Crowbar
From Combine OverWiki, the English Half-Life Wikia
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- "I think you dropped this back in Black Mesa" - Barney Calhoun
The Crowbar is a tool and mêlée weapon famously used by Gordon Freeman in the Half-Life series. Perhaps the most iconic weapon in the Half-Life universe, the crowbar is the first weapon acquired by Freeman in both games. As its status as being one of the most iconic weapons in gaming, multiple references are made to Half-Life by subtle use of crowbars in games. The crowbar is perhaps almost as famous for being reffered to Half-Life as Gordon Freeman.
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[edit] Overview
The crowbar fulfills the role of a tool and a basic mêlée weapon. It is used for breaking open supply crates, clearing obstructions, and attacking enemies up close.
[edit] Half-Life
It is the first weapon acquired in the game, it is found in the broken laser hallway in the beginning of the chapter "Unforeseen Consequences", and is used to break the glass door blocking the path ahead, facilitating an escape. After Gordon is captured in "Apprehension", another crowbar is found at the top of the trash compactor. It is notable that crowbars can also be found in various areas of Black Mesa beyond "Unforeseen Consequences", such as in a tool room just above the freight lift at the beginning of the "Blast Pit" chapter. In addition, a Dr. Kleiner-like scientist in Blue Shift (named "Walter") uses a crowbar to smash a padlock on the gate covering a road leading out of Black Mesa.
[edit] Half-Life 2
Once again, it is the first weapon acquired in the game. It is given to the player in the chapter "A Red Letter Day" by Barney Calhoun, a former Black Mesa Security Guard who was operating undercover inside Civil Protection, saying, "Before I forget, I think you dropped this back in Black Mesa.", suggesting that he found the missing crowbar from Gordon Freeman. This is most likely, as in Blue Shift, the ending video features Barney being teleported into a small maintenance shed with a window grate showing Freeman being dragged there by two U.S. Marines, presumably at which point the crowbar could have possibly fallen through as the scientist was stripped of his weapons in the original game.
[edit] Episode One
The crowbar is provided in the fourth chapter Urban Flight, when the player encounters Barney Calhoun in an apartment building. He gives Gordon a crowbar wedged in a bridge control, remarking he "doesn't have many of these left".
[edit] Episode Two
It is found in the first chapter, "To The White Forest", in an elevator shaft inside an abandoned mining complex. The crowbar is found wedged in an elevator's controls. Prying it loose will yield the crowbar, but will send the elevator crashing down into an Antlion nest, separating the player from the Vortigaunt.
[edit] Usage
The crowbar is generally more useful as a tool than a weapon. It is ideal for clearing obstructions, smashing objects, knocking padlocks off of gates, etc. In combat, the crowbar is very effective against Headcrabs and Manhacks, and is fairly effective against standard Zombies. The crowbar is also a handy backup weapon if an enemy gets too close, especially if you are low on ammunition; a few hits with a crowbar should deter small targets. Crowbars take 5 hits to take out regular zombies and combine, 1 hit to take out all headcrabs and 2 to take out a manhack (however the first strike will cause it to fly away, leaving more time for another hit). This renders it very effective against headcrabs and manhacks, especially in Ravenholm, although requiring good reflexes and knowledge of how to defeat them. Zombies are easier to defeat due to their slow attacking speed enabling easy dodging, however usage against poison zombies is only recommended if few other enemies are nearby and the extra poison headcrabs on its' back have been accounted for. Usage against fast zombies isn't recommended due to their incredible speed. Furthermore, when ambushing or rushing a combine unit, you will recieve minimum damage by using a crowbar - the combine unit will fire once and attempt to hit you, but if you attack as fast as possible he will be dead by the time he does this.
It should be noted that the Gravity Gun tends to supplant the Crowbar in Half-Life 2 as it is more versatile; it is quite effective at obliterating obstructions more quickly and for hurling heavy environment objects like furniture over short ranges for large amounts of impact damage (see Ravenholm). It should also be noted that the Gravity Gun is able to kill headcrabs using three primary fire blasts, providing yet another reason not to use the crowbar as the standard tool.
[edit] Trivia
- In Halo 3, a crowbar can be found lying around on the multiplayer map "Sandtrap" that bears a striking similarity to Gordon's crowbar. Sandtraps is also the name of Half-Life 2's eighth chapter.
- In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, a crowbar similar to Gordon's can be seen lying on a table inside the Area 69 government facility.
- At the beginning of Bioshock, Atlas, your guide, instructs you to 'Find a crowbar or something'. This references the use of a crowbar in Half life.
[edit] Other images
 A comparison shot of the HL1 and HL2 Crowbars. |
| Weapons of the Half-Life Series | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Half-Life | Crowbar · 9mm Pistol · .357 Magnum · Shotgun · Submachine Gun · Hand Grenade · Satchel Charge · Laser Tripmine · RPG · Crossbow · Gluon Gun · Tau Cannon (Gauss Gun) · Hivehand · Snark | ||
| Opposing Force | Pipe Wrench · Combat Knife · Desert Eagle · M40A1 Sniper Rifle · M249 Squad Automatic Weapon · Displacer · Spore Launcher · Shock Roach | ||
| Half-Life 2 | Crowbar · Gravity Gun · 9mm Pistol · .357 Magnum · Submachine Gun · Shotgun · AR2 Pulse Rifle · RPG · Crossbow · Hand Grenade · Bugbait | ||
| Other | Overwatch Sniper Rifle · SLAM · Magnusson Device · Portal Gun | ||
