| Half-Life 2
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| Release Date:
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2004
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| Developer:
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Valve
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| Publisher:
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Valve / Sierra
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| Series:
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Half-Life
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| Platforms:
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PC / Mac
Playstation 3
Xbox / Xbox 360
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| Genre:
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First-Person Shooter
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Half-Life 2 is the 2004 sequel to Half-Life developed by Valve Software. It was followed by two episodic sequels, Episode One and Episode Two, released in 2006 and 2007, respectively. In 2020, 13 years after the release of Episode Two, a prequel known as Half-Life: Alyx was released as a VR exclusive.
Approximately 20 years after the events of the first game, the world is under the oppressive rule of an interdimensional empire known as the Combine. Gordon Freeman, having been put into stasis by the G-Man at the end of Half-Life, is awakened and placed on a train headed for City 17, an Eastern European city serving the Combine's capital, where he quickly becomes involved in the resistance movement.
In September 2003, a year before the game's release, a hacker stole an unfinished build from Valve's servers which was later leaked onto the internet. The firearms featured only in this leaked version are detailed at the bottom of this page in the "Cut Weapons" section. This page also includes Episode One and Episode Two.
The following weapons appear in the video game Half-Life 2:
Handguns
Heckler & Koch USP Match
Named the "9mm Pistol" in-game, the Heckler & Koch USP Match is the standard issue sidearm of the Combine's "Civil Protection" police force. It is first seen wielded by a guard in the train station and is soon after used against Gordon as he flees across the rooftops in the chapter "Point Insertion". Later, at the beginning of "Route Kanal", one can be taken from a slain CP and then used throughout the game. Compared to the Glock from the first game, it is noticeably less accurate, but its fire rate is no longer restricted, being able to fire as fast as the player can tap the fire button. Although it becomes largely obsolete against most enemies after the first few chapters, its decent accuracy, rate of fire, and high capacity make it suitable for a variety of applications, such as attacking weak but difficult to hit enemies like Headcrabs and Manhacks and setting explosive barrels on fire from a distance. Despite it using standard 15-round magazines (with finger-rest floorplates like in the picture below), it holds 18 rounds like the extended magazines that are meant to be used in conjunction with H&K's "jet-funnel" extended mag-wells. Oddly, while it can be found in many supply caches and beside civilian corpses, Resistance members are never actually seen using it.
Early versions of the game had a bug which allowed the player to "charge" a shot by holding down both the primary and secondary fire buttons at once, resulting in a shotgun-like spread of multiple bullets; this was fixed in Episode Two and in the May 26th, 2010 update for the base game and Episode One.
Heckler & Koch USP Match - 9x19mm Parabellum
Gordon pulls out his USP.
Firing the pistol. Note that the barrel weight is incorrectly shown as completely solid, which would prevent the barrel from tilting and permanently lock the action; it is also lacking a chamber. Due to a bug, the pistol does not eject casings, however its counterpart in the pre-release E3 demonstrations and leaked version of the game did.
Starting the reload will have the slide lock back on its own, no matter how much ammunition was remaining, and also for some reason make the magazine shift to the left slightly.
Gordon then dumps a magazine...
...shoves in a new one...
...which apparently also releases the slide. Note the markings on the grip; the HK logo has been replaced, and the text "K.HU" is shown in place of "USP".
Gordon looks at another USP Match and an 9mm ammo box. Note that the aforementioned marking on the world model actually says "HK USP", as it is based on a slightly older version of the view model. It also has a non-standard trigger which is also present on the viewmodel. The markings on the ammo box indicate that it was manufactured at the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in 1993; how so many of them wound up in Eastern Europe is anyone's guess.
Colt Anaconda
Though the ".357 Magnum" has the HUD icon and markings of a Colt Python Elite, the gun is actually modelled after the Colt Anaconda. It is first acquired in a Civil Protection outpost in the chapter "Water Hazard". It's powerful, accurate, and can kill Civil Protection units in one shot and Overwatch Soldiers and Elites with a well placed shot to the head. Its accuracy makes it effective at long range if the suit zoom is utilized: simply zoom in on an enemy's head, quickly zoom out, and fire. However, ammunition is very limited at only two spare cylinders' worth, and resupply is relatively infrequent, which means it has to be used sparingly.
