Is it Possible to Beat Half Life 2 with Just the Crowbar?

[@KazyMatman]

There is no generator at 3:22. One was added in Freeman's Mind and I thought it was in the base game. Walking through without touching the sides is the main solution.

[@maddockemerson4603]

Ross adds a lot of details to HL that make so much sense it feels wrong without it in the actual game. I watched FM two or three times before actually playing the games and was kinda surprised there were no advanced climbing mechanics like ledge grabbing.

[@AKKK1182]

Okay I was going to say I've played through all of HL2 like 20x minimum and that section at least double that and I didn't know there was a possibility to shoot a generator.

[@matthiasjagdm3949]

Dame it now i want /have to watch fm again

[@KazyMatman]

@@matthiasjagdm3949 That's how I feel every time he uploads a new episode every 10 months!

[@squirrele.1266]

I was a bit confused about that, I've played that section many times and I whack the door with the crowbar to get in.

[@Awesomeness-iz3dh]

You'd think a crowbar, a tool intended primarily for prying apart objects, would be better for tearing down barricades and moving heavy objects out of the way.

[@KazyMatman]

Right!

[@nathanfish1998]

Not the case when you use it like a bat rather than a crowbar

[@intellectualpotato]

Well the gravity gun is designed exactly for heavy lifting so i feel like that it would be the best regardless

[@nathanfish1998]

@@intellectualpotato you're right. but that doesn't mean they're wrong

[@EduardoProa]

​​​@@intellectualpotatoactually the gravity gun was specifically designed for handling hazardous materials 🤓

[@dylanzlol7293]

If they used a doorway in the 7 hours war, the combine wouldve lost

[@KazyMatman]

True! Or just got really close

[@dylanzlol7293]

@@KazyMatman either the human government wins the war, or they lose the war after multiple months

[@bluegum6438]

I mean if you have to come to a gunfight with a crowbar, hiding in a doorway and clobbering whoever sticks their head around the door is probably the best strategy IRL too

[@ezrabraman6437]

@@bluegum6438realistically, after one or two (but most likely just one) clobbering they would just shoot through the wall or throw a grenade in

[@bluegum6438]

@@ezrabraman6437 taking one or two guys with you is a lot better than the going rate for attacking soldiers with a crowbar

[@daonebest3001]

I guess Russel was right when he tells alyx that gordon fought his way out of black mesa with nothing but the crowbar

[@TastyCostcoSample]

but instead of black mesa its city 17

[@evanharrison4054]

Fun fact: it is thought that the name "crowbar" comes from how it's shaped like a crow's beak, proving either that the first crowbars looked a lot different, or that ancient crows had some freaky ass beaks.

[@KazyMatman]

I don't know if this is true but if it is, I choose to believe the second one.

[@chpsilva]

Fun fact #2: in portuguese it's called "pé de cabra" (goat's foot) due how the curved beak looks.

[@SgtLion]

It's not that the whole thing is like a beak. One side has a beak-like tapered end, and the other side has two splayed parts, like bird feet.

[@FlopgamingOne]

in french its called a goat's foot

[@DaedrasMan]

@@chpsilvain italian it’s “piede di porco”, which translates in “pig’s foot”

[@brickch4pel]

It's funny to see HL2's immersion get broken by little things that you'd almost never do in normal circumstances. This was a very fun (to watch) challenge

[@KazyMatman]

It was also fun to play (for the most part)!

[@dylanzlol7293]

You can at least feel a bit immersed if you think of hl2 as some sort of parody

[@soremuss]

Almost 20 years old and still holding up. This game is a masterpiece.

[@Cyclopeantreegiant]

Half life 1 is better 🤷‍♂️

[@rustyshackleford7660]

​@@Cyclopeantreegiant hl1 was great in it's own right but it's not better

[@Cyclopeantreegiant]

@@rustyshackleford7660 it is, and if you've played it and all the dlcs you'll know it's more entertaining, action packed, the hecu have better ai than the combine, and its just a great story overall.

