Combine Grunt
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| Combine Grunt | |
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| General information | |
| Faction | |
| Individual information | |
| Weapon(s) | |
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| Game information | |
| Entity |
npc_combine_s |
| Voiced by | |
- "Echo One is forcing compliance."
- ― Combine Grunt[src]
The Combine Grunt, referred to as Echo One in Combine terminology, is a low ranking soldier class of the Overwatch introduced in Half-Life: Alyx.
Contents
Overview
Combine Grunts are the most common foot soldiers in the Combine military and are often seen in squads being led by a Combine Ordinal, additionally supporting key Combine Charger or Combine Suppressor units. They wear a predominantly white outfit with light armor, making them weak in combat. They are armed with SMGs, will throw Grenades to flush out enemies, and can also kick or bash foes with the butt of their weapon when at close range. Some Grunts wear bodypacks with gas tanks strapped to them which, if punctured by gunfire, will ignite and eventually explode, killing the wearer. The lenses in their masks glow yellow until they die, at which point they switch off to an unlit blue color. Upon taking extreme damage to the head on death, a Grunt's mask may be partially or even completely blown off, revealing heavy cybernetic surgery underneath. They appear to wear a second face plate under their masks, and if that's torn away, it exposes mechanical wiring sprouting out of their eye sockets, implants embedded into their flesh seemingly connected to the inside of the face plate, and their skin rendered pale and leathery. (This unmasked facial appearance is also shared with the Ordinal and Charger.)
Despite this, they (along with the other Combine unit types) still seem to retain a great deal of their human personality. Unlike Combine Soldiers and Elites, which appear to be completely stripped of their humanity physically and mentally, Grunts are seen "playing around" such as when a Grunt can be seen kicking an incapacitated Strider until another tells him Overwatch ordered him to stop. They regularly break from their standard jargon and sometimes call out Alyx Vance by name, even taunting her at points: "You can come out now", "It's almost over". At points, they will call out to Alyx that they are friendly in an attempt to lure her out into the open with her guard down. If they are successful (that is, the player reveals themselves and doesn't immediately begin firing), they will laugh and announce "Friend game effective" over the radio while they begin firing. Grunts have less distorted voices than the other unit types.
Related Achievements
| Half-Life: Alyx | |
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Pro-Pain |
| Kill a grunt by shooting their gas tank. | |
Behind the scenes
Combine Grunts have voice lines for encountering, avoiding, and being stunned by Rollermines, although none are encountered in Alyx.
Grunts originally featured a more grey-ish color scheme that was absent from the release version of Alyx, as seen in trailers and promotional material.
In the unused model of the cut Combine Recon, the texture definitions point to the missing materials combine_grunt_gear.vmat and combine_grunt_body.vmat, suggesting the Recon may have been an early form of the Grunt.
Gallery
Pre-release
Combine Grunt in promotional artwork.
Early screenshot featuring Grunts with darker uniforms.
Retail
Grunts accost a Citizen.
A Grunt prepares to execute a Citizen.
Grunt at Fairview Junction.
A Grunt throws a Grenade.
Several Grunts caught by Barnacles.
Grunt with his mask partially torn away from combat.
Grunt with his mask fully blown off.
Modified unmasked Grunt with blood removed.
