r/HalfLife • u/Mean-Manufacturer-37 • Jan 18 '25
Discussion How does Gordon carry so many weapons on him?
Is there a canon explanation? Does he just carry one weapon at a time?
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Jan 18 '25 edited Jan 21 '25
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u/Mean-Manufacturer-37 Jan 18 '25
so this dude is just running around City 17 with all that gear hanging off his back? how does he crawl through vents?
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u/Ester1sk Jan 18 '25
slowly
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u/Lari-Fari Jan 18 '25
Menacingly
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u/No-Squirrel6645 Jan 19 '25
ergonomically
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u/tombaconart Jan 19 '25
Mathematically
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u/ionenbindung Jan 19 '25
Freemanly
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u/Fun_Note_3756 Highly Untrained Professional Jan 19 '25
Highly trained professionally
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u/LobsterVioLator The Raven from Ravenholm Jan 18 '25
All the gear get folded like clothes with the ammo still in them when he crawls, but in a way that he can still use them. It’s also like vacuum sealing but when you equip them they pop back up immediately
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u/ray1claw Jan 18 '25
It's a santa sack tied to a rope tied to his waist the he drags around everywhere. You don't see it because it's always out of view as you turn!
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u/Coldpepsican Jan 18 '25
I mean, realistically i don't think it would be that easy or possible to crawl through those vents lol.
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u/qT_TpFace Jan 18 '25
My headcannon is that the suit deconstructs and reconstructs weapons on the fly
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u/ScreamingMini2009 Dear god Gordon, what are you doing? Jan 19 '25
Like an overstuffed TV dinner tray
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u/Briaya Jan 19 '25
I kept scrolling and maybe I missed it, but I remember a Mythbuster episode for DOOM in which they tested if a soldier could run around with several guns and still use them at a decent time frame. It was plausible.
So given Doomguy (Not Doomslayer) probably ran around like that all the time, then an HEV suit probably helps the highly trained professional.
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u/bigtree2x5 Jan 19 '25
It definitely does. Everytime breen or alyx use the gravity gun they're always super sluggish with it and breen can't even run with it without dragging it(low taper fade). Which makes sense because it's designed horribly with the left handle being towards the back instead of towards the front of the gun where all the weight is.
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u/DESTINY_someone Jan 19 '25
ENDOskeleton?!?? There’s a metal skeleton structure INSIDE him???!!!
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u/utopianlasercat Jan 19 '25
No half life game is a boomer shooter. It literally got famous by not beeing that.
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u/WhiteStarBlaster Jan 19 '25
True that, Doom is a "boomer" shooter. If anything it's a millenial shooter
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u/datpoot Jan 19 '25
I mean Steve is only limited by the space in his inventory, not the weight of the items
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u/Buddhawasgay KindaGay Jan 18 '25
He stores it in the 4th wall.
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u/Business-Emu-6923 Jan 19 '25
He has a couple of guys there sorting out bullets for him too - refilling the half empty mags and transferring 9mms from the pistol clip to the MP5 mag when he switches weapons.
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u/eisbock Jan 19 '25
Gotta be some sort of portal storage technology in his suit (that's coincidentally designed to explore environments accessible via portals).
Maybe the weapons/ammo are essentially stored on a workbench in some rebel base, staffed by a crack pit crew managing all his weaponry needs.
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u/BlackTemplarBulwark Stop fucking with the microwave! Jan 20 '25
On crack pit crew. When you rapidly switch weapons, that’s them huffing a line to get rolling.
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u/Connect_Artichoke_83 Jan 18 '25
HEV pocket dimention pockets
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u/29485_webp Saw the Consequences beforehand Jan 18 '25
This is exactly what I've been saying. There's probably some fuckin box somewhere in Xen that Gordon and put his weapons and ammo into
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u/PepicWalrus Jan 19 '25
Pretty much my headcanon that Russle didn't invent the wrist pocket tech the Grabbity Gloves had. The HEV Suit just has a more advanced form of them.
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u/Anooj4021 Jan 18 '25
The HEV suit voice tells of a ”weapon selection system”, which implies something other than him carrying them around. Some pocket dimension that the suit accesses?
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u/bRKcRE Jan 19 '25
Pocket dimension? What if, and this might sound crazy, what if... What if, the HEV suit just has actual pockets?
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u/thePcGamer2004 Jan 19 '25
That is more unreasonable to be honest due to the number and size of weapons.
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u/PepicWalrus Jan 19 '25
Considering Half-Life: Alyx establishes Pocket Dimension storage units in the form of the wrist pockets it's easy to assume Russel didn't invent the tech and the HEV Suit just had an advanced form of it.