[@rustyshackleford7660]

You are correct about the hecu and the story but the level design s u c k s

[@DexterMorganRIP]

The same but HL so much better the series as a whole. But I did hitman 2 with only A Scalpel lol this is much more satisfying

[@MrDanTheCreative10Z9]

13:27 I don’t think most of many people know about how Gordon caused the combine invasion, other than Kleiner, eli, Mossman, Dr casserole, green and possibly Alyx after possibly being told by Eli. Plus even if they know that he unintentionally caused the end of the world they should realise that he his their only chance of saving the world. Also amazing video!

[@deemus9365]

Gordon didn't cause anything. It's not his fault. Gordon was just doing his job.

[@negativefg7922]

@@deemus9365 Yes, because it was G-Man who gave the sample to scientists and caused the events of Half-Life.

[@deemus9365]

@@negativefg7922 Exactly

[@bluegum6438]

@@deemus9365 The whole reason Gordon's in the chamber pushing the spicy rock into the science beam is because he's the FNG, the least valuable and the newest member of the research team who has to do the grunt work for the more experienced staff. If your boss tells you to push a big red button and then screams at you, "YOU FOOL! YOU'VE KILLED US ALL!", it's not your problem. Your boss is the idiot.

[@deemus9365]

@@bluegum6438 As I said. Gordon was just doing his job.

[@blakegunner5841]

3:23 THERE WAS A GENERATOR YOU HAD TO SHOOT? I always thought you just had to not touch the metal.

[@KazyMatman]

Apparently the generator was added in freeman's mind. Not touching the sides is the normal way.

[@sephtis]

@@KazyMatman I was going to say, you perhaps watched too much FM :p

[@KazyMatman]

@@sephtis It is a good series

[@sephtis]

@@KazyMatman No doubt.

[@nostrnastr9439]

What Is FM?

[@keeparguing611]

man this video is a goldmine of subtle comedy through editing

[@KazyMatman]

Thank you so much!

[@ElmoTerminator]

Imagine being in the combine and then seeing a man in orange jump backwards toward you at inhuman speeds. Then have a crowbar get firmly lodged into crotch

[@KazyMatman]

Happens to the best of us

[@Potato-TheKing]

He didnt just finish hl2 with just crowbar he even achieved killing most combines by hitting their balls

[@FrankincenseGuy]

It's crazy how people are still finding ways to experiment with the physics in this game 20 years later. I just recently went through all of Ravenholme with dogs ball and never knew I could do that. It actually is a great weapon for the zoombies because they get distracted by it. I brought dogs ball all the way to the car by the ant lions but I don't know how to bring it any further. By far the greatest game and game franchise ever made.

[@KazyMatman]

Yeah I love these games.

[@somedudethatripsplanetinha4221]

I tried, but it keeps breaking on me...

[@FrankincenseGuy]

@@somedudethatripsplanetinha4221 you have to use the gravity gun to shoot it over certain boundary areas because it blows up when you try to bring it through certain areas.

[@RainIndex]

I did the same thing but couldn't get it past the mines because of the section where you have to swim. It was fun watching it terrorize headcrabs.

[@arthurbarbosa8204]

Just learn to abh through highway 17, it's a fairly easy route once you've got it right

[@scpWyatt]

3:40 you failed the run right here because you clearly inflicted emotional damage.

[@Neovipa]

The glitch that lets you go through walls is dependent on an earlier bug involving the airboat and changing levels as you enter/exit it. I'm not sure it works on the current version of the game, always hard to tell exactly what version speedruns take place on.

[@KazyMatman]

I see. I have seen runners do weird things with the boat, I didn't know it was needed to prop clip. Thanks for letting me know!

[@bobmcglobflob8113]

10:28 for anybody with this lighting issue, the solution is to go into the console (in the menu or it wont work) and type in dxlevel 95 and then mat_hdr_level 2

[@The1NamelessMonster]

19:20 it is possible to speedrun through the entire game just using the crowbar (except for the last fight) but you need to do an airboat glitch to get this bug

[@TheSquizzlet]

The glitch in question also does not involve using guns of any kind either so you can still get to the last fight without breaking the rules of the run, though it introduces complications of it's own elsewhere

[@Parky64]

Bro I didn’t even think you could make it past route kanal with just the crowbar 💀

[@DirtyHairy1]

The NPC quotes are timed quite nicely :) very well done!

