Firearms Expert Reacts To Half-Life Franchise Guns

Jonathan Ferguson, a weapons expert and Keeper of Firearms & Artillery at the Royal Armouries, breaks down the weaponry of the Half-Life franchise, including the iconic Rocket Launcher, the Combine Shotgun from Half-Life: Alyx, and a hybrid MP5/Grenade Launcher weapon system.
00:00 - Opening
00:40 - Glock (Half-Life)
02:16 - Glock (Black Mesa)
03:07 - H&K USP Match (Half-Life 2)
04:16 - Shotgun (Half-Life)
06:10 - Shotgun (Black Mesa)
07:14 - Crossbow (Half-Life)
08:31 - Crossbow (Black Mesa)
09:18 - Crossbow (Half-Life 2)
10:09 - Magnum (Half-Life)
11:28 - Magnum (Black Mesa)
13:57 - Magnum (Half-Life 2)
14:36 - MP5 with Grenade Launcher (Half-Life)
16:30 - MP5 with Grenade Launcher (Black Mesa)
17:50 - MP7 with Grenade Launcher (Half-Life 2)
19:00 - Rocket Launcher (Half-Life)
20:04 - Rocket Launcher (Black Mesa)
20:37 - Rocket Launcher (Half-Life 2)
21:28 - The Hivehand (Half-Life)
22:05 - Overwatch Standard Issue Pulse Rifle (Half-Life 2)
23:11 - Pistol (Half-Life: Alyx)
24:15 - Combine Shotgun (Half-Life: Alyx)
25:36 - Ending
In the latest video in the Firearm Expert Reacts series, Jonathan Ferguson--a weapons expert and Keeper of Firearms & Artillery at the Royal Armouries--breaks down the guns of the Half-Life franchise and compares them to their potential real-life counterparts.
Here's the link to What Is This Weapon? Live with Jonathan Ferguson -www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/what-i...
Firearms Expert Reacts playlist - • Firearms Expert Reacts...
If you're interested in seeing more of Jonathan's work, you can check out more from the Royal Armouries right here. - / royalarmouries
If you would like to support the Royal Armouries, you can make a charitable donation to the museum here. - royalarmouries.org/support-us...
And if you would like to become a member of the Royal Armouries, you can get a membership here. - royalarmouries.org/support-us...
You can either purchase Jonathan's book here. - www.headstamppublishing.com/b...
Or at the Royal Armouries shop here. - shop.royalarmouries.org/colle...
You can subscribe to the Armax Journal that Jonathan Associate Edited here: www.armaxjournal.org/

[@D1gg3rX]

Gordon doesn't need to hear all this he's a highly trained professional.

[@AntonioZL]

You know, one does have to admit that the possibility of a resonance cascade is a highly unlikely scenario.

[@ramonandrajo6348]

Whatever. ;)

[@weirdogiant6886]

"Are you really watching this all by yourself?" "NO, I'M WITH THE SCIENCE TEAM!"

[@planescaped]

*STHAP!*

[@MrBelgianJunglist]

I am rather looking forward to this analysis, aren't you?

[@ball730178]

when they showed the hivehand for no discernible reason I was half expecting him to pull out a fleshy mass like "ah yes, this is clearly based on the H&K Glormulon Biomass Launcher, but you can see the differences-"

[@finnish_hunter]

Take my like good Sir

[@BananaHoovyJ.Rabbit]

Heckler and Koch be upping they game

[@DaXenCroosader-27EA2]

yeah the soviets were experimenting on launching bees but it never saw the light of day

[@imtoolazyforaprofilepic4961]

Cruelty Squad

[@festivevacancy]

"Angry alien bee gun"

[@user9267]

According to the developer commentary for Alyx, the break action loading of the shotgun was chosen because playtesting found it to be objectively badass

[@thomasway0320]

Words can not describe how much I love that, that’s what games are about, to be fun and or badass in terms of shooters.

[@releknatroj5174]

Unfortunately, Alyx isn't a true half-life game. It's just an incentive for you to buy an index

[@bellatrix8247]

@@releknatroj5174 That's a real bad take in my opinion. Half-Life, and Valve for that matter, has always been about pushing for new technology and mediums. Half-Life 1 caused advances in environmental story telling and AI (look up it's "smell" AI), HL2 pushed graphics, animation, and physics into the spotlight and began the whole craze of physics puzzles in shooters. They frequently hired on students and modders who could make fun and inventive new games like Portal, Counter-Strike, and Team Fortress. Half-Life Alyx is just the next stage in Valve looking for the next new inventive thing, and creating a full size story fps in VR was something that many people were trying and failing to deliver on, and showed that they still had the chops to make new stuff after Portal 2 came out in 2012. They also could have made it Index exclusive, but they worked to make it accessible to most VR headsets and controllers, showing that they believe VR to be a valid platform for gaming

[@user9267]

@Relek Natroj You don't have to buy an Index to play Alyx, and I'm willing to bet my entire VR setup, PC included, you've never actually played Half-Life Alyx

[@WeCareAlot4693]

Thats the best reason to do anything in a game

[@yocapo32]

Funny thing, in Black Mesa you can actually hear the shotgun firing twice in really quick succession instead of being two shots at the same time.

[@myhunterinsurance]

You're right! That's created a really weird Mandela Effect for me - I remember the sound as being two quick shots even in HL1 and Sven Coop; but I think the only reason I remember it that was is because I played Black Mesa more recently. :P

[@yocapo32]

​@@myhunterinsurance Funnily enough, I had the opposite issue, I could've sworn some versions of Black Mesa had a double barrel shot before being changed to two quick shots, but I can't find any evidence of it.

[@weirdautumn]

​​@@yocapo32early 2010-2013 pre steam versions of BM looked very different, tbh. Different textures, lighting, models, etc. And they kept changing them. I feel, like I had played 3 or 4 different versions of the same game, so yeah, it's possible

[@user-xu2pi6vx7o]

My understanding is that the "Double shot" is actually Gordon "slam firing" the shotgun, which is something you can actually do with a Spas 12.