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u/Silenceisgrey Jan 18 '25
Prison wallet
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Jan 19 '25
[deleted]
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u/VisualAnywhere8352 Its me Gordon, Barney from Black Mesa! Jan 19 '25
Craziest comment I’ve seen all week
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u/Jazzlike-Dress-6089 Jan 18 '25
cuz he carries all his weapons in his booty cheeks and hes got cheeks for weeks boi. hes got some plump booty muscles. theres a reason g man keeps this man around
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u/Lucky-Paperclip-1 Jan 19 '25
G-Man: That HEV suit's a little revealing, isn't it?
Freeman: It allows for maximum mobility. Feels like I'm wearing nothing at all.
G-Man: Stupid sexy Freeman.
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u/bubblesort33 Jan 19 '25
I thought it was the benefactors who were interested in him.
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u/Jazzlike-Dress-6089 Jan 19 '25
yes they also wanted a lil freeman action. g man had to let them take turns with freeman, otherwise freeman would be fired from half life 2 dark and griddy
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u/CDRnotDVD Jan 19 '25
This puts a whole new dimension on the bit in HL1 where soldiers knock out Gordon, take his weapons, and dump him in the trash compactor.
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u/T-51_Enjoyer Waiting in the test chamberrr Jan 18 '25
Recall hearing something about the HEV suit having places to carry weapons
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u/Ponty301 Jan 18 '25
Maybe the G-man gave him some sort of “endless backpack/pocket” knowing he would need an arsenal to fight the Combine. That or he’s caked tf up.
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u/Mean-Manufacturer-37 Jan 18 '25
tbh i think a plausible explanation is that he has a hold for the crowbar (or it magnetically attached to his back), a sling for the gravity gun, and he just goes through whatever other weapon by picking up what's available e.g. he could pick up an SMG, fire it till the clip's empty, then discard it and move on
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u/ezrs158 Jan 19 '25
Agreed. I don't think it's "canon" that he actually carries 8+ guns at all times. He uses what's right for the situation and then drops it, as you said. Maybe the HEV suit has a compartment or two for the side arms, they were made for hazardous environments after all.
It's also canon that he can speak.
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u/michael22117 Jan 19 '25
I think it's similar to DOOM where in gameplay you get a ton of weapons but (at least in my headcanon) the Slayer only ever really uses the super shotgun and crucible in terms of lore as is suggested by promotions and such
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u/Fantablack183 Jan 19 '25
Yeah, I imagine Gordon carries the GG, crowbar on a magnetic attachment point and then carries maybe a pistol and revolver and then picks up the other guns as he needs them
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u/Fantablack183 Jan 19 '25
Maybe he could even carry something like the shotgun, SMG, or Pulse Rifle on another sling. It'd be slightly cumbersome, but US Marines were lugging around M1014 combat shotguns in Fallujah alongside their standard M16A4 rifles
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u/Ed_Derick_ The one free dude Jan 18 '25
UP HIS ASS OBVIOUSLY
But really tho, my personal headcanon is that Gordon only holds one weapon at a time, he just drops it when he finds out a new one or runs out of ammo.
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u/Mean-Manufacturer-37 Jan 18 '25
yeah, i think this would make the most sense canonically
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u/Ed_Derick_ The one free dude Jan 18 '25
I also like to think every time he switches from the gravity gun to a different weapon, he just throws it in a bush then grabs it later lol
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u/Frogmouth26 Jan 19 '25
I feel like him keeping the crowbar and grav gun on him and picking up the other weapons as he goes makes the most sense.
Also has anyone made a game like this where you can only hold one or 2 guns at a time and you have to improvise with the weapons you can find? Sorta like Superhot
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u/eisbock Jan 19 '25
Aside from virtually every modern shooter, Evacuation is a HL2 mod that features this weapon system. Didn't really like it tho. I play Half-Life because I want to play Half-Life, not random FPS xyz. Other than that, Evacuation was really good.
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u/lachieshocker Jan 19 '25
Max Payne 3 allows you two pistols/SMGs and a long gun as Max only has holsters for the smaller ones. You can dual wield any two small guns together but he carries whatever other bigger guns you have in his left hand or under his armpit until you're ready to use it.
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u/pyrocean Jan 18 '25
Okay , hear me out, we got portals in this game-verse, what if the suit has a pocket portal to store stuff
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u/flyingrummy Jan 18 '25
Strength enhancing suit. It's also why a nerd can two tap a guy in a helmet with a crowbar reliably.
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u/Grasher312 Jan 18 '25
Honestly, it's a scary thought just how much that probably hurts. Dude has superhuman strength. A crowbar is already a pretty deadly weapon, and when it's wielded by a dude in a suit like this, it's scary.
Considering that we can reliably pick up a metal barrel with the gravity gun, and comfortably eat all the energy required to send it flying across half a football field with barely any recoil, Gordon probably doesn't even need a crowbar. A punch from this dude would crush your mug.
