Poll: What are the Combine? (HL2)

[FallenJellyDoughnut]

Lately I've been playing Half-Life 2 for the four millionth time and I noticed something strange. At the beginning of the Black Mesa East chapter, after you've been scanned by Dr. Mossman, she says something about how the combine can tunnel through from their universe but when they're here they have to rely on local transportation. Do any of you think that they're aliens or something else?

To better understand what I mean, play the Black Mesa East or better yet, get a program called GFCScape and open the source sounds cache file located in the program files/steam/steamapps
It will open with two folders, pick HL2/sound/vo/eli_lab and play mo_extrahelp03.wav to mo_extrahelp08.wav

Please, vote in the poll and voice your opinions.

PS: I also noticed that Breen seems to make alot of references to "Our Benefactors" Who are they? Could this be the work of G-man?

 

[syndicated44]

I dont know I always just kind of assumed they were just another breed of alien from xen. That or potentially all the military guys you killed at black mesa getting revenge only to realize they still suck.

I kinda never picked that up but that is REALLY sad they can tunnel from universe to plane of reality and do all this crazy shit but then they get here and its gone. They gotta drive a car or ride a bike or walk. I also remember that one teleporter they had which took a good 10 minutes to start where the rebel one built in some crazy scientists basement took like 30 seconds.

 

[FallenJellyDoughnut]

I dont know I always just kind of assumed they were just another breed of alien from xen. That or potentially all the military guys you killed at black mesa getting revenge only to realize they still suck.

I kinda never picked that up but that is REALLY sad they can tunnel from universe to plane of reality and do all this crazy shit but then they get here and its gone. They gotta drive a car or ride a bike or walk. I also remember that one teleporter they had which took a good 10 minutes to start where the rebel one built in some crazy scientists basement took like 30 seconds.

AND it took two weeks to get them from point A to point B!

 

[FallenJellyDoughnut]

Lately I've been playing Half-Life 2 for the four millionth time and I noticed something strange. At the beginning of the Black Mesa East chapter, after you've been scanned by Dr. Mossman, she says something about how the combine can tunnel through from their universe but when they're here they have to rely on local transportation. Do any of you think that they're aliens or something else?

To better understand what I mean, play the Black Mesa East or better yet, get a program called GFCScape and open the source sounds cache file located in the program files/steam/steamapps
It will open with two folders, pick HL2/sound/vo/eli_lab and play mo_extrahelp03.wav to mo_extrahelp08.wav

Please, vote in the poll and voice your opinions.

PS: I also noticed that Breen seems to make alot of references to "Our Benefactors" Who are they? Could this be the work of G-man?

i read the subtitles in the last lvl of hl2 and breen says something about the combine being bags of intergalactic hyper intelligent fungi and the suits are their protective suits. not sure if its true.

But you must remember that there was one without his torso armor on in EP1 I think and he looked just like a shaved, pale human.

 

[Monkeytacoz]

i could have sworn that the combine were people who were altered with microchips or something

 

[Dragon_of_red]

The Combine would be Humans on there planet, but to us they would be Aliens, depends in what perspective you look at it

 

[FallenJellyDoughnut]

Combine.

The combine you see in game are - uhh- combinations of humans and alien technology or whatever.

That seems most likley but then how do you explain what mossman said?

 

[FallenJellyDoughnut]

Ok from what I've read from all your opinions, it seems that Mossman is talking about the Advisors, not the little human grunts on the ground. Seems likley.

 

[Knight Templar]

The Combine is the alien race that takes controle of universes, you never see one in HL2 as they sent allready defeated aliens to crush earth.

"Our Benefactors" is Breens way of talking about the Combine and Overwatch. Overwatch being the Combine force on earth, it's mostly altered humans and strange alien creatures such the Strider and Dropship. Not that the diffrence between "Overwatch" and "Combine" really matters, it's a small distinction in the end.

This was all very simple to me.

 

[syndicated44]

Well now that I have more insight into this it is a rather good idea for them to invade because they would only need a small insurgent group, start mass herding of people and implant them with the technology turning them into your pawns. Why else would they have a prison system the size of new york. Plus I think it is episode 1 Alex seemed really disgusted by those laser shooting ones (name escapes me) so I can only assume that they were potentially once human.

 

[cordeos]

The combine are both human and aliens, the standard troops you fight in HL are modified (genetically and mechanically) humans. striders and gunships are some sort of alien creature. The combine advisors are aliens as well.