[@brendansage6876]

@@myhunterinsurance Have you ever played Half-Life 1 with the HD textures? They actually altered the sounds for the shotgun in the HD pack because they realized their mistake; it has a similar effect to Black Mesa, where Gordon fires two very quick consecutive shots rather than a two round burst that doesn't exist.

[@pkaulf]

In Black Mesa, they actually did a hilarious special animation for when you first pick up the Hivehand, where Gordon hesitates before shoving his hand up it. Shame we didn't see Jonathan's reaction to that!

[@cakti581]

_violent squeaking sounds_

[@GremlinSciences]

I'm pretty sure the original Half-Life had that as well wen you first pick it up, but it's been forever since I played it.

[@SuperNerd000]

Even better, if you have a security guard following you when you first pick it up, they'll comment on it. Though ultimately probably didn't show it due to KZbin reasons.

[@Jarekthegamingdragon]

@@GremlinSciences HL1 didn't have that animation. It was just black mesa.

[@kruterchraft454]

@@Jarekthegamingdragon It's youuu

[@planescaped]

"I must be missing something" You're not, the MP7 in Half life 2 does indeed launch grenades from a pocket dimension of null-space...

[@LazyBuddyBan]

Nah, Gordon just stores them in mouth and spits out at high velocities. Could explain why he doesn't talk much

[@resurgam_b7]

@@LazyBuddyBan his mouth is always full of grenades? Seems legit 😂

[@mrsquid_]

@@LazyBuddyBan alyx: "man of little words, arent you, gordon?" gordon: MMMMMPH MMPH

[@imnolongerasking5933]

​@@LazyBuddyBan Gordon: " " (Kaboom?)

[@RandomisedWaffles]

They come from the same place the mines in the hunter chopper come from.

[@MoldyStir-Fry]

The Combine assault rifle is a "pulse rifle". From what I understand, the motorized mechanism is loading a pulse cartridge similar to a battery and the "firing pin" is discharging pulses from the battery in a controlled manner. Easily my favorite gun in the series

[@rozhsfunnychannel]

The model was originally was meant as a flare launcher which is why it's kinda weird seeing a single "cartdrige" having that kind of ammo capacity

[@MoldyStir-Fry]

@@rozhsfunnychannel I see why they left that idea and made it an assault rifle instead 🤣

[@Aaro4ify]

It's basically a dark matter powered rifle.

[@cackers4752]

To be fair, though, the fire and reload animations canonically make more sense in HL2MMOD

[@autistichades5552]

⁠@@cackers4752We’re talking about a fictional gun here, there is no making sense of the gun, besides MMOD’s AR2 is hella overrated, especially with the plastic shells that you hear every time you fire it.

[@impracticalnuke]

I would imagine Jonathan thinking that there's no way someone strapped a grenade launcher onto an MP5 and then coming to work, checking with inventory only to find an MP5 with a grenade launcher underbarrel stored somewhere.

[@OpenMawProductions]

Jonathan doesn't need to hear all this, he's a highly trained professional! We have assured the administrator that *nothing will go wrong*.

[@joshuacookie6386]

Ah yes you’re right, Johnathan we have complete confidence in you!

[@MARKHENSTROM]

JONATHAN! Get away from the BEA-!!

[@blackmesaenjoyer]

@@MARKHENSTROM Attempting shutdown... It's not- It's not shutting down!! LOOK OUT!! AAA-

[@InsertName159]

*Gordon proceeds to get teleported to xen*

[@ahmedafify2568]

"Jonathan inhales and exhales repeatedly"

[@jocax188723]

You have to remember Gordo's wearing the HEV suit, which does have a proper assistive exoskeleton. It's plausible that when he yanks the crossbow back it could be a force of hundreds of pounds of draw force.

[@Gameprojordan]

If that was the case then he would easily be able to bludgeon every enemy to death with a couple hits from the crowbar

[@weiwu1442]

@LOAN NGUYEN the half life alyx model of him shows the suit being relatively damaged

[@Immolator772]

it also depends on the crossbow model.

[@williampan29]

@@Gameprojordan which he does. Have you seen how he could gib enemies with it?

[@Hilian95]

@@Gameprojordan I mean. He does do exactly that

[@Plutonia001]

17:50 The answer to your question regarding the H&K MP7's inexplicable grenade launcher is actually: *Cut content.* The beta version of Half-Life 2 featured the XM29 OICW, which has a 20mm grenade launcher as the other firing mode. In addition to that weapon, it featured the H&K MP5k, which only had one firing mode. Both of those guns ended up being cut, and the MP7 replaced them. Valve simply combined the function of those weapons in the game design. The alien assault rifle of the Combine forces used to be an incendiary flare launcher, which is why its current form is so strange. The secondary "dark energy orb" launcher was a function of another Combine weapon that was left on the cutting room floor. So, the primary fire of the XM29 and the energy orb were combined into the visual model of the incendiary launcher. So, it's a complete Frankenstein's monster of videogame gun design.

[@zach.0]

4:53 "standard __ for a non-standard __" oooh, very subtle half-life reference!

[@hahafunnichannel]

I noticed that too!

[@bce]

When Jonathan brought up the mp5 with the grenade launcher, it was like a dream becoming reality

[@Santimations]

Lol fr

[@realperson7649]

I never thought it was possible

[@babalonkie]

And of course it was Wacky Britain that tried it... But yeah... HL made me fall in love with the MP5.

[@mohamedridabourhila9531]

Yeah, he made my day. Never thought those existed

[@Prisoner_849]

Actually the H&K MP5 with m203 Grenade Launcher was also in the movie End of Days(1999) Jericho(Arnold Schwarzenegger) uses it against Lucifer(Gabriel Byrne).

[@DatMysticalPyro]

The reason why the MP7 looks so weird in HL2 is because it's modeled after a prototype version that looks quite different than the one we have now.

[@FlyboyHelosim]

I know HL2 Beta had an H&K SMG II, which was a prototype.

[@bshap495]

Though the barrel didn't stick out that far out of the frame (and obviously only had one barrel).

[@hoovysimulator2518]

I wish they took a look at MMod as it gives some realism to some of the guns.

