The Destroyer of Worlds | The Strider | FULL Half-Life Lore

The Half-Life series has a ton of iconic creatures. The Strider is one of the most important out of all of these. They helped The Combine Empire conquer worlds, and after this, maintain control. Yet - the lore around them is still fairly limited. That was until Half-Life: Alyx released.

How powerful were these creatures? Where did they come from, and what was their connection to the Combine Hunter? In this video, we explore the lore and story behind The Strider in the Half-Life series.

Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
01:28 The Fall of the Ancient Strider
04:10 The War Machine
07:51 The Maintenance Machine
09:50 The Uprising of Earth
15:42 Legacy
16:30 Behind The Scenes
19:01 Closing Thoughts

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Standard Sources
Game Manuals
Half-Life Series Playthrough Research
Portal Series Playthrough Research
Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar
Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar (Uncorrected Proof)
Half-Life: Alyx Playthrough
Portal/ Half-Life Fandom
Old Valve Forums
Marc Laidlaw's Twitter
Marc Laidlaw Website
Breengrub Twitter
Reddit AMA (w/ HL: Alyx Developers)
Portal 2
Aperture Desk Job

AUDIO USED
Half-life 2 OST: Broken Symmetry
Half-Life 2 OST: Escape Array
Black Mesa OST: Catalyst
Half-Life 2 OST: Lab Practicum
Half-Life: Alyx OST: Severed from the Vortessence
Black Mesa OST: Xen
Half-Life 2 OST: Triage At Dawn

#HalfLife #Lore #Strider

[Skyrionn]

The algorithm hasn't been too kind lately. If you could comment or interact in anyway with the video - that would be fantastic!

Do you think the Strider and Hunter come from the same planet?

[thesoupman]

Imagine being in the 7 hour war, hiding in a bunker hoping that no one will find you, hearing nothing but explosions and chaos outside. The thought of being in the 7 hour war terrifies me.

[flytrapYTP]

I like to think the original Strider alien, before all the modifications, was just an innocent herbivore, chillin' and eating leaves, licking moss and walking in water. Perhaps some algae grew on its carapace too.
A peaceful animal.

[rabies]

The strider is so awesome. My favorite part of it has got to be its ability to crouch to lower heights. Imagine you only see the legs of this thing approaching a building you are in, then stop and slowly crouch down, pointing a beam cannon right in your face.

[samflynn]

One of the most iconic and badass enemies of the half life series. Was a shame they changed its sound in alyx, the way it sounded in hl2 blurred the line between it being a creature/machine

[Artissan]

i love the line "many, many terrifying species from across the multiverse" as you pan over a metro cop, the only combine members that are human

[ootahcanadiensis]

“This isn't a war… It never was a war, any more than there's war between men and ants.” - H.G Wells' War of the Worlds.

[jolten]

The strider is one of the coolest aliens in half life. They are kinda like mini-bosses if you encounter them.

[G]

Striders are like the Combine equivalent of Main Battle Tanks. They're the battlefield sledgehammers, devastatingly powerful, but also very vulnerable to properly equiped infantry who know what they're doing unless backed up with smaller, anti-infantry units.

[frozarburst]

This is slightly off topic, but seeing footage of Black Mesa and Alyx juxtaposed to HL2 just makes the series feel more complete. It all looks gorgeous and each game offers a very unique take on the time they're set in. But once you get to HL2 and you see the areas the Striders destroyed, it makes you realize the Vortigaunts had it even worse on their world

[bentheman]

The story of Half Life has got to be one of the most interesting Stories in any game. Just seeing Humanity so helpless and enslaved is so scary but also so fascinating. Thats why i love these story games. These stories will never actually happen but you can still experience them and feel with the characters.

[theshmalls]

The more I hear about Half Life's lore the more it reminds me of All Tomorrows, with the Combine being the Qu. They have so many parallels. I would recommend anyone who likes Half Life lore to give All Tomorrows a read just to understand how disturbing a race like the Combine can be.

[gordonneverdies]

The sounds they make, especially the one they make when they die, are some of the best sounds I've heard in a game.

[leegofilms]

Some commentary indicates the Construction Strider was inspired by the idea of a “synthetically reproduced” Strider. I like this idea more then the idea all Striders are built the same way. It implies that the Combine garrisoned on earth had to build their own Striders from local materials/processes until they could finish the Citadel’s Teleporter.

[samuelantoniocastillomeza]

I love the Striders design. It's imposing and of the most fearsome Combine forces. Still, the awe of seeing DOG take one of them out ripping it's brain out was awesome. Before that, I wasn't aware they were partially organic.

[joy-wire]

When I was a kid I was traumatised by War of the Worlds.
The first time I played HL2 and saw a strider (at age 24) I thought it was a tripod and got so freaked out that I had to go outside for a few minutes haha

[normtrooper]

It's quite interesting to see the combined arms doctrine of striders with hunters.

Really, like any tank, it has to be properly supported in order to be most effective.

[Happy_Fun_Ball]

I’d love to see you do a video on the combine synth soldier from the beta. They apparently were used in the 7 hour war and are likely the culprit of the humanoid figures in the vortigaunt mural.

[Number__Fin_Fang_Foom_Stand]

One of my personal headcanons is that all the creatures used by the combine (Striders, Hunters, Gunships, Dropships, etc..) were all species from the Combine Homeworld, and are descendants of beasts of burdens and livestock that were once used by the original species that created the Combine.
Brief edit: Of course excluding headcrabs and vortigaunts which came from Xen

[ramihajyounesmontoya]

Striders always freak me out 😂 very effective concept, design, and implementation.