from ape to Combine Overwatch soldier mirroring The March of Progress, and a lithograph displaying twelve pieces of concept art for the Combine soldier. Reception The Combine have received a positive reaction from critics. 1UP.com praised the "epic feel" built up by the Combine and their harsh rule of City 17 in Half-Life 2, stating that this created "a world governed by newspeak, decorated with urban decay, and lacking any hope". GameSpot echoed this praise, saying that the "vision of a dystopian police state is chillingly effective". PC Zone described the appearance of the Combine's soldiers as "stormtrooper-like", but although stating that overall the artificial intelligence for the game was "extremely competent", the Combine non-player characters "could have used better survival instincts", citing their reluctance to take cover and tendency to charge at the player and into a shotgun blast. A number of reviews of Episode One were disappointed by the lack of new characters for the Combine, although GameSpot praised the improved AI for Combine soldiers and the addition of new abilities, such as rappelling down buildings. The addition of the Hunter in Episode Two was particularly well received by critics; Computer and Video Games stated that they were challenging to fight and were "a very welcome addition" to the series, while IGN stated that the Hunters were "impressively designed... [they are] sleek and powerful all at once and reek of malicious alien intelligence." The Combine were also ranked at #22 in ''IGNs 'Top 100 Videogame Villains' list. References Notes External links The Combine on Combine OverWiki, an external wiki Half-Life characters Bioterrorism in fiction Cyborg characters in video games Fictional extraterrestrial life forms Fictional governments Fictional soldiers in video games Totalitarianism in fiction Video game antagonists Video game characters introduced in 2004