[@jonathanferguson1211]

Perhaps, but the HK PDW still doesn't have it's grip located as far to the rear as the HL2 gun. I think it's more likely that they just changed it up because they could.

[@jonathanferguson1211]

@@FlyboyHelosim That's interesting - crowbarring the MP7 model around the footprint of the SMGII might result in this oddity...

[@olly123451]

The fun thing about the Pulse Rifle / AR2 is that it was previously the “Incendiary Rifle”, so it would fire a single shot and then pull another one of those “pellets” using that same animation. A magazine of 5 rounds, and then a proper reload animation. Which explains its weird reload animation now, because it was previously the re-chambering animation.

[@mettawatkutaninwat5411]

I think it’s because the AR2 was meant to be sort of a “Flare rifle” in the early build.

[@macanddoodles]

I always though that the cartridge things themselves where the magazines with some weird combine energy stuff

[@Caldwing]

That certainly explains why it's actually like that. It still kind of makes sense in my imagination though. Each cell stores enough energy for 30 shots. Each hit of the gun's bolt causes the cell to emit one energy bolt. Probably the gun itself is a relatively simple mechanical device that is manufactured on Earth whereas the cells are exotic sci-fi stuff manufactured off-world.

[@burningsinner1132]

@@Caldwing There is always one thing to remember - whole combine thing was always meant to look like some sort of "mechanic virus" thing. Everything is supposed to look like common thing, but bastardized in overengineered sci-fi way and feeling ultimately WRONG. That's why all the watch towers stick like a sore thumb, all these combine locks on ancient familiar doors. That's why metrocops are just dudes in very weird jumpsuits which look like weight-trimmed riot gear fashioned with very out of time obsolete gasmasks and then you get them to look first sci-fi-yish and then outright alien with 70s vibes. At the same time you get the opposite side, which is more reminiscient of "space cowboy" sci-fi style of thing looking both scrappy and insanely sci-fi. That's why you have a rusty buggy with rusty looking Tau cannon, that's why Crossbow is car battery superheating a piece of rebar, all attached to a crude bow lacking real safety features, that's why Gravity gun features gauge meters which would look ancient on cold war era machinery and all of it hidden among some Crazy Machines loot cache puzzles.

[@MatthewT394]

@@burningsinner1132 i think half life 2's beta was inspired by like the 80's films hence all the aesthetics in retail

[@Swedishmafia101MemeCorporation]

15:55 "Short story. Long story short, or not very long story, shorter." I love you Jonathan

[@amazingnoo9935]

Speech 100

[@KanshunGanshun]

As he's self-confessed MP5 obsessed, I'm surprised Jonathan didn't mention how the MP5s used by NPCs and dropped on the ground are MP5A3s, but when the player picks them up they turn into MP5SD view models.

[@judsongaiden9878]

They could be the SD variant, but what looks like a suppressor might just be part of the shorty M-203's conversion mount to allow it to fit on the MP5. Do an image search on "MP5 M-203" and you'll see what I mean.

[@jjmerrow8062]

Well clearly Gordon just swaps the barrel off-screen when you pick it up

[@0lionheart]

I'm.. actually quite ashamed I didn't notice that either. It's very clearly a SD in front

[@Blurns]

And I wish he said what model grenade launcher he had attached to the MP5 he was holding.

[@tbthegr81]

@@Blurns As he said, he made a whole video on that launcher over on the royal armouries YT channel

[@NardoVogt]

I get the feeling we go through the games that have MP5s first so Jonathan can show us his favourite gun over and over again. I am all for it, btw.

[@mr.randomperson9900]

Johnathans favorite gun is the EM2 isn’t it?

[@Gameprojordan]

@@mr.randomperson9900 he's talking about favorite gun in half life, not favorite gun in general

[@NardoVogt]

​@@mr.randomperson9900 Just look at his eyes and comments whenever there is an MP5 to inspect. ;)

[@sorrenblitz805]

@@NardoVogt I always thought it was a StG44 since he has one as an emotional support pet.

[@Cheesepuff8]

I hope they check out Rage 1 & 2, there’s some very interesting guns in it

[@RampagingRice]

I love that when Jonathan talks about the Half-Life: Alyx shotgun he does acknowledge that there are real gameplay reasons it was made into this weird one-handed shotgun pistol amalgam. And while the player having one hand always free to interact with the world is a correct reason they made this choice, it was also because they wanted the game to be accessible to all VR headsets, some of which have tracking systems that cannot track properly when you put one controller (or hand) in front of the other. Overall great video!!!

[@hoppinggnomethe4154]

Little did Jonathan know, break-action autoloading shotguns DO exist.

[@Fm7b5_]

And also valve didn’t like the way 2 handed weapons feels in vr

[@KaineTube]

I remember having the ability to hold weapons with both hands in Alyx. Was super handy in the dark sections where it would line the flashlight up with the point of aim of the pistol.

[@RampagingRice]

@@KaineTube U could put your hands together for a two handed grip, but all weapons were designed to be able to be used effectively with just one

[@Toaster278]

I've always been a fan of valve's sound design in HL2 when it comes to the pulse rifle. It's nice that it isn't kinda the standard "pew pew" or zapping noises for an energy weapon, instead it makes a resonant *thud* that is really satisfying.

[@bunkaaa8726]

Sounds epic firing in tunnels. Or outside. Or, anywhere in fact.

[@K12machinima]

Yeah, I agree. It sounds mean, strong, and alien, while aesthetically matching the Combine’s cold and sterile architecture; it truly feels like a weapon precision-made to be powerful and domineering.

[@amazingnoo9935]

Half Life has always had really cool sound design

[@K12machinima]

@@amazingnoo9935 Even the OST is distinct, and adds a hint of isolation and uncertainty to the whole thing, too. :)

[@supremeghost7950]

The fact that he mentions the real-life weapon mechanics WHILE rambling about his good ol' days makes this so wholesome to watch. I love it, when Jonathan reviews game weapons from games he actually played. This man is a national treasure!