Colt Anaconda - .44 Magnum
Firing the revolver; the cylinder and hammer don't move when doing so.
Gordon reloads his Anaconda, after wasting one third of his supply of rare ammunition, by starting off with a visible push of the cylinder release, presumably to make up for the lack of one in the previous game...
...and then opening up the cylinder and ejecting the rounds. The crane and ejector rod always stay in the fully-closed position and as such the cylinder floats in mid-air. Also note that the headstamps identify the cartridges as .357 Magnum, another indicator that it's supposed to be a Python.
He then loads in some new rounds. These rounds, however, have struck primers, no bullets, and are not held together by a speedloader, which is unlikely to do any good.
He will then proceed to rather inadvisably flick the cylinder shut...
...and give it a nice, if impossible, spin; this appears to have been done purely to extend the reload animation.
An Anaconda and a .357 ammo box on the ground. The world model for the Anaconda is simply just a retextured version of
Half-Life's model; it also includes a grip medallion which isn't present on the view model, and the marking on the barrel actually says "Colt Anaconda". The rounds in the ammo box are also of note, as they have silver colored cases with soft point bullets and are about the size of the revolver's entire cylinder.
A side profile of the Colt's view model in an external model viewer. Note the Colt Python Elite markings on the barrel; the extractor rod also does not match either the Python's or Anaconda's. A closer look reveals that Gordon holds the Colt with the less-advisable "teacup" grip.
When reloading, a set of ejected cases seperate from the view model will drop onto the ground. Due to the game only having one pistol-caliber casing model, the discarded rounds appear as .45 ACP cases.
Alyx Vance's pistol
Alyx Vance (voiced by Merle Dandridge) wields a custom, unnamed pistol in Half-Life 2 and its following episodes. The pistol does not appear to be based on any known firearm, but it is implied that it is the same pistol that appears in Half-Life: Alyx, which is a Para-Ordnance LDA; however, there are multiple differences between the two, such as it lacking most of the upgrades from that game and is equipped with an extended magazine, which was explicitly cut from Alyx. It uses the same sound effects as the USP Match, but it was given unique sounds in Episode One; this was not changed in the base game.
Originally, it had the ability to change into an SMG and a carbine - the rear of the pistol's top would extend out backwards to form a stock, and the forend would extend forwards and have a foregrip unfold from it. When changing from SMG to rifle, the barrel shroud would form a barrel extension and the stock would extend even further. While this feature was cut, the animations can still be found in the game's files.
While not intended to be used by the player, PC players can use the console command "give weapon_alyxgun" to acquire it. The weapon lacks a viewmodel and uses the world model instead, as evidenced by the model constantly clipping through the player's view or changing the "viewmodel_fov" with a higher increment than the default. It has a 30 round magazine and can switch between fully-automatic and semi-automatic modes; the semi-auto mode sounds like a 3-round burst, but still only fires 1 shot.
The model for Alyx's sidearm.
Alyx holding her pistol in
Episode One.
Shortly afterwards, she fires her pistol at some Combine Soldiers rappelling down some buildings.
She reloads her gun as Gordon finishes reloading his SMG; like all weapon world models in
Half-Life 2, the magazine in her pistol is not animated and stays within the gun at all times.
A rebel at Black Mesa East watches some Vortigaunts power a generator while holding Alyx's gun; this is likely a developer oversight.
A promotional image of
Half-Life 2: Episode One featuring Alyx brandishing her pistol.
Alyx's gun in its cut SMG form.
Ditto, but in rifle mode.
Submachine Guns
Heckler & Koch PDW
The second Heckler & Koch PDW prototype is the main weapon for Resistance members and most Combine Soldiers, and is also issued to Civil Protection teams in volatile situations. Gordon can first acquire the gun from CP officers wielding the SMG in "Route Kanal". It is modeled with no fire selector, two protruding barrels, and a full top rail which has fitted on an unusable Hensoldt prototype RSA red dot sight. The in-game MP7 holds 45 rounds per magazine, even though the real MP7 only comes with 20, 30 and 40-round magazines, and the in-game weapon is not modeled with an extended magazine.
