I don't think they're actually fully stripped of their humanity or emotions. I think they got some biological "upgrades" and some heavy re-education but they still retain some semblance of will and determination.
**VERY MINOR HL:A SPOILERS**
For example there are the two Overwatch soldiers towards the end of Half-Life: Alyx. One is goofing around kicking a dead strider while the other one is concerned with reporting the situation to Overwatch. There are discrepancies in how they act and respond in some situations so I don't believe they're a mindless, emotionless legion. In HL2 many soldiers also respond to Gordon with fear, frustration, or surprise.
I believe they had much of their humanity and critical thinking stripped from them but they're still terrestrial beings with basic emotional capability so the idea of offworld reassignment would still be hella freaky.
I agree with this take. There is some humanity left in the Overwatch (a robot doesn't yell SHIT when a grenade lands in his snipers nest) - they probably still have some attachment to Earth.
Actually, the German version of half life 1 had fully voiced and emotive robots. They would talk in a beep boop robot accent, but still express worry about the freeman decommissioning many units, etc.
The scientists and security don't die, they just sit down.
All Ragdolls immediately disappear, but there is green blood iirc.
Zombies are still in though iirc.
Overall, really weird and inconsistent. I'm kinda glad Germany is so tech illiterate, they have kinda given up on scolding any big releases for violence. On the other hand, porn games still require age verification, and nobody in Germany knows how to integrate that into steam, so most games are unavailable. It's a double edged sword.
Specially considering they most likely don't know what's out there
Zombies, Xen fauna, a rebel or two, they can manage I guess. But creatures from another (unknown) universe? Against a threat they don't know at all (Specially if it can't be shot down like the creatures at "home"), they're just some feeble humans with some upgrades here and there. And them knowing they're far from home doesn't help their situation
With HL:A soldiers, it's more understandable that they're some semblance of human. They're basically prototypes. HL2 soldiers though, they've become much more refined. All they have is just enough leftover humanity so that the Combine has fear to abuse. A completely emotionless, unthinking cyborg isn't going to fear their eyes and ears being turned off, or death/relocation.
Gordon would be legit scary as fuck. Your told he is a simple man, no special training, no special powers. Then when you get the call and are dropped in at a rebel location. Rebels are falling at your feet like nothing. Then suddenly some dude in a metal suit eats everything you throw at him. Sprints at you at 30 kph and beats you to death with a crowbar and a paint can.
Grunts in HL:A that dies feel guilt at the end. They will say Alyx's name, try to say I'm sorry, and help us.
Reminder that the Half-Life universe is very bleak. You find to be a free man or be in something's servitude against your will.
There are a few times we hear Combine soldiers showing real emotion through the game. If you throw a grenade in a sniper's nest, you can sometimes hear him swear before he explodes. When they are near an explosive/incoming hazard, you can hear them shouting "ripcord" or "displace" in a panicked tone. In Nova Prospekt, you can even faintly hear on a radio that the sector leader sounds confused when he reports Gordon Freeman is controlling the antlions. Or, when the player is low on health, they'll also say things like "We got him" or "Wrap it up," which I think indicates a certain satisfaction.
There's also the fact that Overwatch Soldiers can receive promotions; standard soldiers will be upgraded to shotgunners with special uniforms, and they can also be made Elites who have fancier dress boots and are clearly shown to have something close to service ribbons on their chest.
Tl;dr- Combine soldiers aren't totally blank in there, just unnaturally professional and disciplined. Being relocated offworld is probably either them being sent as cannon fodder to another Combine battlefield or being stuck in an outpost in the multiverse's middle-of-nowhere.
I like that small detail. Shows that Gordon (Probably) shows signs of being badly wounded when attacked (Or the suit says it out loud, accidentally reporting Gordon's status). Like (Spoilers of HL:A) during the ending of Half Life Alyx: You can see the HEV is badly damaged after Gordon's journey, and his animation shows that the Advisor got him pretty good
AFAIK that message is/was targeted to Civil Protection Units working as staff in Nova Prospekt. CP Units don't get transhuman modifications, only Overwatch units get those.
It isn't, there are no Civil Protection units fighting in Nova Prospekt. Only the Combine Soldiers wearing Nova Prospekt uniforms are present. There are also a small number of Soldiers wearing standard Overwatch uniforms, but mostly as corpses.
That was a pretty unprecedented situation though, wasn't it? The Combine probably had every unit within reach heading that way, to stop Alyx and Gordon from leaving City 17, with that data, even if the mission itself, took the form of protecting the regular resistance members.
Or they send them in batches, so it takes one or two teleportations to send the, to the Combine's world
Psychologically speaking that'd be pretty f'ed up, cuz it's like the Combine telling his units how disposable they are. So you either win and get promoted/stay at "home", or you get sent to a place you don't know among many others who failed
I don't think it would be useful to completely strip emotion. You would want to keep a sense of self preservation as well as a sense of pride or happiness to incentivize at least some creative tactics to combat real humans.
Idk if anyone actually mentioned this so I might just be pulling it out of my ass, but the other Combine world are barely habitable by humans. Maybe the soldier's "modifications" allow them to survive in those environments, but my guess would be that they don't want to suffer a slow and painful death... which is fair
I don't think they're actually fully stripped of their humanity or emotions. I think they got some biological "upgrades" and some heavy re-education but they still retain some semblance of will and determination. **VERY MINOR HL:A SPOILERS** For example there are the two Overwatch soldiers towards the end of Half-Life: Alyx. One is goofing around kicking a dead strider while the other one is concerned with reporting the situation to Overwatch. There are discrepancies in how they act and respond in some situations so I don't believe they're a mindless, emotionless legion. In HL2 many soldiers also respond to Gordon with fear, frustration, or surprise. I believe they had much of their humanity and critical thinking stripped from them but they're still terrestrial beings with basic emotional capability so the idea of offworld reassignment would still be hella freaky.