[@wonkehcheetah1138]

A lot of the weirdness of the Overwatch pulse rifle comes from the fact that the weapon model and animations were originally for a cut 'incendiary rifle', the weird round/magazine things were originally just individual flares in a 5 round magazine.

[@bshap495]

Oddly enough, the I-rifle still didn't have a reload animation that involved removing the magazine. I remember it just repeated the exact same animation as the firing cycle.

[@AVI-lh6rm]

I like to think of the pulse rifle as some sort of weird alien weapon using a type of new, weird alien projectile. The containers are filled with some sort of weird, volatile energy, and when the container is struck, the energy inside shoots out the other end of where it was hit, hence the weird robo-arm punching the back and laser beams coming out of the front. Eventually the energy in the container runs dry, so it cycles to the next container. This is just my headcanon though, but I think it's a very cool headcanon. :')

[@bshap495]

@@AVI-lh6rm What you just described is exactly how it works. The cells contain dark-energy plasma, and release a concentrated projectile with each strike of the firing mechanism until the cell runs dry. In fact, HL:Alyx has a pulse SMG that works in the exact same way. So it is canon.

[@silverhawkroman]

ah that makes way more sense now, i always had a feeling like i was holding some sort of flamethrower mixed with a rifle

[@ThisOldSkater]

@@AVI-lh6rm Same. Also the gun sounds bitch'n! You know you 're getting something accomplished when you fire that thing!

[@blackmonkeyknight]

The crossbow (in half life 1) is supposed to be some kind of tranquilizer, so that could be why it acts more powerful then it looks

[@notshane3827]

It was also originally a weapon for the Black Ops assassins, and in unused HEV suit lines it says the crossbow's bolts have neurotoxin in it.

[@RC-1290]

21:28 "This is of course a faithful recreation of... " *Brings an alien arm into the shot*

[@usernamenotavailablee]

God I'm so glad how this guy actually knows and respects how videogames work. Not just "that doesn't exist, that wouldn't work, that's a nonsence blab blah blah". I love this man! He's doing a really good job.

[@snakeplisskinable]

Yeah he points out the difference without belittling decisions made for gameplay reasons like the double shot from Spas12 thing.

[@garden0fstone736]

Seems like a cool dude to just hangout with

[@blackjacka.5097]

They tried to bring Gun Jesus to another channel and I think he was like that.

[@GG-cn6es]

he clearly understands how 3d models are made and textured too

[@JoBot__]

I agree. ^-^

[@OllieMendes]

In Half Life 1 the magnum's barrel looks like they were trying to do some kind of forced perspective thing but it ends up looking really warped.

[@Chaosrain112]

Thought I was going insane because Jonathan didn't point that out(or Dave didn't include it in the edit).

[@BTechUnited]

Honestly reminds me of the TF2 revolver.

[@Underqualified_Gunman]

it's a super cartoonish model that isn't very noticeable due to the camera perspective

[@acolytetojippity]

yeah I always thought the top of the revolver looked closer to a Rhino or some other revolver with the "swooping" top profile. like they modeled the top of the gun as if it fired from the bottom chamber.

[@grande1900]

They also did that with some other models, including early HL2 models like the HMG and Physgun

[@victorlgcarvalho]

On 21:34 I was expecting Mr Ferguson to show us an apprehended Alien Gun. What a disappointment.

[@Digit404]

I'm incredibly surprised that Jonathan didn't mention that in HL2 you hold the rocket launcher BACKWARDS.

[@WWIflyingace62]

Brings new meaning to "BACKBLAST AREA CLEAR"

[@untemperance]

What they were going for with the Half-Life Alyx M1911 is that over the course of the game, you transform the gun into the weird sci-fi gun that Alyx had in Half-Life 2, which was a weird blocky model.

[@Kappa7837]

The “M1911” looks more like a FN or Browning Hi-Power.

[@Hersheyman]

@@Kappa7837not really it has a grip safety and a round barrel

[@Jarekthegamingdragon]

You CAN'T tell me you didn't show him the black mesa hive hand animation. I would have loved to see his reaction.

[@kruterchraft454]

I'm just as disappointed as you.

[@Coastal_Cruzer]

Oh hey it's Jarek

[@EnclaveRemnantFanboy-118]

Probably couldn't because of KZbin monetization reasons.

[@Jarekthegamingdragon]

@@EnclaveRemnantFanboy-118 I have that animation in multiple videos. That wouldn't get you demonetized.

[@CturiX.IREALLY]

let alone the security guards reaction would have sold him also ​@@EnclaveRemnantFanboy-118 did you know there's this amazing thing called censorship if they were worried about it?

[@theotherjared9824]

"Ah yes, the gravity gun. The royal armoury has one right over here."

[@djinkey]

It would be totally ok for videos to be longer for such a big game series! There's a lot of weapons missing.

[@chpsilva]

Yeah I'd like to see some comments about Father Grigori's shotgun for example

[@vibaj16]

@@chpsilva and the antlion pod thing, definitely need his thoughts on that

[@PolarDog]

One nice detail about the Black Mesa's MP5 M203, is that in earlier versions of the game, the grenade would act like a real life 40mm where it'd fly straight in the proper way Jonathan described, but it was changed later to match the original HL.

[@Gameprojordan]

Would be way too OP if it worked like an actual M203, since the vast majority of the game is close quarters environment you'd basically have a quick firing RPG with pin point accuracy and near instant impact

[@PolarDog]

@@Gameprojordan Yep, I personally preferred it that way than what it is currently, since you could snipe people from quite far with the grenades lol. But I understand the reasons it was changed. The only changes I still don't agree to this day are the Magnum's iron sights and the Crossbow's scope (they were better in the earlier versions, look terrible now)

[@scout4996]

@@Gameprojordan that's how it works in the original mod release of black mesa. I preferred it that way

[@ramonandrajo6348]

Too bad they didn't make the animations better.

[@ramonandrajo6348]

@@Gameprojordan That has a name and it's called a bad excuse.

[@Tangent_Pixel]

The crossbow in Half-Life 1 and Black Mesa is supposed to be firing tranq darts. It's mentioned in at least one version of the game... but for whatever reason (probably just a choice of usability) it functions like you're just shooting them with high velocity bolts. Still, that's why the darts look the way they do. They're "Shark tranquilizers." which probably means you're killing most enemies you shoot with it anyway.