The MP7 comes with a secondary fire capability, which allows it to fire explosive grenade rounds. 3 grenade rounds can be carried at once, and there is no reload animation between firing, the weapon apparently carrying the entire grenade ammo pool at once and able to fire them semi-automatically. The MP7's model does not feature any mounted grenade launcher; instead, the grenades seem to be fired out of the second barrel above the normal gun barrel, which itself is also smaller in diameter than the grenades it fires. The MP7 itself is also too small to plausibly contain a launcher, let alone storage for three grenades and a semi-automatic feed system for them.
These abilities are uncharacteristic of the MP7, but are characteristic of the XM29 OICW (which was originally the Combine's standard issue automatic weapon, the role the MP7 now fills). Given the correlation, it can be surmised that when the developers opted to use the MP7 as the generic automatic weapon, they grafted the OICW's grenade launcher capability onto it to make it more useful, as well as to create a connection to the previous game's MP5SD.
Heckler & Koch PDW (2nd prototype) - 4.6x30mm
Gordon pulling out the MP7.
The MP7 in idle. Note the full-length top rail (which would only be introduced on the final production MP7), lack of fire selector, and two protruding barrels.
Firing the MP7. Note the ejected case, which is not only the wrong shape (the case for the 4.6x30mm cartridge is bottlenecked and much longer), but also say ".45 Colt" on the headstamps, even though the MP7's ammo box pickups have the correct caliber written on them.
45 rounds later, Gordon reloads...
...and slaps in a new mag. The magazine (which is modeled in the PDW's model) actually stays completely stationary within the gun, and Gordon just slaps the bottom of the grip, however this is not very noticeable considering that the bottom of the grip is almost always offscreen. The charging handle is also never pulled.
Firing a grenade from the MP7. Note that the grenade appears to come out of the center of the screen, and that the back of the grenade appears to have had something
really bad happen to it.
The grenade explodes on impact.
Gordon looks at an MP7, one of its grenades, and a box of 4.6mm ammunition. Note that the MP7 appears to have some rather strange proportions, as the rear grip appears to have been moved back and lowered slightly, done to reuse animations for the cut
MP5K, which was originally meant to be the SMG. Also note that the ammo box claims that it holds 20 rounds (even though it looks like it could fit at least a hundred), but actually gives Gordon 45 rounds; the amount of ammo the MP7 pickup gives you is also of note, as it varies depending on difficulty and the enemy that dropped it. The grenade appears to have been based on the 20x28mm grenades used by the OICW, in yet another remnant (although the model is not the same one that was used when the in-game OICW could still fire grenades).
A Resistance member reloads her MP7. All NPCs reload the MP7 by inserting a magazine in the space bewteen the foregrip and pistol grip and pulling a nonexistent charging handle of the left side of the gun; like the odd proportions of the world model, this is a result of reusing the third-person animations for the MP5K.
Gordon looks at an Overwatch Elite reloading his MP7; this is the only Elite in the game to use an MP7, whereas every other Elite uses the OSIPR. This Elite will also attempt to use the MP7's altfire to no avail, only playing the charging sound effect of the OSIPR's altfire.
Shotguns
Franchi SPAS-12
The Franchi SPAS-12 without a stock is used by the Combine Overwatch and some Resistance members. It is first given to the player by the crazed Ravenholm preacher Father Grigori in the chapter "We Don't Go To Ravenholm...". It is very useful in close-quarters combat, particularly against Headcrab Zombies and Antlions. One soldier in each Combine squad is equipped with the SPAS-12. It is also used by some major characters on occasion.
Just like in the original Half-Life, it has the unrealistic ability to fire two shells at the same time. The magazine tube is mistaken for a second barrel, and both "barrels" can be fired at once for the secondary fire mode; the game even gives an on-screen hint calling this ability "fire both barrels". It is also still reloaded by inserting shells through the heat shield instead of the actual loading port. Gordon correctly does not cycle the shotgun's action after refilling a partially empty tube; making the SPAS-12 the only in-game weapon with a partial reload animation.
