11:37 The "Pick up that can" cop actually says "Reporting citizen summoned to voluntary conscription for General Public Service Detail T94-322" once you put it in the trash can, meaning it's possible he actually helped raise your reputation/score as a citizen afterward and it wasn't all for nothing.
@@Skyrionn It's also possible that, because the invasion has left these individuals extremely traumatized and without any surviving friends or family, they join Civil Protection for access to things like memory replacement therapy, drugs, and simulations. My interpretation is that they've basically become dependent on the Combine's brainwashing as a coping mechanism.
Being like Barney would probably be best case scenario, the benefits of being CP and working with the resistance at the same time. Probably very stressful at the same time though, trying not to get caught.
@@Skyrionn I imagine being a scientist working in secret would actually be the best position, at least you still get to live a fulfilling life, working for the betterment of mankind.
8:38 On the topic of scanners, in the 2003 leak there is dialogue from Barney about a "human index" which I assume is like an archive of every single known human on Earth. If a checkpoint camera or city scanner were to snap a photo of your face and it wasn't recognizable and didn't trace to anyone in the index, you'd be in trouble. I believe this "human index" concept was still used in Retail and was the main reason Civil Protection pursued Freeman at the start of the game. The human index from what I know isn't documented anywhere, any wikis, not even the Combine Overwiki.
at the start of half life 2 you can hear the metrocop radio chatter asking if the other units are picking up a "647e reading" from local surveillance shortly before the apartment raid begins. This probably has something to do with Gordon not appearing on the index when the scanners and checkpoint cameras take his picture
It's honestly amazing how half life 2 more or less displayed tons of tactics modern day dictatorships use. Mass surveillance, social scores for essential activities, simplified courts, constant relocation of individuals, etc
@@allseeingirene It's honestly not amazing at all. Half life 2 lore is based around real plans that are in 100+ year old literature. They essentially took this literature and added some of their own lore on top of it to make it presentable in a video game format. You should read a book once in a while.
@@Eira_ A 647e reading is an actual police code. It means “Loitering from place to place” which is in reference to Freeman moving around constantly. So it’s in reference to Freeman, but not in that way.
This may have been referring to looking out into the rest of the world and being glad that she's not a human anymore, but I always took it to mean that when she looks out into the test chambers it makes her glad that she's not you personally because she doesn't have to go through all that shit
During the Uprising Barney does mention the 'Chicken Sht Metro cops' who stuck with the combine. I'm imagining due to the sheer number of resistance members with CP Armor, there was probably quite a few turncoats who joined the resistance and probably even emptied the CP armories. Since almost none of the resistance members before Black Mesa East have armor.
That’s not what he said, he’s referring to the civil protection that have second thoughts about defending city seventeen and tried to escape the city by theirselves, those are the cops you fight at the end of Episode 1 at the train station, the combine soldiers coming in right after can confuse that detail but it’s just part of the gameplay.
Combine are such a fresh air to me cause after fighting against so many Zombies and some Vortigans and Xen creatures in Half life 1, it's makes me feel comfortable and feel more human again, I don't know how to explain it, but that's the way it is
@@jockdouglass3824 no, the combine are different, you fight the civil protection, metrocop, Super combine soldier, the gunship, advisors, and how they treat humanity.. etc
ravenholm was so ass i hate poison zombies and fast zombies and FUCK FAST HEADCRABS the only thing that was good was father grigori he gave me a shotgun :D
There‘s not just super-supression to the combine. In HLA, we can see citiziens living somewhat norma lifes and apartments eve being custom decorated. My thoughts are that the combine were far less strict before G-Man escaped custody in the Vault. His escape signaled them the strength the resistance truly had by freeing him with *one person* so they cracked down on ANY form of humanity.
Always loved the way the cps are organised, their actual organisation is a mix between police and security forces, you can even notice that in the actual game as civil protection raided black mesa east themselves, basically anything that is inside the city and directly is a danger to the combine the cps will take care of it, just like you said if cps cant handle it then the transhumans will be sent. Ironically the cps have lines for antlions, either antlions would play a bigger role or cps are defending at the border of the city against them. Either way video is amazing, i love the duality of a cp, the reassons why people join and all that.
It's one of those things I never properly noticed until researching the video. There are so many complicated features in the game that make it feel almost realistic.
@@fenn_fren I don't remember clearly so i cant say for sure, but the quotes that cps have for antlions definitely fit on one of the two scenarios that i said.
One time when I was asked to pick up the can, I actually tried to take the can all the way to the other side of the room and make a long shot like how Gordon does it in Freeman’s Mind 2 Episode 1 but the cop just chased me down and kept hitting me with his stun stick for not putting it in the trash can 😂
I've always had the theory the Overwatch was a more primitive version of Portal's GLaDOS, a lot of Aperture tech is used by the combine: turrets, force fields, reactors and energy orbs, laser bridges, orbs turned into bombs, etc.
in the first portal game she mentions that she isn’t sure what is going on outside and she fears what’s on the surface (the combine, who has taken over all of north america and moved everyone to eastern europe) I think that GLaDOS somehow negotiated with the Combine to leave Aperture Science alone in exchange for some of the technology there (the energy orbs are exactly the same, combine turrets look like stripped down Aperture turrets, etc)
Im pretty sure someone actually asked one of Half Life’s main writers about this exact thing! The response was something along the lines of “The combine haven’t been in contact with earth for that long, so it’s unlikely much of their technology came from aperture” that said, it certainly is a fun theory.
I have watched every single one of your Half Life lore videos and I am very grateful for a RUclips creator like yourself because others don't go into as much depth as you and you are very easy to listen too as well, so thank you.
i like to think that some civil protection escaped city 17 and started a faction that was hostile towards the combine and resistance, basically they've gone rogue
CP are definitely an interesting enemy, like you said underneath their armour they are still human beings with their own individual reasons. I guess it's easy to say "I would rather die/starve than betray my species/friends" when you're not in danger, a very different thing when you or somebody you love is on the verge of dying and it looks like things will never get better. On the other hand, there were thugs who got a sick kick out of bullying civilians, maybe in time the kinder CPs would have turned into them, especially as Resistance attacks grew stronger. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, as the saying goes
You got exactly what I wanted to portray in this video. I feel like the fact they are human is overlooked. One of those things where humanity will do whatever they cn to survive. Even if they have to let people down.
