Black Mesa Security Force
| |
| Black Mesa Security Force | |
|---|---|
| Political information | |
| Type |
Corporate security force |
| Leader | |
| Faction | |
| Societal information | |
| Base | |
| Armament | |
| Technology |
See Overview |
| Vehicles | |
| Historical information | |
| Era(s) | |
| Game information | |
| Designer(s) |
|
| Voiced by | |
| Entity |
|
- "Hey, catch me later, I'll buy you a beer."
- ― Black Mesa security guard[src]
The Black Mesa Security Force,[2] often referred to simply as security guards, guards, and colloquially as "Barneys", is a sub-group of Black Mesa Research Facility personnel featured in Half-Life and its expansions, a prominent former member of which is Barney Calhoun.
Contents
Overview[edit]
The security guards oversee the safety and protection of research personnel and equipment, and help out with general maintenance tasks throughout the base. They become valuable allies for the player after the incident. The player is able to enlist guards for help. They can fight the enemies and unlock doors. They are not very effective in combat due to their poor pathfinding and slow response times.
They wear blue shirt with a black tie, dark blue pants, black combat boots, equipment belt, flashlight, armor vest and helmet. They are armed with either 9mm Pistols, or Desert Eagles. They also have access to many other weapons, such as the Shotguns. They don't reload their weapons, and are able to fire continuously, and accurately at long range.
Structure[edit]
The guards are granted with different clearance levels based on their shift assignment. It is unknown if they have a rank structure. It is suggested that high-security assignments require preparation in the training course.[3]
In the event of an emergency, their primary priority is the preservation of facility equipment and materials. Their second priority is the welfare of research personnel, and their own personal safety being the lowest.[4] They may be called upon to assist in capture of research specimens that have escaped. They are required to cooperate with the military and trained assassins sent in by the government, referred to as "a dangerous and very efficient clean-up crew".[3] However they abandon this particular directive once it becomes clear that both HECU and Black Ops are hostile not only to all Black Mesa personnel, but are also hostile to each other.
Variants[edit]
There are two security guard variations. They both were voiced by Michael Shapiro. The first one is "Barney". He was called Barney because the original character model looked like Barney Fife, a character played by Don Knotts in The Andy Griffith Show.[5] He is depicted as an average guy, usually laid back and cool-headed. He is friendly, fearless, and sometimes heroic. He is armed with a 9mm Pistol. Barney was turned into the playable protagonist of Blue Shift, Barney Calhoun, making him the only real Barney in the game universe.
The second one is "Otis", an overweight variant introduced in Opposing Force. He might have been named after Hal Smith's character Otis Campbell from The Andy Griffith Show. He bears some resemblance to Campbell, though it is not striking. He is depicted as a stereotypical fat man. He is more meek and cowardly compared to Barney, and serves as comic relief. He is armed with a Desert Eagle, and is much more effective in combat. Like Barney, Otis was turned into Otis Laurey, a standalone character in the PlayStation 2 version.
Behind the scenes[edit]
Barney was initially conceived as a somewhat ineffectual bad guy. He was used by Steve Bond to run experiments in enemy squad behavior. By putting the player in the role of squad leader, and forcing Barney to follow instead of fight the player, Bond hoped for an easy way to test navigation rules. The unexpected result of this experiment was a working companion character, which instantly appealed to everyone who saw Barney in action. This caused Valve to rethink large portions of the story, and recast Gordon's role in the world, as the game went into a complete overhaul beginning in late 1997.[1]
Originally, the guards were to be members of the Military Police. They were to react when the player died. This feature was never implemented, but there is a comment left by Kelly Bailey in the source code, with an example line ("Damn, I can't do this without you.").[6] The unused dialog hints that they were to stop following the player in certain situations, like the scientists. Barney was intended to have head variations with different voice pitches.[6] There is an unused keyvalue named "Suspicious" in Opposing Force. When turned on, it makes the guards hostile towards the player.[7] The guard artificial intelligence was used as the basis to create the Conscripts in Half-Life 2.[8]
Gallery[edit]
Models[edit]
Barney.
High Definition version.
Otis.
Ditto.
Unarmed Barney.
High Definition version.
Pre-release[edit]
Half-Life[edit]
In the silo.
Facing a Panther Eye.
In a scripted scene.
With Ivan the Space Biker.
In the X-Lab.
Ted Backman variant.
A scientist attempting to revive a wounded security guard.
Overlooking a Zombie.
Half-Life: Opposing Force[edit]
In Infirmary.
Ditto.
Running from Headcrabs.
In the Black Mesa Transit System.
Retail[edit]
Half-Life[edit]
In Anomalous Materials.
Ditto.
Attacking a zombie.
Security guard assisting a dying colleague.
A guard being ambushed by a Zombie from a vent.
Attacking the Tentacles.
Half-Life: Uplink[edit]
In a discussion.
Attacking a Gargantua.
Half-Life: Opposing Force[edit]
In Medical Lab.
The G-Man talking to a guard.
A guard attempting to get a snack from a broken vending machine.
Hiding in an air duct.
Half-Life: Blue Shift[edit]
Miller's holographic assistant counterpart in the Black Mesa Hazard Course for Security Guard Training.
Security guard and scientist playing Prax Wars 2: Dante's Revenge in a laundromat.
A security guard in the locker room.
Ditto, washing his hands.
Ditto, using a hand dryer.
Security guard working on a computer in Sector C.
Barney observes as a scientist threatens one of his fellow guards.
The shooting range as seen through a security camera.
Barney Calhoun is given his gun in the shooting range.
Security guard not knowing how to take his gun without letting his donut go.
Security guard practicing in the shooting range.
Scientist working on a malfunctioning computer.
Abandoned Black Mesa SUV, with a dead scientist and security guard.
A dying security guard tells Calhoun how to operate the devices to recharge the battery and bring it upstairs through the elevator.
Half-Life: Decay[edit]
In Dual Access.
Ditto, using a retinal scanner.
Fighting Houndeyes.
In Domestic Violence.
Richard Keller and a security guard in a conversation in Level 3 Dormitories, the north wing entrance.
In Code Green.
Other[edit]
Armor vest security logo.
High Definition version.
Armor vest Black Mesa logo.
Black Mesa advertisement.
Ditto.
List of appearances[edit]
Main games[edit]
- Half-Life
- Half-Life: Opposing Force
- Half-Life: Blue Shift
- Half-Life: Decay
- Half-Life 2 (As former member Barney Calhoun)
- Half-Life 2: Episode One (As former member Barney Calhoun)
Other[edit]
- Half-Life: Day One
- Half-Life: Uplink (Non-canonical appearance)
- Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar, page 34
- ↑ Black Mesa advertisement
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Half-Life: Blue Shift instruction manual
- ↑ Half-Life: Blue Shift
- ↑ The Marc Laidlaw Vault on the Steam Users' Forums (archived)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Half-Life SDK
- ↑ Half-Life: Opposing Force, Game Data File (opfor.fgd)
- ↑ Half-Life 2 leak source code
