's plant life the moment they established their base of operations.
- How do early Combine health stations heal you? By harnessing the inherent healing juices of a misfortunate Antlion grub worm (pulping it in the process) and precisely jabbing your hand with an assortment of precision needles and mechanical limbs to spread it through your vitals. Thank god the player won't have to actually feel that, but Alyx does."Ow! Ow ow ow..."
- We get to finally see the effects of Xen on the world, after the original Half-Life 2 seemed to mostly reserve that for Antlion caves. And the result is something looking like a Womb Level attempting to inflict itself upon reality. Odds are we get to fully explore the horror that Earth was faced with besides just Combine in the wake of the world's extraterrestrial occupation.
- After years of speculation of what the Combine might be like, we finally see something that had never appeared in prior games: what could very well be an actual Combine starship, or at least, some sort of ship that likely serves as a crux for their forces before the Citadels. What in God's name could be waiting on something like that?
- It's revealed later on that it's not a ship at all. It's a prison... for the G-Man.
- And to top off the announcement trailer, the G-Man appears in the flesh, with Glowing Eyes of Doom and his infamous smirk in detail that is more human-like than ever before, yet still manages to reach the Uncanny Valley for the subtlest of abnormalities.
- The manhacks return, and they really are flying for your face this time.
- Also returning are the Barnacles. And they are grosser than ever with this game's modern graphics. And instead of pulling you up with their tongue like they usually to, they strangle you with it this time around.
- Or, depending on your settings, they both strangle you and pull you upward.
- We get a good look at what Combine computer technology looks like, and naturally, it's disgusting on top of being awful. Like many Combine inventions, the processor systems of their work stations are partly organic in construction. In this instance, the processor unit is a manhole-sized clear container akin to a petri dish holding some kind of organic mass that looks like a tumor made of pulsating brain matter. It also has a misshapen mouth with crooked teeth.
- These things aren't picky at all about the matter, either—you can find a rat squirming in one of them. Egh.
- It gets worse. Take a closer look at the rat located inside of the Combine Terminal. It didn't just scurry its way in there and get stuck. No. The organic stuff is growing out of it. And both discs seem to have halves of the same rat in them for this purpose. That's how the Combine biocomputers on Earth work. What have they been using before?
- Most players will probably gun down the Combine on sight. Trying to stealth around while the enemy is aware Alyx is in the area, however, results in them turning off their emotionless voice chatter to actually call her name out, pretending to be more jovial and friendly, or in other cases outright proclaim she's considered an ally for a cease fire just to try to bait you out. If the player falls for it, they even laugh at her in disbelief that it worked. Of course, the player can fake surrendering right back.
- Jeff, the titular monster of Chapter 7. A Combine worker who was exposed to so much alien fungus that he ended up mutating into a horrific Mushroom Man. Alyx's weapons are completely ineffective against him and you are forced to try and work around him, unless you want to die instantly the second he reaches you.
- From his chapter, the refrigerator scene. There is a Hope Spot in which you manage to trap Jeff inside a walk-in refrigerator by throwing bottles into it and closing the door, giving you a chance to continue moving through the building without needing to worry about him, though you're still treated to the wonderful sounds of him banging against the door at full-force. Not long afterwards, there is a hacking mini game in which you trace an electric wire through the wall, and at some point you realize that you must go back inside the refrigerator to complete it. Which means...letting Jeff out. This revelation is equal parts funny and gutwrenching.
- During one segment of the chapter, you get trapped in an elevator with him, forced to huddle up in a corner making as little noise as possible... until something above you shifts and causes Jeff to stumble in your direction. It's then that a Headcrab that wandered in at just the wrong time gets grabbed by Jeff, slammed against the doors a couple times, and then vomitted on and reduced to a slurry of biomass and fungal spores. If you hadn't gotten caught by Jeff yet, this is where you can learn what happens to those who do get caught by him.note
- For the first time since seeing the unfinished Soldiers in Half-Life 2's Citadel, we get a look under the helmets and see just how much◊ Combine Cybernetics Eat Your Soul.
- The entire ending sequence, where Alyx thinks she's rescuing Gordon Freeman— only to find the G-Man instead. Who demonstrates his Time Master play, reveals he and his "employers" nudge everything into the direction they require for reasons unknown, turns down Alyx's request to remove the Combine from Earth because it's not in his "employers'" ever-mysterious interests and thus too big of a request, and then hoists Alyx into an unwitting Deal with the Devil. Simply by showing her Eli's death from Episode 2 and then giving her the opportunity to prevent it, she takes the bait—and becomes the newest hire under the G-Man, whom abandons Gordon in favor of Alyx. The last thing we see from her perspective is G-Man making it quite clear that it was Alyx's fault she took the bait, and then leaving her in stasis; The Stinger shows that she was literally plucked from the timeline right after Eli's survival, much to his horror and rage.
- During this sequence, the G-Man is an imposing as he's ever been. Not only is he slightly taller than the player, but his glowing cyan eyes pierce through the darkness at several points, giving the impression of some kind of nocturnal predator. It's easy to forget after years of being somewhat of a Fountain of Memes and mostly a passive observer, but G-Man is most definitely an intimidating creature, whatever he actually is.
- Also, take a look to left, and you'll see the G-Man observing from afar, just as he always does.
- It turns out that Gordon Freeman has a 3D model in the ending, but you only vaguely see it and can't make out much in details besides looking a bit beaten up. Extractions of the model reveal a massive gaping hole in the side of his HEV Suit, with a bloodied and bruised injury covered in emergency wrap all over internally. This is the most violent look a protagonist in the series has ever had, much less Gordon, and it isn't even his only injury. Many fans have voiced a genuine concern over what the hell inflicted that kind of wound or even just seeing Gordon so messed up in general. And given how you can't see this normally, one wonders how much the HL:A development team were counting on players digging so far into their game to show them this.
- The general atmosphere of the scene itself, where you get to experience firsthand just how powerful the G-Man is, as he seems to have trouble anchoring himself to this specific point in time, circling you as you see him giving the same version of this speech while moving to different spots, and you remain absolutely static to the point you can't even snapturn, quietly enforcing how limited your options are in this scenario.
- Some of the death groans from the Combine soldiers. Some of them are very audibly muttering things such as "Overwatch" or "help me" or "I'm sorry" before their voice is cut-off by the flatline, further showing how human they still are during the events of the game. However, one particular death groan sounds particularly creepy, as the Combine Suppressor has a chance of muttering "Alyx" as it dies.Alyx: Russell, are they saying my name?
Russell: Yeah. That's not good.