[@OisirM]

This brings back memories of me as a 14-year old, with this as one of the first video games I had ever played. I could not figure out how to flip over the car after being dropped from the magnet. So I got REALLY creative with some of my solutions. I never learned about B-hopping because... well, how could I, I was barely familiar with electricity at that point let alone video game communities and the internet. But I figured out various ways to get past, including climbing past the first gunship fight, using a really convoluted setup with multiple boxes and benches to get over the broken bridge. I think I made it as far as the gunship fight in Nova Prospekt, all without the vehicle. Why in all of this I never thought to use the gravity gun on the car I am really not certain, and I think it does not shine a particularly positive light on my ability to use the four braincells I have bouncing around my head. In general, although I can't say that I found HL2 to be an absolutely amazing game, it really does feel like it holds up quite well. It's just fun to play and figure out all the weird things the physics engine allows you to pull off.

[@KazyMatman]

You were doing challenge runs before they were cool! And yeah, I love this game.

[@9bang88]

Heresy

[@emmafox3284]

never thought id see a shin breaking barrel goblin armed with a crowbar before

[@KazyMatman]

Expect the unexpected!

[@somedudethatripsplanetinha4221]

"I can't shoot the generator, so I tank the damage" Pathetic, I always tank the damage.

[@gwagabogo]

everyone always does

[@soda7998]

11:53 god, they should've called them zoombies that works pretty good

[@tornadogamah]

I did a similar challenge like this in HL1 myself, where I didn't even pick up any guns and only used the crowbar. Killing soldiers was a challenge because you had to move away quickly to avoid picking up their guns. I managed to get all the way to the Nihilanth's chamber without so much as picking up a gun or throwable, but couldn't figure out how to break his crystals. Looking back, I probably could have used one of the jump pads to get myself on top of them or something. Either way, I was still pretty amazed that I managed to get that far.

[@KazyMatman]

I'm ok with picking up the guns just not using them. Not picking them up really ramps up the challenge!

[@bombdatacenters]

It's unfortunate, even if you had broke the crystals, crowbaring the nihilanth can bring his hp down to 1, but can't kill him for some reason. You must use a gun on him.

[@ZorroXido]

@@bombdatacenters a peruvian streamer named diepiify manage to make it

[@Justmonika6969]

That was great considering what you were up against. The challenge would've probably been less frustrating if you allowed yourself to use grenades and the gravity gun, but then again that sorta defeats the purpose.

[@alligatorscrublord]

I would like to make it known that you do not need to use a gravity gun for the power cord on the bridge, you can prop climb over the main force field on top of the bridge. Make sure to take the prop with you, if I recall there is a second gate at the other side of the bridge. You might also be able to air strafe around the barriers.

[@KazyMatman]

On highway seventeen? You can also throw a prop at the cord and it comes out

[@BobTheMartin]

Gordon doesn't need to use guns, he is a highly trained professional

[@Bugplanet8840]

Do you agree with Gordon’s no gun rule. Great challenge I’m glad you were able to get past most of the game with just a crowbar.

[@AvgSpy]

19:10 So this video is a bit old so you probably already got an answer on this, but here's how it works: All the way back in Water Hazard it's possible to glitch Gordon so he has vehicle collision while being outside of a vehicle, which comes with certain perks. 1. Due to how enemy targeting AI works, combine no longer shoot at where Gordon's hitbox is and thus with the exception of explosives no enemy damage can actually hit you. 2. Putting a prop between you and a wall will now allow you to phase through that wall, you just have to have the glitch active first So the reason that glitch wasn't working is because you never used that specific technique. It's possible with every vehicle though, including the buggy and even the pods at the end of the game

[@KazyMatman]

Thanks for letting me know!