Honestly this comment reminds me of how tough it probably is to be a double-agent like Barney You STILL have to express some level of cruelty to maintain a convincing disguise And when those moments come i'm sure it's one hell of a test of faith Regardless of whether the double-agent does or does not enjoy hurting others
I think entropy zero two really makes you feel like you’ve been brainwashed. By the end of that game you realize that what you’re doing may be wrong but your character has been so brainwashed by the combine that what you’re doing seems like it’s for the betterment of people when in reality you’re killing innocent people
"Ha. Hey, let's go grab a doughnut." "Oh, I couldn't. I already had seven before I came to work." "Oh." "Hey, I've got an idea. Our patrol loops back soon anyway. Why don't you just meet me back on Palmer? It's only half a block from here." "By the time I get there, you should be done with your doughnut." "Yeah. Yeah, that sounds good. Let's do that. Divide and conquer."
This sounds very similar to the Story of the Capos, which were Jews who, during the Early Stages of the Holocaust, from the German Invasion of Poland until their invasion of the USSR, Jews were put into Ghettos (similar to City 17), and some Jews were offered slightly better conditions for being brutal cops, and quite a few Jews thus became those Capos.
21:41 this is what's so fascinating about Half-Life and Valve games in general to me. Most players including myself don't pick up on much of the story or lore, we just cruise along through the game. Valve games are the epitome of show don't tell.
It's just one of those things where you kinda have to look for everything. Part of me likes it but if I was a casual player - I think I'd get a little frustrated.
One of the threats toward overwatch soldiers if they didn't do a good enough job was a "perminant off world assignment", so I assume some did get shipped off.
luckily but also not luckily at all, if any human soldiers were sent offworld they wouldve had their memories wiped Long before, unless they send metrocops into other worlds
@lazysunside Imo, I'd rather be a metrocop patrolling City 17 and fighting anti-citizens rather than an Imperial Guardsman and fight Daemons, Orks, insane heretics, Eldar, Necrons, and much worse.
I am playing through HL2 VR mod right now and even though I have been playing Half Life since forever the combo of these lore videos and VR makes it a crazy experience.
I love how cool this universe is, and how kind of realistic it is. It's frightening to know that in the real world some people would join a police force that serves an evil faction so they would get personal benifits
"Now Officer, enjoy your day" With that ending Statement it's almost like You've broadcasted a recruitment video the entire time. Now we know which side you stand on, just another traitor to the human race.
To quote a certain 3650: "People took everything from me Then came the combine. They listened. They told me the problems of the mind are not the problems of the soul. I only had to give up one thing for this job: my humanity. Some would say... I never had it anyway." Half life entropy zero 2
“Oh honey, where did you go every day 6:30 to 15:00?” CP: “Oh you know honey…stuff” But no seriously the mask and voice changer was not intentional by the Combine at all. Anyone with 2 brain cells and figure out which family member sold themselves for privileges.
The masks/voice changers were likely used for psychological purposes, not for hiding a CPS officer's identity from their family members. People are more likely to act in immoral ways when their identity is hidden, and those masks/voices would be intimidating in real life. Cutting down on officer attrition from random people on the street attacking them while off duty, and their families, was likely a secondary concern. Many people would gladly join in on an atrocity to continue living with their spouse and feed their children, normal people have stooped far lower for less noble reasons while under far less stress. Overwatch threatening their “family integrity” nearly guarantees that to be the case. Even if the baby you had right before the invasion is in their 20s now, it's kind of hard to walk back 20 years of betrayal and relative luxury.
@@audiovisualcringe That's 100 percent true, I'm not arguing that in the least. The point I was trying to make, is that no one is going to use a voice changer and mask to (successfully) hide their Civil Protection job from their SPOUSE. Go type “riot police” into your search engine of choice, roughly half of the images will show officers with their faces obscured. Some pictures are obviously examples of protective or cold weather gear, but others are a uniform choice. Everyone in their personal life know what these folks do for a living, and in relatively liberal countries, there is a good chance their name is on their uniform somewhere. They hide their faces to intimidate the plebs, not hide their identities. Uniforms change how people are perceived, by themselves, and others. That's their original purpose, all the practical benefits are important (hiding one's identity from their neighbors, preventing frost bite, the devs don't have to create multiple models or hire more VAs, etc), but their primary purpose is a form of communication. CP gear says, “I'm scary. Obey me, or suffer.”
Raiding the CP stations was fun and high octane throughout the vanilla, and ep. 1, but the general lack of a squad leader/captain NPC was a missed opportunity, imo. Even if all it would take, was to reuse the combine shotgun trooper and put a cool looking skin over him without touching his stats, it would've been gucci and super satisfying to just knock the doors in to his office and solo him in a CQC.
in a close quarters combat? more like " Even if all it would take, was to reuse the combine shotgun trooper and put a cool looking skin over him without touching his stats, it would've been gucci and super satisfying to just knock the doors in to his office and solo him in CQC." -Nerd 🤓
Throughout human history one culture would invade another and people from the invaded culture would join the other side for a better life it is actually fairly common throughout history
I dunno if you still answer comments, especially after a year, but I’ve always wondered what you meant when you referred to civil protection getting modifications? Do you mean the memory replacement? As a side note I do appreciate the effort out into videos like these, they’re a relatively easy way to digest a lot of information.
During WW2, the Germans had a network of concentration camps. In these camps they used an auxiliary police, the so called "kapos", to help keep inmates in check. Kapos were recruited from the ranks of prisoners. They were still prisoners, but with better food rations and with some degree of power over regular prisoners. Basically, kapos were real life equivalents of CP. So yes, people would definitely enlist into CP.
