Half-Life 2 FAQ HH HH AAAA LL FFFFFFF LL II FFFFFFF EEEEEEE 222 HH HH AAAAA LL FFFFFFF LL II FFFFFFF EEEEEEE 22 22 HH HH AAA LL FF LL II FF EE 22 HHHHHHH AAAA LL FFFFF ==== LL II FFFFF EEEEEEE 22 HHHHHHH AA AA LL FFFFF ==== LL II FFFFF EEEEEEE 22222 HH HH AA AA LL FF LL II FF EE HH HH AA AAA LLLLLLL FF LLLLLLL II FF EEEEEEE HH HH AA AAA LLLLLLL FF LLLLLLL II FF EEEEEEE *********** *Half-Life 2* *********** *********** Half-Life 2 FAQ/Walkthrough For Xbox 360, PC, PS3 Version 1.0 Written by Brad Russell "TheGum" Email: lunatic_252000@yahoo.com Website: www.herostrike.com Twitter: TheGum25 *********** Version 1.0 - finished the guide, just for the love of the game. (4/3/08) ***************** Table Of Contents ***************** Use Ctrl + F to quick find in this guide. Section: Code: 1. A Brief Foreword 2. Controls CON2222 3. Starter Tips TIPS333 4. Walkthrough FAQ4444 (type in either the name or the chapter and number) Chapter 1: Point Insertion Chapter 2: "Red Letter Day" Chapter 3: Route Kanal Chapter 4: Water Hazard Chapter 5: Black Mesa East Chapter 6: "We Don't Go To Ravenholm..." Chapter 7: Highway 17 Chapter 8: Sandtraps Chapter 9: Nova Prospekt Chapter 9a: Entanglement Chapter 10: Anticitizen One Chapter 11: "Follow Freeman!" Chapter 12: Our Benefactors Chapter 13: Dark Energy 5. Weapons GUNS555 6. Enemies BAD6666 7. Author Info / Copyright ***************************************************************************** * 1. A Brief Foreword * ***************************************************************************** This game came out in late 2004, and now in early 2008 I am making my guide for this wonderful game. Yes, I started writing guides a long time after this game came out, so it's a wonder I even made this guide. The release of The Orange Box last year packaged this game and Episode One along with the new stuff. Though I did cover the episodes after The Orange Box was released, I still kept finishing this guide for a long time. It's a shame too, because there was time. So why did I make this guide? Simple, this my second favorite game of all time. With a recent re-release on a console, I just couldn't miss the chance to pay tribute to what will go down as a classic. The short and simple, you have not played a game until you've played this game. TheGum. ***************************************************************************** * 2. Controls ( CON2222 ) * ***************************************************************************** Here are the 360 controls: A - jump B - reload X - pickup/use/activate Y - flashlight RT - fire primary LT - fire alternate RB - Gravity Gun/last gun LB - sprint RS - look/aim; click to zoom LS - move; click to crouch START - pause; save game BACK - move squad (not used in Episode Two) The PC has standard FPS controls, and the same since the last game. For all three of you with PCs and without knowledge of the controls, you can choose what buttons do what in the options menu. The PS3 controls mimic the Xbox 360, I assume. ***************************************************************************** * 3. Starter Tips ( TIPS333 ) * ***************************************************************************** #1. Explore to success - always search areas for health and ammo. The areas are not too expansive, so a little searching won't kill you. Don't confure this with over-exploring, if there is such a thing, but if you are just wanting to get through the game ASAP, you don't need to explore the place to death. #2. Use the Gravity Gun when you can - if you see a saw blade, that's an obvious clue to use the GG. See a lot of gas tanks and red barrels? Same story. Even a rock or normal barrel will be enough to inflict damage. #3. A loaded gun is a not happy gun - sitting on a full clip of ammo in any weapon does you no good, and you get plenty of ammo throughout. #4. Conversely, an empty clip can be holstered to reload - if a gun is empty and you don't have time to reload, just switch to another gun and after a time that old gun will reload. #5. Chuck a grenade into big groups - simple as that. Tossing a grenade will send it pretty far, so always know your range. #6. Don't forget to run - not just the normal stride, you also have a sprint button. It's your only way to avoid charging enemies, but don't forget to use it during normal encounters. #7. Play for achievements later - some can be attained during a normal run, but don't go after the more elaborate ones until after you get through one game at least. Don't forget you can check your achievement progress from the pause menu. Achievement whores are the lowest of the low, so don't expect my sympathy, even though it's my job to help you. And duh, this is for the 360 owners. ***************************************************************************** * 4. Walkthrough ( FAQ4444 ) * ***************************************************************************** Half-Life 2 Walkthrough Done on The Orange Box on the Xbox 360. I believe there are only a few spots that are different than on the PC, but I could be very wrong. ========== Chapter 1: Point Insertion ========== *NOTE: It may be a good idea to turn on the subtitles from the pause menu, and it doesn't hurt.* Submission ----- You start this crazy journey on a train. Move to the other passengers and interact if you like. Step off and follow them and watch the various happenings that will occur. Step through the revolving gate and speak with a woman by the fence, then keep moving. In the table area you can interact with more people. Then go through the fence-path and just follow the directions given by the guards. Step through a doorway only to get trapped. Look right and wait for the door to open; go through as instructed (you can stop by one door and peek inside for a bit of a scene). Enter the room when told and if you haven't figured out this is all a "scene", you will be pleasantly surprised. *NOTE: When I say "a bit of a scene", that means you just watch something happen; when I say "cutscene" or "scene", that means you just flow with the movement around you. There are no traditional cutscenes in the Half-Life universe, so you will always have to be in motion or you will miss out on stuff. Just turn or move or look in a direction during these scenes, but don't get too relaxed as these scenes tend to end abruptly.* The scene is over when Barney tells you to get inside a room. Do so and climb up the ladder. Pick up a crate and place it under the open window, then jump on and jump down. Open the door and go through for a loading. Up the steps, through the door, and then you run into a guard. He instructs you to pick up the can on the ground. Just pick it up and drop it into the trash can to move along (or pick it up and toss it in his face and then run backward if you want). *NOTE: Two achievements for the Orange Box users here. One is "Defiant" and the other is "Submissive". Just save before you pick up the can, then pick up the can and toss it into the guards face. Then load that save and do it the right way by placing the can in the trash.* You can visit the poor saps in line for food, and then go outside. Talk and take in the sights if you wish, then head down the road on the right. Peek in through a guarded door for a bit, then keep going. Look toward a roadblock to see some very nice foreshadowing of things to come, but no time soon. Turn around, jump on a dumpster, take the ladder, and then drop down on the other side of the fence. Take a left in the alley to see a bit of a scene and then go the other way before you get taken into custody. Speak with two concerned citizens, and then go play on the playground of course. You can actually test out the physics here, but then go toward the cops and then into the doorway on the left for a load screen. Go through the door and then up the stairs to the level where you see some cops down a hallway. Take this hallway and enter the room of the other citizens. You can speak with them if you like, but then go back out into the hall. Go past the room that the cops broke into and enter another room with some citizens. Stop and chat for a little bit and then back into the hallway. Go to the stairwell and go up one level. Enter the hall and into a room where a guy tells you to enter. Run through the rooms to get to the other side of the hall and head for the stairwell on the other side. Don't go down, go up to avoid the approaching cops and run into yet another safe room. Run to the doorway nearby for a load screen. Keep running up and into an attic. Go left and jump out the hole. Follow the ramp up and then go left to get to the ledge. Follow the narrow path connected to quite a few buildings as cops shoot at you, and then jump through the first open windows you see. Go down the steps and into the tiny room to enter a scene. You awake to see the friendly face of Alyx. Follow her to a loading. ========== Chapter 2: "A Red Letter Day" ========== Calm Before the Flight ----- Keep following and this long scene will end up and continue in a lab. You run into Dr. Kleiner and Lamarr. Barney comes in and turns on a computer screen; you can switch the screen to see a very familiar character. Then go grab the HEV suit and then follow the doc to a power station by the door. *NOTE: Near the front door of this lab, you'll find a strange machine on a table with a cactus in it. All you have to do, I think, is just keep pushing the button on either side of the mini teleporter and you'll eventually break it. I used a can around Kleiner's workstation and that worked too. It may take a while, but it will break. And aside from being really cool, you 360 owners get an achievement.