[@Zmeeed01]

Interestingly enough, there are unused HEV voice lines for picking up weapons and when you pick up the crossbow for the first time it says: "Neurotoxin-treated crossbow, acquired". Meanwhile the scientist who tells you about the Ichthyosaur calls it "a tranquilizer gun". The amount of impact on hit in Black Mesa suggests that it could as well be shooting mini-explosives, although it's purely a Source engine thing to make ragdolls fly away if the damage number of the attack is quite high. And as a cherry on top, it somehow produces a lot of blood splatter (purely technical reasons, though). The more you think about the HL universe crossbows, the less sense they make.

[@ozvoid1245]

Not to mention, in multiplayer, it explodes when it hits any piece of geometry instead of a player.

[@paradoxicaloutcome1007]

@@ozvoid1245 Not exactly. The bolts explode if you shoot normally, but they don't explode if you're zoomed in while firing. How exactly does using the scope change how a crossbolt bolt behaves? Who knows, welcome to late 90's FPS gaming!

[@blackwoodsecurity531]

@@paradoxicaloutcome1007 to be fair, humans invented a pistol that becomes burst fire when you attach a stock to it- instead of just a switch on the side of the handgun so :/

[@Dr.W.Krueger]

I was hit in the chest by a crossbow bolt irl and survived 🤷‍♂

[@Girder3]

With regard to the MP7 with a grenade launcher: This was a carry over feature from a previous version of Half-Life 2 that had the OICW as a weapon. They cut the OICW and transplanted the grenade launcher feature to the submachinegun.

[@splatlad]

I love how Jonathan Ferguson just looks like Gordon freeman without glasses on

[@tidmouthmilk12]

I was today years old when I realised the Colt Python has a little Black Mesa symbol on the side (11:56) Also it's kind of a pity we didn't get to see Jonathan react to the animation of Gordon "equipping" the Hive Hand from Black Mesa

[@JackOfBlackPhoenix]

Regarding some of the Black Mesa weapons, it is worth mentioning that originally some of the models were much more closely resembling the real-life versions such as Spas-12, but the devs have changed it later on just to keep the spirit of the original game

[@emeraldoantony387]

He forgot the hl2 spas

[@Pegfoxx]

Wow that MP5 with grenade launcher that you guys have got is so rad. As a gun nut myself I always joked about the gun in Halflife not being possible in the real world, but you guys come along and prove me wrong. I would pay big money to test it out. Awesome!!!

[@TalesOfWar]

I imagine they tried to market that thing to tactical teams needing a bit more versatility, given how common the MP5 was back in the day. Imagine having beanbag rounds or something for it to incapacitate someone after breaching a door.

[@Ragnarok8807]

They also have an MP5 with an UGL in the Schwarzenegger movie, End of Days, thought I think that was more like the Black Mesa one, being an M203 on a picatinny rail, as opposed to a bespoke one for the MP5.

[@matthewshedlock70]

I wonder if someone saw the gun in half life and thought 'I have got to make one', so now we have a real life mp5 with grenade launcher because of half life.

[@TalesOfWar]

@@matthewshedlock70 The attachment predates Half-Life as far as I'm aware. I read somewhere (a long time ago, might be misremembering or the source was wrong) that they were going to use an M4 or something instead but changed to the MP5 later in development and wanted to keep the functionality.

[@Alpha_Synergy]

One way you could justify the double shot for the shotgun would be some form of hyperburst. Instead of firing both simultaneously, it somehow fires both so close together it seems like one shot, and for some reason doesn't eject until you pump both out

[@user-xu2pi6vx7o]

That's exactly what they did with the shotgun in Black Mesa.

[@CturiX.IREALLY]

Fun Fact, non-steam versions of Half-Life you could continuously reload the glock even with the mag full. Something i remember younger as a thing to just fidget with when progressing through the game.

[@FlyboyHelosim]

I was literally just going to comment about this.

[@coenisgreat]

You still can do it in steam versions of Half Life as well, it's just sometimes finicky about when it decides to work.

[@janetkerry]

Iirc, this was because the glock originally had 18 rounds, but for some reason they dropped it to 17. The way they did this meant that the max ammo was still 18, but limited to 17 meaning you could reload even when "full".

[@ramonandrajo6348]

@@coenisgreat Non-steam version is better.

[@FlyboyHelosim]

@@janetkerry They probably changed it as the real Glock 17 holds 17 rounds, but then again they did keep the MP5 with a 50 round mag. 😂

[@quannd]

I'd love to find out how Johnathan got into his position. I'm sure it could be pretty interesting to learn that.

[@TheSundayShooter]

IIRC: he explained in the past that it was a serendipitous opportunity. Perhaps someone might press him for details at the meet-and-greet segment of the March 11th live event ツ

[@the_annihilator5810]

i asked him on his YT an he answered there

[@borismuller86]

A friend of mine got a similar job working for the police, running their armory. He had experience (he was in the SAS) and had been working as a gamekeeper, so was around guns a lot already. He found out about the job through word-of-mouth, and apparently had to beat out a lot of cops to get the job.

[@fourleaf7570]

"It depends whether you want a job working with firearms, or a museum job - being able to combine both is very, very difficult and involves as much luck in a job being available at the right time as it does dedication and experience. My route was an archaeology degree followed by museum studies, including a placement in a military museum, which I think is what enabled the jobs that followed. Without that I'd have ended up in some other area of museum collections and probably without anything to do with firearms." -Jonathan "The New Q" Ferguson

[@largeman2316]

Isn’t it obvious? He won against the person in the position previously in a gunfight

[@CS_Uravity_PRO]

I hope he does a follow up that includes the HD pack weapons, the extra Opposing Force weapons and maybe some of the experimental weapons too

[@creepermangaming7912]

how would he do the experimental weapons they are fake, Valve/gearbox came up with them entirely by themselves.

