Crowbar


 * "I think you dropped this back in Black Mesa" - Barney Calhoun

The Crowbar is a tool and melee weapon used by Gordon Freeman in the Half-Life series. It is the first weapon acquired by Freeman in Half-Life and Half-Life 2. The crowbar is used as a tool for breaking open supply crates and clearing destructible obstacles, as well as a basic melee weapon. The crowbar is widely considered to be the iconic weapon of the Half-Life universe, perhaps almost as famous for being referred to Half-Life as Gordon Freeman.

Half-Life
The crowbar is the first weapon acquired in the third chapter "Unforeseen Consequences" and is used to break some nearby glass doors. After Gordon is captured in chapter "Apprehension" and is relieved of all of his weapons, another crowbar is found at the top of the trash compactor. It is notable that crowbars can also be found in various areas of Black Mesa beyond "Unforeseen Consequences", such as in a tool room just above the freight lift at the beginning of the "Blast Pit" chapter.

Blue Shift
The crowbar in Blue Shift is first found in the second chapter, "Duty Calls", right outside the elevator the player starts in. It is used there to smash through the dozens of cardboard boxes in the room. After that, the crowbar is never found again. It is seen at the very end, though, where one scientist is using a crowbar to open a gate. This is also the only scene where the crowbar is actually used for its intended purpose, and the only scene where a scientist who isn't the player uses it.

Half-Life 2


The crowbar is the first weapon acquired in the game in the chapter "A Red Letter Day". Before Barney Calhoun, a former Black Mesa Security Guard now operating undercover inside Civil Protection gives the player the crowbar, Barney remarks, "Before I forget, I think you dropped this back in Black Mesa." This suggests that he found the missing crowbar from Gordon Freeman. Barney most likely found the original crowbar in the ending video of Blue Shift, which features Barney being teleported into a small maintenance shed with a window grate showing Freeman being dragged there by two U.S. Marines. This would presumably indicate that the crowbar could have possibly fallen through as the scientist was stripped of his weapons in the original game.

Episode One
The crowbar is provided in the fourth chapter Urban Flight, when the player encounters Barney Calhoun in an apartment building. He gives Gordon a crowbar wedged in a bridge control, remarking he "doesn't have many of these left".

Episode Two
It is found in the first chapter, "To The White Forest", in an elevator shaft inside an abandoned mining complex. The crowbar is found wedged in an elevator's controls. Prying it loose will yield the crowbar, but will send the elevator crashing down into an Antlion nest, separating the player from the Vortigaunt.

Usage
The crowbar is generally more useful as a tool than a weapon. It is ideal for clearing obstructions, smashing objects, knocking padlocks off of gates, etc. In combat, the crowbar is very effective against Headcrabs and Manhacks, and is fairly effective against standard Zombies. The crowbar is also a handy backup weapon if an enemy gets too close, especially for those low on ammunition; a few hits with a crowbar should deter small targets. Crowbars take 5 hits to take out regular zombies and combine, 1 hit to take out all headcrabs and 2 to take out a manhack (however the first strike will cause it to fly away, leaving more time for another hit). This renders it very effective against headcrabs and manhacks, especially in Ravenholm, although requiring good reflexes and knowledge of how to defeat them. Zombies are easier to defeat due to their slow attacking speed enabling easy dodging, however usage against poison zombies is only recommended if few other enemies are nearby and the extra poison headcrabs on its back have been accounted for. Usage against fast zombies isn't recommended due to their incredible speed. Furthermore, when ambushing or rushing a combine unit, the player will receive minimum damage by using a crowbar - the Combine units will fire once and attempt to hit the player, but if they attack as fast as possible he will be dead by the time he does this.

It should be noted that the Gravity Gun tends to supplant the Crowbar in Half-Life 2 as it is more versatile; it is quite effective at obliterating obstructions more quickly and for hurling heavy environment objects like furniture over short ranges for large amounts of impact damage (see Ravenholm). It should also be noted that the Gravity Gun is able to kill headcrabs using three primary fire blasts, providing yet another reason not to use the crowbar as the standard tool.

Trivia
As its status as being one of the most iconic weapons in gaming, multiple references are made to Half-Life by subtle use of crowbars in games.


 * In Halo 3, a crowbar can be found lying around on the multiplayer map "Sandtrap" that bears a striking similarity to Gordon's crowbar. Sandtraps is also the name of Half-Life 2's eighth chapter.
 * In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, a crowbar similar to Gordon's can be seen lying on a table inside the Area 69 government facility.
 * When the player receives the crowbar in the Orange Box on the Xbox 360, they get an achievement.
 * One of the weapons available in the game The Ship is a crowbar, with the description "to be used by a free man," an obvious reference to Gordon Freeman.
 * In the flash game "Sonny" there is a crowbar which can be used as a weapon. The weapon's description is "More than just a weapon, it's the symbol of a hero." which is an obvious reference to Half-life 2.

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