In Half-Life 2, like many other games, the player can only use the SPAS-12 in pump-action mode, while the real one can be switched between semi-auto and pump-action; NPCs appear to use the weapon in semi-auto mode, however. It only holds six shells like the short-barreled variant, although the in-game model shows the full-size version which should hold eight instead.
Franchi SPAS-12 without stock - 12 gauge
"You've stirred up hell! A man after my own heart!" 
"Here, I have a more suitable gun for you. You'll need it. Catch!"Father Grigori rather haphazardly throws a 9.7 lb shotgun across to another rooftop.
Gordon takes a closer look at his newfound shotgun.
The SPAS in idle. Note the exaggerated size of the carrier latch button on the receiver's left side.
Gordon fires his shotgun.
Racking the pump of the SPAS. The ejected shell appears to come out of the heatshield, instead of the actual ejection port (which at least lines up with where the game thinks its loading gate is).
Gordon fires "both barrels" of his SPAS; Freeman has evidently improved his firearm handling since the first game despite being in stasis for the last 20 years, as it no longer flies out of his hands.
Racking the pump still only ejects one shell. Note the markings on the receiver, which, though very low resolution and on the wrong side, are accurate to the real shotgun.
Gordon follows tradition and reloads his SPAS by cramming a shell into the heatshield...
...which promptly falls out only for Gordon to shove it back inside; this appears to be a glitch with the animation interpolation. Gordon also never presses the carrier latch button, which in reality would be required to allow shells to enter the loading port.
The empty reload will have Gordon pump it one last time.
A few SPAS-12s and a box of 12 gauge shells on the ground. Note that the world model has ejection ports on
both sides of the gun, a result of using the same texture for both sides of the receiver. The rounds in the ammo box also have struck primers, which isn't necessarily ideal.
Freeman holds an early SPAS-12 model in "The Thing", a mappack made before the release of
HL2 itself. This model of the shotgun has a pump that is slightly too short and a left-handed ejection port, though it never moves and still ejects out the right.
Rifles
Overwatch Standard Issue Pulse Rifle
The Overwatch Standard Issue Pulse Rifle (also known as the AR2, in reference to its internal name) is a fictional weapon mainly used by the Combine. It fires powerful pulse energy rounds from 30-round pulse plugs. Its secondary fire mode is a dark energy orb launcher, which launches orbs of dark energy that can disintegrate enemies. While more powerful and accurate than the MP7, it has very high recoil during sustained fire, necessitating short bursts to maintain accuracy.
The rifle has an interesting loading system. The magazine hanging off to the side holds 2 pulse plugs (a stat based on the in-game reserve ammo count of 60 rounds), and when the gun is reloaded, a little insect leg-like manipulator grabs a new pulse plug and inserts it into the chamber; the magazine is never reloaded with more pulse plugs. As for dark energy orbs, three can be carried at a time as well, though there is no reload animation for it; like with the MP7's secondary fire, the gun appears to hold the entire secondary reserve ammunition pool at once. NPCs reload the OSIPR by visibly replacing a magazine and pulling a nonexistent left-side charging handle; this is a remnant of the OICW, which was originally meant to be the AR2.
The model is recycled from a cut weapon known as the "Incendiary Rifle", essentially a 5-round repeating flare gun, which explains its weird loading system.
Gordon pulls out his newfound OSIPR at the beginning of the chapter "Highway 17".
Holding the AR2. The rifle appears to have a rear sight, but no front sight to line it up with.
Looking upwards will show more of the weapon and reveal that Gordon is only holding the rifle with one hand; this would at least somewhat explain the extreme recoil. At full size, the somewhat odd markings on the stock can be made out; they read "CINC'S MFG. CO. INC.", "MFG.TF RD. CANN", and "U.N.A.". The "V952" marking references the badge number of the texture artist's brother, who is a police officer in Ottawa; this marking is also present on many other Combine devices.
Firing the AR2 will have the small firing pin/hammer strike the pulse plug.
After about a second of sustained fire, a large section of the barrel's left side will open up.
Reloading the AR2 starts off with said hammer/firing pin extracting the old pulse plug, presumably with some kind of magnetic extraction system, as it has no visible extractor.