* Then it's into the teleporter room. Sit back and watch by the door. A plug will fall during the first run, so pick it up and place it into the slot with the red light. Flip the switch and Alyx will be off. Step into the machine when told and just watch the rest. When on the flip side, get off the walkway, go through the fence, and then take a right to go up some steps. Go through the door for a load screen. Stop at the corner and look up for Barney. He gives you a crowbar, but that's about all he's good for. Zoom into the citadel if you wish. Then use your old friend to whach at the planks in the doorway and go through. Break a crate in the way and then hop down. Turn around (go left), and jump up into an open train car. Smash the stuff in the way to get on the other side. Quickly hug the same train car and get into a spot that doesn't touch the rail line that a train is coming from the left. Wait for the train to go by and then run behind it. When you see an opening on the left, take it and go around the train car to find an opening in another car. Go up the steps, then up the ladder, then carefully hop from this train to the other train, and then hop over the fence and down to the other side. Grab a health pach on the right wall if you need it and then break the planks on the doorway. Go through with the flashlight on to hit a load screen at the bottom of the stairs. ========== Chapter 3: Route Kanal ========== Pullin' Teeth ----- You can turn off the flashlight, that was just to let you know how to use it. Proceed down the hall and into another when you hear some commotion. Run to the cops and kill the one with the gun first, then use it on the other cop. Break the planks to get to the stairs and then have you gun ready as you head up. Kill the one cop and keep moving. When you get to the stairs leading up, be ready for a cop at the top. Go up and go left to find the stairs to the ground, but stop at the mid-way point. Wait for the train to come by and stop. Now hop on the train and use it to get to the platform on the other side. Go up the ladder and turn around to the place you came from. Cops will come up the stairs, but if you shoot the red barrels, you can take them out in one shot. Get to the doorway and bust it open. Go into the room on the right and crouch so that the other cops can't shoot at you. Get in the far corner and shoot the red barrels to open the doorway, or just move the stuff out of the way. Go through with your gun ready and wait for a cop to pop up on the upper left behind the fence, so just shoot the barrels to kill him. Bust the crate for ammo and bust the planks to go through. When you hit the fence, look once again to the stairway you came from and shoot one last barrel that you should barely see to kill more cops, or just hop over the bent fence and run to the crawlspace. Either way, you will hop over the fence and follow the path to a crawlspace where you find some crates of supplies. Bust the vent cover on the other side and then crawl behind one of the pieces of wood for cover. Get out your gun, get ready, stand up, and then run to the end of this walkway and fall down to the ground. Shoot the second red barrel you see by a corner to get a cop, and if you go around the corner be ready to shoot a rolling barrel, or jump out of the way. Kill the cop here and use the other barrels. Go up the steps before more cops join the mix. Get your crowbar out as you cross over a bridgeway to break the top crate in your way, and then just hop over the bottom one to get moving. When you hit another railway, don't jump down. Follow the walkway left and jump down when you see some supply crates down below. Jump down, break those crates quickly, and then keep going left. When you hit the fence, immediately turn right and find the opening. Jump down to the walkway and then down to the waters below. Just move down the waterway to a red container. Find the ladder on the back, go up, and drop down the hole. Quickly run to the TV by the Vort to see that one dude again. Get juiced by the vort and jump out. Bust the wooden piece in your way to hit a loading. At the big construct of wooden boards holding up the train, just crouch and clear out enough on the bottom to get through. Go around to see a crow get eaten by a Barnacle, so just run past while the thing is busy. Get across the mud and over the hump to see some people being killed. Go right to the opening of a pipe to see a dude get killed. Run around the corner and enter the pipe to kill the two cops. At the other end will be a room with some supplies and a radio. Go stand by the radio if you want to hear the chatter. Climb up the ladder and shoot a red barrel to kill the cops by the turret. Get on the turret and shoot the lone cop down the way. Now will be your standard turret gunning. Shoot the approaching security bots in the sky, but then get off the gun and look up to the right. Quickly shoot the middle red barrel before they can be used against you. Get back on the turret and some cops should be on their way. Shoot them, any bots, and any red barrels you see; shoot the one on the right to create a walkway for later. Kill all the cops from above and below until an armored car pulls up on the right side. Get off the turret and hug the right wall to be out of sight. Follow the walkway (shoot the red barrel if you haven't to make the path) and you end up in a dirty tunnel. You can avoid the first two Barnacle tongues by hugging the left side and going through a pipe-piece. The third one probably needs to be shot down, then proceed into the open. It looks blocked off, but turn left and look for an ally in a pipe. Take the tunnel nearby and you end up in an area with nothing, but look up. Through the hole you can shoot and kill at least one cop, the other will probably get away. Hop up and take the other tunnel to a water pit, but immediately swim to the bottom and look up as red barrels are dropped. You should be able to swim into the far-right corner and stay at the bottom as the explosions happen, then swim up and onto the ledge nearby to go down the other tunnel; ignore the cops if you can, and ignore the items unless you can get them easily. You emerge on the other side of the blocked path. You can kill the cop up high by shooting a small sliver of red barrel, then handle the other as you wish. When you move toward the wreckage, another drops from up high. When you move toward the bridge, two cops appear on the bridge, so shoot the red barrels on the bottom to bust the support beams and take them out. Collect some stuff and go beyond the bridge to run into two more cops that drop in from both sides. Now go up the trash heaps and find the opening on the right that is covered by three barrels, grab one or all three and take them with you as you slide down. Use these or the other other barrels to bait the tongues and slip to the spot with the red barrels, but stop here. Look down the slope to see a mass of tongues. You want to toss down a red barrel, wait for it to get caught, and then shoot it as it rides up to take out a bunch of the beasts. Use the other barrel if needed. Get to the bottom and collect any supplies from the muck. Go up to the opening on the right and wait as some barrels are tossed into the water. Then hop out and start swimming to the left. Stay low to avoid the blasts and swim to the right corner to find a ladder. Get up and hop into the water on the other side. Stay in between the wooden platforms for cover and stay under as you swim down the way. Get up on the platform on the left and have your gun ready. Shoot all the red barrels down on and around the bridge, and then kill any survivors. Watch out as you move across these platforms as barrels will be dropped, so just jump backward or forward, whichever. Then jump to the other platforms and follow them to a broken opening in a pipe. Drop down at the end for a load screen. You land in a simple physics puzzle. The idea is to place all the concrete blocks at one end of the see-saw so that you can jump from the other and onto the path up above. You find some in every corner, but don't miss the two in the pipe under the saw. When you've carried and placed all onto the end by the wall, get on the saw and jump from the end sticking up and get to the path above. The Running Man ----- At the end of the tunnel you run into the dreaded Hunter-Chopper. Just use the sprint bottom to run past it, slide down the slope, weave through the debris, go left to a walkway by the wall, kill or distract the Barnacle in the way, run to the door, move the barrel out of the way, and then jump through the door. If you look under the floor you see a lambda symbol; that means there are good things nearby. Drop off the side on the right to find the stash of items below. Go back up and up into a sewer area. Ignore the stuff to the left, which there is another crate and some health in a crawlspace. Grab the red barrel in the dark corner and look down the slope to see more tongues. Send it down and shoot it enough so that it slowly burns. Quickly grab another item and toss it down the middle; the result should be that the row of tongues behind the first set will pick up debris as the final tongue down the middle gets distracted. Now slide down and get to the corner on the left to avoid any fire. Up the path and around the corner to run into essentially the same setup down this slope too. Pick up the barrel and after it blows you can just slide down the left side and jump over. Get to the door and wait for the fire to stop, then open and sprint down the path to the left and into a safe area. Pick up the supplies and proceed to a load screen. You will reach a blockage in the road. Just pick up the red barrel and set it up against the wooden support beam, then stand back and fire to open the path. Go through and bust some boards to reach a safe house with a friend. Watch as he goes to open the door. Get ready for three Manhacks to charge in. Use the handgun to pump bullets into them, and then fall back to the crowbar if they get too close; save the other guy if you want the dialogue, but that's not that important. Climb up the ladder on the wall to reach two crates by his bed, then go across a plank to find some items in the upper corner. Fall down and go through the doorway. Follow the path and when you turn the corner you will see more hacks on the other side of a fence. You have time to shoot them, but give them time and they will find the opening at the top. Kill all three and go through, but when you round this corner you see more coming from behind some debris. Quickly put two bullets into one of the red barrels and then retreat into the previous hallway as the explosions take out the bots; clean up the survivors and move on. When you hit the doorway that leads to the outside, go a bit beyond it to find a room with some supplies. Get back to the doorway with crowbar in hand. Open the door, run across, move the objects out of your way, go through the door, and then bust the thing in your way to get into a safe area. Stay on the ledge and get to the red pipe that leads to a vent cover by a red light. Bust it off and go through with your light on. Have your gun out as a single Manhack will attack as you crawl toward the corner. You end up in a room with a lot of crates. Bust them and grab what you can and go back, but upon exit the vent you will see a cop run from the way you came, so just shoot the red barrel beside him. Hop down to the ground below. Move forward and a cop will rappel down, so just shoot the barrel behind him. Grab the SMG and use it on the other two down the way. Grab their ammo, but come back to the first dead guy. Look to the left to see a barrel covering a crawlspace. Grab that barrel and place it directly under the hole the first guy came from. Now get out your handgun and crawl down this space with your light on. When you near the box a zombie torso will break it and come for you, so just shoot its head. Behind it is a grenade. On your way back you will see a cop drop down, so have your sights on the barrel you placed for the easy kill. *NOTE: Not only was that crawlspace your first run-in with the undead, but it's also an early grenade.