Combine Assimilation Of Human Tech In Half-Life

How the Combine Empire in the Half-Life series adapts and assimilates technology from conquered civilizations like Earth.

[@Faygo2215]

you should make more half life lore videos like this, all the other lore youtubers only cover the broad strokes and not the little things like technology

[@jdm1671]

Broad strokes?

[@syunfcy4202]

@@jdm1671 not sure but it probably means something big

[@alexssldi5752]

Tambien no se habla ni mucho el tipo de arquitectura combine , construyen donde sea , sin problema ni obstaculos.

[@dementia4452]

​@@alexssldi5752probably have a station centered around a volcano

[@alexssldi5752]

@@dementia4452 increible , un volcan talvez los combine poseen eneegia limpio y universal , tipo black hole , energia duradero , esos cables extensos que se conecta al rascacielo , tendran minis bases de energia de almacenamiento y las otras mini edificaciones que esta de un punto a otro seran control de administrar energia y programas de mantenimiento u arreglo de fallo o mover de lugar u entre otros

[@manatipowa]

My headcannon is basically that the events of HL2 and HL:A are the combine attempts at assimilating humanity into the Combine and testing how viable that is as a possibility. Basically the process they have gone with other species before turning them into synths. Meaning that the Overwatch Transhuman Arms (OTA) efforts to take down the resistance may be a pseudo test to either check if the current version of human synths are effective or do they need to keep going and keep improving. The assimilation of human technology is only done for the purpose of simplifying their occupation and in the slight possibility humanity may have some tech the Combine doesnt, like in HL2 case local teleportation. The only Crowbar (Get it, crowbar cuz freeman...) in their plans was Gman as he seems to serve some "benefactors" who may have interests that go against the Combine's interests and as such is causing them unexpected troubles like the destruction of City-17 and the stranding of Combine forces after the White Forest Rocket, they also did not account that maybe humanity is the most similar species in regards to Combine in that I mean their adaptability and their capacity to assimilate Combine technology. As we see in HL2 and HL:A in 20 years humanity has already developed methods to hijack Combine systems and bypass security while also develop effective tactics to ambush and attack their forces. In addition, the Combine's inability to avoid the resistance doing some serious damage to their occupation may suggest this is a first for them, an unprecendented case, something that had never happened before and as such they only now are learning how to deal with it, however they are in no rush. For the Combine humanity is still weak and are little more than an annoyance to their overall schemes, as Doctor Kleiner said (to paraphrase) The isolation of Combine forces is only temporary as they undoubtedly will just try invading and assimilating humanity again. However, next time they will be better prepared to handle us proving that the resistance efforts are futile and only delay the inevitable.

[@denifnaf5874]

My headcannon is that the advisors are only middle managment

[@Rell2601]

“If the transhuman forces are to prove themselves an indispensable augmentation to the Combine Overwatch, they will have to earn the privilege. I'm sure I don't have to remind you that the alternative, if you can call it that, is total extinction - in union with all the other unworthy branches of the species.” Based on this. I would not be shocked if the Combine’s endgame was to simply build up the human synth forces as much as possible before shipping them off world to aid in their other conquests, leaving all other elements to die out on a planet stripped of its natural resources. I do also like the idea that they’re ‘honing’ the overwatch forces via combat to produce a suitable template for mass production.

[@richardzaremba1383]

@Rell2601 I see the combine units in Alyx as predecessors to the HL2 units. Grunts are not fully synth, you can tell by how they talk on the radio they're not perfect. They are eventually fully turned into either a wallhammer, suppressor, or ordinal. These units are later phased out in favor of the superior Echos, DAGGERS, and elites. They start as shells of a human that have their memories wiped and replaced with a host loyal to the combine. They want to turn as many humans as possible to civil protection and then eventually to the transhuman arm to build their army. Alternatively, humans that rebel can be turned into stalkers, forced to serve the combine behind the scenes, maintaining all their technology. They still serve the combine either way.

[@FelipeJaquez]

We all know that HL2: Episode 3 would be about the Borealis as suggested by the "Epistle 3" document however, if a proper HL3 was made it would be interesting to see it explore the broader Combine Empire and how other alien civilizations exist under it's rule.

[@SS-rf1ri]

I think epistle 3 would transition perfectly into a HL3, it ends with Gman taking alyx, and vortigaunts saving Gordon from Gman, the borealis being destroyed to take out a combine planet or power source or something. Alyx skipped the borealis and brought alyx out of the story, so it's pretty likely hl3 might be something considered

[@chase_h.01]

I dont think there could possibly be a better ending than Gordon and Alyx realizing the Combine is far larger than humanity realized, and anything humanity could do would only make a small dent in it with Gman's "employers" being an even more powerful force than that. All in all, I didnt think anything could possibly touch Gman but HL Alyx really set an interesting precedent with lots of story potential.