Inserting in the new plug is a rather glitchy process, as it starts out with the hammer clipping through the new plug...
...and a blink-and-you'll-miss-it swapping of the pulse plugs...
...and finally finishing off with seating the plug into the chamber.
A second pulse plug will be pulled out of the magazine shortly after; this second pulse plug is always present, regardless of how much ammo the player has in reserve.
Later in Nova Prospekt, Gordon remembers about those Dark Energy Orbs he picked up a while ago, and gives one a try; firing an orb will have a slight delay while the gun shakes slightly.
Afterwards, the orb will actually fire; this also makes the hammer strike the pulse plug, in a case of animation reuse from the IRifle.
He then finds out that he did not exactly think through the angle he was firing at.
Gordon looks at an OSIPR, one of its magazines, and a dark energy orb. The magazine asks even more questions as for how it loads, as it only gives 20 rounds and the magazine itself is never detached from the weapon when reloading; the dark energy orb is also far too large to fit in the rifle, and the rifle itself lacks a pulse plug in the chamber or magazine.
At a different point in development, Freeman holds his Incendiary Rifle in the map e3_bugbait, a level made for the game's E3 2003 demonstration. The IRifle's model is subtly different to the OSIPR's, particularly around the weapon's action.
He then proceeds to shoot a flare at an Overwatch Soldier; this proves to be rather ineffective. The OSIPR's secondary fire and reload animations are lifted directly from the IRifle; on a related note, the IRifle does not actually have a reload animation, with each round from the ammo reserve being loaded one-by-one at an incredibly slow pace.
Emplacement Gun
A machine gun variation of the OSIPR known as the "Emplacement Gun" can be found in various points throughout the game as, predictably enough, an emplaced machine gun. It has infinite ammunition and a faster rate of fire than the OSIPR. It also seems to lack any sort of trigger mechanism.
Taking a look at the left side of the Emplacement Gun. Note the OSIPR magazine that has no ammunition feeding to the gun at all.
The other side of the Emplacement Gun. Note the
HK-style 0-1 fire selector on the reciever as well as an
FN P90 charging handle located behind the magazine.
Taking hold of the machine gun; while every Emplacement Gun has underbarrel flashlights, only these ones on the outskirts of Nova Prospekt have them turn on.
Winchester Model 1886
The Winchester Model 1886 is the main weapon of Father Grigori. While the model is very low-detail, it can be identified as an 1886 by the loading gate. In the leaked beta for Half-Life 2, Grigori's Winchester had a longer barrel and magazine tube. However, this was shortened for the final product. In what is likely another case of mistaking the magazine tube for a barrel, the rifle in-game only holds two rounds, despite its real life counterpart holding up to 9 rounds in the tubular magazine; it is also internally coded to fire .357 Magnum, which the Winchester 1886 is not available in. It is referred to in the game's files as "Annabelle", although it is never directly referred to in-game.
Like Alyx's pistol, Annabelle can be spawned through the developer's console using the code "give weapon_annabelle", or by using some glitches. Because it wasn't intended to be usable, the view model is identical to the SPAS-12's and the animations are riddled with errors.
Winchester Model 1886 - .45-70 Government
In-game model for "Annabelle". Its textures are identical on each side of the rifle as it possesses a loading gate on both sides of the receiver.
Father Grigori holds his Winchester Model 1886.
Grigori fires his rifle, which produces far more recoil than what a rifle in .357 should. Also note that it ejects shotgun shells for some reason.
He then reloads by inserting only one round into the loading gate on the wrong side of the receiver.
Explosives
MK3A2 Offensive Hand Grenade
While "M83 FRAG" is written on them in-game, the hand grenades in Half-Life 2 are closely based on the MK3A2 concussion grenade, but emit a red LED light and a beeping sound when armed as they are made by the Combine Overwatch for its soldiers. Five grenades can be held at once.
MK3A2 offensive hand grenade
Gordon grabs a MK3A2 and rips out the pin; this is not the best idea, as grenade pins are typically quite hard to put back in.
Afterwards, Gordon will secure the lever with his thumb.
Tossing the grenade. Interestingly, grenades thrown by Gordon have 3-second fuses and beep five times, but grenades thrown by NPCs have 5-second fuses and beep seven times.
