Fans of the original Half-Life will no doubt remember all the classic weapons that Gordon Freeman gets to use, and an expert on firearms has analyzed the in-game guns to compare them to real ones. It's a bit of a shame that Valve isn't really known for making games these days. Primarily focused on its lucrative Steam platform, as well as last year's Steam Deck mobile PC, Gabe Newell and his team are still a force to be reckoned with in the gaming industry.
Beginning life more than two and half decades ago, Valve hit the ground running with its maiden release Half-Life, a title that's gone down as one of the most important FPS games of the 1990s, if not of all time. With impressive visuals for the time and its environmental storytelling, this influential title made a huge impact on the genre that created a wave still being felt today. Aside from the story, general world building, and myriad of enemies the player gets to fight, one thing that makes the game stand out is its roster of guns.
Recently, the weapons in Half-Life have come under the figurative microscope of Jonathan Ferguson, a weapons expert and Keeper of Firearms & Artillery at the Royal Armouries in the UK. In a video uploaded to GameSpot's YouTube channel, Ferguson looks deeply into the guns of not only this game, but Half-Life 2 and the fan remake Black Mesa. Of course, being a firearms specialist, he is able to see how well the digital models stack up against their real-life counterparts. While Ferguson understands video game weapons aren't going to be 100% accurate, it is interesting to note how similar they are. For example, he noted that the shotgun from the first game is similar to a SPAS-12, albeit shorter. Ferguson does criticize the fact that Half-Life's version uses two barrels to eject shells, whereas the real-world one's second barrel is actually for storing ammunition. Nevertheless, Ferguson agrees that the shotgun in the game is very satisfying.
While it has one of the most iconic crowbars in gaming, 1998's Half-Life offers up so much more than the ability to break boxes and hit headcrabs out of the air. There's plenty of choice at Freeman's disposal, both Earth-like and alien, that help the theoretical physicist overcome the alien attack and take on the military troops sent in to cover up the Black Mesa catastrophe.
Ferguson has also offered up his expertise on other games. For example, he recently gave an analysis of the weapons in GoldenEye 007, again seeing how accurately the developers were able to simulate real guns. It's true that studios will take liberties when it comes to making video games, but it's fascinating to see that while there are inconsistencies, great care goes into certain aspects to make them as true to life as possible.
Half-Life is available on PC and PS2.