 

[FallenJellyDoughnut]

The Combine is the alien race that takes controle of universes, you never see one in HL2 as they sent allready defeated aliens to crush earth.

"Our Benefactors" is Breens way of talking about the Combine and Overwatch is the Combine force on earth, it's mostly altered humans and strange alien creatures such the Strider and Dropship. Not that the diffrence between "Overwatch" and "Combine" really matters, it's a small distinction in the end.

This was all very simple to me.

Then I don't understand why they have Breen in power, unless they were using him like Australia's prime minister, just a face to put blame on.

 

[Knight Templar]

The Combine is the alien race that takes controle of universes, you never see one in HL2 as they sent allready defeated aliens to crush earth.

"Our Benefactors" is Breens way of talking about the Combine and Overwatch is the Combine force on earth, it's mostly altered humans and strange alien creatures such the Strider and Dropship. Not that the diffrence between "Overwatch" and "Combine" really matters, it's a small distinction in the end.

This was all very simple to me.

Then I don't understand why they have Breen in power, unless they were using him like Australia's prime minister, just a face to put blame on.

Kevin Rudd isn't just a face for the goverment, but whatever.

He is in power because he negotiated earth's surrender, I am unsure how he reached such a posision of power but it most likely had something to do with his knowlage of aliens gained from running Black Messa. Anyway he more or less screwed earth over so that he would be safe, he's a lucky coward.

 

[Fauxity]

The Combine is the alien race that takes controle of universes, you never see one in HL2 as they sent allready defeated aliens to crush earth.

"Our Benefactors" is Breens way of talking about the Combine and Overwatch is the Combine force on earth, it's mostly altered humans and strange alien creatures such the Strider and Dropship. Not that the diffrence between "Overwatch" and "Combine" really matters, it's a small distinction in the end.

This was all very simple to me.

Then I don't understand why they have Breen in power, unless they were using him like Australia's prime minister, just a face to put blame on.

Kevin Rudd isn't just a face for the goverment, but whatever.

He is in power because he negotiated earth's surrender, I am unsure how he reached such a posision of power but it most likely had something to do with his knowlage of aliens gained from running Black Messa. Anyway he more or less screwed earth over so that he would be safe, he's a lucky coward.

Until someone kicks his ass in Episode 3.

 

[Senrab]

Combine seem to be kinda like the Borg or the Zerg, a collective of several different species augmented by Combine technology. Including humans.

 

[TheTygerfire]

Combines are from science and outter space and hate humens.

 

[gigastrike]

Combine.

The combine you see in game are - uhh- combinations of humans and alien technology or whatever.

That seems most likley but then how do you explain what mossman said?

Dr. Mossman was referring to how the Combine use a more direct form of portal technology that allows them to rip a hole straight into another dimention, but they aren't able to create smaller portals that can take them to other places in the same dimention. The humans were able to do this by using Zen as a hub.

The Combine themselves are a group of extra-planar alien races that were conquered and changed by the original race (the Advisors). The combine soldiers that you fight are usually humans that were modified to varying degrees with mechanical components.

 

[Last of the Chinchillas]

Combine seem to be kinda like the Borg or the Zerg, a collective of several different species augmented by Combine technology. Including humans.

This, pretty much. I believe that the Advisors are the only, I guess, "original" Combine species. The rest of them, the Striders, Hunters, etc., are species that were subjugated and then cybernetically enhanced and altered. The process can be seen by what they've begun doing to the human species in Ep. 2, when you're escaping from the Citadel, and run into the Stalkers.

 

[CmdrGoob]

The Combine themselves are aliens - they look like big slugs. You can see them twice in HL2, on monitors when Dr Breen is talking too them, once when you first teleport and again at the end, and they are the advisors from Ep1 and 2.

I'm pretty sure they are not from Xen, I think the implication is that Xen is one of the worlds they've conquered and enslaved, modifying their inhabitants to use as their armies - like the Combine Overwatch (as distinct from the Combine themselves).

 

[Erana]

Combine seem to be kinda like the Borg or the Zerg, a collective of several different species augmented by Combine technology. Including humans.

Spoiler: DId anyone say...

Stroggification?!

No? Aww...
*puts away pointy things*

Really, though, the Combined are the super space people, and they don't really give a damn about the Earth. Therefore, they don't really give a damn about convenience for the humans they turned into combined.

Take a look at this picture/shirt: http://store.valvesoftware.com/img/productpage/getthegear/Zoom_HL2EvoShirt.jpg

Notice how lots of the human head has been cut away? Particularly the frontal lobe...