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Panel Five pretty much sums up my general feelings about the Gravity Gun (you can call it the Zero-Point Energy Field Manipulator if you really want to).

There was an article in one of the gaming magazines recently, listing the top ten greatest FPS weapons of all time. The Gravity Gun was on the list, though they picked Doom 2's BFG as number one. I'd like to contest this.

A list of what the gravity gun can do, not just as a weapon, but as a tool:

1) Lift stuff: Not just chess pieces and toilet seats, either. Big stuff. Useful for moving objects in your way and placing objects in the way of others or blocking doors and passages.

2) Build stuff: Stack some crates and you've got a little stairway to reach high places or scale fences and walls. Make a ramp for your car by leaning a door or panel of sheetmetal against some other objects. Make a bridge by moving a long wooden plank across a chasm.

3) Pull stuff: The grav gun acts on objects that are even a good distance away from you. You can pull weapons, ammo, medkits, and objects that are out of reach, right into your waiting mitts.

4) Kill stuff: Using the primary trigger, you can send a burst of energy into nearby objects, flinging them at enemies. Or, pick up an object and launch it, turning it into a lethal projectile.

5) Catch stuff: Combine soldiers throw grenades, and you can pluck them out of the air or catch them on the rebound, and shoot them back, if you're quick enough. You can even catch the destructive orbs the Elite Combine shoot at you, hold them, and fling them back. Zombies tend to swipe at objects in their path, sending them flying at you, and now you can send them flying right back.

6) Yank stuff: Pull the plug on force-field generators from afar, or yoink something barricading a door -- from the opposite side.

7) Smash stuff: Say goodbye to the crowbar -- if you need to open a supply crate or smash through a wooden obstacle, just lift, hold, and throw into a nearby wall.

8) Flip stuff: Stuff being headcrabs, antlions, and your vehicle, if necessary.

9) Defend stuff: Well, defend yourself, anyway. Taking gunfire? Pick up a sturdy object, like a radiator or non-explosive barrel, and hold it up as a sheild.

All good lists have ten items, so I'm sure I'm forgetting something here. But stack up the Gravity Gun against any other tool or weapon in a game, and I think it comes out well ahead.




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