Fun Trivia : Half-Life 2

Structure Sub-topic of: Half-Life Games Quizzes Other encyclopedia entries of interest: Portal | Team Fortress | Interesting Questions, Facts and Information There are a total of 20 general entries. Special Topics Half Life 2: Episode Two Half Life 2: Episode One "The Orange Box"

Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information

Half-Life 2

Who dresses up as a Civil Protection soldier in the beginning of the game?

Half-Life 2


Barny Calhoun. Barny is a diehard soldier who survived the events of Black Mesa. He greets you in full Civil Protection uniform at the beginning of the game and leads you out of the train depot.



Who greets you at the beginning of the game during the only cutscene?

Half-Life 2


The G-Man. The G-Man is actually only a model name. The character actually has no proper name.



What new weapon gives you the ability to manipulate gravity?

Half-Life 2


Gravity Gun. The Gravity Gun is actually a very sneaky way for Valve to show off the highly acclaimed physics of the game. The Gravity Gun is a very useful and fun weapon.



What is the name of Alex's mechanical pet?

Half-Life 2


D0g. D0g is actually more useful than he looks. Although he begins his role by playing a bigger scale version of fetch, he later helps you get into Ravenholm.



In the level, "We Don't Go To Ravenholm", what can the player assume is the reason why people don't go to Ravenholm?

Half-Life 2


Ravenholm is infested with Headcrab Zombies. In the expansion called "The Lost Coast", a barrage of headcrab pods rain down and must be repeled. This is thought to be the way that Ravenholm fell.



What interrupts your training with Alex in the junkyard?

Half-Life 2


The Combine attack. Right after you finish your training with the Roller Mine section sirens go off and Alex tells Dog to lead you to the entrance to Ravenholm. Valve worked it out so that you could get all of your training in before the Combine attacks.



In "A Red Letter Day" what happens that screws up the teleportation device?

Half-Life 2


A headcrab jumps on your head. Dr. Kleiner keeps a headcrab, with its claws removed, as a pet. It later jumps through a vent and onto Gordon's head.



When entering Dr. Kleiner's lab, there is a small cactus sitting on a mini teleporter. What happens to this cactus if you use the teleporter too much?

The World of "Half-Life 2"


It disintegrates. This effect is the same as when an energy ball disintegrates a soldier. This malfunction with the mini teleporter, as well as Barney's comments about a certain cat, make the main teleporter seem much more dangerous. In the Half-Life 2 Beta, there is a sound file that states the fate of the cat - it was turned inside-out when the teleporter malfunctioned. Fortunately, Gordon Freeman experiences no harmful effects when Lamarr interferes with the teleportation sequence.



Because she is "de-beaked" and unable to turn humans into mindless zombies, Dr. Kleiner's pet headcrab Lamarr feasts upon what instead?

The World of "Half-Life 2"


Watermelon. A post-it note on Dr. Kleiner's bulletin board is there to remind him to "find more watermelon for Lamarr". It is never verified what headcrabs ordinarily eat, although Lamarr's penchant for attacking birds implies that most headcrabs are carnivorous. In the "Anticitizen One" chapter, however, there is an apartment in which a zombie can be found in the kitchen alcove - along with a watermelon.



The yellow Lambda symbol always means a cache of weapons or medkits nearby. In one house on the coastal road, however, the symbol has been covered and instead there is a skull and crossbones scrawled on the wall - intended to inform Gordon that the cache is no longer safe. What enemy has taken up residence in this house?

The World of "Half-Life 2"


Poison Zombie. Poison Zombies, the strongest breed of Headcrab Zombie, carry four Poison Headcrabs. Their presence is often betrayed by their heavy, raspy breathing - in the house in question, the player can hear the zombie when they enter through the basement. They are the only type of Headcrab Zombie that can attack from a distance, removing one of their Poison Headcrabs and hurling it at their enemy. Fortunately, there is an ammo crate filled with grenades for Gordon to strategically throw through the door before the zombie even knows he's there.



To prevent the player from venturing too far into the ocean, small leeches will attack Gordon repeatedly until he leaves the water or dies. Why can these creatures never be killed?

The World of "Half-Life 2"


They aren't NPCs. G-Man is the only NPC that can be spawned from the developer console and will never die. He can, however, be killed during the opening cutscene using a complex command in the developer console (any NPC can be killed in this manner). As for the leeches... despite their ferocity, they don't actually exist as a physical entity in the game. They are simply a brush-entity (a part of the map) unlike in the original "Half-Life", where they are NPCs that can be easily killed.



There are several situations in which Gordon will "die" due to some mistake made (such as having a critical NPC killed). In these cases, a message is displayed on the screen explaining why the game was ended. In what chapter might Gordon be "terminated" for "demonstrating exceedingly poor judgment"?

The World of "Half-Life 2"


Highway 17. After the gunship fight (with the cache in the van), you can jump off the cliff into a small bay. Halfway down, your screen will fade to black and the message will state that the subject "demonstrated exceedingly poor judgment". In Episode 2, postmortem messages such as this are apparently delivered by a Vortigaunt. Instead of using "Failure to preserve mission-critical resources", the message instead states "The Freeman has failed to preserve resources deemed critical to victory. Inescapable glimpses of doom cloud the vortessence".



The graffiti on the walls in certain areas is often quite cryptic. One particular scrawl shows three heads in a sort of x-ray view. One is a Combine, one a human. What is the third?

The World of "Half-Life 2"


A monkey. Whereas most graffiti is anti-Combine (such as a common one that states the word "RESIST"), this one might be pro-Combine. It seems to show a progressive state of evolution, from monkey to human to Combine. However, this sequence is shown from right to left rather than the traditional progressive of left to right. Another possible meaning for this is to show how monkeys and humans are similar, but Combine are not (the ears are located farther down, and the facial structure is more blunt) - maybe a "one of these does not belong" sort of sign.



The Combine often use different terminology for various things, such as calling an Antlion invasion an "exogen breach" or referring to Combine Gunships as "Airwatch". What is the Combine term for a zombie?

The World of "Half-Life 2"


necrotic. Zombies approaching a Combine (or group of Combine) will often merit a report of "necrotics inbound" - this term is used only in reference to Headcrab Zombies (of any breed). Zombies and Antlions are highly aggressive creatures that will attack anything aside from their own species. Both creatures will attack Combine and human alike (as will the Barnacle, but they don't pursue a target), a fact seen twice in the game. In one part of Nova Prospekt, an Antlion Guard will charge into a room, chasing down several Combine. The Combine will ignore Gordon Freeman until the Antlion Guard is dead. Later on, there is a sewer system where several zombies are attacking a squadron of Combine. If the player does not interfere, the Combine will almost always be overpowered by the zombies in this situation.