[@tobiredfield345]

The Pulse Rifle firing animation is actually highly reduced because the caps that are heavily hammered is fired only once, someone made a reanimation of the original firing animation where each cap is one energy shot and how the automated machinery hits the cap, removes it and a new one inserted, making more sense that the "front shield" like is the actual magazine

[@zXPeterz14]

Shoutout to the people who knew this was coming due to the royal armouries video on the mp5 with grenade launcher

[@Immolator772]

i was hoping he will react, cause it's one of my fav games and has some really unique weapons.

[@Cheesepuff8]

I hope they check out Rage 1 & 2, there’s some very interesting guns in it

[@CaersethVarax]

That's me! I'm one of those

[@Kadeo64]

Note about the shotgun, in the expansions they updated the models and the sound effects and they made the sound effect happen twice to mimic it firing two shots in quick succession instead of two shots at once.

[@ramonandrajo6348]

Ok

[@RadekCrazy1]

not in HL2 tho 😅

[@RancidZombieGuts]

Yeah I always rationalised the double shot as a very high rate of fire 2 round burst

[@Kadeo64]

@@RadekCrazy1 another reason why hl1 > hl2

[@thatoneskinfromarsenal]

@@RadekCrazy1 it literally does tho??? Like it makes 2 seperate firing noises in 2 as well, and don't say it doesn't as I've replayed hl2 more times than I can count or there are numbers in the known universe

[@anton2492_]

22:40 "the Combine assault rifle is like the mullet of video game guns" LOL 🤣🤣 great commentary

[@TheRowdyRetcon]

A fun fact about the MP7, the reason it is capable of firing a grenade is because a lot of it's code was more than likely lifted from the M29 OICW that had been in Half Life 2's beta. When they cut that out, they just sorta ported the code over to their MP7 when they cut down on the amount of weapons.

[@kabeam5643]

The OICW was originally the AR2 equivalent during the beta no? Because the MP7 coexisted with it during the Beta if I remember.

[@TheRowdyRetcon]

@@kabeam5643 Yes and no. There were 2 "MP7"s in the beta, one of which looked closer to the HK PDW prototype, and the one closer to the model we know today. The AR2's model had actually been in the beta as well, called an incendiary rifle. When they reworked and cut down the amount of weapons post-leak, they ported the code onto the MP7 to keep a more reliable grenade launcher in game, plus it ties pretty nicely to the MP5 from HL1.

[@Technobabylon]

At least in HL2, any oddities could be justified as "the Combine decided to make things a bit differently"

[@mildly_miffed_man1414]

@@ramonandrajo6348 : |

[@Ezekiel_Allium]

@@ramonandrajo6348 conquering interdimensional empires are obviously huge sticklers for sticking to exact specifications of acquired technologies

[@The1337guy1]

Nah. I really don't understand the decision to give the MP7 a grenade launcher function with no apparent way for it to work. HL Alyx accounts for these things much better because it has guns that need to obey some form of natural law since you have to operate them in a full 3D space. The MP7 on the other hand makes zero sense on every level, it feels like a compromise made of all the worst parts of a design document.

[@Ezekiel_Allium]

@@The1337guy1 no, you see, it has a tiny barrel for the grenade launcher. It makes perfect sense.

[@ramonandrajo6348]

@@The1337guy1 HLA is not canon, so no.

[@thelastminuteman7513]

I always assumed the shotguns alt fire was like a 2 round burst. I even kind of made up my own lore that the one Gordon picked up was "broken" and if you tried to fire it in semi-auto mode it would run away and jam on the second shot so you'd have to rack it to clear it. And the reason Gordon didn't switch it out for a none broken one is because that is a badass obviously useful malfunction to have.

[@eclipserepeater2466]

The pump animation after using the alt fire is also slightly longer and more deliberate from what I remember, so that fits. Gordon has to use a little more force to clear the jam.

[@IMN602]

You sir are brilliant

[@vibaj16]

the sound also kind of goes with that

[@hoppinggnomethe4154]

And a bad lore theory it was

[@ricksaburai]

How would a pump action spas even do burst fire?

[@waterfall4535]

Me showing the cashier my -100% reduction coupon : 19:36

[@racer927]

23:49 That's an interesting observation since I think Valve was going for it slowly turning into Alyx's machine pistol seen in the Half-Life 2 games but you are right, it's not dissimilar to Star Wars' DL-44 (C96 with a scope and flash hider) and E-11 (Sterling with a very short box magazine, radiator fins around the shroud and a tank scope).

[@GalluZ]

Wake up babe, new Jonathan Ferguson video.

[@DrPepperMan85]

Just read this and spat out my tea. Brilliant. Thanks.

[@mr.randomperson9900]

Yes please!

[@Finetales]

The Keeper of Firearms and Artillery at the Royal Armories Museum in the UK, which houses a collection of thousands of iconic weapons from throughout history?

[@FlyboyHelosim]

"Wake up babe"... you mean your hand went dead?

[@user-rd6uc2sf6i]

not only does he know how guns works but also how are they modeled for in-game use, this man is a gem

[@thedonzhorzh]

22:28 the definition of overkill

[@e93gsx]

Ahh the good old days of playing being able to play a single player career game like Half life and just have it be your complete focus for a week or whatever. Completely wrapped up in the story and world. Even when I have a week off now it isn't really my own week off. Don't know if I will ever have that experience again.

[@bebopjelli2]

The crossbow in the first game (and remake) is meant to be a tranquilizer gun for use under water. That's why the darts look that way in Black Mesa. In HL2 it's just a homemade rebar projectile delivery device.

[@jiubboatman9352]

Seeing the Magnum being used in the blast pit level of Half-Life, brought back so many memories. One of my favourite areas in any video game.

[@mikeb3172]

The blast pit made me give up on the first play through. In there for 30mins, finally get out and launch a missile as if it's over, then straight back in...

[@ToastyMozart]

It's weird seeing modern Black Mesa footage of fights with the soldier enemies. I played the mod on release and those Version 1.0 Marines were *absolutely cracked:* They were mercilessly fast and would shred you in seconds if you stood out in the open. It made fights with them take a few tries sometimes but it was pretty thrilling when you finally beat them.