Just saying, most of the Native American tribes surviving to this day once turned their back on other tribes and helped the Americans in some way. As a reward, they were assigned reservations to live out their life.
Cops have a similar alert to the flatline effect, only they hit a button on their vest that sends an alarm to every unit in their precinct when they need immediate help
Correction: Metropolice is used in Beta not Metrocop, Barney even refers the CPs Metrocops in EP1 in his first debut CPs originally had another unit Called Combine Guard *Not the synth the human version* They had trenchcoats with Overwatch Soldier mask and Double-Barreled Shotgun, thier design were formed into Civil Protection and Overwatch Soldiers In the Beta setting them on fire would cause them to scream rather than: Officer needs help! Help! Augh! Civil Protection in Half-Life Community are quite loved, Many Half-Life 2 Combine sourcemods have you play as either Overwatch Soldier or Civil Protection Unit The major CP mods are: Human Error, Entropy Zero, Civil Protection... ah crap that's all I know if anyone knows any CP mods please reply. Also Sky' since you've started playing Entropy Zero series *Looked at the comments* will you also put the OST in your HL Lore videos? They have the somewhat same level as HL2's soundtrack.
Oh yeah I did pick up on that after watching it back again after the upload. They looked amazing and I will be mentioning them in a video about the beta. The trenchcoats and weapons looked great. I will consider it but in a but iffy as it isn't canon
Not sure if those enhancements with the civil protection "armor" is quite right, from what i've heard from other people was that the Civil Protection armor was only outfitted to protect against things civilians could easily obtain (ex: garbage) and night vision just doesnt seem logical for such a cannon fotter troop
Nightvision seems perfectly logical to me Cause i don't think criminals, rebels or other problematic forms of people go home and sleep at night 100% of the time Besides, i'm sure the combine has plenty of resources to spare especially after they drained half of all of Earth's resources If they wanna give their metrocops nightvision i'm not gonna tell them that it's illogical to do so, not like we could ever tell the combine how to operate in those situations regardless
When I think about what I would do if I was given the choice of joining Civil Protection, I would think about the Trolley Dilemma, and having to choose between killing someone you care about and multiple people you don't know (we're also assuming these strangers are morally innocent). If I were to choose to kill those strangers, the person I was protecting would likely never forgive me, and be burdened with major survivor's guilt. I would apply the same principle to the idea of protecting my family by hurting others.
The CP is a cool story element. It's quite realistic. In every authoritarian regime throughout history there have always been local collaborators, it's very realistic.
I don't think I would wanna join any part of the combine, no matter how much of a "better" life style it would portray compared to a citizens lifestyle. Just the fact that you'll slowly lose parts of yourself overtime both mentally and psychically is probably enough for me consider becoming apart of the combines army is a fate worse than death itself. Yet despite what I said, I think that's still not the worst way to go in the Half-Life universe.
I think I agreed with most of what you said. Of course, I think the worst thing that could happen to you in Half-Life is being turned into a stalker. Absolutely a fate worse than death.
>Provides jobs >Provides employee housing >Does not discriminate >Opportunity to progress your career >Healthcare >Management provides up-to-code equipment to efficiently do your work >Zero nepotism Me in 2024: 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗺𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲
Thank you for going over Half Life Lore/content I’ve recently been getting tiered of modern gaming and came across Half-life series and have been a fan ever since Question can you do a Half life what if Series’s ? going over cut content and how some of the concepts could have been.
Yeah, I ain't gonna lie, I'd join Civil Protection, but would join the resistance during the battle in City 17. I mean, they have a mute killing machine that's been tearing through the city, I'd think they had a chance at winning this war.
I would join civil protection (not because of perks) and rank up as high as I can, mistreat as many resistance members as I can and give them so much pain that just seeing me would be worse than getting transfotmed into a stalker. That god complex aint gonna satisfy itself alone 😤
I’m fairly certain that if the Combine was real and ever invaded than I’d probably be someone who they would force to join either the Civil Protection or Combine Army. I heard a theory that any soldiers who had survived the 7 Hour War would probably be forcefully enlisted into the combine military and by that logic I’m sure that any humans with a background in Law Enforcement or Corrections would be forced to join Civil Protections. So being apart of the Military Police Corps, I’m certain that I’d unfortunately be forced to either be a CP or Combine Soldier (I’m just glad that the Combine isn’t real because I’d much rather serve my country than some overlord space empire).
To answer your end question: We WILL be seeing something like this oppressive dystopia happening in our lifetimes, and I stand firm in my decision to never ever side with the enemy of freedom. I would fight in a resistance to the best of my abilities, until the day I die.
I would join the CP, But for the right reasons. Protection. If It allowed me to go out and Protect civilains and cities from Things like ant lions and head crab swarms for better living conditions then its a civic service. once I found out how the resistance members are really treated or how the force is full of heartless monsters, then I would be a double agent inevitably fighting and most likely dieing to liberate city 17 and its people while wearing the armor in defiance of the Combine.
When I played half life back when it was part of the orange box I was only 6 years old so I was kinda dumb so when the CP spoke I couldn't understand them and thought the voice was just a burble/radio static that we didn't understand so when that one guy told me to put the can in the bin I had no idea was he said and just ran into him till he chased me and that's how I got by him every time lmao
Knowing myself, I would probably join The Civil Protection with the plan of sabotaging from the inside and/or protecting the ones I care for; not necessarily for The Resistance, I don't have altruism in mind, it's fully egoistic
The sad truth is that we'll do whatever is necessary "to preserve family cohesion". I don't blame you, I would too. This sort of self awareness should also be applied when reading the history of tyrannical regimes, people like to think they'd be the heroic resistance but in actuality they'd likely be compliant cogs.
I agree. It would be extremely hard to believe in the resistance at least until Gordon shows up, but then again, I don’t think a CP would know the importance of Gordon anyway, unless you were like Barney anyway.
Thank god I'm just chilling here in someone's dorm, if they find out i'm a living backpack I'm fuckin dead I don't even know how i got here, i just appeared one day.
