Half-Life 2/Weapons

Half-Life 2's weapons are, while not as varied as the original game's, fairly diverse. Every weapon has advantages and drawbacks, and knowing what weapon to use in what situation is very important; knowing what to use at the right time will make the game that much easier. For most weapons, ammo shouldn't be too much of a concern, as you'll find several ammo drops and crates throughout the game. If you do run out of ammo (which is very rare), you can always resort to the Crowbar or Gravity Gun.

Crowbar

 * Range: Close
 * Max damage: 10 per whack
 * Alternate fire: None
 * Magazine: N/A
 * Reserve capacity: N/A
 * Best used against: Clearing obstacles, headcrabs (all types), zombies

The crowbar is the first "weapon" you find. It comes in quite handy for smashing obstacles, breaking glass, opening crates, or killing headcrabs and normal zombies. It's not much useful for anything else, though. Other than that, you'll only want to use the Crowbar when you're really pressed for ammo (which is extremely rare because ammo is in abundance for most of the game). It is only suggested that you use it for smaller, annoying enemies like Headcrabs.

Zero Point Energy Manipulator (gravity gun)

 * Range: Close to medium
 * Max damage: Varied
 * Alternate fire: Tractor beam
 * Magazine: N/A
 * Reserve capacity: N/A
 * Best used against: Clearing obstacles, headcrabs (all types), zombies, Combine soldiers

Not technically a weapon, the Gravity Gun essentially allows you to pick stuff up and blast it away at high speed. This is useful for everything from physics puzzles to actual combat. Primary fire fires a beam of energy at objects that knocks them away (this also works on headcrabs and scanners). Alternate fire uses a tractor beam that grasps objects (provided they are light enough), allowing them to be fired with great accuarcy. Towards the end of the game, the Gravity Gun will be "transformed" so that it can actually pick up organic materials- from Combine soldiers to energy orbs, the Gravity Gun can just about pick up any thing at that point. You can distinguish this type by the blue hue it gives off instead of the normal orange one.

Bugbait

 * Range: Medim to long
 * Max damage: None
 * Alternate fire Call
 * Magazine: N/A
 * Reserve capacity: Unlimited
 * Best used against: Combine soldiers

Like the Gravity Gun, Bugbait isn't really a weapon at all. Gordon uses it for a much better cause however: to summon Antlions. That's right, Bugbait is actually used to call the Antlions to attack any enemy in the vicinity of the Bugbait's range; in other words, where ever you throw the Bugbait, they will go there and attack anything in sight. You'll have an infinite supply of Bugbait (and of course, an infinite supply of Antlions). Think of the them as shields and defenders for you, as you'll need them throughout the entire Nova Prospekt scenario. Alternate fire allows you to call them to you to defend yourself and regroup.

9mm Pistol

 * Range: Medium to long
 * Max damage: 5 per round
 * Alternate fire: None
 * Magazine: 18 rounds
 * Reserve capacity: 150 rounds
 * Best used against: Metrocops, headcrabs (all types), zombies

The first firearm you find. While not very powerful, this weapon can be fired very quickly, allowing rapid discharge of it's 18 round clip. With good aim, this gun can dispatch even the mighty Combine Elite with relative ease.

.357 Magnum

 * Range: Medium to long
 * Max damage: 40 per round
 * Alternate fire: None
 * Cylinder: 6 rounds
 * Reserve capacity: 12 rounds
 * Best used against: Combine soldiers, fast zombies

A very powerful weapon, this handgun fires the most powerful conventional round in the game. A shot to the head with this baby will kill any humanoid enemy. Unfortunately, ammo is scarce, fire rate is slow and reloading is slower.

