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Combine (Half-Life)
The Combine are a fictional multidimensional alien empire which serve as the primary antagonistic force in the 2004 video game ''Half-Life 2'' and its subsequent episodes developed and published by Valve Corporation. The Combine consist of organic, synthetic, and heavily mechanized elements. They are encountered throughout ''Half-Life 2'', '' Half-Life 2: Episode One'', and '' Half-Life 2: Episode Two'', as well as '' Half-Life: Alyx'', as hostile non-player characters as the player progresses through the games in an effort to overthrow the Combine occupation of Earth. The Combine are depicted as cruel rulers, suppressing dissent with brutality, using excessive violence to police humanity, and forcibly performing surgery on some to transform them into slaves. Throughout the games, the player primarily battles transformed humans as well as synthetic and mechanical enemies that are the product of Combine technology. In addition to their role within the ''Half-Life'' series, the Com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Half-Life (series)
''Half-Life'' is a series of first-person shooter, first-person shooter games created by Valve Corporation, Valve. The games combine shooting combat, puzzles and storytelling, and are played entirely from the first-person (video games), first-person perspective. The original ''Half-Life (video game), Half-Life,'' Valve's first product, was released in 1998 for Windows. Players control silent protagonist Gordon Freeman, a scientist working at the Black Mesa Research Facility who must survive an alien invasion caused by the facility. The use of innovative scripted sequences instead of cutscenes were influential on the first-person shooter genre, and the game inspired numerous community-developed Mod (video gaming), mods, leading to the release of the multiplayer games ''Counter-Strike'' and ''Day of Defeat''. ''Half-Life'' was followed by the expansions ''Half-Life: Opposing Force, Opposing Force'' (1999), ''Half-Life: Blue Shift, Blue Shift'' (2001) and ''Half-Life:Decay, Decay'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prima Games
Prima Games is a publishing company of video game strategy guides in the United States. Formerly, Prima was an imprint of Dorling Kindersley, a division of Penguin Random House, and produced print strategy guides, featuring in-depth walkthroughs for completing games and other information, such as character sheets and move charts. Prima was acquired by Asteri Holdings in March 2019, which will transition the business to provide strategy guides in online form only, alongside other gaming news. The company was acquired by GAMURS Group in January 2022. History Prima Publishing was a small publisher working out of a residential-style home office in Roseville, California when in 1990, its owner, Ben Dominitz, contracted with author Rusel DeMaria to create a video game strategy guide imprint, initially called "The Secrets of the Games". At the time, DeMaria was senior editor for ''PC Games'' magazine and on the staff of ''GamePro''. The initial contract called for five books—the fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isaac C
Isaac ( ; ; ; ; ; ) is one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith. Isaac first appears in the Torah, in which he is the son of Abraham and Sarah, the father of Jacob and Esau, and the grandfather of the twelve tribes of Israel. Isaac's name means "he will laugh", reflecting the laughter, in disbelief, of Abraham and Sarah, when told by God that they would have a child., He is the only patriarch whose name was not changed, and the only one who did not move out of Canaan. According to the narrative, he died aged 180, the longest-lived of the three patriarchs. Recent scholarship has discussed the possibility that Isaac could have originally been an ancestor from the Beersheba region who was venerated at a sanctuary. Etymology The anglicized name "Isaac" is a transliteration of the Hebrew name () which literally means "He laughs/will laugh". Ugaritic texts datin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rich Sommer
Rich Sommer (born February 2, 1978) is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Harry Crane on the AMC drama series ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015) for which he earned two Screen Actors Guild Awards along with the ensemble cast. He is also known for his roles in the comedy-drama films '' The Devil Wears Prada'' (2006), '' Celeste and Jesse Forever'' (2012), '' The Giant Mechanical Man'' (2012), '' Hello, My Name Is Doris'' (2015), and ''BlackBerry'' (2023) as well as voicing Henry in the 2016 video game ''Firewatch''. He guest starred in a number of '' Elementary'' episodes. More recently, he portrayed Detective Dean Riley in The CW crime drama television series '' In the Dark'' (2019). Early life and education Sommer was born in Toledo, Ohio, and raised in Stillwater, Minnesota, where he was educated at Oak-Land Junior High School and Stillwater Area High School. He then went on to attend Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, where he majored in theater and sang in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
PC Gamer
''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games magazines in their respective countries. The magazine features news on developments in the video game industry, previews of new games, and reviews of the latest popular PC games, along with other features relating to hardware, mods, "classic" games and various other topics. ''PC Gamer'' and parent Future began digital ''PC Gaming Show'' at E3 2015. Review system ''PC Gamer'' reviews are written by the magazine's editors and freelance writers, and rate games on a percent scale. In August 2023, '' Baldur's Gate 3'' became the first game to receive a rating of 97% in the UK edition. Prior to this, no game was awarded more than 96% by the UK edition (''Kerbal Space Program'', '' Civilization II'', ''Half-Life'', '' Half-Life 2'', ''Minecraf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ellen McLain
Ellen McLain (born 1952 or 1953) is an American voice actress. She is best known for providing the voice of GLaDOS, the primary antagonist of the '' Portal'' video game series, the Combine Overwatch AI in '' Half-Life 2'', and the Administrator, the announcer in '' Team Fortress 2''. Her voice roles also include the Jaeger A.I. in '' Pacific Rim'' and The Witch in '' Left 4 Dead 2''. Career McLain provides voices for many characters in several video games from Valve. Among them are GLaDOS, the primary antagonist of the '' Portal'' video game series (for which she won an AIAS Interactive Achievement Award for Outstanding Achievement in Character Performance), the announcer in '' Team Fortress 2''; and the voice of the Combine Overwatch for the ''Half-Life'' series. McLain sang " Still Alive" and "Want You Gone", the ending credits songs to ''Portal'' and ''Portal 2'', respectively, both of which were written by Jonathan Coulton. She also sang " Cara Mia Addio" at the en ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eli Vance
