HECU soldiers identification

I’m fairly sure this has been discussed already, but I couldn’t find anything regarding it after the recent updates.

What I’m talking about is the appearance of marines and their respective weapons and abilities. For instance the medics and commanders, with their white helmets and red berets, are easy to spot among the other soldiers.
Obviously, this allows the player to neutralize their healing/impact grenades before dealing with the remaining enemies.

However it’s difficult to notice what kind of weapon they are carrying.
Shotgun wielding soldiers are nasty to deal with, the high damage and fire rate are a deadly combination that can become confusing and frustrating if there’s no clear visual clue on who to shoot to counter it in time.

This specific issue was addressed in both HL and HL2 with the balaclava wearing HECUs and the dark brown uniform of the combine shotgunners.

I think it would be a good idea to make this “class” easier to spot by making it visually different from the other members of a squad. My personal suggestion would be making the medics the only soldiers allowed to use the shotgun.
It’s my opinion that it would make marine encounters more easy and satisfying to counter.

Thoughts?

Founded in 2004, Leakfree.org became one of the first online communities dedicated to Valve’s Source engine development. It is more famously known for the formation of Black Mesa: Source under the 'Leakfree Modification Team' handle in September 2004.