We shall fight to the end. We shall fight in the streets. We shall fight on the beaches. We shall fight in the fields. WE SHALL NEVER SURENDER. - W. Churchill.
I was watching an hl2 playthrough with my grandmother, and she saw a civil protection member and said he looked like a monkey because of the gas mask they were using
I hated that the Combine is mainly a background antagonist and that we're basically fighting these guys the whole time. HL1 had such a wider variety of foes, imo. edit: "I wouldn't have kids even if they let me" is a great quote. They cut so much from this game that would've given it much more personality.
4:48 I don’t see how that couldn’t be interpreted as sexual. You know that meme where the dad goes “are you winning, son?” And the son is fucking something attached to his desk while wearing a vr headset? Yeah, exactly that
CPs (those units equipped with handguns and stun batons) may be brutal for some time, but once Barney hands over the crowbar to you, they become as vulnerable as a little spider wandering on the wall, risking of getting *squished*
The Civil Protection are my favorite thing of all Half Life, probably cause of their design, voice lines, and role in the Combine Empire (Universal Union)
Would you join The Civil Protection or The Resistance?
Civil protection, you're not going to win against an ever-expanding universal empire.
One may lead to specie extinction, the other to the suppression, torment and enslavement of humanity. Hard choice.
We shall fight to the end. We shall fight in the streets. We shall fight on the beaches. We shall fight in the fields. WE SHALL NEVER SURENDER
I wand to be mommy dommed by Overwatch sempai.
combine
11:37
The "Pick up that can" cop actually says "Reporting citizen summoned to voluntary conscription for General Public Service Detail T94-322" once you put it in the trash can, meaning it's possible he actually helped raise your reputation/score as a citizen afterward and it wasn't all for nothing.
he's a good guy
Maybe he wasn't the bad guy after all...
your social credit score has increased.
"Voluntary constipation" is what I initially saw...
More like he makes you into a city cleaner.
To answer the question of this video, a quote.
"It will amaze you what a human being can do, when they grow _really_ hungry."
It's a very scary thought isn't it. Humanity will do whatever it takes to survive.
@@Skyrionn It's also possible that, because the invasion has left these individuals extremely traumatized and without any surviving friends or family, they join Civil Protection for access to things like memory replacement therapy, drugs, and simulations. My interpretation is that they've basically become dependent on the Combine's brainwashing as a coping mechanism.
Not to get political but North Korea is the biggest example.
@@zeta4115 how is that political
@Zeta people in North Korea don't have computers or internet (I'm not kidding research it lol it's wild), dw.
Being like Barney would probably be best case scenario, the benefits of being CP and working with the resistance at the same time. Probably very stressful at the same time though, trying not to get caught.
If I had to live in that world, I think I would attempt to do the same
@@Skyrionn I imagine being a scientist working in secret would actually be the best position, at least you still get to live a fulfilling life, working for the betterment of mankind.
@@Skyrionn Better keep up with your beating quota.
Barney probably also had to go on beatings and maybe raids so he can stay undercover and draw attention away from Dr Kleiner's lab.
@@chibisayori20 yeah, it'd weigh hard on your mental health
Idk those 2 local civil protection officers on my block are pretty chill, think their names are Mike and Dave
They're the goods one then 😂
I heard they might get back into action after a crazy man finishes 'The Movie', whatever that means.
apparently those two officers went missing, idk why
@@bobanimationz4062 In some strange tunnel I've heard
Nice nod to Ross Scott. Love that series. I AM A NINJAAAA!!!
8:38 On the topic of scanners, in the 2003 leak there is dialogue from Barney about a "human index" which I assume is like an archive of every single known human on Earth. If a checkpoint camera or city scanner were to snap a photo of your face and it wasn't recognizable and didn't trace to anyone in the index, you'd be in trouble. I believe this "human index" concept was still used in Retail and was the main reason Civil Protection pursued Freeman at the start of the game. The human index from what I know isn't documented anywhere, any wikis, not even the Combine Overwiki.
at the start of half life 2 you can hear the metrocop radio chatter asking if the other units are picking up a "647e reading" from local surveillance shortly before the apartment raid begins. This probably has something to do with Gordon not appearing on the index when the scanners and checkpoint cameras take his picture
Also prob why freeman gets blocked by the cameras
It's honestly amazing how half life 2 more or less displayed tons of tactics modern day dictatorships use. Mass surveillance, social scores for essential activities, simplified courts, constant relocation of individuals, etc
@@allseeingirene It's honestly not amazing at all. Half life 2 lore is based around real plans that are in 100+ year old literature. They essentially took this literature and added some of their own lore on top of it to make it presentable in a video game format. You should read a book once in a while.
@@Eira_ A 647e reading is an actual police code. It means “Loitering from place to place” which is in reference to Freeman moving around constantly. So it’s in reference to Freeman, but not in that way.
“When I look out there it makes me glad I’m not you” -GLaDOS
I heard that in her voice
im pretty sure its a line in portal one or two
This may have been referring to looking out into the rest of the world and being glad that she's not a human anymore, but I always took it to mean that when she looks out into the test chambers it makes her glad that she's not you personally because she doesn't have to go through all that shit
During the Uprising Barney does mention the 'Chicken Sht Metro cops' who stuck with the combine.
I'm imagining due to the sheer number of resistance members with CP Armor, there was probably quite a few turncoats who joined the resistance and probably even emptied the CP armories. Since almost none of the resistance members before Black Mesa East have armor.
That’s not what he said, he’s referring to the civil protection that have second thoughts about defending city seventeen and tried to escape the city by theirselves, those are the cops you fight at the end of Episode 1 at the train station, the combine soldiers coming in right after can confuse that detail but it’s just part of the gameplay.
