My opinion on Half Life 2’s weapons follow:
Crowbar: Very rare to use outside of Route Kanal due to low damage to enemies. I still prefer switching to it when I need to open a crate, because the Gravity Gun is a bit imprecise when using it to slam things into walls to break an item crate. Also hilarious to use on enemies in Deathmatch multiplayer, as sprinting around them and pecking them to death with what amounts to a small iron bar makes for a humiliating way to die.
Zero Point Energy Field Manipulator, or “Gravity Gun:” Depends on the playthrough. My initial playthroughs were much heavier on firearms use than the Gravity Gun. I mostly used it to dislodge hopper mines in City 17’s streetwar chapters and generally throw improvised explosive devices. I could never really get any use out of it as a defensive weapon. Theoretically you can lift up a piece of metal to use as a bullet shield, but you’d waste so much time trying to get it to the right orientation that you’d be dead before you could say “Reload, Dr. Freeman!”
The other side of that bit of impracticality is that you’re essentially leaving your fate up to physical props put in by the level designer. He/she can flag a specific set of angles for the prop to assume when picked up, but you have no way of knowing which prop will orient which way because sometimes there were inconsistencies in the angles of a given object from chapter to chapter. So while it remains a fundamentally fun weapon to use insofar as clobbering a soldier with a toilet or radiator you ripped from a wall is funny, it can generally be hit or miss. Regardless, using it as an airbust grenade launcher with the MK3A2 is also a valid strategy (see the MK3A2 breakdown below). In sum, the weapon can be fun to use but ultimately is inconsistent enough that it can cause frequent and unnecessary deaths in the process of fielding it properly.
H&K USP Match “9mm Pistol”- The most impractical sidearm choice known to man, utilized predominantly by metropolice units and a player down to his last pile of ammo. First acquired in the very first map of Route Kanal. In this initial chapter, the Metropolice seem to have less health and are more suceptable to headshots, making the pistol fun to use at first, but as you go through the game and enemies get stronger you’ll need to pop off several headshots to get a kill with the thing. Ammunition is plentiful, second only to the SMG1 in it’s frequency throughout the game. Generally only to be used as a last resort as a backup weapon, and by the time you’ve whipped this out you’re likely dead anyway. Still, it can be quite accurate with a Z button sighting, it’s just unlikely to kill your target without substantial follow up shots.
Colt Python “.357 Magnum”- Acquired during “Water Hazard.” Devastating hand cannon that can lay out just about any soldier in one shot. A pity ammunition for the thing is about as common as my getting laid (Well, slightly more common but still pitiful in amount). Excellent to use as an improvised sniping platform in conjunction with the Zoom key due to it’s exceptional accuracy at just about any range.
H&K MP7 with incredibly small and non-existant in real life underbarrel grenade launcher “SMG”- First acquired during Route Kanal from a metrocop rappelling in from a vent in the ceiling. Ammunition for this is somewhat less common in earlier chapters, but quickly becomes the main backup automatic weapon for later chapters starting at “Highway 17.” Relatively low per-shot damage, and incredibly inaccurate at ranges greater than about 25 feet. Even firing in bursts, the thing can barely hit the broad side of a Strider at 25 yards. Therefore the gun is most useful when firing the grenade launcher, which has very little ammunition throughout the game (similar to the Magnum in this respect) to clear out clusters of opponents.
“Overwatch Standard Issue Pulse Rifle (OSPIR)” - Fictional pulse round-firing primary weapon of the Combine Overwatch soldiers. First found in the final level of the Ravenholm chapter. Ammunition is rarer than the MP7 and similarly lacking in power for headshots, but generally much more accurate at range. The underslung launcher fires an Energy Orb, which fries opponents on contact and is bouncier than a slow motion “Baywatch” scene. Orbs are naturally rather rare to find. In general this will be your main weapon for late-game firefights in the City 17 street war due to it’s greater effective range.
Frenchi SPAS-12 “Shotgun” - Close quarters combat shotgun bestowed upon the player by the mad Father Gregori during the Ravenholm chapter, the Shotgun is an effective close range man-stopper only when used with it’s double blast firing mode pointing to center mass. Any range greater than about 20 feet and you should switch to the OSPIR to conserve ammunition. Useful against zombies (hence why it is acquired during Ravenholm) and soldiers alike, but ammunition is somewhat rarer than the OSPIR. Still more plentiful than the Magnum or the SMG’s grenade. I like to use this weapon when hitting a room fast- chuck in a grenade, wait 'till it goes off, then storm the room with the shotgun out firing in double blast mode, switching to the OSPIR or Magnum to deal with farther off opponents if required.
Rebel modified, molten rebar firing “Crossbow” - The game’s go-to sniping platform. Ammunition is more plentiful than the magnum but still relatively rare. I generally enjoy using the crossbow at point-blank range due to it’s highly damaging shot being more effective at putting down opponents than the shotgun. Relatively useful at range, but snipers must be sure to compensate for gravity, as the rebar loses plenty of altitude when fired. If your target is distant and moving, switch to the Magnum and Z scope it because you won’t hit shit unless you know how to lead your target well.
MK3A2 hand “Grenade” - A rather standard issue grenade. Can be thrown, dropped, or rolled on the floor. Can be used in conjunction with the Gravity Gun as an improvised grenade launcher by dropping a frag on the floor, hoisting it with the Gravity Gun, and flung at the target for an air-burst. This particular use of the gun is best left for Deathmatch, however, as by this point about twenty soldiers will have filled you with lead unless you are behind hard cover. I like using these for room assaults, but sadly you can’t cook the grenade in your hand like you could in HL1.
AT4 “RPG” - A man-portable rocket launcher best used against armored targets such as the APC or a gunship/helicopter. Ammunition becomes more plentiful during “Anticitizen One” and “Follow Freeman” due to the high amount of vehicles faced in the chapter, but otherwise, ammunition can be quite rare. Outside of the obvious vehicle encounters (such as the gunship fight on the bridge superstructure in the final map of “Highway 17” or the two gunship fight in the final map of “Sandtraps”), the RPG is best utilized against large formations of troops or as a long range sniping weapon with the laser sight if the player is out of rebars or Magnum bullets.
Antlion Pheropod, aka “Bugbait” - A surprisingly useful weapon. Aside from it’s main usage in commanding Antlions during “Sandtraps” and “Nova Prospkt,” the weapon can make an excellent stun grenade to briefly halt an enemy trooper, who is reduced to a flailing git while you fumble for a weapon to finish him off. In command of Antlions, the pod can be squeezed with the alternate fire button to have Antlions in your squad follow you, and can be thrown to mark specific enemy targets (hence the stun effect) or an area to fly to.
Zero Point Energy Field Manipulator modified with Dark Energy siphoned from a weapons disarmament field, or “Super Gravity Gun” - The Gravity gun can now heft much larger objects, as well as being able to pick up and punt enemy soldiers or use them as meat shields. Extremely fun to use, and the only weapon accessible during the lion’s share of “Our Benefactors” and “Dark Energy.” Since it can now rip entire computer consoles off walls, the Super Gravity Gun is far more useful as a defensive weapon for getting bullet shields, as well as the far more effective offensive capabilities of being able to literally pick up enemy soldiers and throw them at other soldiers.
I’ll wind up replaying HL1 one of these days and doing a similar breakdown, perhaps. Or perhaps I’ll just wait for Black Mesa and do one for that. Sounds fun!