[@wta1518]

Also, I'm pretty sure it gives you a free noclip pass for the level where you mess with the airboat.

[@AvgSpy]

@@wta1518 yes, but noclip prevents you from activating level change triggers so you can only go as far as where you see the barnacles in speedruns to force yourself out of noclip mode. From that point onward though, you're in some weird combination of the basic player state and the vehicle player state but you can complete the game that way. The only place noclip is useful is the last level, which is where speedrunners typically use it since at that point there are no more level changes that need to be activated

[@Charon_gmi]

Videos like this always make my day better, because I can see that this community is not dead yet and it also helps me with killing time. Keep up the good work.

[@tjrizvi251]

Let's be real, the combine would've stuck Gordon with the Manslaughter charge anyways

[@siyacer]

a crow barring a crow from a crow bar with a crowbar

[@Cecedilha2ep2]

10:56 "fast headcrabs, like a normal headcrab, but fast." *- Combine OverWiki*

[@Yukla27]

This guy needs oscar for beating hl2 using only crowbar and R.I.P that guy who got killed by hopper mine in anticitizenone

[@havocking9224]

This should be official achievement, great job 👍🏻

[@Cysco8575]

I imagine the achievement named like "It's not a weapon but..." or "A tool for a man of few words".

[@SeriousApache]

Dr. Breen: "Tell me doctor Freeman if you can..." Freeman: (angry silence)

[@PrimmyTheG]

This video is amazing! I can't believe the production value you put into it. The dry delivery with hilarious jokes makes a perfect combo! Well done and I am interested in your future endeavors.

[@amysilverstone9059]

19:26 Estrogen containment?? let me in! LET ME IIIIN!! I need all of it!

[@MoonLightFML]

3:02 was a sick transition

[@isengrimfaoiltiarna6985]

Nice to see the challenge through the eyes of someone who is not a speedrunner and doesn't skip every section with reverse bunny hop (with some minor exceptions, but it wouldn't have been possible without them). That fact made the video a lot more interesting to watch. After a few months I would be able to say that I was there before 1 mil subs

[@leonponce8437]

"I run past, I dodge, I tank. I hit the combine in the dick. I use the gg a few more times." GG

[@ericvandenavond8748]

22:10 Wasn't there a puzzle in water hazard where you could pick up these barrels without the gravity gun?

[@KazyMatman]

Yeah there was, I don't know why they changed it.

[@protheu5]

So, it's basically a bunch of speedrun techniques, but without the gravity gun and actually possible to do for a regular person? Neat! Oh, and "Been here before 10000".

[@valentinmihai815]

Please do more half life runs! Really entertaining

[@BloodstainedAlice200]

Ngl.. I love this kind of commentary.. 10/10 on the video

[@miggy7334]

This video needs more views because you really did a pretty hard gameplay there

[@absolutezerochill2700]

4:50 the officer behind him got impatient and shot his friend in the back, geez I do always find these moments of realistic friendly fire in games fun

[@liamthespecial4820]

Even though u had to use the dark energy gravity gun, u didn't kill anyone with it so its still fine sorta

[@audiovisualcringe]

“but you used the dark energy gravity gun to kill Breen” no, you used the dark energy gravity gun to destroy his host body machine thing, he died after falling from there

[@marvelscratchmultiverse]

@@audiovisualcringe yeah, gravity killed breen

[@matthewkendrick8280]

I love that Google knows I’ve been playing half life

[@harryboy1899]

I thought you had way more subs, you’re doing a great job and I enjoyed this video a ton, keep it up!

[@KazyMatman]

Thank you!

[@lowbirds]

"Uhm, actually, its exogen not estrogen." 🤓

[@soda7998]

0:50 my favourite line

[@CrashGround201]

I think we've found a new subclass, we shall call it 'Gordan knight'.

