User blog:Laquearius/Gordon Freeman (Half-Life) vs Strelok (S.T.A.L.K.E.R.)



In celebration of the grand announcement by Valve that the Half-Life series is, in fact, not dead, I've dug up an old concept that has been gathering dust in my sandbox for well over two years. Now, the protagonists of first-person shooter games are often enhanced super-soldiers, badass space marines, or highly-trained special forces operatives, but every once in a while the story demands that the fate of the world fall into the hands of an ordinary person. Two such individuals are Gordon Freeman, the theoretical physicist who became a hero for humanity's resistance against their alien overlords, and Strelok, the wayward fortune hunter who ended the threat of a collective consciousness and their experiments! Which of these fighters against otherworldly threats is DEADLIEST?

Gordon Freeman


A student of science from a young age, Dr. Gordon Freeman earned his Ph.D. in theoretical physics and accepted a job from the Black Mesa Research Facility. During an experiment, Black Mesa triggered a resonance cascade, which opened a portal to an extradimensional plane, flooding the facility with extraterrestrial creatures. Freeman was one of the few survivors of the incident. Freeman was recruited by the G-Man, a mysterious interdimensional bureaucrat, who was intrigued by his resourcefulness. The G-Man kept Freeman in stasis for twenty years until he released him into an Earth that had been conquered by the Combine, an alien empire that was alerted to Earth by the resonance cascade. Having allied with former Black Mesa personnel and joined the growing resistance against the Combine, Freeman became a messianic figure for the human race.


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MP7: The Heckler & Koch MP7 is a fully automatic submachinegun widely used among the resistance. It is chambered for the HK 4.6×30mm round and uses extended magazines of 45 rounds each. It is also equipped with an under-barrel launcher which fires grenades that explode on contact. The weapon is notorious for its poor spread when used at longer ranges.

OSIPR: The Overwatch Standard Issue Pulse Rifle is rather unique, as it relies on pulse technology. Instead of magazines, it uses capsules of dark energy, which are good for thirty shots each. The rifle reloads itself automatically and can hold three capsules total. The bullet-like dark energy discharges cause tiny spatial distortions on impact, damaging the structure of the target and making for a very powerful rifle, albeit one with high recoil. The rifle can also launch dark energy balls, which disintegrate organic matter on contact but bounce off of objects of high density. It holds three balls at a time.

Gravity Gun: Better known as the Gravity Gun, the Zero Point Energy Field Manipulator was originally created to handle hazardous materials, but its combat capabilities made it one of Freeman's premier weapons. It has two modes: the primary trigger fires a bolt of energy which punts the target with tremendous force, and the secondary trigger pulls objects toward it and lifts them up, which can then be launched with the primary fire. The gun largely cannot affect living beings, with a few exceptions, which do not include humans. Mark V HEV Suit: The HEV Suit was originally designed for use by Black Mesa personnel during excursions into alien worlds, and was upgraded for combat after the Combine takeover. The armor is electrically hardened and loses power as it resists more and more damage. It has an on-board computer system that monitors the wearer's vital signs and will automatically inject morphine when the wearer is severely injured, allowing them to function normally. Additionally, it can zoom the wearer's vision like a pair of binoculars and has an auxiliary power source that powers the suit's enhanced running abilities and recharges over time.
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Strelok


In an alternate universe where a second Chernobyl disaster occurred, the land around the Chernobyl NPP was corrupted by reality-defying anomalies and mutated creatures, becoming known as the Zone of Alienation. Strelok was one of the stalkers, fortune hunters who entered the Zone in search of valuable anomalous artifacts. Following a failed attempt to reach the center of the Zone, Strelok was mind-wiped by the C-Consciousness, a rouge entity created by Russian scientists which was responsible for the creation of the Zone. Strelok was taken to be indoctrinated into the Consciousness's loyal Monolith army, but a stroke of luck set him free. Rebuilding his past and discovering his identity along the way, Strelok reached the center of the Zone once more. Deciding that the C-Consciousness was too dangerous to be allowed to exist, he destroyed it.


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Exoskeleton: The exoskeleton was originally a project by the Ukrainian military that never made it into production due to its extreme cost. Regardless, the military made use of it during their expeditions into the Zone. It is made up of a radiation suit lined with kevlar, a layer of composite plates, and a battery-powered frame made of servomotors and synthetic muscles, which all work together to provide the user with heavy protection from bullets, explosions, and radiation, and increased physical strength.

Artifacts: While any stalker's ultimate goal is to locate and sell artifacts for profit, a few types of artifacts can grant beneficial powers for the stalkers themselves when worn on the belt. In this battle, Strelok will be equipped with Slime and Moonlight, which cause slowed blood loss and increased stamina, respectively.

X-Factors
Agility

Many of Freeman's adventures took place in environments which required a great deal of agility to traverse, such as the rocky cliffs and factory equipment in and around the Black Mesa Facility and the confusing alien architecture of the Citadel of City 17. He has also more than once been caught in the open against a dangerous without access to a lot of cover, forcing him to make the most of his suit's running abilities.

Strelok obviously needed to be particularly fast to survive his many battles against superior numbers, but the environments he's fought in were much more accessible than the alien architecture Freeman had to deal with, excluding a stint spent hopping through portals in the exterior of Chernobyl. The times he's been forced to fight without access to cover were mostly battles that took place at long range, and the motors of the exoskeleton he wears preclude sprinting.

Experience

Despite his brilliant successes, Gordon hasn't been fighting for very long at all. The Black Mesa Incident ended after two days, and his time serving with the Resistance only adds up to a few weeks at best. However, the scope of his opposition is incredible. He has fought the aliens of Xen, the United States Marine Corps, and highly-trained government assassins in the Black Mesa Incident. When he awoke from stasis and joined the resistance, he survived the alien wildlife that had dominated Earth and hundreds of Combine troops, who had access to superior technology.

Strelok was among the first of the stalkers to enter the Zone, and since Shadow of Chernobyl takes place in 2012, he has been living and surviving in the zone for around six years. The Zone is an incredibly dangerous place to live; it's filled with dangerous mutants, brainwashed fanatics, violent ideologues, bandits, and the Ukrainian military, who will willingly attack stalkers on sight. Strelok has fought and defeated all of them, even when sorely outnumbered.

Training

What makes Freeman's skill with weaponry so impressive is the fact that he had no experience with weapons prior to the day of the Black Mesa Incident, excluding some minimal target practice with an MP5 at the Black Mesa Hazard Course when learning to operate the HEV suit. His proficiency with firearms and explosives was built up entirely on the fly.

The majority of stalkers in the Zone were soldiers or mercenaries in their former lives. Nothing is known about Strelok's life before he entered the Zone, but as one of the first stalkers, it's not unreasonable to assume that he falls into one of the aforementioned categories. However, there's no way to know for sure.