@@DoctorProph3t in gameplay, they suppose to be sort of a "first responder" enemy type during that fight, basically warm-up enemies
Combine are such a fresh air to me cause after fighting against so many Zombies and some Vortigans and Xen creatures in Half life 1, it's makes me feel comfortable and feel more human again, I don't know how to explain it, but that's the way it is
It's like fighting the military all over again in some ways were are
@@jockdouglass3824 no, the combine are different, you fight the civil protection, metrocop, Super combine soldier, the gunship, advisors, and how they treat humanity.. etc
Yeah I understand that. You're fighting against a familiar foe but adapted by an alien presence.
@@Omega-jg4oq well some civil protection peeps are old vets and some elite soldiers are actually old soldiers from the seven hour war.
Collaborator behavior
I was so happy to see these guys after going through ravenholm and the mines
Anything is better than those awful fast zombies
Yeah exiting the dark mine and seeing a clear sky above your ahead felt good even though world outside Ravenholm was hardly any better.
ravenholm was so ass i hate poison zombies and fast zombies and FUCK FAST HEADCRABS the only thing that was good was father grigori
he gave me a shotgun :D
Those are the combine soldiers your talking about when you got out of the mines, the cp can be seen again during anticitizen
@@hazzmati
That's is the beauty of HL2 it manages to make you feel grateful for being put in a slightly better situation
There‘s not just super-supression to the combine. In HLA, we can see citiziens living somewhat norma lifes and apartments eve being custom decorated. My thoughts are that the combine were far less strict before G-Man escaped custody in the Vault. His escape signaled them the strength the resistance truly had by freeing him with *one person* so they cracked down on ANY form of humanity.
Always loved the way the cps are organised, their actual organisation is a mix between police and security forces, you can even notice that in the actual game as civil protection raided black mesa east themselves, basically anything that is inside the city and directly is a danger to the combine the cps will take care of it, just like you said if cps cant handle it then the transhumans will be sent. Ironically the cps have lines for antlions, either antlions would play a bigger role or cps are defending at the border of the city against them. Either way video is amazing, i love the duality of a cp, the reassons why people join and all that.
It's one of those things I never properly noticed until researching the video. There are so many complicated features in the game that make it feel almost realistic.
Wasn't there a line from some character about that? I'm pretty sure I heard that antlions are being fought off at the city borders.
@@fenn_fren I don't remember clearly so i cant say for sure, but the quotes that cps have for antlions definitely fit on one of the two scenarios that i said.
Metrocops have lines for Antlions? Interesting. I assume they are unused? Maybe Metrocops were to appear before the trainstation in episode 1?
@@zorgapb4691 The lines are from half life 2 base game. You can spawn an antlion and a cp on the coast map and he might say the line.
One time when I was asked to pick up the can, I actually tried to take the can all the way to the other side of the room and make a long shot like how Gordon does it in Freeman’s Mind 2 Episode 1 but the cop just chased me down and kept hitting me with his stun stick for not putting it in the trash can 😂
That cop can't take a joke
@@EnclaveSOC-102 Yes I know that now lol I just didn't realize that was one of the things he had to modify
I've always had the theory the Overwatch was a more primitive version of Portal's GLaDOS, a lot of Aperture tech is used by the combine: turrets, force fields, reactors and energy orbs, laser bridges, orbs turned into bombs, etc.
in the first portal game she mentions that she isn’t sure what is going on outside and she fears what’s on the surface (the combine, who has taken over all of north america and moved everyone to eastern europe) I think that GLaDOS somehow negotiated with the Combine to leave Aperture Science alone in exchange for some of the technology there (the energy orbs are exactly the same, combine turrets look like stripped down Aperture turrets, etc)
@@audiovisualcringe well I’d ask GLaDOS I will keep doing tests as long as they are fun and not dangerous
So I don’t have to go outside
Im pretty sure someone actually asked one of Half Life’s main writers about this exact thing! The response was something along the lines of “The combine haven’t been in contact with earth for that long, so it’s unlikely much of their technology came from aperture” that said, it certainly is a fun theory.
Primitive. No?
I have watched every single one of your Half Life lore videos and I am very grateful for a RUclips creator like yourself because others don't go into as much depth as you and you are very easy to listen too as well, so thank you.
My favourite comment of the week. Thanks very much. I have a love for this deep lore and love exploring it. There's more content to come!
i like to think that some civil protection escaped city 17 and started a faction that was hostile towards the combine and resistance, basically they've gone rogue
The Uncivil Defection
@@jaxonfiddle4811 best joke.
Standard brony take.
Please erp with me as twilight and I'm spike 🥺
13:22 shout out to the rebel who got his hands on the toolgun.
Bro boutta start noclipping and spam-spawning antlion guards
somebody stop him /j
CP are definitely an interesting enemy, like you said underneath their armour they are still human beings with their own individual reasons. I guess it's easy to say "I would rather die/starve than betray my species/friends" when you're not in danger, a very different thing when you or somebody you love is on the verge of dying and it looks like things will never get better.
On the other hand, there were thugs who got a sick kick out of bullying civilians, maybe in time the kinder CPs would have turned into them, especially as Resistance attacks grew stronger. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, as the saying goes
You got exactly what I wanted to portray in this video. I feel like the fact they are human is overlooked. One of those things where humanity will do whatever they cn to survive. Even if they have to let people down.
Honestly this comment reminds me of how tough it probably is to be a double-agent like Barney
You STILL have to express some level of cruelty to maintain a convincing disguise
And when those moments come i'm sure it's one hell of a test of faith
Regardless of whether the double-agent does or does not enjoy hurting others
I think entropy zero two really makes you feel like you’ve been brainwashed. By the end of that game you realize that what you’re doing may be wrong but your character has been so brainwashed by the combine that what you’re doing seems like it’s for the betterment of people when in reality you’re killing innocent people
He made me to pick up that can
It All started with that damn can
"A situation that will never happen in our world, hopefully"
Dont count on it
"Ha. Hey, let's go grab a doughnut."
"Oh, I couldn't. I already had seven before I came to work."
"Oh."
"Hey, I've got an idea. Our patrol loops back soon anyway. Why don't you just meet me back on Palmer? It's only half a block from here."