After either 3 or 5 seconds, the grenade explodes.
Gordon performs an underhanded grenade toss.
Performing an underhand throw while crouched will have Gordon roll the grenade.
Gordon looks at some unprimed grenades on a desk. The markings read "GRENADE HAND", "OFFENSIVE MK3A2", and "TNT", much like on the real thing.
Gordon looks at a crate of grenades. Even though these crates visibly contain ten grenades (of which five will be depleted when Gordon takes any amount), it actually contains an infinite amount of grenades (which magically regenerates when the cover is closed). The grenade model seen in the crate has the LED on the top of the spoon, rather than on the fuse; the label on the crate also rather oddly describes them as "FRAG. ROUNDS".
Saab Bofors Dynamics AT4
The "RPG" in Half-Life 2 is based on the Saab Bofors Dynamics AT4, albeit backwards (the launcher's muzzle is actually the AT4's rear in real life) and with an FIM-92 Stinger-like gripstock assembly. It is quite frequently used by the Resistance members to take down Striders and Gunships. Like the modified Armbrust ATW from Half-Life, it is laser-guided; while rather slow, the weapon's rockets are extremely sophisticated (with instantaneous mid-flight corrections being achieved by simply pointing the launcher at a different target), highly maneuverable, and never run out of fuel. Unlike the Armbrust from the previous game, the laser guidance cannot be turned off with the secondary fire key, though pre-release builds of the game had this feature.
Saab Bofors Dynamics AT4 - 84mm
"This steerable rocket launcher is our best bet for taking down a Gunship."Colonel Odessa Cubbage introduces the launcher. Note that the rear of the launcher is sealed up, which would make it have quite the recoil impulse.
The other end of the launcher, showing off the weirdly flared-out muzzle, a side-effect of it being the wrong way round.
"Now, who's going to be the lucky one to carry it into combat?""Ah, yes! Gordon Freeman! Couldn't have asked for a finer volunteer!"Some of the AT4's markings can still be seen, such as the "fire like this" diagram.
Having dealt with a pesky conveniently-timed Gunship, Gordon takes a closer look at the "RPG", beginning with a rather awkward draw animation.
Once the drawing animation is complete, the laser will turn on. Gordon holds the launcher with his left hand on the pistol grip, and his right hand is presumably holding the launcher's tube directly, rather like how an actual AT4 is held; considering that it now has a proper gripstock, why he doesn't use his right hand on the pistol grip and his left on the cylindrical portion of the gripstock is unclear.
The rocket motor also doesn't ignite right away, and the screen will briefly white out when it starts as Gordon gets a face full of rocket exhaust.
Gordon demostrates one of its more novel and less worrying features: its guiding system.
Reloading the launcher will just have Gordon lower it and shake it a little.
Gordon runs out of rockets; unlike every other weapon, he will lower the weapon (as if it were pointed at a friendly NPC) instead of automatically switching to a different one.
Gordon looks at another rocket launcher and some spare rockets; note that the world model appears to have a blue tint, despite the view model being green. The rockets are also far too large to actually fit into the launcher; these rockets are also fired by Combine APCs, presumably implying that the Resistance-built RPG was created specifically to fire captured Combine rockets.
ATK SLAM
The SLAM was originally cut from Half-Life 2, but was later reimplemented in Half-Life 2: Deathmatch. It has two modes of operation - as a laser tripmine to set up ambushes, or a remotely detonated explosive, essentially taking on the roles of the Satchel Charges and Laser Tripmines from the original Half-Life. The player can carry a total of 5 SLAMs at once.
Preparing to toss the SLAM. Note the markings which denote it as an M2 SLAM.
Afterwards, the detonator will be equipped and the thrown SLAM will have a blinking red light turn on.
Bracing against a wall will switch it to tripmine mode, as shown by the player opening the infrared sensor cover.
When it is deployed on the wall, it will emit a laser. It incorrectly uses a visible wavelength laser, whereas the real thing uses a passive infrared sensor.
If something crosses the beam (e.g. a player), the SLAM will detonate.
A closeup of a deployed SLAM.