* At the water, time the fan-thing's spinning and jump in to swim through an opening down on the left. In this tunnel you can go up an opening for a quick breather, then dive under and keep swimming. Go up when the path ends and get back on solid ground. Follow the path to a pipe and follow the pipe to an area you've passed by earlier. Have your handgun/SMG ready (whichever is more accurate for you), and get the two cops that will try to surprise you. Carefully move toward the fence to run into two more cops, one of which may release a Manhack, so kill all three. Go back into the pipe area and find the stairs on the side. Jump on the stairs so that you avoid the tongue and grab the stuff at the top. Jump to or walk on the big pipe and follow it down. Wait for the steam to fall and then slip around the Barnacle tongue to an area on the right. Look down the adjacent tunnel and shoot the incoming hack. Then grab the red barrel and send it into the nearest tongue, shoot the barrel twice, then crouch as the explosion takes out all three beasts. Jump over the corner with the items and use any objects to bait any surviving tongues. Get back on the pipe, wait for the steam to fall, and then keep moving. You will see another lambda sign by some wooden boards. Crack the boards, fall down, and then find a crawlspace under the pipe to find the hidden stash. Crawl back and take the other space to get on the path. Fall into the water and swim under to find a ladder to get back on level solid ground. Have your handgun ready as you move forward and keep your sights on the truck above. As soon as it starts dropping barrels you need to frantically fire and get at least one to blow up, otherwise you should drop back into the water and wait the explosions out. Come up and kill any cops and then go around the corner. Kill two cops that drop down by retreating a bit, then go kill the one up high (all which can be done with your handgun). Into the Murk ----- Now take the tunnel on the side and keep your aim down toward the end for three Manhacks. There are two collections of supplies on the right side as you move down the tunnel, but there will also be two waves of hacks. Destroy them and move through the door and to a dark room where you can stock up on supplies. Go through the vent and fall into a lower spot. Bust the cover below your feet, then whip out your handgun as you fall. Turn, spot the red barrels, back up into a corner, and then wait for the Manhacks to get near the barrels before you fire into the mass. Pretty much all you can do to avoid the many explosions will be to crouch. Then use the handgun to kill any surviving hacks, as well as the one or two that show up late. Now find a normal barrel in the room that is still standing right-side up, or get a fallen one and drop it on another one to get it upright. Take this over to the wall where the blue pipe goes down; basically where the walkway has no railing. Set the barrel by the wall and jump on it to get up to the walkway. Follow the path to the other room. In here you find a bunch of pipes going in all directions. Walk over to the corner, crouch, and look left. Drop down to the second-lowest brownish pipe. Get to the curve and then drop down to another brownish pipe. From here, drop down to a small blue pipe. Now drop down to a brown pipe below that leads to a valve and a crate. This crate and the other only have health packs. Just turn the valve to get the water level up and then swim to the ladder to get back up. When you near the red light, you have two options: stand and kill the Manhacks, or jump over the rail and swim through the hole in the floor. Either way, get back to the original room and find the hole in the floor. Swim through it (FYI, press jump to unlatch from the ladder), and then swim through the pipe to reach the other area. Climb up the ladder for air and then dive back under. Swim to the bottom with crowbar in hand and start breaking the boards that keep the boxes and spool wheels under. You can break one or all, just make sure you don't drown during the process (you can survive a while after your power goes red). Then get back up the ladder, jump onto the object you freed, and then jump up to the other side. Follow the path to a load screen. Climb up the ladder here and jump onto some boards. Go off the sides of these to get over the fence. From the direction you entered this area, go left to run into a Manhack and some cops, going right will be another hack that might come at you anyway. Kill all of them and find the broken ladder. Either jump from this ladder to the area above, or use the barrel nearby. Collect the items and take the tunnel. Two more hacks to greet you. At the end of this dark tunnel will be two Barnacles guarding some supplies, so handle them with care. Come out into the open and take the ladder up. Follow the makeshift path up here to find another lambda stash. Fall down and proceed to reach a nasty looking area. Avoid the bubbling puddles of ooze which is radioactive. Fall down and go up the ramp to get on some pipes that will lead to yet another stash. Get back on track and you will run into a safe zone with one guy fighting some headcrabs, but you don't have to help. Stock up on ammo and listen to the chatter before you head out. Walk over the board and then crawl under some debris to run into some shelling. The guys will die, but you need to focus your crosshair on the tip of the pod to shoot the headcrabs as they come out. Kill those three, then watch your feet for three more on the ground. Collect stuff and then move toward the fence to see a friend that cannot be helped, but you can shoot the crab to make it shut up. Go around the corner and kill two more crabs coming from the pod. Watch your step and go around the next corner. You should see some zombies just laying around in the sewer pit nearby. Shoot them first and quickly kill both. Cross the planks and be ready for one crab in the dirt. Cross over the next planks to avoid the sparking wire. Near the wall be ready for a zombie to bust through the metal sidings on the left, so just rapid-fire kill him. To get through the crate you must avoid touching the sides. Quickly get past the door if you think you'll touch it. Stay low and smash the crates, but be ready for a shell to fall at the end. On the other side, look to the metal beam over the ooze. When you cross it a zombie will pop up, so run and jump to avoid. Then go grab that red barrel and toss it to his side and blow it up, or kill him any way you can. Or just avoid it all by running to the left and taking the wooden walkway to get out of this shelling zone. Follow the walkway to a safe house. The girl here will have the airboat ready for action. Hop in and you're off. Follow the radiation sludge all the way to a closed gate. Drive to the right side of the gate, get out, and go toward the many boxes. Hop on the one by the wall and look under the topmost box. You should see a headcrab that was meant to surprise you; kill it. Smash the crate and then go to the valve and hold down the bottom to turn it and lift the gate. Back to the airboat and go through. Maneuver around some debris in the tunnel until you hit a loading. ========== Chapter 4: Water Hazard ========== Go Green! ----- Get to the end of the tunnel, but stop before you bust the boards in your way. Zoom toward the red barn (station 7) and look to the walkway; do you see a familiar face? Ram through the boards and keep looking at him until he walks away (it's the G Man if you haven't been paying attention, and no, he will not be inside the barn). Drive up to the dock and get out. Find the ladder and make your way up to the shed with you gun ready. There will be two zombies inside, so stay near the wall and use cover to avoid the barrels they flinge at you. Kill them and jump onto the broken stairs to get up. Crawl over the boards up here, smash a box, and when you get to the spot with two boards and a ladder, watch out for the headcrab that might drop down, or will stay in the room above. Climb the ladder to reach this room and whack the barrel holding the gear in place to drop the supplies. Just dive into the water to collect the goods, and then hop in your boat to continue onward. Start heading down the path and use the small ramp if you like as pratice for when you reach the bigger ramp (all of this early riding is just to get you familiar with this stuff for later when you're under fire). Then you will see a bridge with a man on it who will drop you some supplies when you get close, so take them and park the boat on the dry land ahead. Get out and go left into a dark pipe. Follow the tunnel to the upper area and toss both blue barrels into the water. Dive in and place both under the ramp and into a cage with another blue barrel. Now find the other barrel at the base of the ramp and get it in the cage. Jump in the boat, back up a little bit, and then push it forward as hard as you can to nail the jump. Drive down and over the sludge to get on the path and you will see that your presence is noticed. Follow the flying dropship until you see a landed dropship that has slipped out some cops in your path. Run them over and jump out to finish the others off. Look down the path and up to see a flickering moniter screen; another sighting if you look closely between the Dr. Breen images. Now look up to the wall to find an opened pipe. Jump up to the ledge and find a red barrel nearby. Place the barrel under the opening and jump in. Follow the pipe, swim through some water, and then jump into a pool near some crates. Be ready for a zombie when you near the crates, then grab the stuff and get back out. Jump in the ride and keep moving. *NOTE: To really see the G Man well in the screen, hold down the zoom button, face the screen, and then repeatedly press pause until you get a good view of the man in green.* When you round the corner and see some cops drop down from a ledge, wait for them to drop and run them over, or quickly get around the next corner. Go to the left wall to run up and over the high ramp, then just blaze down the trail. Near a bridge with and APC, hug the right wall and ram through a couple of wooden platforms to kill some cops, then jump over the edge. Watch your path as you drive under these next bridges because you don't want to hit a tongue; go far right, then left under the second one. You will hit a load screen. Go right around the corner and you will see some platforms down the way, but then you will notice some bullets flying from a guy on a broken bridge. Simply drive through the bottom support beams under him to take him out. Right around the corner you will see a ladder against a wall, so get out and get up it. Get to the door and go through. Stop and listen to the video message if you like. Have your SMG in hand as you go through the door. You can safely visit the two rooms nearby for some items, but when you go around the corner you will run into two cops. Try to avoid killing them with the red barrel. Then go to where they were waiting and look through the window to see a guard and three Manhacks. Kill all four. Now you should grab that red barrel and go back around the corner and place it behind the force-field barricade, just for later. Go to the room where the hacks came from and grab some grenades. Open the door and run to some cover, preferably on the right. Either toss up and away toward the turret gunner, or poke out and toss, or just use your guns to kill him, any way that works. Then go to the door behind the turret, open it, and toss in as many grenades as you can in all directions of the room before you go inside. There should be three cops in here, so kill them all. Go in and collect any ammo and be sure to not miss the health station on the wall. Go up the stairs on the left and through the door. Out here you see a non-working valve. Go as far to the left as you can, then look right