"By the time I get there, you should be done with your doughnut."
"Yeah. Yeah, that sounds good. Let's do that. Divide and conquer."
“You are not you when you are hungry” - Snickers
This sounds very similar to the Story of the Capos, which were Jews who, during the Early Stages of the Holocaust, from the German Invasion of Poland until their invasion of the USSR, Jews were put into Ghettos (similar to City 17), and some Jews were offered slightly better conditions for being brutal cops, and quite a few Jews thus became those Capos.
Thanks God someone mentioned this.
21:41 this is what's so fascinating about Half-Life and Valve games in general to me. Most players including myself don't pick up on much of the story or lore, we just cruise along through the game. Valve games are the epitome of show don't tell.
It's just one of those things where you kinda have to look for everything. Part of me likes it but if I was a casual player - I think I'd get a little frustrated.
I wonder if any human soldiers were shipped off world and if they were, what horrors would they have seen
they were probably conscripted and turned into overwatch soldiers to quickly create an army to oversee earth
One of the threats toward overwatch soldiers if they didn't do a good enough job was a "perminant off world assignment", so I assume some did get shipped off.
They could get ship off to fill the ranks to fight a certain Human imperium in a different dimension.
luckily but also not luckily at all, if any human soldiers were sent offworld they wouldve had their memories wiped Long before, unless they send metrocops into other worlds
@lazysunside Imo, I'd rather be a metrocop patrolling City 17 and fighting anti-citizens rather than an Imperial Guardsman and fight Daemons, Orks, insane heretics, Eldar, Necrons, and much worse.
I am playing through HL2 VR mod right now and even though I have been playing Half Life since forever the combo of these lore videos and VR makes it a crazy experience.
I love how cool this universe is, and how kind of realistic it is. It's frightening to know that in the real world some people would join a police force that serves an evil faction so they would get personal benifits
tbh i would
@@bloodrinker honestly I probably would to
"Now Officer, enjoy your day" With that ending Statement it's almost like You've broadcasted a recruitment video the entire time. Now we know which side you stand on, just another traitor to the human race.
random blooper at 13:27 you can see him with the tool gun in the background as the camera zooms in. good job though keep up the good work.
You're the best channel for half life lore. As always good video skyrionn.
Thanks Hyperion.That's very kind
To quote a certain 3650:
"People took everything from me
Then came the combine. They listened. They told me the problems of the mind are not the problems of the soul.
I only had to give up one thing for this job: my humanity.
Some would say... I never had it anyway."
Half life entropy zero 2
I just completed the first one. I'm moving onto the second one tomorrow ☺
@@Skyrionn *:D*
Spoken like a true trenchcoat fedora wearing edgelord.
@@hazzmati So a redditor?
13:26 i like how you can see the creator with a tool gun out on the right
Nice eye
“Oh honey, where did you go every day 6:30 to 15:00?”
CP: “Oh you know honey…stuff”
But no seriously the mask and voice changer was not intentional by the Combine at all. Anyone with 2 brain cells and figure out which family member sold themselves for privileges.
The masks/voice changers were likely used for psychological purposes, not for hiding a CPS officer's identity from their family members. People are more likely to act in immoral ways when their identity is hidden, and those masks/voices would be intimidating in real life. Cutting down on officer attrition from random people on the street attacking them while off duty, and their families, was likely a secondary concern.
Many people would gladly join in on an atrocity to continue living with their spouse and feed their children, normal people have stooped far lower for less noble reasons while under far less stress. Overwatch threatening their “family integrity” nearly guarantees that to be the case. Even if the baby you had right before the invasion is in their 20s now, it's kind of hard to walk back 20 years of betrayal and relative luxury.
I mean the voice changer DID make all the Combine Soldiers/Civil Protection sound the exact same so intentional or not the identity concealing worked
@@audiovisualcringe That's 100 percent true, I'm not arguing that in the least. The point I was trying to make, is that no one is going to use a voice changer and mask to (successfully) hide their Civil Protection job from their SPOUSE.
Go type “riot police” into your search engine of choice, roughly half of the images will show officers with their faces obscured. Some pictures are obviously examples of protective or cold weather gear, but others are a uniform choice. Everyone in their personal life know what these folks do for a living, and in relatively liberal countries, there is a good chance their name is on their uniform somewhere. They hide their faces to intimidate the plebs, not hide their identities.
Uniforms change how people are perceived, by themselves, and others. That's their original purpose, all the practical benefits are important (hiding one's identity from their neighbors, preventing frost bite, the devs don't have to create multiple models or hire more VAs, etc), but their primary purpose is a form of communication. CP gear says, “I'm scary. Obey me, or suffer.”
Raiding the CP stations was fun and high octane throughout the vanilla, and ep. 1, but the general lack of a squad leader/captain NPC was a missed opportunity, imo. Even if all it would take, was to reuse the combine shotgun trooper and put a cool looking skin over him without touching his stats, it would've been gucci and super satisfying to just knock the doors in to his office and solo him in a CQC.
in a close quarters combat? more like " Even if all it would take, was to reuse the combine shotgun trooper and put a cool looking skin over him without touching his stats, it would've been gucci and super satisfying to just knock the doors in to his office and solo him in CQC."
-Nerd 🤓
yeah it would be cool if they added variants, like a squad leader, with red eyes like in ez2, elite cops, and medic cops
You gotta stop saying gucci.
Gucci
@@WarioWareCEO OH FUCK
Throughout human history one culture would invade another and people from the invaded culture would join the other side for a better life it is actually fairly common throughout history
“People Suck.” - Callsign Savage 3650
Basically yeah
I dunno if you still answer comments, especially after a year, but I’ve always wondered what you meant when you referred to civil protection getting modifications? Do you mean the memory replacement?
As a side note I do appreciate the effort out into videos like these, they’re a relatively easy way to digest a lot of information.
