Half-Life: Alyx

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Half-Life: Alyx (2020)

Half-Life: Alyx is a 2020 virtual reality first-person shooter developed and published by Valve Software. The highly anticipated continuation of the acclaimed Half-Life series, Half-Life: Alyx was designed to be the flagship title for Valve's own VR headset, the Index.

Set five years before the events of Half-Life 2, players control 19-year-old Alyx Vance, a member of the fledging resistance force against the interdimensional Combine Empire that have occupied Earth. Operating in City 17 somewhere in Eastern Europe, Alyx and her allies discover that the Combine are hiding something mysterious and very powerful within the city, sending Alyx on a journey to find a weapon that could tip the scales in the battle for Earth.

The following weapons appear in the video game Half-Life: Alyx:

Para-Ordnance LDA

A modified Para-Ordnance LDA appears as the first firearm obtainable in the game. By default, it is fitted with a muzzle brake, as well as a set of aftermarket illuminated sights, and grips similar to those of a Kimber Warrior with an electronic ammo counter in the left panel. The LDA has four upgrades (a reflex sight, a conversion from semi-auto to a selectable 3-round burst mode, a "bullet reservoir" that doubles the capacity from 10 rounds to 20 with a strange device that pulls rounds out of the ejection port, and a laser sight); these upgrades ultimately make it resemble (and, lore-wise, presumably making it into) Alyx Vance's pistol from Half-Life 2. One of the bonuses included with a pre-order of Alyx was a set of alternate weapon skins; the LDA's consisted of a blued finish with wooden grips.

Para-Ordnance P14.45 LDA - .45 ACP

"You're gonna need a gun! Don't worry, it's unloaded."
"It's unloaded now!"
The LDA's first shot comes not at the hands of the player, but the pistol itself; having apparently forgotten to check the chamber, Russell's throw somehow sets the gun off (possibly due to its modifications, since nearly all factory-stock 1911 derivatives are drop-safe). Interestingly, the effects here are rather out-of-sync; the slide locks back before it goes off (never mind that most handguns don't lock back without an empty magazine inserted anyway), and the windshield breaks a couple frames later (made even stranger by the fact that the gun isn't even pointing at it). Suffice it to say, the pacing of the scene makes these details rather hard to notice in-game.

Alyx loading a double stack magazine into her pistol.

Right side view of the gun after releasing the slide.

Attempting to leave Russell's yard, Alyx immediately runs into an obstacle, and decides to take aim at it; the notch-and-post illuminated irons are an interesting choice, compared to the quasi-standard 3-dot setup most video game handguns feature.

"Oh. You, uh, took care of that lock, then. Good. Great.

...DID have the key for it. But, should've given you that. That, that's on me."

Just outside the Quarantine Zone, Alyx looks over one of the LDA's magazines. Despite having a deeper base than standard 14-round LDA mags, these only hold 10 rounds of .45 ACP (all of which are jacketed flat-points); presumably, the extra space houses the electronics for the round counter and lights. Oddly, despite how common these mags are in-game (with numerous Combine personnel carrying them, and several being stashed in various places), nobody but Alyx ever uses them for anything.

The LDA's first upgrade consists of a reflex sight (which appears to be some sort of two-part hologram projector); this is mounted on a rather large sheet-metal bracket attached to the frame, which seems to partially block the muzzle brake (which at least lines up with how the Combine tend to build things).

Looking through the sight at a zombie; aside from giving the player a nice, clear yellow dot to aim with, the reflex sight also highlights enemy weakpoints and other notable targets - in this case, both the headcrab on the zombie's head (the enemy's weakest point) and the explosive gas container next to it are highlighted.

Shotgun

The second weapon Alyx can acquire, the game's shotgun is a fictitious design vaguely reminiscent of the Techno Arms MAG-7, with an AK-esque receiver and a Franchi SPAS-12-esque barrel, magazine tube, and set of iron sights. It is semi-automatic, with a capacity of 6+1 12-gauge shells; it is reloaded by breaking open the receiver and loading shells directly into the magazine tube, in a manner possibly inspired by the Cosmi Lusso, albeit with a traditional underbarrel magazine tube instead of one in the stock. It is marked with the logo of the fictitious "RATEL" brand, and features markings implying Combine ownership (which lines up with it being taken from a dead Combine worker); accordingly, Combine Chargers carry a modified version, with a longer barrel and magazine tube, a heat shield, no stock or trigger guard, and a variety of large, bulky modifications to the front end, including what appears to be a drum magazine of some sort.

Like the LDA, the Shotgun features an alternate pre-order bonus skin, in this case a cleaner satin-nickel finish with a textured black pistol grip; also like the LDA, it features 4 optional upgrades - a laser sight (which blocks the irons, and projects a circle that shows the size of the weapon's spread), a "Double Shot" upgrade that gives it a SPAS-12's heat shield and a set of indicator lights, somehow allowing the weapon to fire two shots in rapid succession (in a manner reminiscent of the "fire both barrels" option from the prior games' actual SPAS-12s, though the two rounds are fired neither simultaneously nor in a quick burst - the mechanical delay between the first and second shots is simply cut down to almost nothing), an "Autoloader" that holds 6 extra shells on the side of the weapon, and automatically loads them into the magazine tube whenever it is opened, and a grenade launcher that fires entire hand grenades (somehow converting them from timer-based to impact-based detonation; oddly, though the manner in which they are fired suggests that this is supposed to work like a bullet-trap rifle grenade launcher, firing grenades neither consumes nor requires shotgun shells).

