Discussion of Half-Life's Crowbar Created 18 years ago2005-10-03 22:39:05 UTC by Luweeg64

An Intelligent Discussion on the Effectiveness of the Crowbar in Various Half-Life Gametypes and Modes

For the first part of this discussion I will focus on the crowbar in relation to the Half-Life universe, and then in the second, move on to an objective comparison of the crowbar to weapons in other First Person Shooters, and Action games.

The Crowbar when used in the single player story mode, is mainly used for three purposes. To conserve ammo for harder and more taxing parts of the single player game, in a last resort situation when you have run out of ammo, and as bragging rights by trying to complete the game using it.

The crowbar, when viewed next to some of the other weapons in Half-Life is severly underpowered. As in Old-School First Person Shooter Deathmatch Focused Multiplayer gameplay, most weapons are ridicously powerful, and can disable a foe in very few shots, much like in real life. The Tau Cannon, the Gluon Gun, the Homing-Rocket Launcher, or the Sniped Crossbow, being these guns. While playing a deathmatch game of Half-Life, I find it very odd indeed when I see some players running through open fields of play with nothing more than "their trusty crowbar". These are usually the people that end up at the bottom of the score sheet. It is much more effective to use any other weapon, because of the field of fire - the crowbar is severly limited in reach and can't hit targets from afar -, or in close quaters combat situations to use the shotgun for it's power and double-shot capabilites.

In single player, however, the crowbar plays a slightly larger role, and can be helpful at times to assist you in progressing through the game. This is probably why many fans of the Half-Life series love seeing the protagonist, Gordon Freeman, wearing his H.E.V., with the crowbar at his side. To some he might resemble a midevil kinght, with his sword glinting in the sunlight. But unlike a sword, a crowbar has much less of a danger zone. The only two places it could cause lacerations would be the two tips, one of which - I may add - is curved to an odd angle, that Dr. Freeman would have to be swiping down with it to cause damage to his addversary, which leaves him severly open to counter-attack. If Gordon were to swing with a substantial amount of force, he might be able to cause brusing, or even fracturing of bones, but this would wear him down quicker, and if he didn't follow throught correctly, the excess force would be absorbed by his body, more specifically, his hands, wrists, and arms. This could render our dear Doctor incapable of defending himself.

For comparison purposes, I will use two popular First Person Shooters, a console game, Halo 2, and a computer game(originally), Doom 3.

Halo 2 implements the use of meleeing for all weapons, such that, all players in the game have a roughly equal chance of surviving a close quaters battle. In a given situation, a skilled player need not switch to his shotgun (provided he has one), but instead strike his opponent, while evading his opponets blows and/or bullets.

Doom 3 on the other hand decided to go the same way as Half-Life and gives the player the option of either punching or using a chainsaw. Obviously a chain saw would be a more efficient weapon, provided that the carrier of the weapon could keep the machine under control, and could maintain contact with his victim.

In a final analysis, I will list the strenghts weaknesses of each type of game mechanic in both single and multiplayer play.

Half-Life's crowbar

Single Player:

Pros: Saves Ammo, Always available, Bragging rights
Cons: Weakness of blows on enemys

Multiplayer:

Pros: Bragging rights
Cons: You are more likely to have a negative kill-to-death ratio

Halo 2's melee

Single Player:

Pros: Always available, good way to finish off foes, Bragging Rights
Cons: Slight swing when meleeing takes up time

Multiplayer:

Pros: Always available, instant kill if applied to opponents back, Medals
Cons: Can become disoriented

Doom 3's chainsaw

Single Player:

Pros: No ammo restriction, good for close quaters
Cons: Availablity in game

Multiplayer:

Pros: Bragging rights, Fun
Cons: Only effective for close quaters

In summation, the crowbar isn't half bad in it's own regard, but when put up against other weapons, and melee style combat, it is lacking. The only place it belongs in a Half-Life Multiplayer Deathmatch the crowbar should only be used in the case of emergency. But it will still live on in the hearts of Half-Life fans as Gordon's trusty friend.

Written by Luweeg64

Thanks for reading, and please add input to the discussion!

and you missed its also used in SP for breaking boxes

Och...I nearly finished the first paragraph and I got a headche! How can you write so much?

Elon: He?s a mutant from space

or hes a computer

I like this thread. Keep it on topic or I delete OT posts.

I dunno, I just like the crowbar because...well...its a crowbar, not a generic sword or something. Chainsaw is cool too, but eh, it's not horribly useful in D3 methinks. Not that many breaky things.