[@thejunktownsheriffkilliand4800]

Just play Entropy Zero 2 there aint no way Valve is making a continuation of Half Life without the gisnt retcon shitfest in Alyx

[@justusP9101]

@@thejunktownsheriffkilliand4800don’t be so pessimistic

[@houledea1073]

​@@thejunktownsheriffkilliand4800Lol, alyx was great and the retcon too. Don't be so pessimistic.

[@enocescalona]

love this a lot, very informative. seems i missed a few little bits the Combine have replaced with their own metal plated versions. Also, the Synths are implied to be fully artificial recreations of animals, not modified ones themselves. Someone asked Ted Backman (a designer for the games) and he says the Strider was "scanned" and recreated.

[@SirAroace]

This maybe what Elites are; using the transhuman Grunts (HL:A) and later Soldiers as test-beds before before moving to the refined, fully artificial Elites.

[@enocescalona]

@@SirAroace Elites bleed red when shot so, am afraid not.

[@ahealthkit2745]

@@SirAroace I think we would've seen *some* kind of attempt at artificial birth or something if that were the case but we only see humans who've been willingly recruited from the Civil Protection to be transformed *into* the transhuman grunts and soldiers. Considering how clunky they are in HL:A, it makes me wonder if their refining process was to streamline or downsize their use of humans?

[@jimjellyjinjamjimbo]

@@ahealthkit2745Breen says he’s managed to convince the Combine of its usefulness, most likely through the creation of localized teleportation (knowledge the Combine doesn’t have but needs), and as a result the Combine are modifying humans as a test bed for possible Synth recreation, but over time their usefulness is getting less and less apparent as they are losing justification for having human Synths when they have other ones in their arsenal that can do the same job. Breen says that immortality is at reach for humanity, but probably as some bastardized synthetic shell of itself to be a cog in the Combine arsenal compared to the alternative of being completely stomped out and extinct.

[@large-turkey]

The Synths are NOT animals, just another unknown alien race the Combine enslaved

[@ADcommenter]

Not to mention the combine on record have been using man-made weaponry such as the USP (Pistol used by metropolice) the MP7 (SMG used by metrocops and combine soldiers) and the SPAS-12 (used by combine shotgunners) i don't blame them, they could save up whatever currency for their more important matters such as construction of their technology (probably expensive as hell) instead of wasting it all on mostly AR2 production (also very expensive probably). I mean, humanity's armies that used to exist before the invasion also did this. Such as US soldiers during vietnam taking Ak-47s from KIA Vietnamese guerillas, or somalian pirates taking FN FALs leftover from the rhodesian bush war.

[@JackFoxtrotEDM]

It seems weird though for a gun like the MP7 because it has a proprietary cartridge, unlike the USP which uses the widely available 9mm cartridge.

[@thesightthesoundthefeeling8769]

@@JackFoxtrotEDM I don't think the Combine respect patent laws all that much to be honest with you

[@JackFoxtrotEDM]

@@thesightthesoundthefeeling8769 Well it's not that but more about manufacturing. Wouldn't it make more sense to use a more commonly-found mass-produced ammunition?

[@RussellRadio]

​@@JackFoxtrotEDMmy thinking is that since North America appears to be completely destroyed, they had to stick with what was available in Europe. Since H&K is a high quality manufacturer with factories in Germany, they took control of those factories and started producing their own weapons. That theory falls apart if you take into account the Beta, since the OICW was an experimental weapon produced for the US military. Or it could just be all because the devs thought it was cool.

[@JackFoxtrotEDM]

@@RussellRadio Yeah but the Beta also took place in NYC.

[@soda_coir7595]

I've always wondered what happened to most of humanities firearms. My theory is that they were destroyed by the combine. And researched for the AR2.

[@valance10]

I imagine rebels make use of them, i always see them using combine weapons as a placeholder bc valve couldn't justify putting that many guns in their game

[@soda_coir7595]

@@valance10 I hope they make a game where u can see rebels using ak47s and old worn FAL's

[@valance10]

@@soda_coir7595 yeah using old ass rpg7s to take down striders

[@blackmesaenjoyer]

​@@valance10ww2 panzerfausts

[@ahealthkit2745]

@@valance10 totally agree. There's a bunch of guns in game that don't make sense unless there is a fairly sparse variety of guns around. But since the game takes place 20 years after combine occupation, it seems there's limited variety in the area Gordon is in. It does seem like City 17 used to be some kind of costal European place, perhaps pseudo-russian? I'm imagining ex-Russo cities with babushkas with AVT-40s and PM pistols running around, while some richer scavs might have the latest ak platform. Imagining lots of AK varients used or retrofitted by civil protection.

[@rich1051414]

Reminds me of the US military throwing away their in house controller which costed 10's of millions of dollars to develop, and replaced them with xbox controllers, because people were familiar with them already. No sense in reinventing the wheel just to waste extra resources.