During WW2, the Germans had a network of concentration camps. In these camps they used an auxiliary police, the so called "kapos", to help keep inmates in check. Kapos were recruited from the ranks of prisoners. They were still prisoners, but with better food rations and with some degree of power over regular prisoners. Basically, kapos were real life equivalents of CP. So yes, people would definitely enlist into CP.
Yes that true, but i am certain that lot of people were actually forced to join CP
I truly believe this is the future the WEF wants and 1984 is the obvious reference material they used.
Exactly
It's true
0:37 I see what you did there
😂 😂 Someone caught it
@@Skyrionn EZ 1 & 2 we’re amazing and I REALLY hope they make a 3rd
What did he do
@@FightingMachineTripod a reference to Bad Cop from entropy zero, a mod where you play as a CP
Yay!!! Thank you for more HL2 content!!
And I'll keep posting!
Just saying, most of the Native American tribes surviving to this day once turned their back on other tribes and helped the Americans in some way. As a reward, they were assigned reservations to live out their life.
Cops have a similar alert to the flatline effect, only they hit a button on their vest that sends an alarm to every unit in their precinct when they need immediate help
Man this channel is a newfound goldmine!
I love your videos! They are made with so much love for detail. Thank you!
im worried that the "real" world is gonna have a police force like this is the coming future..
I for one welcome our new communist overlords
@@grantmctaggart9942
And I welcome a bhopping orange man
*_*gets -0 social credits_**
well someone has to make sure that you will eat ze bugs and take your medicine...
why "real"
@@Bananappleboy mm, the worst punishment. -0.
Correction: Metropolice is used in Beta not Metrocop, Barney even refers the CPs Metrocops in EP1 in his first debut
CPs originally had another unit Called Combine Guard *Not the synth the human version* They had trenchcoats with Overwatch Soldier mask and Double-Barreled Shotgun, thier design were formed into Civil Protection and Overwatch Soldiers
In the Beta setting them on fire would cause them to scream rather than: Officer needs help! Help! Augh!
Civil Protection in Half-Life Community are quite loved, Many Half-Life 2 Combine sourcemods have you play as either Overwatch Soldier or Civil Protection Unit
The major CP mods are: Human Error, Entropy Zero, Civil Protection... ah crap that's all I know if anyone knows any CP mods please reply.
Also Sky' since you've started playing Entropy Zero series *Looked at the comments* will you also put the OST in your HL Lore videos? They have the somewhat same level as HL2's soundtrack.
Oh yeah I did pick up on that after watching it back again after the upload.
They looked amazing and I will be mentioning them in a video about the beta. The trenchcoats and weapons looked great.
I will consider it but in a but iffy as it isn't canon
@@Skyrionn Of-Course everytime I see a reply that says It's non-canon I just facepalm and I say YES IT'S NON-CANON DO I LOOK LIKE STUPID TO YOU?
Lots of people "joined the CP" since around 2020....
Not sure if those enhancements with the civil protection "armor" is quite right, from what i've heard from other people was that the Civil Protection armor was only outfitted to protect against things civilians could easily obtain (ex: garbage) and night vision just doesnt seem logical for such a cannon fotter troop
Nightvision seems perfectly logical to me
Cause i don't think criminals, rebels or other problematic forms of people go home and sleep at night 100% of the time
Besides, i'm sure the combine has plenty of resources to spare especially after they drained half of all of Earth's resources
If they wanna give their metrocops nightvision i'm not gonna tell them that it's illogical to do so, not like we could ever tell the combine how to operate in those situations regardless
When I think about what I would do if I was given the choice of joining Civil Protection, I would think about the Trolley Dilemma, and having to choose between killing someone you care about and multiple people you don't know (we're also assuming these strangers are morally innocent). If I were to choose to kill those strangers, the person I was protecting would likely never forgive me, and be burdened with major survivor's guilt. I would apply the same principle to the idea of protecting my family by hurting others.
These videos make me appreciate the worlds and lore of Half Life so much more than i did
I love doing the research for them. The lore runs so deep.
@@Skyrionn Its good that you enjoy it, its fun looking forward to your videos on any game that has a deep and interesting world and backstory
The CP is a cool story element. It's quite realistic. In every authoritarian regime throughout history there have always been local collaborators, it's very realistic.
11:37 the can scene is a loyalty test you learn this by throwing the can at the Metrocop and having it land on the other side of him
I don't think I would wanna join any part of the combine, no matter how much of a "better" life style it would portray compared to a citizens lifestyle. Just the fact that you'll slowly lose parts of yourself overtime both mentally and psychically is probably enough for me consider becoming apart of the combines army is a fate worse than death itself.
Yet despite what I said, I think that's still not the worst way to go in the Half-Life universe.
I think I agreed with most of what you said. Of course, I think the worst thing that could happen to you in Half-Life is being turned into a stalker. Absolutely a fate worse than death.
me personally I would never let the combine take my kneecaps
Either we kick the combine from earth, or we die trying.
>Provides jobs
>Provides employee housing
>Does not discriminate
>Opportunity to progress your career
>Healthcare
>Management provides up-to-code equipment to efficiently do your work
>Zero nepotism
Me in 2024: 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗺𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲
The Combine were still rookies at population control. Little did they know, all they needed was Netflix, CNN and bread and games.
You already have the Combine and Civil Patrol in China
Lots and lots of parallels between the two.
That is something I wasn't aware of. It's a scary thought.
Unfortunately since I'm active military and local law enforcement so if I ended surviving the 7 hour war I would likely be conscripted into OTA.
I really wish you could cover the lore of Entropy: Zero.
I may one day. I do try to cover mostly canon things though. Maybe one day.
These videos are gold. Thanks for taking me back to one of the games that helped shape my formative years.
Thank you for going over Half Life Lore/content
I’ve recently been getting tiered of modern gaming and came across Half-life series and have been a fan ever since
Question can you do a Half life what if Series’s ?
going over cut content and how some of the concepts could have been.
4:45 Work for the Combine and you get access to the communal fleshlight!
The Combine and the CP fascinate me even though the game is so old.
this game is timeless
This guy is worth binge watching
That's kind of you ☺
Binge away!
