Valve legend has it that the Houndeye, the grub/canine first spotted sonic-booming its way about the halls of Black Mesa, was originally intended to be a neutral witness to the game’s events – until the team discovered that playtesters shot their frogspawn-faces off regardless. I suppose, then, that this is the Houndeye as it was originally envisioned – a Xen creature docile enough to carry your bags.
The Houndeye courier was spotted in the entrails of last night’s Dota 2 patch by the inimitable Cyborg Matt. Despite consisting of little but three legs, a thorax and some turquoise go-faster stripes, it carries a weighty-looking keg on its back:
It’s very much worth noting that couriers are usually discovered alongside a full set of animations, that Valve has a track record for playing us like excitable xylophones, and that as our in-house Dota expert Nick notes, “Those wings look glued on”.
Still. Can you imagine these sounds transplanted to a three-lane map?