and then use the handgun to pop the red barrels farthest away. The resulting explosion will send a ram into the gate and bust it open. Now backtrack a bit to the turret and get on it ASAP and start killing the cops that have appeared. Mow down the easy ones, and then destroy all the boxes the others hide behind. Take the ladder on the blue container nearby for a box inside (nothing in the other one) and then go back to the way you came. Get some grenades from the crate and then get to the garage area. You can try to toss grenades all around to get the three guys near the APC's, or just shoot them. When you go around the corner shoot at the red barrel you placed earlier to kill the turret gunner, or kill him with a grenade. In the very first room you started from, toss in a grenade to get three cops and mop up the survivors. Collect any items and ammo before heading back to the boat. Sewer Surfin' ----- Go through the smash gate and run over the two boxes in the water for some armor. Follow the water and jump over a ledge behind a bridge and keep moving to avoid the rockets and bullets. Under one bridge, then hug the right to avoid some Barnacles and run over some cops under another bridge. Move jump, cops, bridges, and rockets until you hit a stretch with some platforms and a bunch of stuff in front of two tunnel openings. You will probably be hit a few times by rockets, but when you near the wreckage it will all go in flames, so hug the right wall and quickly get into the safety of the waterway. You will hit a load screen soon after. Drive until you hit a ruined area with another lambda logo on a column. It is possible to drive on the pipes in the ground and somehow pick up the items in the basket. The conventional approach is to get out, go to the basket on the ground, pull off both blocks, and that will cause the other basket to drop. Grab the items and continue in the boat. At the end of the tunnel you see an open gate, but head right because the gate will close anyway. Avoid the fire of the one dude on land and find a dark dock in a corner. Hop out, bust the lock, and go through the door. Go to the table and grab the Magnum. Quickly now you have to choose either to use this gun or the handgun on the two enemies coming through the door; the magnum is slow to fire, but you can fire off enough pistol rounds into the cop's heads to kill both as well as the third that shows up. Collect the items and proceed with the magnum in hand. At the stairs kill the cop at the top. Go left and around through the crates with the sprint on, and kill the dude around the corner who tosses up a Manhack. Hide in the overturned container and then run out and around the corner, under a wooden platform, kill a dude in a container, and then run into that container to hide. Grab the items and get to the other end. Kill the two dudes that appear outside, then take the path by the fence and go left to get into the warehouse. Kill the Manhacks near you, then get to the right corner and kill any cops by the stairs. There are three hacks in total, two men by the stairs, and about three more cops in the upper level. You can also use the containers for cover, just stay away from the front door you came through to avoid the chopper fire. Just a few items on the ground level. When you go up the stairs you will trigger more enemies to appear from the front door and the opposite walkway, so use the magnum for quick kills. Hop over the three containers to reach the other side. Sprint by the windows, and when you reach the bend in the path, sprint to the wall and duck to avoid the chopper fire from the windows. Move to the doorway with crowbar in hand and smash the crates in your way. Have a gun out when you go through because there will be one guy behind the stairs, and two guys down on the stairs. Get to the bottom for some boxes and both kinds of stations on the wall. Have the magnum ready again. Run out and go to the top right corner to find the opening. Kill the guy in your way, go down some steps, kill a guy behind a fence, and then jump on the ladder. Kill the two guys in the tower and then quickly jump on the turret that is facing the chopper. Just keep the crosshair on the chopper and hold down the fire button for as long as the chopper stays in place. Then switch to another turret when the chopper moves. Soon the thing will retreat. Collect any items and then press the button on the console up here. Climb down the ladder and go right to find a walkway. Get to the end, hop over, and then swim back to your airboat to go through the newly opened gate. Down the path a new chopper will appear, so make a right turn when you can. This fresh chopper will try to outrun you and drop mines in your path, so you should keep the gas down and try to outrun it. Avoid the mines and when you turn to face what looks like a dead-end, run up the slope and go right to get across the divider. Swing back under the bridge and follow the path. Run into a pipe to be safe and hit a loading. At the end of the tunnel, go left and keep avoiding the chopper's attacks. The best thing you can do is just try to not be directly below it or directly behind it as the mines drop, so just stay a bit to one side. When you see some debris in the path, go left to get around it. Then you will see some pipe pieces down the way. You need to ramp straight through the first one to get up to the rest of the pipe-way, so just let the mines explode and set up a straight line onto the ramp or you will fail the jump and have to retry. Follow the path of pipes and when you hit a long stretch you will see a ramp at the end. You need to hit this ramp straight on as well, and if you do you will land on the smooth tops of more pipes. You have to stay on these tops to make it into another tunnel, so just keep her steady and straight; good luck recovering if you fail. Consider saving or using the autosaves if you do fail. Follow the tunnel to a load screen. Soon after you will be at the end, and don't miss the two boxes in the ground. Drive to the fork in the road and go right, then hug the left wall to follow the ramp up and over, but then watch out for all the mines. When you get back to the water, go right again and under a bridge. When you near the next tunnel, go up the left side and wait for the mines to go off before going through. At the end of the short tunnel, stay on the far right as you go under both bridges to avoid the tongues and men. Then turn right to get on the path. After the bridge, hug the right wall to follow a ramp and dash over the end to land near a warehouse and quickly get inside. Park the boat on a lift and then get out to collect loot in some crates and refill your health with the stations on the wall. Then go turn the wheel to lower the lift and the boat. You can drop down, but you lose health. Instead, just walk out the open door, find a ladder below you on the right, press the activate button or fall on the ladder, and then go down to jump on the lift. Continue the ride. Go through the open gate and turn left to see some shells start to land about. One will hit a smokestack, so kinda slow down and let it fall, then ramp over the smooth part in the middle. Then make a charge for a tunnel under an APC, so zigzag a bit to dodge the rockets in case you don't see them. At the turn is safety and a loading. Go a bit further to reach the clear water. Face the boat to the right and get out. Turn around and enter the pipes. Going to a puddle in the second one will be a crate and a zombie, so watch out. Find the ladder on the wall to the left and get up. Jump down to the top of the first pipe and follow the walkway to a metal roofing. Get to the other edge and look down to see a platform. Just run over the side and push forward to land there. You need to literally push this stove over the side and into the basket device below. After it falls, you jump back to the ground and then throw the lever next to it. The ramp nearby will be up, so go up and over to get out. Go left and into the friendly tunnel. Go through the gate when it opens and park on the dock. Get out and meet with the allies. Crack the boxes to get some items and then follow the dude into the room for a bit of a scene. Come back out to see your shinny new boat, except for the shiny and new part. Get in when the gun is ready and move along when the gate opens. *NOTE: The Vortigaunt here has a lot, and I mean a lot, to say. You can stay here for a few minutes and go through it all if you like, but at a point he will begin to repeat. There's no need to however.* Payback ----- Test the gun out on the debris and then the Barnacles on the ceiling soon out of the gate. Break some of the debris down the tunnel, but have some ammo ready at the end when you face the Hunter-Chopper. Just spray a few bullets into it and the thing will retreat. Proceed and shoot down a platform on the right to get a single crate, then move on and over the ramp. Enter the gate and when you get to another gate it will close and you will be trapped. Turn around in the boat and kill the first three guys to appear, then move toward the first gate and get the guys that appear high to the right. Get on the walkway on the left and then ramp over the fence at the end. Around the corner is an APC firing upon you, so either squeeze out enough ammo to blow it up and the missiles, or just go past it. Either way you will run into more guys on platforms, which you can ramp over a ramp on the left for a crate and ignore them. Around the bend, shoot some guys above a tunnel entrance, then more along the inside of the tunnel, and then a load screen. *NOTE: This is a big note, because for some reason the auto-aiming on the Xbox 360 version is so terrible about those missiles. You really have to disregard the missiles, which the auto-aim doesn't let you, or you unload a whole stock of ammo at one time, which doesn't last long. Because once you're out you won't have much hope to blow up the vehicle since it launches so many missiles, and when you hit them they don't seem to blow up. So 360 owners should definately consider just blazing past these first couple of APC's.