Mounted Weapons
Hunter-Chopper Gun
The turret mounted on the Hunter-Chopper is mostly fictional, but appears to be loosely based on a KPV heavy machine gun. Unlike the Combine's other pulse-firing weapons, the Hunter-Chopper gun has a charge time.
Freeman looks at the gun on a Hunter-Chopper as it flies
very low down.
The Chopper shooting at Gordon.
Airboat Gun
While the game claims that the gun mounted on the Airboat is the same as the one on the Hunter-Chopper, they are clearly different, both aesthetically and functionally. The one mounted on the Airboat appears to be inspired by a Browning M2HB, and does not require charging. It has an ammo reserve of 100 shots that recharges over time.
Concept art for the Jet Ski, the predecessor to the Airboat, showed it with a mounted M60.
Gordon looks at the right side of an Airboat gun that is not mounted on the Airboat. This gun, along with another one in the same room as it, are the only usable mounted guns in the game that are not Emplacement Guns.
The left side of the gun.
Firing it into the water.
The Airboat gun, actually mounted on the Airboat this time.
Firing at a similar target as before.
Overwatch Sniper Rifle
The rifle used by Combine snipers is a rather odd pivot-mounted rifle that bears a resemblance to the Walther WA 2000. While snipers appear in all the Half-Life 2 games, the rifle itself is only seen in Episode Two. It is very powerful, capable of killing Resistance members and most enemies in one shot. Snipers can only be taken out with explosives such as grenades.
In the original game, its sound effects were held over from the cut LAR Grizzly Big Boar, with snipers audibly working a bolt and chambering a round; in the Episode games, the sound was changed to an electronic chargeup type sound. This was retroactively changed in the original game through a patch.
Walther WA 2000 (first variant) - .308 Winchester
Gordon looks at the only sniper rifle that is directly seen. It is mentioned that the rifle requires a power source, presumably to handwave why Gordon can't use it himself.
Gordon looks at Alyx using the rifle, showing off its blue laser beam. One would think that a sniper would not want a highly visible laser beam that would easily give away their position on their rifle.
Gordon demonstrates that someone at Valve didn't think through putting a crate of infinite MP7 greandes near Alyx using the sniper rifle enough; the reason for this is that Alyx in this instance is actually a Combine sniper that is programmed to ignore the player.
PKT
A machine gun based on the PKT is mounted on Combine APCs as its secondary armament. It fires pulse energy (like many of the Combine's weapons) and has infinite ammunition despite not having any visible source of it.
The PKT on an unattended Combine APC.
An APC firing its PKT at Gordon; APCs are always positioned in a way that avoids the issue of what the APC is supposed to do if it has to fire at anything to the right of itself.
Cut Weapons
The following weapons were included in the leaked build of Half-Life 2, but did not appear in the final game:
AKM
The AKM, known in the game as "AR1" was to be given to many of the Rebels. It lacks a muzzle brake, and has the narrower handguard and wider front sight of an AK-47. The in-game AKM holds 30 rounds and has 5 different firing modes, ranging from fastest to slowest, the faster modes being weaker, and the slower firing modes dealing more damage per shot.
Freeman holds the AKM, showing off its very broken model. Note the ejection port on the rifle's opposite side, which is frankly the least of its worries.
Heckler & Koch GR9S
The Heckler & Koch GR9S, known as the "HMG1", was supposed to be a portable machine gun in the game and was to be carried by Overwatch soldiers. It features two firing modes, fully automatic and 3-round-burst, and the scope was not a usable feature. The rounds fired also dealt incredible damage.
Heckler & Koch GR9S - 5.56x45mm NATO
Heckler & Koch MP5K
The Heckler & Koch MP5K was originally planned to be the "SMG1" in Half-Life 2, prior to being replaced with the stylised MP7 seen in the final game. It is the world model for the MP7 in the Half-Life 2 leaked alpha, the first-person model having been replaced before the leak. Based on unused sound effects included within the build, the MP5K featured two firing modes, fully automatic and burst fire, and would've been able to be suppressed.
