Gravity Gloves (Half-Life: Alyx)
This article is about the tool used by Alyx Vance. For the cut Half-Life 2: Survivor weapon, see Gravity Gloves (Half-Life 2: Survivor). |
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The Gravity Gloves, nicknamed the "Russells" after their inventor, are a pair of Gravity manipulator devices used by Alyx Vance in Half-Life: Alyx and the technological precursor to Half-Life 2's Gravity Gun.[1]
Contents
Overview[edit]
The Gravity Gloves are a pair of hand-mounted contraptions that can be fitted onto Alyx Vance's gloves. On the index and middle finger parts of the devices are two movable protrusions which can emit Zero-Point Energy fields, functioning similarly to the Gravity Gun's secondary mode which allows the user to pull distant objects into their hands. However, compared to the Gravity Gun, they are significantly weaker, and can only pull objects light enough to be carried in one hand. Additionally, instead of the HUD used in previous installments, the Gravity Gloves display the player's health, ammo and resin amounts on built-in monitors on the back of the left glove. When the user is severely injured, the three hearts representing their health on the displays will flash, and an orange check engine symbol will light up.
The Gravity Gloves seem to have integrated various electronic components and wristwatch parts, and according to Russell, they have many intricate yet fragile sensors inside. A tiny shard of Xenium is said to be contained inside the watchcase on the right hand, presumably functioning as a power source. The gloves are driven by multiple computer programs devised by Russell himself, and when not in use are stored in a pair of repurposed microwave ovens. Russell apparently have gone through a hard time inventing the gloves, as evidenced by the several mannequins with burnt hands in his lab, and he had come up with various names for them before finally going with the abbreviation "R.U.S.S.E.L.L.S". Despite this, he is still troubled by what the full name should be.
When overcharged, the Gravity Gloves can draw and carry Vortigaunt energy from the corridor walls in the Vault. The energy can then be launched from the gloves in the form of a beam that kills any living entity in its way. As she lost her weapons when entering the Vault, Alyx made extensive use of this ability to defeat the Combine guards in the Vault.
Related Achievements[edit]
| Half-Life: Alyx | |
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Combine Harvester |
| Use the gravity gloves to loot an item off a living Combine soldier. | |
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Deadliest Catch |
| Use the gravity gloves to intercept an incoming enemy grenade in mid-flight. | |
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Mag Snagger |
| Catch Russell's ammo magazine before it hits the ground. | |
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Dead Giveaway |
| Loot a corpse. | |
Behind the scenes[edit]
In early leaked Half-Life: Alyx strings, the Gravity Gloves were instead referred to by the codename "Grabbity Gloves".[2] This name can also be seen on a whiteboard in Russell's Lab, crossed out and mostly erased, implying it to also be an early name in-universe.
The control scheme of the Gravity Gloves went through several iterations in order to make them easier to use for the players. The developers initially believed that some way to toggle the gloves was necessary in order to prevent interference with the regular item pick-up action. A separate controller button proved to be ineffective, as the added inconvenience caused the playtesters to use the gloves far less often. Some other solutions were found to work well with the Valve Index Controllers, but would be impossible to implement with other devices. In the end, further testing showed that having similar controls for grabbing and pulling was actually the most intuitive input method.[3]
In an early design, the health and ammunition indicators were housed in a wristwatch, separate from the Gravity Gloves. That made little sense in the game since wrists are not rendered, so the watch was moved to the hand and eventually removed completely, leaving behind just the indicators themselves. In reference to that stage of development, watchcase pieces can be seen attached to both gloves.[1] An unfinished model of the wristwatch with indicators can be found in the game files.
The idea of using hearts for the health display was inspired by The Legend of Zelda game series.[1]
Gallery[edit]
Pre-release[edit]
Early indicator model, based off a wristwatch.
Retail[edit]
Gravity Gloves pulling the pistol.
Ditto.
Alyx uses the Gravity Gloves to steal a Grenade from a Combine Ordinal.
Whiteboard in Russell's lab with several name ideas.
The Gravity Gloves station in Russell's Lab.
Russell's workbench with prototype gloves.
A computer showing the gloves' codes to deal with kinematic factors.
Another computer showing the programs for each of the gloves' fingers.
Other[edit]
The Gravity Gloves in The Final Hours of Half-Life: Alyx.
"Thumbs Up" animated Steam sticker.
"Thumbs Down" animated Steam sticker.