* Soon after and after out of the tunnel you run into another APC on a bridge. Again, either blow it up or zoom right by. There is also a guy on the left. Go under the bridge and keep going until you hit a stretch where a dropship will fly overhead. Shoot the APC before it lands, but either way just zoom into the tunnel at the end. Barnacles under the next two bridges. At the fork, go right and to the enemies. Hop out and go forward. When you get close to the structure on the left, a zombie will rise from behind a barrel and some headcrabs will drop in. Dodge the barrel toss and just use the pistol or a well-placed grenade to clear them away. Now climb the ladder and claim the supplies in the lambda stash. Get back on the boat and now take the left path where you ramp up into a tunnel. Kill the Barnacle and zombies inside and then ramp out the end. Just peek around the corner and shoot a red barrel. Look from under the bridge down the way to see a cop sending barrels into the water, so kill him and let the flames begin. If you look to the slope at the end you should see even more barrels rolling into the water, so blow up what you can. Kill the Barnacle to the left under the bridge. Now to get around the flames you must use the solid ground on the right, but you may get a bit burned. When you get on the slope there will be more barrel rolling, so just camp at the bottom and shoot all the barrels. When they stop, go around and the divider and kill the three cops that appear as you proceed. One Barnacle in the tunnel ahead. On the other side, when you reach some red containers in a corner, get out and you will find some items in the first one only. Keep riding to a boat area where two APC's will be up high. Your best bet is to ride around the crashed boat that's kinda in the middle (that turn near the wall is tricky), hit the first one and ride under it, then swing back toward the boat as you drive under the other APC and get some shots from below it, and then back around the boat. Basically, just stay relatively under the APC's to get in good shots and stay in motion so that the other doesn't slay you. And watch out for their turrets up close. *NOTE: Even on the 360, if you stay under the APC's the auto-aim won't be able to target the missiles, so the same rules apply.* After they are gone, go to the back of the boat to find a red container. Park near it and get out. Either go to the side of it to find a crack, or go to the back, either way just blow up the red barrels (just get them burning of course, they blow up just the same). Now go through the open container and follow the path and stick the jump to reach the pipe that spills out in a canal. Go left and take the first right to hit a loading. Move along until you hit a big expansive field. Go right first and around a boat to find a single box. Near the boat (going left now) you will see a pipe half-way stuck in the ground. Get the box on top and crawl inside for more items. That should be enough, but do know that there will be more crates in every area of this field; but 100 health and 100 armor will be more than enough to get through this fight. Now when you're going left toward the gate you will hear a siren go off and soon another chopper will be after ya. In front of the gate is a large body of water with lots of red barrels. The idea is for you to blow those up now so that they don't blow up on you later, so get a few before the chopper gets close and do so at any pause in the firing. Last time I remind you, crates with health all around. You can fire upon the chopper from far away, or when it's right above you. Try for the longshots, but never miss a chance to spray it when it's flying over your head. Simple as that, just shoot the thing. Early on this is easy as the thing will only fire back at you as it flys by. You should also be in motion and it's probably best if you drive toward it. But the extra shots you get if you sit and unload a full stock will help, but your health and the stock won't last long that way. Better to just drive in the opposite direction and settle for the quick but accurate shots. After about three passes and some good shooting on your part, the chopper will be damaged and make a sound. Now what it will start doing is flying over as it did before, but this time it will drop tons of mines, three rows no less. Your best option is to sit in one spot (preferably directly under and in front of the chopper) and shoot for at its belly. This will not only get in the shots you need, but you should also get some of the mines from the middle row that would otherwise fall on you. Either way, after the chopper flies overhead you should drive sorta down the middle line, but a bit to the side as you try to clear out the center mines; you're not driving directly down the middle row, you should drive down between two rows and against the flow. If done correctly you may very well never get hit by a mine. This goes one for about three more times, so long as you are still shooting the chopper, and then it will blow up. Now all you have to do is restock your health and then drive to the gate. Go to the left and up the ladder to turn the wheel that opens the gate. Drive through. *NOTE: If you want, go straight ahead of the gate toward the wall with two pipe openings. You will see that one is cracked open. Go to it and turn around to find a barrel across the water and by some rocks. Get this barrel and turn it over by either dropping it on the airboat (hard), or dropping it against an edge like the pipe opening (just be sure to catch it as it falls). Place the standing barrel on the ground (hold it as you drag it along the ground and into place or you will most likely tip it over) and jump on it to reach the pipe. Inside you will see that the path is covered in sludge. Hopefully you have full health and suit armor. You need to sprint as fast as you can and at some point turn into a path on the left (either use the light after running for a while, or just spot it with your eyes). Run inside and to the Vortigaunt camp. It's just one lonely guy here surviving off very little. Restock your supplies here and talk with him if you like (the Vort at the gun station says/said the same stuff). When ready, simply repeat the same tactic to get back. The only reason to do this is to say you did and to get the achievement on the Orange Box.* Go to the ramp near the gate and go up. Drive toward the building and spray down the two guards that come out. Get out of the ride and go inside for two more bad guys. Lots of ammo and items, so stock up and get full health from the stations on the wall. Come back out and go around the right. Zoom across the wooden bridge and you should see the dude on the corner of the walkway. Hop down and cross the bridge to get over there, no one home. Climb down the ladder that is already down (no point to the other one that drops by the lever pull). Follow the path to a computer. One switch is broken so flip the one on the right. Now make your way back to your boat and go back through the gate. Now go toward the dam and on your approach you should see a ramp-like structure sticking out of the water that points toward the open hole on the left. Go full speed and hit this ramp right up the middle and you should go through and land with no problems. Load screen. ========== Chapter 5: Black Mesa East ========== The Halftime Show ----- Go to the docks and stop as soon as you reach them. Get out and find the ladder in the water to climb up. Go around the right side and to the back to find the decontamination room. The rest is one big scene. Just follow her. After a while you end up in Eli's lab and it's just work as usual, that's Half-Life for you. Then follow Alyx outside for some fun, but not that. You finally get the Gravity Gun. Use it to pick up three crates and position them next to the wooden shed to get to the next area of the scrapyard. Also, when you get on top of the shed. Turn around to find a crate in the corner by a door. You can pull that crate to you. Then jump into the next area. *NOTE: Orange Box users only. Before you leave the first area, right next to that crate near the door will be a yellow piece of metal. Pull that to you to get an achievement.* Go meet Dog in the next area. Dog will play catch with you using crates at first, so catch a few. Then he gets a ball. Use this time to toss the ball into a basket on the wall on the right. Then just toss the ball back and forth with Dog until he goes for the dumpster. That's when reality sets in and it's time to retreat. *NOTE: The basket is an achievement, but only worth two points.* Run back to the base and follow Alyx, that is until you two get separated. Then follow Dog down to the dark tunnel. Say goodbye to him too and carry onward. Use the GG to move the debris along the way to an elevator shaft. Bust a lock on the ladder and get up. Follow the dark path to a load screen. Welcome to Ravenholm. ========== Chapter 6: "We Don't Go To Ravenholm..." ========== *NOTE: The Orange Box states that a 25G achievement is earned by playing through this chapter with only the Gravity Gun. That seems mighty steep, but you should save now and try to get this one later if you don't think you're up to the task. Early on this one will be easy, but when the more difficult zombie types show up, specifically toward the end, I don't see how a normal player would earn this. So new players ignore, but save in case you think you will be up for it later. And I won't address this achievement during this guide, but I'm pretty sure you will have to carry a sawblade with you the whole way. Both episodes also have a similar achievement, so this would be good practice if you want those as well.* Zombie Town ----- Be sure to use your flashlight whenever it is dark, duh. Move forward and pick up a red barrel by the fence with your GG. Turn on the flashlight and look left for a zombie by a porch, and toss the barrel at him from a safe distance. Go into the grim looking shed thing that has tons of sawblades and explodable containers. You can use those containers to help clear out the next room, but no reason. Just grab a blade and jump on or over the table in the doorway. You can toss this thing at the zombies lying still, but watch the hallway for some more to come out. And remember, after every "kill" of an undead, you need to be sure a headcrab didn't survive. *NOTE: I may say it, or I may not, but I'll let you know now that you should always keep a sawblade with you at all times, or for as long as you can. It just makes things easier. And if you need to stash a blade away as you do something else, just toss it into a wall or a doorway.* Go down this hallway with a blade and turn the corner. Either, slice the two zombies that come around the next corner, or toss a barrel, or shoot them, the choice is yours. Then go outside and listen to a strange voice. You'll see and hear a fanblade spinning at a motor. Just crouch under this until you see two zombies coming for you, so back up to just under or behind the fan and the brainless ones will kill themselves. You could turn off the fan, and even take the blade with you, but no reason to do either. Break into the next building to see just one headcrab wandering around. Kill him and notice all the fanblades and other things in here. Turn on the fan (I hope you know to crouch) and then move into the upper left corner of this room to bring out the zombies, and of course you will hide under the fan, or do whatever. Break outside and go right to see some enemies coming for you. Drop your blade and grab a barrel, back up, and toss the barrel into the other two to cause a big explosion. Pick up the blade to handle any survivors. Go into the next building and either slice up the undead in here quickly, or turn on and hide under the fan in this room. Then jump down and go around the corner to see fire, burning zombies, and Father Grigori. He will snipe a few of the undead for you, but you will have to kill some, and once he goes away maybe more. After the initial attack, go around the corner and look right and keep looking right for a zombie to burst from a door. Kill him and go in this room. There is a zombie in a cage among other things, and you really don't have to kill the poor thing. However, if you turn on the gas and then to turn the dial on the cage, you'll burn him to a crisp. Then go go