Heckler & Koch MP5K with Navy lower - 9x19mm Parabellum
An MP5K on the ground; its magazine appears to be a 15-rounder that is not fully inserted in, instead of the 30-rounder it is supposed to have.
Heckler & Koch MP7 Prototype
Different to the final MP7 (which is also present in the leaked build), a more realistic model appears in the leak as the "SMG2". Also unlike the retail submachine gun, this PDW has a more suitable reload animation where Gordon properly disposes of the magazine after working its release. The PDW prototype is modelled with a 20-round magazine, but incorrectly holds triple that amount. It can fire in full-auto or strangely, in 3-round bursts; some builds of the game give the PDW a semi-auto option, but its gunshot report sounds like a burst.
Heckler & Koch PDW (2nd prototype) - 4.6x30mm
Side shot of the "SMG2" viewmodel.
First-person view of the MP7, showing the weirdly blocky appearance. In this particular render, the holographic sight lacks proper transparency but it is present in gameplay.
Heckler & Koch XM29 OICW
The XM29 OICW was to be the standard weapon of the Combine forces. It was replaced with the OSIPR following a brush-up on consistency with weapon standards and themes relevant to the game. It features a functional scope which increases accuracy and lowers the rate of fire; as seen in the leaked E3 2002 trailer, it had the ability to fire grenades like the real weapon, but this was later removed and the grenade launcher function was placed onto the SMG.
The in-game weapon's textures were based on the reference image below.
Heckler & Koch XM29 OICW, 2002 prototype - 5.56x45mm NATO & 20x28mm
Freeman holds his OICW while onboard the
Borealis, a ship cut from
Half-Life 2. Not to be confused with the
Borealis, a ship that was not cut from
Half-Life 2: Episode Two.
Aiming down the scope puts a green tint over the screen.
Firing the rifle; like the final game's OSIPR, the OICW features very high recoil, but is more noticeable on the OICW due to its higher fire rate. Also, while not very noticeable here, is that the bolt itself never moves when the gun is fired; only the charging handle reciprocates. The muzzle flash also appears to come out of the grenade launcher barrel.
Freeman pulls out an empty magazine (that still has rounds in it)...
...and taps it in place; the charging handle is never pulled. Also note that the safety is on.
The OICW's world model, featuring barrels that are much longer than both the real weapon and the in-game viewmodel and a completely useless second magazine. The STANAG magazine next to it is a pickup for the "Medium Round" ammo type; in the leaked version of the game, weapons use certain ammo types that they share, instead of each weapon having its own unique ammunition. The Medium Round is obviously used by the OICW here, but is also used by the AKM, the final game's MP7, and, strangely, the USP Match.
LAR Grizzly Big Boar
Early versions of the game included a .50 caliber LAR Grizzly Big Boar sniper rifle with a thumbhole stock. The rifle was incredibly powerful and had two zoom levels, a non-working muzzleflash effect which took up the entire screen, and a long reload time as it was single shot only. It is used by the Combine Snipers in early versions and was replaced in the final released game with a crossbow that fired super-heated pieces of rebar.
LAR Grizzly Big Boar - .50 BMG
World model of the cut LAR Grizzly Big Boar sniper rifle.
Orion Flare Gun
The 25mm Orion flare gun is another cut weapon that was supposed to be used by Combine soldiers and guards at Nova Prospekt. It is an older pre-1995 model of the Orion 25mm signal launcher made from metal and standard plastic grips. The one in the leaked build has blue grips, but textures for an earlier revision with red grips exist in the files. In-game, the Orion can fire flares normally or has an alternate fire that allows it to launch flares underwater (although they do not travel very far).
In the retail game and its episodes, Combine soldiers are scripted to fire a flare in some dark areas the player is in, though the soldiers firing the round have intentionally been hidden to hide the lack of actual flare gun model. The cut Orion's firing sound has been reused for this, and the flare projectile beneath the bright light effects are incorrectly of the entire 25mm cartridge (which itself uses a completely different case model from the flare rounds in the leaked builds).
Orion flare gun with blue grips - 25mm
Worldmodel of the flare gun. Note the Orion logo.
Viewmodel for this flare gun. The reload animation is broken, as the barrel is never opens and Gordon never inserts a flare into the chamber.
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