[@Fm7b5_]

Kinda like actual marines lol

[@russianbigbird4161]

10:49 Yeah, revolvers are always everyone's favorite until you're straining your wrist, trying to one hand a 500 magnum cause oh it can't be that bad

[@BloodWraith777]

22:05 They should have shown him the MMOD version of the AR2, where the firing animation actually makes sense. See, that giant front loaded magazine isn't for show (or shielding your face for that matter), the other 29 "plasma caps" are stored in there. What MMOD does for reanimating this weapon, is that it rapidly reloads a plasma cap into the firing chamber after each shot is fired, and it looks really neat. That or each singular plasma cap has 30 shots. Which doesn't make much sense, even for Combine technology. Let's just say that MMOD's version of the AR2's firing and reload animations is the canon version.

[@billcipher5148]

The magazine is container for cartriges each contain 30 shots. The same technology has HL:A SMG

[@muttipi]

i love the details in the animations for the original half life games and black mesa, like you can tell how cumbersome and foreign weapons are in gordon’s hands by how much they recoil and fly out of his grip as he fires in the originals, but in black mesa he’s more playful and purposeful with his hand movements like he knows this isn’t his first rodeo (maybe it’s some timey wimey gman stuff, or more likely just animators putting their own spin on it.)

[@rdrrr]

Always thought it would be neat for a game to acknowledge a difference in firearms training between two playable characters (or the same character at different levels of skill, if there are RPG mechanics) by varying the animations. Maybe the green character pulls the charging handle on an AR-15 every time they reload whereas the character with more training hits the bolt release instead. It's probably been done but I can't think of an example.

[@electronus97]

@@rdrrr IIRC COD MW 2019 did this?

[@voodoodummie]

@@rdrrr this kinda happened between half life 1 and opposing force, though the latter is by gearbox using a license. Shepard has noticeably less recoil on his weapons and most noticeably the M4, which makes sense seeing he is a trained soldier and Gordon is a scientist with some gun range experience.

[@ToastyMozart]

The big green cylinder on the rocket launcher is probably based off the Battery/Coolant Unit used in MANPADS like the Stinger: The battery powers the electronics before launch and the coolant chills the IR seeker for target acquisition.

[@markdevonport3274]

Fun detail actually: The crossbow in half life 2 is super heated for two reasons. Not only do super hested bolts to a lot more damage to internal organs, but when the bolt hits a wall, it cools down very quickly, leaving it almost fused into the wall.

[@JonathanHarvell]

Aw man, was hoping to hear his unique perspective on the Tau Cannon.

[@sabliath9148]

*Proceeds to pull out actual Tau cannon*

[@kelleroid]

@@sabliath9148 "yeah so I found this one in a pool of blood, chunks, and smoking boots in some weird lab, took it back to the armory..."

[@Nicitel94]

What is this thing? Some kind of weapon? Aww maaan!

[@Pumpkin42O]

I love how in Alyx, if you fully upgrade the pistol it actually, looks sounds and acts like alyxs pistol from Half Life 2

[@ramonandrajo6348]

Half-Life Alyx is not canon, so no.

[@gb_2_]

@@ramonandrajo6348 ????

[@somdudewillson]

@@ramonandrajo6348 ...What?

[@planescaped]

@@ramonandrajo6348 I'm afraid to say that your mom giving birth to you is non canon.

[@nereid942]

@@ramonandrajo6348 trustworthy claim. did you get it from the trustworthy claim store?

[@ileryon4019]

18:50 this MP7 is an old project/prototype version. The current MP7 is the one used.

[@renbelmont]

i always like that Gordon was more partial to a crossbow, even vying for one while the combine have snipers he could pick up if he wanted to (if the game let you) but maybe he weighed the options and likes seeing hot rebar pin people to the wall by the head

[@goodlifeFOB]

i will never forgive you guys for not showing Jonathan the pick up animation for the Hive Hand in black mesa

[@IrascibleTank]

I like how the Black Mesa version of the shotgun has less recoil than the original version when using the alternate fire, considering that the spas was a pretty heavy shotgun even if you’re firing 2 shells at once.

[@thematt6705]

9:40 In Half-Life 2, it's called the Rebar Launcher. The metal rod is construction rebar.

[@Scruit]

I wonder if the apparent rotation direction of the cylinder of the revolver is another artifact of mirrored gun design. The rotation engagement slot suggests anti-clockwise, however if the sides are mirrored then the slot on the far side of the cylinder would suggest clockwise rotation. Pause the video at 13:50 then use the "period" and "comma" keys to go frame-by-frame forwards and backwards (respectively. Look at the grooves in the cylinder on the left side of the pistol and you'll see the grooves do indeed revolve clockwise.

[@Azguella]

HEY I SAW THAT MP5 couple days ago at royal armories channel good stuff

[@Gameprojordan]

The great thing about the glock is it was easy to render into old late 90s video games because it's already so blocky 😂 Also the Singapore military actually issued out MP5s with M203 launchers in small numbers. They created a special handguard attachment brackets on the underside that would lock the m203 in place

[@icyknightmare4592]

8:07 German youtuber Joerg Sprave developed a system like this for both bows and crossbows. Essentially a single stack magazine for arrows or bolts.

[@stickpge]

I think the bottom of the HL2 launcher is partially modeled after the FIM92 launch unit which has that gas canister near the grip to cool the seaker so it could be that the valve team decided to add that to an AT-4 to make a frankenstein launcher

[@shadowasii4492]

For black Mesa, the double shot sound for the spas implies that the two shots fire sequentially instead both at once, which is slightly more plausible

[@ramonandrajo6348]

That has a name and it's called a bad excuse.

[@somdudewillson]

@@ramonandrajo6348 The spas-12 is semi-auto in real life, converting it to be burst fire isn't exactly that absurd.

[@Werepenguin]

@@ramonandrajo6348 weird comment

[@ramonandrajo6348]

@@Werepenguin Who are you?

[@ramonandrajo6348]

@@somdudewillson Whatever, dude. XD

[@thevictoryoverhimself7298]

The underbarrel grenade launcher on the SMG makes more sense if you know that it can be used to launch things other than explosives. They made a door breaching charge (like a specialized 40MM shotgun) to fire from them, so it makes a lot of sense for law enforcement/SAS types.