The Ratel/Shotgun as it is initially acquired - straight from the cold, dead, long-fingered hands of a zombified Combine worker that the sewers' resident Vortiguant had hung from the ceiling by his ankle to use as headcrab bait. Unlike the boxes of shotgun shells said worker was carrying, the shotgun itself can't be grabbed with Alyx's Gravity Gloves (or "Russells", if you prefer), so she has to lower the corpse to grab it by hand.

Upon doing so, Alyx will grab the weapon by its receiver with whatever hand she reaches out first; this is unique, since following this...

...the weapon can only be held by the pistol grip, and only with the player's selected "weapon" hand. Note the red area near the muzzle; the charging handle has a red LED on it, which lights up whenever the chamber is empty.

Opening up the shotgun for reloading occurs in two stages: first, Alyx uses her thumb to push the tab-like lever behind the trigger down, causing the AK-safety-esque diagonal component above the trigger to tilt.

Next, a folding armature inside the lower receiver unfolds as the barrel slides forward and the entire upper receiver tips down at the front.

Pausing for a moment to take a look a pair of shells; according to the markings, these are 70mm (2 3/4") 9-pellet 00 buck shells, made by the fictional "Salvotech" company (a brand which is also featured on Half-Life 2's shotgun shell boxes). They're more or less just ordinary 12 gauge shells, barring the addition of a glowing blue ring just above the brass (presumably to make locating them easier).

Remembering that this is (ostensibly) a time-pressured scene, and shoving the shells into the magazine tube; they can be loaded in 1 or 2 at a time, depending on how many are needed and/or available. Here, the hinged armature in the receiver presumably responsible for forcing/holding the shotgun open is clearly visible.

Grabbing the shotgun by the magazine tube and forcing it shut; as the text prompt shows, this can also be achieved by simply swinging your hand upwards, but that doesn't make for a good screencap.

Racking the forward-mounted folding charging handle, and chambering a shell; note what appears to be a Combine ownership mark/serial number on the... slide? Dustcover? Bolt carrier? Not really sure what the precedent is here...

Right around when Alyx figures out how to load the shotgun, several zombies bust through the walls. Better hope you've figured out the irons by that point, too.

Truth be told, it's not strictly necessary - the zombies are close enough for point-shooting to work just fine, and the shotgun isn't effective much further than that anyway.

Ammo pickups for the shotgun come in one of two forms: loose shells, or plastic boxes like this one. These have space for a dozen shells (and no markings), but never contain anything close to that. Still, they're always a welcome sight - even before they can be used, since the first one available (shown here) is obtained before the shotgun itself is.

Taking advantage of the uncharacteristic friendliness of a Combine Charger, and getting in for a closer look at his shotgun.

A view of the shotgun's underside; note the large drum, and the diagonal box sticking off it. The function of either of these things is unclear.

See, the unfortunate thing about uncharacteristic behavior is that it tends to be neither common nor permanent.

Mark 19 Grenade Launcher

The Strider battle at the end of "Breaking and Entering" is finished via a large Combine-manufactured repeating cannon; this appears to be more or less an oversized Mk 19 Grenade Launcher with some Combine embellishments. Unlike the actual Mark 19, the Combine weapon is manually-operated; running the charging handle cycles the action, and fires a shot whenever said action is closed.

Mark 19 Mod 3 Grenade Launcher on M3 tripod with 32-round belt box and current-production flash hider - 40x53mm

"Hey, do ya mind? I'm trying to take some screenshots here."

Muttering about "the nerve of some people these days", Alyx takes up the grenade launcher's controls and decides to give the Strider a piece of her mind.

Working the action; this only requires running the charging handle back and forth, but occurs in 3 distinct stages - first, the dustcover opens as the bolt slides back...

...then the "belt" (which lacks any obvious links, and thus presumably uses magnets or something) gets pulled further into the action, placing a round in the feed tray...

...and then the bolt goes forward as the dustcover closes, chambering (and immediately firing) the shell. No spent cases are ejected during this process, so these shells are presumably caseless.

Taking aim at the offending creature; the weapon lacks sights of any sort, so aiming is mostly a matter of guessing and adjusting. The fact that the Strider is consistently hammering the energy-based gunshield with a laser light show doesn't help.

Still, with a bit of trial and error...

...a shot will hit its mark. And then several more, since the Strider doesn't die from the first one. Luckily, the Combine have apparently figured out unlimited ammo, so your only limiting factor is time.

Having dealt with the long-legged nuisance, Alyx stops for a breather, and takes a look at the weapon's right side.

And the business end, for good measure; note the slotted flash hider, indicative of a current-production Mark 19. Or post-current, in this case.