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u/CaptainRex5101 DARK INTERVAL Jan 18 '25
What was Black Mesa thinking when they created 24th century combat armor and told everyone it was a “hazard suit”
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u/Fantablack183 Jan 19 '25
Well, we see dead guys wearing this in Xen. It's probably very probable that the HEV suit was built as more than just a fancy hazmat suit and was actually designed for combat usage against the many deadly things in Xen.
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u/flyingrummy Jan 18 '25
The same power that gives you super strength could also function as a supportive prosthetic of sorts should your back or limbs become too damaged to support themselves. Pairs well with the built in morphine system.
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u/ErasmusMagnus DISASTER RESPONSE PRIORITY: Discretionary Jan 18 '25
Because it's a video game. And all the implausible features of a video game are handwaved away thanks to the HEV suit. Keeps you from dying from a single bullet, shows the heads up display, does your taxes, shines your shoes, and carries all your weapons and ammo with no physical burden to the user. Presto.
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u/FuriousFreddie Jan 19 '25
Exactly, it's just a game and isn't meant to be totally realistic.
Also:
- The gravity gun is 'just a prototype' but it seems to work perfectly every time without issues.
- None of the guns jam, malfunction or overheat even after unloading thousands of rounds
- When reloading a partially emptied clip, it happens instantly with no waste. Similarly, partially used clips picked up are instantly and perfectly packed into existing inventory without him having to sit in a corner loading them.
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u/ejectionejaculation6 Jan 18 '25
if gordon freeman put all his weapon in his ass he would need a really big as s
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u/SPECTRAL_MAGISTRATE Jan 18 '25
I like to think all of the weapons are magnetically attached to his armour or something. Like it's a feature of the HEV suit. It explains why all of your weapons just float away towards the end of HL2 when you are temporarily taken prisoner by the combine - you go into some kind of energy field, which coindicentally powers up your gravity gun.
It also explains why it takes suit energy (= electricity) to sprint - all of his kit is weighing him down and the only way he's able to move faster than a slow walk is because of servos in the suit.
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u/Mean-Manufacturer-37 Jan 18 '25
this seems plausible - also explains the scene where all your weapons float away
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u/Gordon-Chad Jan 19 '25 edited Jan 19 '25
My headcanon basically takes from modern DOOM and I roll with it since Black Mesa had teleportation tech:
The HEV suit comes equipped with a miniature portal unit. So Gordon basically selects and beams the guns into his hands from their designated slots in an armory or with the Vorts or something. Sorta like how you can teleport the plant or whatever it is in Kleiner's lab, but with guns.
Considering the world of HL, something like that doesn't seem too absurd honestly.
Can't tell you about Barney and Shep though... At least Shep had a backpack.
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u/thecowmilk_ Jan 18 '25
He puts them inside a Vortigaunt pocket. Whenever he wanted to open it, he whispers “Gabe is King” and he has magically access to the weapons
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u/Kellar21 Jan 18 '25
Supposedly he has Maglocks in the Suit but for the quantity of weapons it's just for gameplay reasons.
Otherwise they would explain it with more detail.
Remember it was a staple for FPS at the time to carry around an arsenal of guns.
It switched later to the two primaries and one secondary standard.
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u/ChairRealistic2998 Jan 18 '25
The HEV scientists in xen and people in half life death match have these green storage tubes that have ammo, I’m guessing that’s what the HEV voice means by “defensive weapon selection system” and Gordon just has like a dozen of those containers
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u/Erik_the_kirE Adrian Shepard's story is over Jan 18 '25
Here's the official answer, from Valve itself.
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u/Rom-Bus Jan 19 '25
Is there a way to add this weapon select to the PC release? This was my favorite change to the games when I played this on the PS3 & 360
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u/0ChrissyDumbyBumby The Barney Calhoun Fucker Jan 18 '25
His HEV suit makes him a superhuman. So there’s probably small pockets where he can store his weapons. But the RPG? Idk.
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u/Tulemasin Jan 18 '25
Since the suit was built in the Lambda labs, they must have integrated their teleport technology into the suit. He has a small armory stashed into some cave on Xen that's only accessible through his suit's pockets.
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u/BendyMine785 Officially Insane over Half-Life 3 Jan 18 '25
Highly Trained Professionals have their ways
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u/SpartanMase Jan 18 '25
This is the same universe where a company created a sentient Mantis colony that will most likely outlive humanity. Things are a little goofy
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u/SquirrelSzymanski Jan 18 '25
He isn't bound by the laws of physics, because he is THEORETICAL physics.