Half-Life was one of the first FPS games I played when I said "Whoa, look at these graphics!". When I played the original demo, I had a great 'ol time hitting the crowbar against walls (the noise was just hillarious) and messing around with corpses till they exploded. It's a very original weapon, one that's used as a proper melee weapon. Most games have melee weapons as a "second-option" thing, and they don't feel like real weapons.

While playing a deathmatch game of Half-Life, I find it very odd indeed when I see some players running through open fields of play with nothing more than "their trusty crowbar". These are usually the people that end up at the bottom of the score sheet

I disagree. I use the crowbar all the time and i'm always at the top. The crowbar is extremely useful, because people are so afraid to get killed by someone using it. And if you corner someone when you are using the mighty crowbar, your victim is as good as dead. plus, its so fun to use because of the sounds

I use the crowbar after I die until i can find a shotgun or better. I never use the 9mm pistol..

Crowbars are powerfull if you get close enough to somebody with a crowbar then he will lose tons of health or die!

Well, the HL2DM crowbar is totally pawned by the stunstick, sad to say. It's quite versatile in HLDM though.

Yep, in HLDM the crowbar is great. when you get up close, the opponent will literally brick it, unable to use their 9mmAR on a swerving target and thus spraying bulets all over the roof, wall and floor.

Also, in HL2DM, the crowbar and stun stick are fantastically powerful, killing more often than not in 2 hits.

And you must wonder what the hell valvE were thinking when they said 'crowbar.. yep.. a crowbar to kill those bastards of crabs'

Ergo - crowbar pwns

Egon and gauss pwn the crowbar

tut tut Elon, what did I tell you about smilies?

Ok

Well the 1st time I played HL, the crowbar looked soooo original... I mean - the other melee wpns were mostly carp in other games and used by the player only in the beginning, until you get a normal wpn or not used at all. While the crowbar in HL was used by the player through 1/2 or even thru the whole game, trying to save those last mags of the 9mm or the shotgun. Now ppl, who play HLSP for the 2nd, 3rd time, use the crowbar more often, just to show the headcrabs, zombies, slaves and hgrunts, who's 73h m@s73r. I mean it's still fun to run around a slow-moving zombie in circles and bash him with the crowbar once in a while and then watch him trying to hit you desperately..
However, in MP - you can easily overcome the crowbar, as long as you look, where you're going (and as long as the opponent doen't have the long-jump module ). It's extremely powerful, combined with the long-jump and the gauss gun.. (Take Muzz as an example)
In HL2 - most ppl use the crowbar only until they get the grav gun. Although I still use the crowbar to bash the crates all the time. I just drag em over closer to me with the grav gun and bash em with a crowbar then.
The crowbar now is more like a trademark of HL. If it's removed or replaced - HL won't be HL anymore..

If it's removed or replaced - HL won't be HL anymore..

You said it. Maybe it's not the most powerful or efficient weapon, but it certainly is... unique.

Mr. T likes the crowbar.

And the winner is....

..

..

THE CROWBAR FROM HALF-LIFE!

This mighty mighty weapon is loved by us all.

You guys are very lucky btw, found on ebay!

Crowbars are useful in HL2DM and much more useful in HL2 SP when your trapped by the evil boxes grr...

I mainly use the Crowbar in HL2DM and can easily pwn a guy who uses stunstick!

Now shooting a headcrab is wasting ammo and so hitting them is much better...

Haha Ant I used to love exploding the bodies with the crowbar too

That leaves to a question.. Why can't you explode bodys in HL2?? I mean it would be realistic, if they would explode if you used a grenade...

The rating would go up if you saw the inside of enemies e.g. combine ewww wow so thats what they look like

Yea.. I bet that Garry's mod will have exploding bodies sooner or later..

w00t! That's all I do in hlsp now...

You just copy my pic, daubster, you evil shite.

yes, but he added a crowbar! and that makes all the difference...

You just copy my pic, daubster, you evil shite.

Well wasn't that just the 1st Mr.T pic you found on google img search?

stay on topic,

I agree with original post though.

I dunno, I don't think chucking grenades at people will just blow them up. Hear about the Marine who jumped on top of a live grenade to save the rest of his squad? I think he lived, and even if he didn't, he certainly wasn't blown to pieces.

Luweege's no computer....hes jus a friggin genious!
its called the preschool factor. Hes smart cus he didnt go to preschool, however im dumb and i did go to preschool, and his lil sister went to preschool twice

Also he took his SAT's in his sopmore year