With the introduction of physics into Half Life 2 it seems almost unthinkable to not have a weapon that takes advantage of the possibilities. Enter the Gravity Gun! Destined to be covetted the moment it was announced, this weapon empowers its users with almost magic like abilities.

Possibly uniquely in the world of computer games weapons the gravity gun has the combined ability to used as a weapon but also as a problem solving item. Although to my knowledge, meaning I can’t remember, this aspect wasn’t utilized in the game. Sure Gordon Freeman certainly picked up creates and bricks which is the same principle maybe the gun could have been used for more complex puzzles.

Not being skilled enough to notice but does anybody know whether the gravity gun can stop bullts or other projectiles? If it could then that would be VERY cool. A little bit like Neo from the Matrix where he stops all those bullets and just lets them drop to the floor. Talking of which, why didn’t he just ‘fire’ them back at his opponents, who presumably didn’t have his abilities. he could have also made the weapons jam but that would have eliminated an elborate fight/dance. I digress.

There were bound to be copies and this is the first one I’ve seen. Doom 3 GravGun. To be honest I’m suprised there haven’t been others, at least for Unreal Tournament 2004, but I suppose the UT2004 engine doesn’t support it. It will be intersting to see what other new games have some sort of implementation.

Here are a few possible new features or modes for the gravity gun:

• When an object is heavier than the user and the gun times three, then the user moves instead. This could be used for scaling walls or jumping ravines. etc.
• To have the ability to hold objects at a certain distance away from the gun instead of almost touching it.
• To have the ability to cause objects to become very heavy meaning they can’t be moved or they crash through whatever surface they are on. A roof for instance.
• To have the ability to make either objects or space into mini black holes. Thereby causing other objects nearby to be drawn towards the first object or space. The holes could either be ‘active’ for a set period of time, only while the gun is pointed at the object or last forever. The strength of the hole is decided by how long you left the trigger on.

If the first or last option is chosen then the mini black holes could be manipulated by the gun like any other object. The effect of the space would be the similar to the Windows 98 screensaver, the ball that moved around the screen and distorted the image. Another possible effect of the mini black hole would be a slowing down of time as you got nearer the hole itself.