[@Mikebumpful]

A 40 mm shotgun?? That would make a good action movie weapon!

[@thevictoryoverhimself7298]

@@Mikebumpful It works to a range of about 8 inches :) Mostly designed to make the door handle and lock section of a door disappear.

[@Mikebumpful]

@@thevictoryoverhimself7298 So I assume it could make the head or the midsection of a person dissappear as well?

[@thevictoryoverhimself7298]

@@Mikebumpful Havent tried it.

[@daegnaxqelil2733]

since the marines fought in BM interiors , the choice of a SMG instead of an AR15 variant make sense

[@zulubunsen9067]

Some additional info on the HL/BM crossbow and magnum. Johnatan says the Black Mesa crossbow's bolts look more explode-y, which is a weird coincidence, because in OG Half-Life multiplayer (probably BM too) the bolts are explosive if the crossbow's fired unzoomed. But I'd say the bolts actually look more like syringes, which would be even more fitting, as the weapon is originally described as a tranquilizer (a weirdly lethal one at that). The magnum's aim-down-sight is also not really that new, just that it's available in the single player. In OG HL multiplayer the magnum's secondary was a zoom (albeit just visual, not an actual aiming down sight).

[@Dr.Freeman...]

Thx for checking out my weaponry

[@floyz8]

Would love to hear Jonathan's take on the weapons from the old Resistance games.

[@036JH]

The Rossmore double barrel shotgun was a thing of beauty.

[@NanoElite666]

Ooh yeah, that would be a fun series to take a look at.

[@BloodWraith777]

15:09 IT'S REAL! THERE WAS AN UNDERBARREL GRENADE LAUNCHER FOR THE MP5 THIS ENTIRE TIME! P.S. Gordon's left hand while wielding the MP5 in HL1 is some sort of dolphin-man hand. It only has like 3 fingers. The modelers seriously didn't think anybody would notice that performance saving Frankenstein move. Also I like to think that the Black Mesa version of the shotgun is just 2 Spas12s welded together. A Black Mesa Research Facility custom shotgun. A double pump action shotgun, if you will. That would probably be a bit unwieldy, but it still makes more sense than "hurr durr, loading barrel also fire"

[@Nsodnoajdjksl]

That "hurr durr" is kinda similar to "hur hur huhur hur hur huhur huhur"

[@vector4632]

13:45 After a very quick frame-by-frame examination, I found that the revolver *does turn Clockwise* (Like a Colt revolver), but then the animation basically Backtracks in the cylinder rotation to match the other animations (Idle, Moving, Reload, etc). In Shell-by-Shell reload animations, you can very easily see this happen in front of you by messing with a few things the animation doesn't count on you meddling with (Above all examples is a gigantic Field Of View) - You might see that the shell that you inserted teleports out of the gun, and into (or near) your virtual hands for you to re-insert.

[@Vic47]

The darts on the Corssobow were supposed to be syringes filled with a very powerful neurotoxin that would poison the enemy (that's where the the great damage comes), and in Muliplayer mode of Half-Life 1 the darts were also explosive if you shot them without using the socope.

[@Mr.Coffee576]

Kind of hoping the legendary Crowbar would be on the list.

[@mildly_miffed_man1414]

@@ramonandrajo6348 : | Jesus Christ, kid. Shut up.

[@kiloklavdi1185]

@@ramonandrajo6348 Guns are also tools

[@ramonandrajo6348]

@@kiloklavdi1185 And?

[@averageeclairenjoyer3010]

It's a shame they didn't show the animation of hornet gun from Black Mesa. You know, THAT one.

[@XanderNiles]

The good thing about Jonathan is that he's not only a weapons expert but he also played a lot of the original Half-Life as his first PC game. Overall, it was quite interesting to hear his takes on the guns of Half-Life because they all have something special attached to them.

[@VGLounge]

3:36 They were mass produced to be standard issue for Civil Protection forces

[@jamesburk8145]

I always assumed that the half life 2 pistol was just standard issue for the combine or something. Neat to know it's modeled after a real world pistol because I thought it was just some kind of futurized glock.

[@Rossen42]

I really want to see Jonathan break down the guns from The Order 1886

[@shukterhousejive]

I don't think it's cost-effective for Gamespot to make a 4 minute long video

[@pierreo33]

@@shukterhousejive or a game THAT forgettable

[@lucibvee]

@@pierreo33 sadge

[@deadsaige]

I’m back on this series again and this is a pleasant surprise. Love this channel

[@CrabbyCakes702]

Jonathan has easily become one of my favorite people to watch on youtube! Love how he points out the goofiness of the shotgun double firing but can still admit its very satisfying lol

[@iinob]

Half-Life has always been one of my favorite game series, and I'm glad you guys made a video on it. Yall really do know how to make awesome videos

[@EveBatStudios]

I was raised in a gun store and Half Life 1 was one of my first games so this episode feels really close to home for me. :D Also love your Xenomorph shirt

[@saturn580]

04:16 I always thought the magical double-barrel shotgun blast was goofy, but now I'm wondering if it was intended to imply a rapid two-shot burst from a single barrel. Still unrealistic, but far more plausible.

[@GoldenTV3]

I like how the Glock is a rare item for the UK armorer's collection, while in America it's literally one of the default guns you get as a gun owner.

[@Winasaurus]

The glock is actually part of the basic loadout americans spawn with. The british just get assigned a football team.

[@Neo2266.]

Props for using the 3rd person view in HL1 However, a great shame that we don’t get to see Johnatan react to Black Mesa’s versions of the Tau Cannon and Gluon.

[@jehoiakimelidoronila5450]

That little green cylinder under the half-life 2's rocket launcher @ 20:54 is modeled after the FIM-92 Stinger thermal battery

[@ronng21]

@GameSpot 18:10 the grenade is a micro grenade and it comes from the lower barrel (future tec not our timeline)

[@1chiTheKiller]

I always love the videos with this guy. Very knowledgeable and has a fun personality.