This is a list of characters in the ''Half-Life'' videogame series, which comprises ''Half-Life'', ''Half-Life 2'', ''Half-Life: Alyx'', and their respective expansion packs and episodes. Introduced in ''Half-Life'' and expansion packs This section deals with characters that appear in ''Half-Life'', ''Opposing Force'', '' Blue Shift'', and ''Decay''. Gordon Freeman Gordon Freeman, PhD, is the silent protagonist of the ''Half-Life'' series and the playable character in ''Half-Life'' and all games in the ''Half-Life 2'' series. He is a theoretical physicist and holds a PhD from MIT in that field. At the time of ''Half-Life'', he works at Black Mesa Research Facility, a facility in New Mexico, conducting nuclear and subatomic research. After being at ground zero during the "resonance cascade", Gordon fights his way through Black Mesa and eventually reaches the Lambda Complex where a group of surviving scientists are getting ready to teleport him to Xen in order for Gordon to ki ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flamethrower
A flamethrower is a ranged incendiary device designed to project a controllable jet of fire. First deployed by the Byzantine Empire in the 7th century AD, flamethrowers saw use in modern times during World War I, and more widely in World War II as a tactical weapon against fortifications. Most military flamethrowers use liquid fuel, typically either heated oil or diesel, but commercial flamethrowers are generally blowtorches using gaseous fuels such as propane. Gases are safer in peacetime applications because their flames have less mass flow rate and dissipate faster and often are easier to extinguish. Apart from the military applications, flamethrowers have peacetime applications where there is a need for controlled burning, such as in sugarcane harvesting and other land-management tasks. Various forms are designed for an operator to carry, while others are mounted on vehicles. Military use Modern flamethrowers were first used during the trench warfare condition ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Survivor
Survivor(s) may refer to: * one who survives Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Survivors, characters in the 1997 ''KKnD'' video-game series * ''The Survivors'', or the ''New Survivors Foundation'', a fictional cult from Robert Muchamore's a 2006 novel ''Divine Madness'' Films * ''Survivor'' (1987 film), a film written by Bima Stagg * ''Survivor'' (2008 film), a film featuring Cyril Nri * ''Survivor'' (2014 film), a film featuring Danielle Chuchran and Kevin Sorbo * ''Survivor'' (film), a 2015 British spy-thriller starring Milla Jovovich and Pierce Brosnan * ''Survivors'' (2015 film), a British horror * ''Survivors'' (2018 film), a Sierra Leonean documentary * ''Survivors'' (2022 film), a Nigerian comedy * ''The Survivors'' (1983 film) * ''The Survivor'' (2016 film), a short about the 2014 APS Massacre Games * ''Survivor'' (1982 video game), a 1982 shooter game * ''Survivor'' (1987 video game), a 1987 8-bit action game * ''Survivor'' (2001 video game) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Operations
A covert operation or undercover operation is a military or police operation involving a covert agent or troops acting under an assumed cover to conceal the identity of the party responsible. US law Under US law, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) must lead covert operations unless the president finds that another agency should do so and informs Congress. The CIA's authority to conduct covert action comes from the National Security Act of 1947. President Ronald Reagan issued Executive Order 12333 titled ''United States Intelligence Activities'' in 1984. This order defined covert action as "special activities", both political and military, that the US Government could legally deny. The CIA was also designated as the sole authority under the 1991 Intelligence Authorization Act and in Title 50 of the United States Code Section 413(e). The CIA must have a "Presidential Finding" issued by the President in order to conduct these activities under the Hughes-Ryan amendment to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (novel)
''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' is a novel by Ken Kesey published in 1962. Set in an Oregon psychiatric hospital, the narrative serves as a study of institutional processes and the human mind, including a Criticism of psychiatry, critique of psychiatry and a tribute to individualistic principles. It was adapted into the Broadway theatre, Broadway (and later off-Broadway) play ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (play), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' by Dale Wasserman in 1963. Bo Goldman adapted the novel into a One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (film), 1975 film of the same name directed by Miloš Forman, which won five Academy Awards. Time (magazine), ''Time'' magazine included the novel in its "100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005" list. In 2003 the book was listed on the BBC's The Big Read poll of the UK's 200 "best-loved novels." Plot The book is narrated by Chief Bromden, a gigantic Half-breed, half-Native American patient at a psychiatric hospital, who pres ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ken Kesey
Ken Elton Kesey (; September 17, 1935 – November 10, 2001) was an American novelist, essayist and Counterculture of the 1960s, countercultural figure. He considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s. Kesey was born in La Junta, Colorado, and grew up in Springfield, Oregon, graduating from the University of Oregon in 1957. He began writing ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (novel), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' in 1960 after completing a graduate fellowship in creative writing at Stanford University; the novel was an immediate commercial and critical success when published two years later. During this period, Kesey was used by the Central Intelligence Agency, CIA (supposedly without his knowledge) in the Project MKULTRA involving hallucinogenic drugs (including mescaline and LSD), which was done to try to make people insane to put them under the control of interrogators. After ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' was pu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
