Shock Roach



The Shock Roach is a living weapon encountered in Opposing Force. It is used primarily by Race X Shock Troopers, but it can also be picked up and used by humans.

Appearance and Behaviour
The Shock Roach has all the characteristics of a large insect, with six legs and a tri-segmented body. Unlike the Hive Hand, the bio-weapon employed by Alien Grunts, the Shock Roach can move, react and attack of its own accord. Once its user is dead, it can be picked up and adopted by someone else who doesn't already have a Shock Roach. It will violently attack anyone who falls into the latter category. Its use as a weapon stems from its ability to generate large amounts of electricity, which it can launch in short bursts from its single proturbant eye.

Application and Appearances


The Shock Roach is the primary weapon of Shock Troopers in Opposing Force; once Adrian Shephard has killed the first one he encounters, he too can pick up and use the weapon. Shock Roaches are similar to the Hive Hand in that they essentially have an infinite amount of "ammo"; they regenerate their electric charge after they have been fired, and they can be fired ten times in quick succession before they are temporarily exhausted.

Shock Roaches presumably originate from the same provenance as Shock Troopers and the rest of their mysterious kind. Whether they have been evolved to suit their application as weapons or naturally manifest as they do is not known, however they do not appear beyond their role as weapons for the Shock Troopers. As with the rest of Race X, they have not appeared beyond Opposing Force.

Tactical Considerations

 * The Shock Roach is a relatively weak weapon, however it is very useful in situations where ammo for your other weapons is thin. It is arguably a better choice than the slow and often inaccurate Hive Hand.


 * Remember that once you have a Shock Roach, other Shock Roaches will attack you once their user is dead.