back out and go left to see a "sleeping" zombie in the corner behind a water tank. Kill him before he wakes up and then go to the left side of the huge fire. Turn off the gas by the dial and the fire will go out. Go inside with a blade and be ready for some enemies on the upper level. Best to just toss the red barrel up there, and then go kill a torso zombie that is probably still alive. The stairs need to be cleared, but then be ready for a headcrab at the top. Go up the stairs and then look for a zombie to wake by a red barrel, and then even more headcrab vermin will appear; it's pretty tough to get through all this without guns, but you can do it! One zombie in the dark hall, then push the dresser out of the way and kill another zombie. Go into the next room and be ready to quickly smash a poison headcrab. Grab some supplies and then touch the switch to turn off the power to the fence down below. Make your way back downstairs, but be ready for three poison crabs along the way: one in the big room and two as you get near the exit door; so you could essentially run past them all if you want. Get past them and get on the streets. Go to the fire blocking the way and turn it off. Bring a blade and try to slice up the zombies by the fence, or if you really want to overdo it you could run back to the gas tank down the alley and burn them dead. With the power off to the fence, climb over and up; and if you want a sawblade to go with you, you'll have to stick it into walls as you climb up the ladders. At the top, jump across a gap and you will again see Grigori through a hole in a roof. After he is done, look down to the alley below to see a wooden walkway and jump down to take it. Move your blade as it's in the GG through the window and then jump through. The next room has you above a pit of crabs and a zombie. There are four gas tanks up here, so use them to burn the filth below. Jump down, break the planks and go into the next area. You'll see a lever that is attached to a motor that is connected to a car. Pull the lever when a zombie is under the car to smash him. Keep doing this, but be careful for the one or two that slip through, so try to keep that blade close, or just use your guns, no one cares. Kill all the ones you see and then there are two more protected by the next car, so pull it up and feel free to drop the hammer again. Once this area is clear of undead, it seems like there is nowhere to go. That is when you realize that the car traps pull themselves up after you activate them. But before you go on, notice the lambda logo on the wooden fence. Go to the second car, pull the lever, and hop on. At the top, look behind the fence, press sprint, and then run and jump over to a dark little area. Go to the back for a cache and come back to the fence. Look to the right to see a beam at an angle and take it to get back across. Go back up the car, follow the wooden boards through a window, and then go through the door for a loading. You'll meet a fast headcrab through the next door, so kill him fastly. In the next room you meet Grigori again and he will help you a bit. You have two options: jump out the window and jump over to the raised area down below, or try to take things slow and set stuff up. You certainly need to kill the zombie in this attic, and then use the two gas tanks to kill the poison crabs on the raised area. After that, you can jump out and jump over to that area. If not, you'll face three zombies up here from the right, and then you got many more down below. The standard approach is to drop down, start shooting barrels, start killing all of the enemies, and then go to the ladder down the way to get up top to a walkway. That's fine, especially if you got the guns, but if you don't want to use guns or you just want to get out of here ASAP, take your sawblade and slice through the enemies down the road going right (right from where you jumped out of the window). Make sure you either bring the blade up the ladder or drop it somewhere under the beams above. Go up the ladder and then use the blade on the torso to the right. If you want a lambda stash, that will be on the left in a dark attic and there is a fast crab inside. If you lose the blade after killing both enemies, that's fine as there are more in the next room. Take the door that the torso was protecting to reach the next room. Some zombies that are actually "dead" on the tables, but you should grab a blade and quickly go down the steps to meet a band of undead coming for you. If you are fast enough and if you don't lose the blade, you can dice up all of them easily. Proceed to another loading. Gauntlet of the Undead ----- The next area will first introduce you to the Fast Headcrab Zombie. Best to use a sawblade for a quick kill, or use your guns, no one cares. Move on but don't go straight ahead down to toward the fire, just go left and into a building, and watch out for the many headcrabs. Up the stairs is a zombie, headcrabs in the empty room on the left, two zombies in the room on the right, health and other things in the room on the right, and then two more crabs in the top room before you reach the roof. Another meeting with Grigori and this will most likely be the time anyone trying to go full GG will end that streak. He will toss you a shotgun and you need to pick it up. You could stay and fight if you want, or just run and jump into the water tank over the side; don't sprint though as that will overshoot you. Climb up and quickly go through the door and be sure to close it. Go around the corner and press the button to call the lift, but it will take a while to reach you. There are just two gas tanks in here and one crate. The closed door only buys you a few extra seconds as the fast zombies will enter from the skylight. Shoot the tanks when there are too many zombies, and the rest is just pure evasive maneuvers. When the lift gets up, take it. *NOTE: If you were trying to do the Gravity Gun only thing, I think I have an idea that will work. When you get to the roof, assuming you have a blade, launch it across the gap toward the door, wait for the shotgun, and then jump across and go through the door, but be sure to bring the blade with you. Press the lift button ASAP and then the rest will be pure hell. The hardest part will be trying to recover your blade through all the clutter. But if you make it through this, good job, and remember to save.* At the bottom will be a poison zombie, who will toss a bunch of poison headcrab guys your way, so be ready to blast them out of the air or step out of the way. Or an even better idea, grab the health packs behind the lift, and then run up the wooden board in front of the lift to get across the fence. Go around the next fence and straight into a room with one headcrab and a bunch of other goodies. Move along to a loading screen. The next area is just a load of laughs, and actually not so bad for GG only players. First, take the barrels that are neaby and gently roll them down the road so they get to the bottom. Then, run down the road, turn right when you hit the center area, go up some stairs to reach a room, and pull the lever on the walkway. This will move a lift so you can make your escape. Now, while still up in this room, grab the gas tanks and toss one or two as the poison zombie, then do what you want with the rest. Also, pull down the red barrels on the walkway above. Go back down and before you enter the center area, feel free to toss both barrels into the middle to get anything lurking around. When you get to the center, just go right and find the little steps on the side and jump up them to get up. Go to the back and then jump across a gap to reach a ladder. By now a fast zombie is on your tail, so take him out. Follow this path that swings around to a the top part of this big, thing, where you will find some supplies. Grab them and then get back on the walkway to reach the gap with the lift you moved. Jump across and this will cause a bunch of fast zombies to swarm around. Blast a red barrel you see atop a little ladder, quickly go up this ladder, and then jump to the right; the walkway will break but you should stay on. If you don't do this fast enough, pull out the shotgun and start blasting all the zombies as they swarm you, and Grigori does help. After you jump across, grab a blade and go into the hallway, quickly, and take out three or so zombies with one hit. Grab another to get the rest. Then move into this room, grab a gas tank, and look down the below for more zombies. Once they are gone, go down there and notice on the left there is a path that leads to that little room where you found a headcrab and supplies. Come back up, or don't go down at all, and go up the ladder for three headcrabs. Kill them or just run through the door to be back outside. This part sucks as there are a few fast zombies that will hunt you down. Follow the path along the rooftops until you see a poison zombie lurking below. You can stay up here and fight, or jump down, to up the stairs, through a door, and close the door behind you; if you do stop, you will have to fight, but either way, ignore the poison guy. In this room you don't have to worry about zombies busting in, so you are safe for the moment. Grab the items and go up the stairs and up the ladder. Up here is the hardest part of all of Ravenholm. You only face about four fast zombies, but unless you are extremely accurate, you may be in for a hard fight. Look to the right and wait for him to say he's sending the cart. Pull out your magnum and look down the pipe on the right for a zombie to be climbing up, and one good headshot will take him down. Use the shotgun on the one that comes up the left pipe. Then there will be at least two more, but above all else, make sure they don't attack you from behind or they may send you flying over the side, which will really suck. Once the lift gets close, just jump over and the zombies will bug you no more. Throw the lever and you will finally meet the good man who has been helping you, but more importantly you also get more supplies. Stock up and follow him to an ambush in the canyon. As he will say many times, stay close to him. Don't think this is an escort mission, but do help him out if he is surrounded. Make your way to the cemetery and use the three sawblades to help him clear out the first gang of undead. Go around the corner and you will face a second group that is a bit smaller, and shoot the red barrel too. Then you two will post up at a raised area, where if you shoot the red barrels nearby, a fire will erupt. Watch as some zombies will spawn from where you came, so be ready. Move on with him and you two will eventually reach the end. He will open a gate and then you slip under it. Help him out until he says his farewells. You can stay and watch him go to his uncertain fate, but nothing seems to happen. Go through the door and you'll hit another checkpoint. Searching for Daylight ----- Oh no, you're not technically out of Ravenholm just yet, although the worst part is behind you thankfully. You'll see this hole and think you need to just drop down, but that is not smart thinking. Look to the sides of this hole and you'll see beams along parts of it. Just crouch and gently fall down to the beams below, and