10 Things You Didn't Know About Half-Life
5. Houndeye Damage Increases Depending On How Many Houndeyes Are Near You
The original Half-Life was released in 1998. Despite this, it's packed full of innovations that would go on to be used in gaming going forwards.
One of the amazing mechanics in the game is probably one you wouldn't even notice. In this case, it's about the enemy known as the Houndeye.
These bizarre, dog-like things with three legs and an insect-like face actually have programming in place to work as a pack. Houndeyes generally have a squad leader with them, with the rest being subservient to this leader.
This bleeds directly into the gameplay; if there are more houndeyes present, their shockwave attack is incredibly devastating. As each one dies, the power of that is weakened. If you kill the squad leader, all the rest of the houndeyes in the pack are weakened too.
Like a lot of Half-Life things, it's also even creepier than it appears. These monsters are inspired by a huge, three-legged tabby cat that the Houndeye's designer, Ted Backman, used to see in his neighbourhood when he was young.
Really hope that cat didn't look like these things as well...