The Chaotic Brilliance Of Half-Life's Barneys
Once upon a time, Barney—Half-Life's lovable security guard companion—was a bad guy. Black Mesa's security guards were originally intended to be ineffectual, low level enemies, until a fateful AI test changed not only their role in the story, but the game as a whole. Valve programmer Steve Bond used an early version of Barney to run experiments in AI squad behaviour, with the player acting as squad leader. The idea was to stress test these computer-controlled characters' ability to navigate the game's complex levels. But seeing him in action made Valve realise that not every character in this secret research facility had to be hostile. Gordon Freeman could have friends.
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In the earliest Half-Life prototypes, everyone wanted to kill Freeman. Every sentient being you encountered in Black Mesa, whether alien or human, was out to get you. But in the finished game, after Valve embraced the concept of friendly characters, he was able to recruit these security guards—collectively referred to as Barneys—to fight alongside him. The result of this happy accident is the best friendly NPC in the history of video games. Half-Life wouldn't be the same without these scrappy, quirky little weirdos, whose memorably eccentric dialogue and chaotic AI give them a tonne of character. Every firefight in the game is improved by having a Barney by your side.
In Half-Life 2, Barney Calhoun became a fleshed out character. But in the original game there are hundreds of him, scattered all over Black Mesa—and all with the same face and voice. It works, though. You somehow don't question the fact that the facility's security force is staffed entirely by clones. Despite
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