Thanks so much bro. Half-Life content is always amazing. ❤️💕
Yeah, I ain't gonna lie, I'd join Civil Protection, but would join the resistance during the battle in City 17. I mean, they have a mute killing machine that's been tearing through the city, I'd think they had a chance at winning this war.
This should be intresting, i have always liked CPs as an idea. They are the not so secret police of half life
They're the people you really don't want knocking on your door
I would join civil protection (not because of perks) and rank up as high as I can, mistreat as many resistance members as I can and give them so much pain that just seeing me would be worse than getting transfotmed into a stalker. That god complex aint gonna satisfy itself alone 😤
I mean, at least you know what you want 😅
I’m fairly certain that if the Combine was real and ever invaded than I’d probably be someone who they would force to join either the Civil Protection or Combine Army. I heard a theory that any soldiers who had survived the 7 Hour War would probably be forcefully enlisted into the combine military and by that logic I’m sure that any humans with a background in Law Enforcement or Corrections would be forced to join Civil Protections. So being apart of the Military Police Corps, I’m certain that I’d unfortunately be forced to either be a CP or Combine Soldier (I’m just glad that the Combine isn’t real because I’d much rather serve my country than some overlord space empire).
Play the Entropy Zero mods, the devs did a great job putting you through the eyes of a civ protection/overwatch soldier, high quality stuff.
I've completed the first one and have the second one ready to play! I really enjoyed the first one
The Combine have gotta be my favorite video game villains, from their look to the lore that follows them
To answer your end question:
We WILL be seeing something like this oppressive dystopia happening in our lifetimes, and I stand firm in my decision to never ever side with the enemy of freedom. I would fight in a resistance to the best of my abilities, until the day I die.
i have sympathy for these guys.
BUT IF YOU TRY AND BONK ME WITH A BATON YOUR HEAD SHALL SOON BE GONE
Please never Stop doing HL Videos ...
I'll do my best to keep doing them!
I would join the CP, But for the right reasons. Protection. If It allowed me to go out and Protect civilains and cities from Things like ant lions and head crab swarms for better living conditions then its a civic service. once I found out how the resistance members are really treated or how the force is full of heartless monsters, then I would be a double agent inevitably fighting and most likely dieing to liberate city 17 and its people while wearing the armor in defiance of the Combine.
Ah yes civil protector proceeds to beat up citizen with stun baton for not picking up can
When I played half life back when it was part of the orange box I was only 6 years old so I was kinda dumb so when the CP spoke I couldn't understand them and thought the voice was just a burble/radio static that we didn't understand so when that one guy told me to put the can in the bin I had no idea was he said and just ran into him till he chased me and that's how I got by him every time lmao
It was pretty fun to run away from him. The Orange Box brings back so much nostalgia
Knowing myself, I would probably join The Civil Protection with the plan of sabotaging from the inside and/or protecting the ones I care for; not necessarily for The Resistance, I don't have altruism in mind, it's fully egoistic
The sad truth is that we'll do whatever is necessary "to preserve family cohesion". I don't blame you, I would too. This sort of self awareness should also be applied when reading the history of tyrannical regimes, people like to think they'd be the heroic resistance but in actuality they'd likely be compliant cogs.
Id like to think a lot of people would do that too
I agree. It would be extremely hard to believe in the resistance at least until Gordon shows up, but then again, I don’t think a CP would know the importance of Gordon anyway, unless you were like Barney anyway.
Thank god I'm just chilling here in someone's dorm, if they find out i'm a living backpack I'm fuckin dead
I don't even know how i got here, i just appeared one day.
"REMEMBER THAT BEER I OWED YA." my favorite word in half life 2
We shall fight to the end. We shall fight in the streets. We shall fight on the beaches. We shall fight in the fields. WE SHALL NEVER SURENDER.
- W. Churchill.
I just realize when i was watching your video at 13:24 there is a rebel with a tool gun i know there was something going on in the background at 13:24
13:23 Love that rebel in the back with a tool gun. The Combine isn't winning now with that guy there.
he gon pull out the delete tool and delete the citadel.
@@Axispa.
Why stop there?
[CleanUp Everything]
the combine straight up copied russian OMON
that question to the audience towards the end made me think alot ive never put myself in that situation
It's one of those impossible situations that I hope we will never be in.
I was watching an hl2 playthrough with my grandmother, and she saw a civil protection member and said he looked like a monkey because of the gas mask they were using
I hated that the Combine is mainly a background antagonist and that we're basically fighting these guys the whole time. HL1 had such a wider variety of foes, imo.
edit: "I wouldn't have kids even if they let me" is a great quote. They cut so much from this game that would've given it much more personality.
Idk if you make a video about the overwatch, could you do it? All your vids are interesting!
Overwatch are on the list. I'll eventually get around to it though ☺ so many topics to cover! Thanks for watching bud
I have always seen the combine civil protection as zombie solodiers
By complete accident, I somehow threw the cab at him, but before he got to me it bounced into the trash can and he stopped.
This is honestly something what I just thought but in the whole on half life you never see a single child……
4:48 I don’t see how that couldn’t be interpreted as sexual.
You know that meme where the dad goes “are you winning, son?” And the son is fucking something attached to his desk while wearing a vr headset?
Yeah, exactly that
You have to do one about Gordon one day
He's on my list. We'll get there ☺
this video feels like watching a documentary about human history at 6:00 am. 👍
I hope you enjoyed it
They aren’t bad the citizens just keep resisting
Classic CP. I'll always side with The Resistance.
The way you said ‘sexual in nature’ so darkly is hilarius 😂
CPs (those units equipped with handguns and stun batons) may be brutal for some time, but once Barney hands over the crowbar to you, they become as vulnerable as a little spider wandering on the wall, risking of getting *squished*
The Civil Protection are my favorite thing of all Half Life, probably cause of their design, voice lines, and role in the Combine Empire (Universal Union)
The fact that they actually took their time to make a combine insignia is crazy lol