Combine Guard

The Combine Guard is an enemy cut from Half-Life 2, the predecessor of the Hunter and one of the several predecessors of the Overwatch Elite. Its scripted version is a continuation of concepts for the Combine Synth Elite Soldier and the Alien Combine Soldier, heavily armored and used to combat Resistance vehicles and large numbers of enemies. Considering the camera attachment, it is likely that the man inside the robotic suit is blind - his eyes seem to have been somehow removed. The Combine Guard was also to wield a large weapon that fired a powerful disintegration beam. It was recycled for the Strider. The Combine Guard can be found in the E3 map terminal and in the Air Exchange.

Trivia

 * Early concepts seen in Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar show a more conventional soldier named "Combine Guard" with a long trench coat inspired in part by the German SS uniforms of World War II, concept that would later be kept for the original Combine Soldier, minus the trench coat. It is possible that the name given in the book is a mistake, as this concept does not seem to have anything to do with the scripted version.
 * Although the NPC was cut from the final release, there is a remnant in the form of a sound file: cguard\charging.wav, which implies that the sound of the Pulse Rifle's secondary fire was originally that of the Guard's weapon.
 * In the final version of Half-Life 2, there is a console command "sk_combine_guard_spawn_health 1", a possible reference to the Combine Guard left out from deletion.
 * The Combine Guard bears a resemblance to the Strogg of the Quake series.
 * Combine Guards can break down doors just like in the Terminal presentation.
 * The Combine Guards are very similar to the Alien Grunts in Half Life 1 as the beta version has a similar weapon and similar animations as the Alien Grunt.