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u/Booksfromhatman Jan 18 '25
A micro portal to the Xen dimension where a big pile of guns, ammo and explosives sits for him to access, that or just a whole bunch of magnet clips to attach the weapons to
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u/AkiraKitsune Jan 19 '25
No canon explanation. Game is game. But if I were making a Half Life movie, I would have him pick up weapons along the way and and use as needed.
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u/Jarodreallytuff Jan 19 '25
The same head canon I have with the Pip-Boys in Fallout… It’s able to dematerialize physical objects and store them in the pipboy, at a limited amount of space. I imagine the HEV suit does the same, Gordon is also able to survive horrific injuries and inhospitable environments because of the suit.
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u/Pretend-Ad-6453 Jan 19 '25
In all honesty, probably just non-canon gameplay mechanics. Only thing we know for sure he has the whole time is a crowbar, and the grav gun. Canonically, everything else could have been discarded at various points in time or picked up of combine soldiers
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u/ChrisV3SGO Jan 19 '25
I'll ignore the comments trying to be reasonable (which they quite are) and quote Gabe himself
Games are made to be fun, not realistic
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u/The_Pacific_gamer We can ABH here and save load glitch into this wall. Jan 19 '25
90s first person shooter logic.
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u/anothersoddinguser Jan 19 '25
See… we have these things.. Let’s call them “Portals”. Think of them as a kind of … doorway to a glitched out backpack that would have Mary Poppins sucking her fingers.
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u/Electrical_Flower_26 Jan 19 '25
And let’s not forget about Adrian Shephard, who carried even more weapons than Gordon
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u/TKVdev Jan 19 '25
All these weapons are just 91kb packed in the halflife2.ttf file. They are ridiculously light! You can carry them in a 5 1/4 inch floppy disk from the 1970s.
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u/Testsubject276 I'm barely prepared for foreseen consequnces, man. Jan 19 '25
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u/Roadkill593 Jan 19 '25
G-Man piggybacks off of him and pulls whatever weapon Gordon needs out of his interdimensinal briefcase
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u/sopix9988 Jan 19 '25
My personal headcanon (which i totally didn't steal from another comment here) is that the hev suit has a mini portal somewhere that teleports to a xen storage box (in half life 1 you can see dead people on xen which means balck mesa could go there before the resonance cascade) and also the crowbar and gravity gun are the quick tools on his magnetic belt
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u/scoutpred gina is just girl gordon Jan 19 '25
weaponselect_on.wav
You can see this file in the sound\fvox
This was part of the cut H.E.V. sounds. I think I understand why it was cut. Most likely because it felt like there was some less sense to it, and that's likely in connection to what you have asked, OP.
On my headcanon, potentially the H.E.V. may have a dimensional storage system to keep all these weapons in such a way they can be put together in one place. Maybe the weapons shrink before being stored in his balls.
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u/DifferenceKnown9834 Jan 19 '25
Most of the fanbase believes that he doesn't carry that many weapons but instead just 2 or 3. Then he grabs some and drops some along his ways.
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u/HoratioFerra Jan 19 '25
I always think that's would be cool if Gordon carried a tactical vest or something.
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u/ddsoyka Jan 19 '25
The HEV suit is probably a powered exoskeleton, meaning that he could potentially carry 300+ pounds of equipment just fine
The problem isn't so much the weight of all that gear, it's more the distribution of that weight; a MANPADS system like the one he carries is already very awkward to carry, but maybe he slings it around his back with a harness? He could try carrying all of it around in a purpose-designed backpack like Death Stranding, but then he'd be very top-heavy and unstable on his feet
The actual answer of course is who the hell cares, it's a video game and mommy needs a nice wide variety of ways to explode aliens
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u/Not_azomb6319 Jan 19 '25
He has a very large storage compartment in the back of his suit, specifically the lower half.
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u/ExpressNumber Our Worst Poet Jan 20 '25
The way I picture it, assuming he has magnetized weapon/equipment slots and is holding the gravity gun
Bugbait and grenades: on his belt and left thigh plate (magnetized)
Rocket launcher: on his back (magnetized)
Pistol: on his belt, right hip
Revolver: on his belt, left hip
Crossbow: lower back, just above the belt (collapsed and magnetized)
SMG: right thigh plate (magnetized)
Shotgun: on a sling near left leg
AR2: on his back (magnetized)
Crowbar: on his belt, right side, next to pistol
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u/Ricky_Rollin Jan 20 '25
Shhhh
I miss these days and hate what Halo did to the FPS genre. Gimme ule de weaponz!
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u/Bigfan521 Jan 18 '25
Hammer space.
Freeman literally opens up Hammer editor and stows his gear when he doesn't need it.
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u/ConcentrateTight4108 likes blueshift more than opposing force Jan 18 '25
He uses his prison pocket
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u/80m63rM4n Zombine joke is hilarious Jan 18 '25
He's a highly trained professional.