at parts you'll need to run at an angle to reach others, no sprinting needed. Tip toe when near the bottom and land on a metal walkway with health packs, and if you fall to the floor by accident, consider reloading a an earlier save because this will be no fun. Assuming you made it to the walkway, grab the health you don't need and toss it over toward a fire in the corner by another walkway, just to be overly safe if you need health later. Then go around this path, jump a gap, and you'll be in a little room with some crates. One crate should have an SMG grenade, so feel free to use one you already have to replace it with this, unless you wasted all of them in Ravenholm for no reason. Then start picking off all the critters below. Blow up all the red barrels you see, toss a frag or two if you have five, and then use your pistol on the rest. That fire in the corner and the walkway is where you need to go. Either follow this walkway to the steps, or jump down to the ground. Sprint over to that walkway, up the steps, look right, and jump to the beams over a fence. Quickly move down these beams as more headcrabs will swarm the room you just left, and some will come after you if you don't start moving down these beams. While in this tunnel, a few more crabs below and some barrels to blast, and then hop down when it's clear. Go around the corner to see a dead guy. Pull the health and ammo box near him with your GG. You can then get on the beam on the right, or just fall into the water below, take your pick. With your AUX power at full, dive under water and follow it to a Barnacle tongue and take it up. As you go up, look to the right for a stash of items you should grab with your GG, then blast the thing before he takes you in. Jump over the wooden barricade in the water and swim to dry land. Look up to see a cart with a fan blade on it. Pull the lever to send it up, and then quickly move onto the rails, but then crouch and stick to a the sides of the tunnel. You'll see zombies emerge nearby, but just let the blade slice them up for you, either going up or coming back. It should also get the other group down the ways, and once the thing passes you feel free to sprint up a bit and then run for cover. There will be more toward the top, and even some in the tunnel with the light, so either kill them yourselves or lure them to the tracks. Then, run to the light. Sunshine ----- Finally, daylight and fresh air at last, sorta. We'll just say you're out of Ravenholm. Look right and smash some crates, but watch out for the headcrab up near the lambda logo. Jump up there for a stash in the tight space. When you get on the tracks and go right, you run into a fast zombie, so shoot fast. Go around the corner to hear gunfire and you'll seem a blue beam killing some zombies down the way. Look up to see the sniper's position. A crate nearby has some frags inside. The idea is to toss one up there to flush him out. Try to get it up there in one shot. Aim for the top of the window while standing a bit below it, but not directly below, and it should blast him out. The next snipe is about two train cars down the tracks, but this one is looking at you. You'll need to hug the first car near all the barrels and crates, but don't get too close to the barrels for he will target them. Then dash to the back of the back of the car with the logs, but he will break the bundle. So crouch and hug the left wall to stay safe. Move quickly down to the next car, stand, and hug the left wall, but be careful when you hit the block as this will be where the door on the car is open and he can shoot you. Either jump over or go into the car. Toss a frag into this sniper's perch and then grab the extra grenades inside the car. Duck under the next car to find some items. Get out your shotgun and go inside the open car, and you'll see a zombie and three Combine on the other side. Blast the one that pops up in the opening, then the one by the fire after he kills the zombie, and then just blast the guy with the brand new gun. After you kill the third guy, grab the new Pulse-Rifle and have it in hand. This is basically like your assault rifle for this game, a step above the SMG. Go into the car with the ladder to grab some shield and more ammo, then take the ladder to get on the other side. In the big open area, look to the left to wait for some soldiers to pop up, but also be looking out for one guy on the tracks. Try to hit some red barrels behind the fences to get a chain reaction going, then shoot the guy on the tracks. You can use the train as cover and shoot through the openings between the cars to kill any surviving bad guys. After that, go to the end to the tracks, which is not the path you need to go, and it would even seem like a dead end. But if you go to the left, crouch, and peek through the sliver of an opening, you should see the G-Man walking away. Then make your way around and into the fenced area, but watch the doorway on the left for two more enemies to pop up. Kill them, collect any ammo around, and go inside for three more soldiers. Just blast them through the windows as they fight allies and then go see your friends. *NOTE: For the G-Man sighting, you could have also climbed atop a train car and zoomed down the tracks to see him, for whatever purpose that serves.* Follow the leader to the next room where you hear from Alyx. After, grab the two stashes of items on the corners and then go through the door for a loading screen. ========== Chapter 7: Highway 17 ========== Highwayman ----- Outside will be some guys on turrets fighting some Antlions. You can watch a little, or just jump in the buggy. You'll be dropped onto the beack, like, they will really drop you, so get out and use the GG to push the car over. Jump in and just ride to the right. Go up a ramp, ignoring all the bugs, and follow the dirt road up. Get ready for a jump, so when you see a bridge, just know that it is broken and hold down the turbo button if you want to make the jump. Once across, just go up the slope, onto another road, and stop by the little shack for some health and an SMG grenade. When ready, jump back in and go through the tunnel. *NOTE: While you have the buggy, you basically have unlimited SMG ammo via the ammo box in the back. It's not too important, but nice to know. And I hope you realize this thing has a gun too, which you can use whenever.* On the flip side of this tunnel, you'll fall off a cliff, but that's what you are supposed to do. Go toward the water and then swing left to see a thumper. Go near it if you want protection from the bugs. You'll also see a house nearby. If you want to go in, read the following note, otherwise, proceed. The house just has a few items inside, and a lambda cache, also a poison zombie. *NOTE: To get in the house, go to the right side of it, but the door is locked. But on this side you will see a cellar door with some junk over it. Use the GG to blast the debris away and then go inside before the Antlions catch up to you. Inside will be some poison headcrabs, but they are coming from a poison zombie, so watch out for any at any time from anywhere. There is an ammo box in the corner, but don't bust the crates, just move them to the side. Now grab a crate and place it on the side of the headcrab capsule that is opposite the nearby wooden support. You'll jump on this capsule, and somehow you can jump to the top of it and then get on the wooden beams. A box up here for the lambda cache, and then you can decide if you want the few items in the tiny room. You should just toss a frag into this room and then finish him off. If you want the right way to get out of this house, go toward the front door, pull off the plank, and go out the door.* Okay, back on the buggy, blast a hole in the makeshift fence and then take the slope down to the beach. Follow it all the way to another thumper by another house. In the small barn you will find one crate, and in the house will be one guy on binoculars by a window. The smart thing to do would be to toss a frag into the doorway on the left corner, and then go blast the guy by the window. This is because after you kill the one guy, another soldier will come out of that doorway with a shotgun, and a third enemy comes from around the side of the house. Kill all three, collect the items and then go use the binoculars. Just watch as it scans over a village of allies, but pay attention to a chat going on up on a building to see the G-Man talking with someone you will soon meet. After that, a hole in the floor leadds to a path under the house where you may find an item or two, then get back on the buggy and ride. Proceed down the beach until you hit another thumper by a dock, and you can either run the Combine over or blast them. Kill all three and then decide whether or not you want the items in the dock. There is a crate on the boat, and once the boat drops you'll see another crate, but then you'll need to sprint back to the buggy. Continue and follow the beach all the way to the end where you will see a thumper and then grassland. Go up and to the village. Park the car by the gates or wherever and then get out to meet the dude that is calling your name. Lots of items all around, but no need to grab them at the moment, unless you are like really close to death for no reason at all. Go down to the cellar and meet with Colonel Odessa Cubbage. Listen to what he says; basically, these are laser guided missiles. After he hands you the missile launcher, the gunship will arrive. Either go to the roof of this building using the stairs, or go out to the open ground. What you want to do is launch a missile away from the front of the gunship, just enough so that it won't have a clear shot at the missile. Then you let it fly to the gunship's side and once the missile is past the line of sight of gunfire, that is when you focus the laser on the gunship. It may take a few tries and some getting used to the concept, but you better learn fast. It takes about four shots to bring down the ship, and you'll find more rockets in every building of this outpost once you run out. Remember, the rockets you shoot go wherever you point the laser. After it crashes, go talk with Cubbage to hear his goodbyes and for him to open the gate. Also, keeping asking the Vort near him and the alien will juice up your suit. Collect any more rockets and health and then set off down the road again. On the Road Again ----- You'll cross under a bridge and soon see some Combine fighting Antlions. Crush, shoot, or ignore the soldiers and park near the thumper. Turn it on and then take out any soldiers up to the right. Get out your shotgun and get up to that wooden dock. Be ready for two more soldiers when you get near the two crates of supplies. Blast them and then two more on the higher walkway. Climb up the ladder and then use your Pulse-Rifle to shoot the operator of the crane, who is way up there. Next comes the crane machine portion of the game. Take the ladder under the crane to get up there and in the driver's seat. First, get the feel for the controls and figure out how to move the arm up and down. Next, move the magnet over the buggy, line up the shadow, and drop the magnet, moving the arm to line it up as it descends. Once you have the buggy, swing it all