[@trollos]

"Eventually I am able to lure some guys to me." - Kazy Matman, 2022

[@Lunarcreeper]

19:26 kinda makes sense cuz i'm pretty the citadel is stopping reproduction and stuff

[@Yukla27]

Bro broke the game with crowbar 💀💀💀

[@kisaragi-hiu]

19:15 that clip is a quickclip, which requires setup during the airboat section. The airboat afaik is implemented by taking away player collision (noclip) then having the airboat override noclip controls; by abusing map transitions you can enter a map in an airboat without the airboat being transitioned into the map, which allows you to fly around as if in noclip mode; this is called the yesclip. The logic for being grabbed by a barnacle is still active, and being grabbed by one allows you to regain collision, except that interaction with physics objects is broken in a way that allows quickclips. An ASH might be easier than an ABH. With an ABH you hold crouch, look 180 degrees from your direction of travel, and spam jump to gain speed as long as you're over the soft speed cap; with ASH you hold crouch, back (s) and right then look 45 degrees to the left (or flip the directions), then spam jump to gain speed as long as you're over the soft speed cap. A wallclimb (not a propfly; New Engine propfly (not hugging a wall) is afaik basically scripted only) is much easier if you look up a bit (not straight down). Crouch on a prop facing a wall, face almost straight down but not quite, then spam jump and use. (I'm an amateur not-a-speedrunner who enjoyed ABH-ing through Highway 17 a lot)

[@kooshamehrpourdarestani9754]

If you are walking on the rings of Venus and your unicycle breaks down, what number should your bowtie be? Answer: elevator because penguins hate Christmas!

[@matthewkendrick8280]

I’ve played half life 2 an unknowable number of times ever since I was a little kid. I NEVER KNEW YOU COULD SHOOT THE GENERATOR AND NOT HAVE TO TANK THE DAMAGE

[@sarahkatherine8458]

15:42 The car can jump it, but I can't. *Or can I?* *VSauce music starts

[@snythe]

24:10 "the hoppers are easy to avoid" *rebel proceeds to fucking die*

[@khoaitaynuong1062]

we have to sacrifice

[@johndough5596]

7:14 theres a log sticking up and out of the water near the ramp. I didnt know about the crate my first run so i used the log to get behind the ramp and jump it into the helicopter arena

[@sutirk]

Everyone: here's some weapons, a car and a boat Gordon: I'm just gonna run really fast and whack'em in the head if i have to

[@Gethin469]

i wondered if there was a run like this. good video!

[@colbie472]

You earn my subscribe I was enjoying this while i was eating my midnight snack

[@IBN-Amriki]

I’ve literally asked myself the titular question multiple times but had neither the balls nor the patience to put it into practice. This is great stuff, a true testament how the game forces you to be creative. I’m thoroughly entertained by this, cheers.

[@raffertymetcalfe]

half life 2: London edition

[@STNDD]

It's basically impossible to beat it without the shotgun, let alone every other weapon (Like seriously I literally had to savescum the shit out of that last turret standoff in Nova Prospekt my first playthrough because I seriously was not able to beat it no matter how many things I tried)

[@-Gunnarsson-]

If people complete games with only knives. A crowbar should be no problem.

[@theabarguy]

Nice run! Upon seeing this video, I thought you were going to abuse all sorts of glitches. But you did it while keeping it to a minimum, so a salute to you for that!

[@KazyMatman]

Glitches should only be used when absolutely necessary!

[@gustavofrbes]

25:41 he's busting

[@m1stq933]

The smoothest Translation Doesn't Exis- 3:00

[@HorizonPearl]

the reason why the combine won't shoot you if you have a barrel in front of you is because if you can't see their head within a direct line of sight they won't shoot you. If you can see their feet they won't shoot but as soon as you can see their head regardless if you're looking at them they can't shoot. And some event triggers depending on where you are looking.

[@mi1t4nk]

nice to see people taking games more seriously

[@mort_brain]

How you've managed to flip the car is what blew my mind!

[@TuriGamer]

Lots of rule bending god dayum

[@legohead2731]

When I saw the title I thought “probably everything except the citadel but it would be pretty annoying” and I’m happy that’s exactly what I got

[@MotorOil3]

“What do you mean there’s a guy killing all the combine with a crowbar?”

