Pit Worm

"X-Ray Zulu, are you there? We need backup in the waste sector! Some sort of worm creature! Tower and Inney are down and I've lost contact with the rest of the squad! We need backup now! Now, dammit, now!"

- HECU Marine

The Pit Worm is a Race X creature encountered in the waste sector of Black Mesa during Opposing Force’s eight chapter, Pit Worm's Nest, as the game's first boss.

Overview
The Pit Worm's caterpillar-like segmented body supports a head dominated by a single large eye. It is found in a large room partially flooded with water, where the creature came from the ground. Its body is likely longer than seen, although it is unknown how much.

Behavior and skills
The Pit Worm's eye is its primary weapon, capable of firing a searing energy beam at nearby enemies. If enemies get too close, the worm also has large claws to strike out with. If it is shot in the eye, it will recoil, shielding it with its claws for a few seconds before striking aggressively at the player. The Pit Worm makes bird-like vocalizations. Like the Gene Worm, only one individual of that species is ever seen in-game.

Half-Life: Opposing Force
In Opposing Force's seventh chapter, Vicarious Reality, Shephard picks up a radio transmission from a group of HECU Marines fighting some kind of massive creature, the Pit Worm. In the next chapter, Pit Worm's Nest, Shephard finds all the soldiers dead, and the Pit Worm ruling the area. To defeat it and proceed further, he must dissolve it in toxic waste by turning a valve and activating a gearbox in two nearby rooms, then push a button that will throw toxic waste on the worm and kill it.

Trivia

 * The Pit Worm obstacle is similar - albeit less challenging - to the Tentacle sequence from Half-Life, in that the player cannot simply use his weapons to defeat the creature, but must use the surrounding environment.


 * The valve and the gearbox to be activated are obvious references to Valve Software and Gearbox Software, left there as Easter Eggs.


 * Another Easter Egg are the nearby garbage compactors, especially the flooded one, which are directly designed after the Death Star's garbage compactor seen in the movie Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.

List of appearances

 * Half-Life: Opposing Force