[@mrsubject1]

This deserves WAY more interest and attention, great video and would love to see more half life!

[@letsgame9740]

11:18 The resistance has no choice I mean do you see a industrial area making prewar armour? The combine will swarm that place in an instant

[@tanybrachid]

Disagree. White Forest and Black Mesa East were allowed to exist despite the combine certainly knowing of these locations through Judith; and locations like those could've comfortably been used to manufacture warfare materiel as far as we know. They were prob allowed to exist because, in the first place, were vital for the scientific "core" of the resistance and their development of local teleport tech that the combine so much strived for, and secondly, in the case of white forest, because it was so far out in the outlands it was likely considered to be barely a nuisance to the forces in City 17 (If they allowed the rebel camps we see along the coast to exist, despite being much closer to the city and being fully aware of them, they would've probably left White Forest alone as well)

[@letsgame9740]

@@tanybrachid that was a Old bunker, How do you know the Combine Know that the resistance was There, Sure they know it’s There But that the resistance Was there? I find it hard to believe, The combine probably were marching there because they were trying to set up a base, their thinking it was abandoned, Like nova prospect there used to be rebels There why else would they be rebel supplies crates all over the Place?

[@letsgame9740]

Now that I think about it when They intercepted Judith Mossman’s transmission, they probably located the Point where they where sending it, so they probably were going to investigate

[@bigcoffinhunter5500]

@@letsgame9740 During the coastal chapter there are multiple spots where Combine Soldiers are perched inside huts with binoculars, spying on the Rebels. One of these spots is where the "G-Man speaking to a Rebel" easter egg is from. The only reason the Combine actually attack these outposts is because Gordan Freeman arrives.

[@jimjellyjinjamjimbo]

@@bigcoffinhunter5500I wouldn’t be surprised if they allow some sort of underground Rebel chapters to function so they can weed out former Black Mesa science team members and possibly localized teleportation technology. It’s like watching them operate thinking nobody else is watching them.

[@minkshaming]

One of my favorite aspects of HL2 concept art and environmental design, an aspect which is glossed over often. The image of monolithic, hostile and brutalist metal-reinforced superstructures stuck on eastern european soviet-era apartment complexes is easily one of the most striking visuals I've ever seen.

[@Sniper_XPEHOB]

In the HL2 beta, the OTA soldiers were using HK XM 29 OICW grenade launchers and used modified MI 8 helicopters, these two things being another example for the use of human inventions

[@LNSO2006]

I alwaays laugh at thinking that the combine supplies their soldiers with super futuristic alien pulse rifles AND regular ass human SPAS 12 shotguns Really shows the supperiority and perfection of the SPAS 12😂

[@Bacony_Cakes]

And they still can't figure out how to change it to the semi-automatic mode. Some army.

[@Combinehuntsmanunit]

@@Bacony_Cakesthat’s Gordon that pumps the shotgun, the combine soldiers fire in semi auto, that’s why they don’t pump between shots until they reload.

[@denifnaf5874]

In half life alyx it turns out that the terminals have giant brains inside of them

[@SeniorSpaceflight]

I swear to god, when I watched this video I thought this guy had around 50k-100k subs, but christ he has way less than I expected for a video of this quality.

[@jakeg3733]

Very interesting point about the convergent evolution of certain technologies. What works will be independently developed and copied everywhere. I see no reason that a flashlight, for example, wouldn't be invented on an alien planet if it provided the same benefit (planet has a day-night cycle). We see convergent evolution in biology on earth. Eyes have evolved multiple times ... Because they work As for the flashlights darker cousin, the fleshlight... Who knows

[@letsgame9740]

6:04 The fabricator might have a similarity to the 3D printer

[@coleeckerman1390]

There are even resin 3d printers

[@TheBreadPirate]

Thanks for reminding me why I love this franchise.

[@f0x_724]

Amazing video, not nearly enough subs for the level of quality. Would love to see more content exploring the combine and other facets of the half life universe!

[@roseboil7713]

this video is really well put together; it deserves more attention. you did great on this!

[@ruralserf]

I know i’m a year late but wow. What a well-done video. Definitely subscribing

[@GaryTheHelldiver]

the cp is the jury and the ai is the judge

[@baochau3259]

Love your vid , so underrated

[@diadromes8000]

wow i really wasn't expecting this channel to have so little subs, framerate aside the actual content is pretty high quality, keep the good work up :)

[@SneakyBeakySpy]

Amazing video dude! Keep up the good work!

[@prismaux5168]

really nice video, it's great to see people analyzing Half Life 2 like this!

[@Luxembourgishsmartass]

This guy deserves a lot more views then what he’s getting.

[@Clown_the_Clown]

Excellent video, instant sub my man.