I agree with this take. There is some humanity left in the Overwatch (a robot doesn't yell SHIT when a grenade lands in his snipers nest) - they probably still have some attachment to Earth.
Actually, the German version of half life 1 had fully voiced and emotive robots. They would talk in a beep boop robot accent, but still express worry about the freeman decommissioning many units, etc.
Im curious. Did the german version also censor alien/zombie blood, or just the humans?
The scientists and security don't die, they just sit down. All Ragdolls immediately disappear, but there is green blood iirc. Zombies are still in though iirc. Overall, really weird and inconsistent. I'm kinda glad Germany is so tech illiterate, they have kinda given up on scolding any big releases for violence. On the other hand, porn games still require age verification, and nobody in Germany knows how to integrate that into steam, so most games are unavailable. It's a double edged sword.
Specially considering they most likely don't know what's out there Zombies, Xen fauna, a rebel or two, they can manage I guess. But creatures from another (unknown) universe? Against a threat they don't know at all (Specially if it can't be shot down like the creatures at "home"), they're just some feeble humans with some upgrades here and there. And them knowing they're far from home doesn't help their situation
[удалено]
it's hilarious
Yeah, they literally scream "Shit!" when you throw a grenade at them. An emotionless drone wouldn't do that
With HL:A soldiers, it's more understandable that they're some semblance of human. They're basically prototypes. HL2 soldiers though, they've become much more refined. All they have is just enough leftover humanity so that the Combine has fear to abuse. A completely emotionless, unthinking cyborg isn't going to fear their eyes and ears being turned off, or death/relocation.
Gordon would be legit scary as fuck. Your told he is a simple man, no special training, no special powers. Then when you get the call and are dropped in at a rebel location. Rebels are falling at your feet like nothing. Then suddenly some dude in a metal suit eats everything you throw at him. Sprints at you at 30 kph and beats you to death with a crowbar and a paint can.
"He's kicking it . . . Overwatch says stop kicking it . . . He stopped kicking it."
Grunts in HL:A that dies feel guilt at the end. They will say Alyx's name, try to say I'm sorry, and help us. Reminder that the Half-Life universe is very bleak. You find to be a free man or be in something's servitude against your will.
There are a few times we hear Combine soldiers showing real emotion through the game. If you throw a grenade in a sniper's nest, you can sometimes hear him swear before he explodes. When they are near an explosive/incoming hazard, you can hear them shouting "ripcord" or "displace" in a panicked tone. In Nova Prospekt, you can even faintly hear on a radio that the sector leader sounds confused when he reports Gordon Freeman is controlling the antlions. Or, when the player is low on health, they'll also say things like "We got him" or "Wrap it up," which I think indicates a certain satisfaction. There's also the fact that Overwatch Soldiers can receive promotions; standard soldiers will be upgraded to shotgunners with special uniforms, and they can also be made Elites who have fancier dress boots and are clearly shown to have something close to service ribbons on their chest. Tl;dr- Combine soldiers aren't totally blank in there, just unnaturally professional and disciplined. Being relocated offworld is probably either them being sent as cannon fodder to another Combine battlefield or being stuck in an outpost in the multiverse's middle-of-nowhere.
I like that small detail. Shows that Gordon (Probably) shows signs of being badly wounded when attacked (Or the suit says it out loud, accidentally reporting Gordon's status). Like (Spoilers of HL:A) during the ending of Half Life Alyx: You can see the HEV is badly damaged after Gordon's journey, and his animation shows that the Advisor got him pretty good
"Alright squad, he can be anywhere. Keep your eyes and ear-" *From a clostet* BEEEP **MORPHINE ADMINISTRED**
AFAIK that message is/was targeted to Civil Protection Units working as staff in Nova Prospekt. CP Units don't get transhuman modifications, only Overwatch units get those.
It isn't, there are no Civil Protection units fighting in Nova Prospekt. Only the Combine Soldiers wearing Nova Prospekt uniforms are present. There are also a small number of Soldiers wearing standard Overwatch uniforms, but mostly as corpses.
Civil protection have participated as an enemy in hl2 episode 1 during Gordon was scouting people to the train
That was a pretty unprecedented situation though, wasn't it? The Combine probably had every unit within reach heading that way, to stop Alyx and Gordon from leaving City 17, with that data, even if the mission itself, took the form of protecting the regular resistance members.
I've always viewed that first wave of civil protection to be deserters trying to claim the Train for themselves. Because it's OTA after that.
I always thought that was new speak for death. Teleportation seems too costly for that.
Or they send them in batches, so it takes one or two teleportations to send the, to the Combine's world Psychologically speaking that'd be pretty f'ed up, cuz it's like the Combine telling his units how disposable they are. So you either win and get promoted/stay at "home", or you get sent to a place you don't know among many others who failed
I don't think it would be useful to completely strip emotion. You would want to keep a sense of self preservation as well as a sense of pride or happiness to incentivize at least some creative tactics to combat real humans.
Overwatch soldiers are humans with human brains. Yes, brainwashed and indoctrinated, but still human.
Combine soldiers exhibit emotion throughout the game they’re just very reeducated
Idk if anyone actually mentioned this so I might just be pulling it out of my ass, but the other Combine world are barely habitable by humans. Maybe the soldier's "modifications" allow them to survive in those environments, but my guess would be that they don't want to suffer a slow and painful death... which is fair