Submachine Gun (SMG)

 * Range: Medium
 * Max damage: 4 per round, 13 per second
 * Alternate fire: Grenade launcher
 * Alternate fire damage: 40 per grenade
 * Magazine: 45 rounds
 * Reserve capacity: 225 rounds and 3 grenades
 * Best used against: Metrocops, Combine soldiers, antlions

A rapid-fire assault weapon for which ammo is common. It's not at all accurate, and it is even less powerful than the pistol, but it spits rounds out so fast that you'll wonder where that 45 shot clip went. In addition, this gun has a grenade launcher - capable of clearing groups of soldiers in an instant. Because of all these attributes, the Submachine Gun remains a useful gun throughout the entire game.

Pulse Rifle

 * Range: Medium to Long
 * Max damage: 8 per round
 * Alternate fire: Combine orb
 * Alternate fire damage: Instant death
 * Magazine: 30 rounds
 * Reserve capacity: 60 rounds and 3 orbs
 * Best used against: Combine soldiers, Combine elite, antlions

An assault rifle that is mostly used by Combine units, this weapon can handle much better than its other counter-part: the SMG. It's moderately powerful and can be used effectively against any Combine Soldier or Elite as it fires very quickly. The alternate fire is somewhat useful but it is very hard to control, as the orb will rapidly bounce around the room and will explode on contact with any organism, including you.

Shotgun

 * Range: Close
 * Max damage: 48 per shell (8 damage per pellet)
 * Alternate fire: Double-barrel blast
 * Alternate fire damage: 84-100 per shell (12 damage per pellet)
 * Magazine: 6 shells
 * Reserve capacity: 30 shells
 * Best used against: Zombies (all types), Combine soldiers, Combine elite, antlions

A pump-action shotgun. It looks powerful, sounds powerful and, most importantly, is powerful. This gun is poorer than the pistol at long range, about as good as the SMG at medium range, and is incredibly effective at close range. Aim for the head at close range and for centre mass at medium range. Don't even bother using it at long range. Notably, this gun reloads shell by shell. 6 shells can be loaded into the shotgun at once. Primary fire launches 1 shell, alternate launches 2.

Crossbow

 * Range: Long to Extreme
 * Max damage: 100 per rebar
 * Alternate fire: Scope
 * Alternate fire damage: N/A
 * Stock: 1 rebar
 * Reserve capacity: 9 rebars
 * Best used against: Combine soldiers, Combine elite

The crossbow is HL2's sniper rifle. It's silent, it has a scope, and it's capable of eliminating almost anything in 1 shot. Despite it's power, this "gun" does have a few drawbacks. First of all, the projectile is not even close to instant, so it is hard to hit moving targets, so it is suggested that you don't even try shooting one. Next, it can only load 1 bolt at a time, so it takes some time to reload. Lastly, ammo is very scarce.

Fragmentation Grenade

 * Range: Medium to long
 * Max damage: 125 per grenade
 * Alternate fire: Drop
 * Alternate fire damage: 125
 * Magazine: N/A
 * Reserve capacity: 5 grenades
 * Best used against: Combine soldiers, Combine elite, stationary turrets

You'll find these explosive grenades fairly early in the game. They're excellent against stationary turrets you'll encounter in later levels, and they're great for taking out large groups of enemies, as well as snuffing them out. You can throw them at fairly long distances, but that distance is rather limited by Gordon's throwing strength. Alternate fire allows you to drop a grenade, causing it to land very nearby- remember to stay as far away from grenades as possible, because you can get caught in the blast as well.

Rocket-Propelled Grenade Launcher

 * Range: Medium to Long
 * Max damage: 200 per rocket
 * Alternate fire: Laser track
 * Alternate fire damage: N/A
 * Container: 1 rocket
 * Reserve capacity: 3 rockets
 * Best used against: Gun ships, striders

The Rocket-Propelled Grenade Launcher, or RPG for short, is the most powerful weapon in the game. Therefore, it should only be used against the toughest enemies like Gun Ships and Striders. The rockets stay in a fairly straight line, so you shouldn't have to worry about accuracy too much. However, when you have to fight more annoying enemies like Gun Ships, you'll most likely have to use the alternate fire, which allows you to control the rocket's destination.