[@cundan0484]

9:34 i never thought about this...this makes sense

[@jonahc2807]

Very insightful and in depth

[@dyrball]

Very insightful video!

[@pozbac7780]

Low subscribers, good video. This is really rare. You deserve more subs

[@LordAerial]

Great video ❤ But synths are confirmed (atleast striders, dropships and gunships are) from a HLA mural depicting the invasion of the Vortigaunt homeworld so they are not influenced by human tech for any wondering

[@ahealthkit2745]

HL:A really does imply that it was those specific synths that were used for the majority of the 7 hr war, too. I wonder if this is a soft retcon of the crab synth and skyray synth from HL:2?

[@bigcoffinhunter5500]

@@ahealthkit2745 Kind of a solid point, actually. As interesting as it is to see the Combine having an extended arsenal, you got to wonder why they were scraped despite being fully modeled. They even had a chance to introduce them in Ep2 but went with Hunters.

[@ahealthkit2745]

I imagine that the models for the unused synths we see aren't used later on, because the developers seemed to be more keenly focused on innovating the combat and flow of the game play. It's possible that they couldn't come up with suitable mechanics for the synths we see in HL2.@@bigcoffinhunter5500

[@ozgygeo4621]

I was surprised by the fact that this video looks like from a guy with 50k+subs, keep up the work man slow and steadily you will reach success

[@exploringlore2856]

Thank you!

[@grated_lemon5630]

dude this video is great

[@jomlta]

Excellent video.

[@putis4388]

Thank you for video, it was so interesting

[@user-de4fk8jv7f]

Great vid!

[@cheems3516]

This man deserves more attention.

[@FreemanMhm]

I think Breen was the good guy

[@hagonistheman7880]

in a way yeah, he negotiated for humanity's survival

[@Atomlxe]

​@@hagonistheman7880 yea and he was more of a puppet to the combine than a truly bad guy

[@alan_7390]

He sold out humanity for his own survival, he wasn't quite the villain, but he wasn't good either.

[@hagonistheman7880]

@@alan_7390 Sold out humanity? They wouldn't have survived if he hadn't, he's the only reason the 7 hour war didn't end with humanitys end.

[@robertkalinic335]

Irrelevant, he was just a puppet like other guy said. He has no real power, he is just useful as a tool to fool humanity and to paint resistance as illegitimate and irrational.

[@JettioSempt]

UNDERRATED KZbinR 100%%

[@fbi-sama9052]

Thanks god Aperture's tech never got out of the testing chambers.

[@ea7275]

Shame we may never know the fate of the wreck of the borealis or the consequences of its contents getting into circulation

[@Blue-lj6md]

@@ea7275 Entropy Zero 2 while not being officially canon still does a pretty good job at telling a story around it, even if its from the opposing side.

[@SomeGuy_Somewhere]

This implies the combine never discovered guns or trains.

[@jimjellyjinjamjimbo]

Not at all. The OSIPR is definitely pre-existing Combine tech (dark energy pulse rounds) just fitted onto an ergonomic human frame. I doubt the Combine would have not discovered or invented basic locomotion technology, it’s likely they just created razor trains so that they can design freight carriers that fit their needs using pre-existing railways. That being said, I never understood why they couldn’t just transport cargo via Synth Dropships.

[@brextonjones]

how this man dont have 1m subs? he a good youtuber

[@HeIsntHim1]

...only 22 subs?

[@3333218]

Awesome!

[@arifcso6633]

Overwatch is maybe AI but maybe is actually alive, if you listen closely during episode 1 or 2 it is much more human than half life 2 probably caused by the citadel damaged

[@Immolator772]

I honestly really like the Synth designs, half-insect half-robot. Even the original design for the combie was going to be half-grub half-humanoid which is really disturbing.

[@timmy6890]

Actually pretty interesting

[@burningtank160]

Nice video

[@davidfoutch6251]

Cool video

[@SCP_3008_Employee]

Sector is not secure in this video.

[@ander151]

good video👍

[@MrJinxmaster1]

too lengthy and meandering, yet some tidbits like 11:00 which want a short clip as a source are left hanging as mere claims

[@JackFoxtrotEDM]

The Synths I'm pretty sure aren't necessarily aliens turned machine, but machines built using the biological design of the original aliens.

[@haunted5744]

Cool

[@soda_coir7595]

The combine definitely work smarter AND harder........ unfortunately

[@combinefan2006]

"transhuman" i like that word

[@amentco8445]

I prefer tranny human

[@silly_lil_guy]

​@@amentco8445get a new slur please. we're tired of that one

[@angelolawrencecano204]

maybe the field bridges are based of the light bridges from portal 2 but maybe not

[@Astro-qs6ep]

the combine never gained access to aperture because of glados

[@JitsWackyWonders]

Don't forget me when you blow up! (In subscribers!)

[@IgorBogdanoffs]

Your video is so laggy lol