[@ruix]

Damn almost 20 years still fun to play. Nice run

[@BlackSago_]

When kazy said “It’s Crowbar time” and started crowbarring Everything. I felt that

[@TheSilvacraft]

When Breen took away your crowbar you know shit got real

[@Disco_Stuff]

I took a screen shot from this video for my school assignment

[@KazyMatman]

Lol! What is the assignment

[@Disco_Stuff]

@@KazyMatman It's a media Assignment about trying to get others to try new things in a poster format, So I made a Half Life Poster and took a couple screenshots of this video! So thank you! Lol

[@BoreaFree]

Bro I played this game for years and got cheeky with the crowbar a few times nice video imma start a new game rn and only use it based on your experience :)

[@KazyMatman]

Good luck!

[@loloreel]

I stumbled across this video while randomly trying to find out if it was possible to beat half life 2 with just the crowbar, and I must say I really enjoyed your video! I thought I was just going to watch a few minutes, but I ended up watching the whole thing! The editing was flawless and the humour was subtle and funny enough to be enjoyable without being annoying or without taking me out of the video. Considering the quality of your content I thought you had at least 100k subscribers, imagine my surprise when I saw you only had 4.6k... I immediately subscribed! I took a look at your other videos and it's exactly the kind of videos I enjoy watching. TLDR: video good

[@KazyMatman]

Thanks so much! Coincidentally I have a crowbar only run on my channel too.

[@emirkomutan4212]

Gordon freeman style

[@chris01118]

Nice challenge idea. Also, very creative solutions, you are great at problem solving!

[@SugarCoatedCocoa]

3:03 is the cleanest cut i’ve ever seen! Well done!

[@allyski5914]

"why was breen so insistent on killing this one guy? all he does is crouch behind barrels and swing like a mad man"

[@KazyMatman]

He is really good at swinging tho.

[@ashisharky]

8:18 the lighting glitching out is actually a problem in general and not just sequence breaking (which you didn't actually do here. The game doesnt require you to have the airboat most of the time and theres no long term effects to not bringing the airboat) iirc it has to do with missing some lighting data causing the map to default to fulbright if you don't have the right video settings

[@megakarlach2]

This is only happen in the New Engine version of HL2, which this bug still present today. If you have HDR off, this lighting issue will occurs due to lack of LDR/SDR lighting data. Old Engine did not suffer from this bug.

[@Subject_Keter]

The sandtraps out of bounds part saved me from doing a gunship fight while i was doing the lamba achievement. I got to say using the hovercraft as a bouncy springboard is one hell of a thing.

[@Yoshizawa-san]

33:10 that is such a funny detail

[@lecooldude]

I had to do a double take on "daddy gregori"

[@OddsTheo]

I only just realised watching this video how much of a chad Gordon Freeman is. I see now why he never talks. He saves all his energy for attacking things with his crowbar in an inefficient manner but still absolutely wrecking their shiz. Sometimes it does look like he's swinging it, but other times it looks like he's punching forward with the crowbar, which seems like an awkward way of generating a lot of force

[@XiaoXiaoMan1123]

I have to respect Gordon Frohman'ing the plug in the bridge section. It worked for him, surely it'd work for anyone.

[@c0baltl1ghtn1ng]

24:12 That, children, is what is called "Comedic Timing"

[@KazyMatman]

I love that part

[@C_rrptd]

Comedy = tragedy + time

[@krisdreemurr112]

bro's about to thank the game for existing, because without it this challenge wouldn't be possible 💀

[@102days]

this is a surprisingly good video for such a small channel, good luck with KZbin

[@KazyMatman]

Thanks!

[@The_Shayreq_Demon]

I applaud your dedication. There were so many instances where you could’ve used a grenade or the gravgun and I don’t think any of us would’ve cared or penalized you for it. But you got through those obstacles anyway with just a crowbar. Good shit, man.

[@llSuperSnivyll]

26:34 This is right out of a comedy show. You just needed to look at the camera as you realize you didn't pick the grenade.

[@Vitalion37]

10:20 tickled me, turning around to smack the cabinet 😂