the way around and either gently drop it or fling it onto the dock across a gap; and by fling I don't mean throw it as hard as you can, just dropping it from a high distance and while maybe swinging, but the buggy will survive. At some point, the door to the building will open and some soldiers will come out. You can get out of the crane and shoot them, yes. But an idea 100 times better is to pick up a container with the crane and smash them to pieces. After that, push the bridge over with the magnet. Again, make sure your buggy is across this bridge already with crane, as driving over this bridge in the buggy can be hard. Get out and cross this bridge and either get in the buggy to shoot, or just starting blasting the guys inside, and there are lots of red barrels inside too. Kill them, take the buggy inside, get out to collect items in the control room, and then pull the lever to open the door. Get on the buggy to go through and kill the enemies in your way. Then you'll ramp over a ramp through a window in the next building. Some supplies you should get for ramping over, or get out and grab them yourself. Go up the road and at the top you will see another gunship, and as you near the next broken bridge, turn on the turbo to get across. On the other side, go down the road a bit unti you hit some broken cars. Get out and pull out your rocket launcher. Use the cars as cover and start blasting the gunship, and you should be able to get some good shots at the ship's underside. Once you use up your ammo, go find the van with a rocket crate inside to keep firing and keep going to it for more. After you clear the skies, get out your GG and start blasting the cars off the road; completely blasting them over the side and into the ocean is optional. Go through a short ways to another van with the lambda logo and break the crates. Keep going you'll hit another loading tunnel. On the other side, go past the first car you see and then get out of the buggy. Look down the road and the roller mine will either be coming after you or it is still in the ground. Either way, grab it with the GG and throw it into the ocean. Around the bend will be two more as well as two cars you need to scoot into the water. Continue down the path and when in range of a house, there will be three more mines to toss in the water. When near the house, an explosion will bring down some rocks, then Combine will appear. Best to get out and start blasting with your guns. One crate in the little shed and when you get near the house there will be three more soldiers. They will come out to get you, or you can rush them inside, your choice. There are quite a few health items in here and some crates up in the attic. If you go into the attic, and it's highly optional, you'll see that three more soldiers will appear on the road and come after you. Don't sit around and wait for them, just run outside and greet them. After all that, get in your buggy and proceed. When you hit some cars up the road, blast at the mound in the road to cause some explosions, and use the buggy turret to kill any remaining soldiers. Get out and clear away the two cars with the GG and then across the mound will be two crates. Back in the buggy and keep going. Next you hit a bunch of clutter in the road. Get out and go to the right and atop this tiny hill will be a Crossbow and some bolts. You can zoom in with this by pressing the alternate fire button. There will be one guy to the right, one on the bridge, and then one dude you and pin to the billboard up top. Then clear the road of the junk, just enough to make a path, and then make your way to the force field. Get out and go around to the right, with the GG in hand to dispose of the mines in the grass. Then use the red barrels and toss them toward the house, not really aiming at anyone just hoping for a lucky hit. Then pull out a shotgun or SMG and start working on the six or so enemies in or around these houses. Watch out for the shotgun dudes that will try to rush you. There are two crates in the open garage and that's about it. As far as opening the field, go around behind the house to find an APC with a wire that is powering the field. Use the GG to blast it into the ocean. Go back to the buggy and go onward. *NOTE: Before you leave this area there is a lambda cache behind the fence at the back. It's a bit out of the way, so only those looking for these need to take the time. Go to the blue barn and grab the two big tires and launch them toward the fence. You can even bring a smaller tire, but that's optional. Stack the two big tires by the bended fence and use them to hop over. Go collect the two boxes from the recently-killed ally, and then hop back over. To hop back over, you kinda need a running start, but it's tricky either way. Just know that you aren't stuck behind this fence, so keep trying to jump and you will get over.* Trolling Under the Bridge ----- Up the road and down the curving loading tunnel. You'll see a dropship fly away on the other side, and then a lone enemy in the road by an empty house, so no reason to get out. Keep going to hit the little estate the dropship came from and be ready for an ambush you can't avoid. Get out of your buggy and go to the center of this area to lure out all the bad guys. Use all your rockets since there is a crate full of them here, feel free to use the gas cans that are all over, and then just shoot whoever is left. After the fight, go left first to the white house and look down the hole in the floor. You should see and/or hear a poison zombie. It would be wise to try and burn him with a gas can, or just toss some frags down there, but don't drop down there if you don't want to. The tan house has some things in it. The two- story house is completely optional, and almost wise to avoid, but if you want to, go in. Not much on the ground floor. Use the little coffee table or whatever and set it by the half-stairs so you can get up there. Have your best gun ready for a poison zombie that is either already up here, or appears after you get up here. Kill him and his friends, grab the items, and then fall down the chimney because it's pretty cool. Back outside, go around this house and you'll find the path to the cliffside. Follow it, killing anything in your way, and go through the door. Grab the items on the table and then keep going to hit a loading. Keep going and then take the stairs all the way up. Step onto the walkway and look right to see a broken bridge. Look over the edge of this to see a walkway down below. You will stand back, sprint, and jump over to land on the catwalk below. Follow it up and you may notice a rumbling, that is just a train. There is a headcrab in the shack; you'll notice all the rockets set up along this path, which should be a clue for what is to come. The next walkway will also be broken, so crouch and follow the beam that goes left. You should see another walkway around the support beam, so tip toe around it and get on the walkway. You'll come to a ladder that leads to another shack that will lead to a platform below, but only health down there. You should start fighting with more soldiers at the next shack so get up to the rocket box and start blasting them and the Barnacle up above. Restock and then back up the ladder. The walkway soon ends, so get to the end and look right. Crouch and again do the tight-rope act across the beams to reach the next piece of walkway. Two headcrabs in the shack. Take the walkway connected to this shack, jump over the gap, and you're finally to the other side. Stock up, go down to reach the path onward, and move on; don't go all the way down, especially down the ladder to the nowhere platform. Enemies will greet on you the right, so blast them. When you enter the next room, be ready to shoot a barrel up to the left to drops some beams on the enemies, but don't shoot it too early. Keep looking up to the right for any more enemies and then smash the crates. Move on to the walkway and when going up the ladder, be ready for a soldier way up and behind you to start shooting, so go up the ladder and shoot back. In the next room will be more bad guys, and then in the field room will be two guys you need to shoot. Once they are dead, use the GG to pull the power from the left. Collect the items and the go around to the right corner and push da button. Now it's time to make your escape. Just do down one level and then to right and jump over the rail to cut out a lot of useless running. Kill two enemies down the way and then go up the stairs. At the top, take the walkway on the left and be sure to jump over the gap. From this shack, you can try to hop your way down to the lower platform and then climb up the ladders to the rocket box, or just go across the beam to go to the walkway on the right, crouch and get on this piece of walkway by the very tip of it (hard to explain, but it's possible). From the rocket box, just maneuver your rockets around the many beams and try to get the gunship while it is either going under the bridge, or on either side of the bridge. After if falls, follow the same path back to the walkway you first jumped to. You'll notice at the end of it there is yet one more piece of walkway down below, a tiny piece that is at an angle bent downward. You'll jump, or hop down there and you should slide right to the foot of a ladder; save before you jump anyway just to be safe. Climb up the ladder, recover health at the table, and you'll hit a load screen. Open the door to the cliff to see a zombie fighting some Antlions. Just drop to the lower path and sprint up and around them to reach the estate. Use the rocket launcher to kill a new ambush up here, restock, and then get back in the buggy; grab SMG ammo from the back if you used any. Back up and then go into the left corner of the rockwall to find a lambda cache in the ruined fence, also two headcrabs. Get back in the buggy and go up onto the tracks. Start heading down the tracks going at full speed. Toward the end you will hear a train coming, and that is your cue to turn on the turbo. Beat the train to the opening, don't go to sharply left or you'll tumble over the cliff, and you'll be safe. Go up the ramp and into the tunnel to end this chapter. ========== Chapter 8: Sandtraps ========== Down the Road for One Last Ride ----- This is not the same loading tunnel as the rest, this one is full of zombies. Just one when you go around a truck, and then you'll notice the road is blocked with junk. On the right is a room with crabs and items, but it's optional. You crawl in through a vent on the right, and feel free to toss in a frag or two to clear it out. Inside you will see a zombie banging on the window. Collect the stuff and then move the debris from behind the door to get out. Blast the zombie waiting for you, and then go around the corner to see more among the cars. Toss a few frags around to maybe get a few, and then blast whatever else gets too close, including at least three fast zombies. When all seems clear, use the GG to make a path on the left, just enough for the buggy to get through, and then cruise on out of here. Outside again, you'll hit what appears to be a three pronged-fork in the road. You can take the road, the grass to a house, or go right for the beach; though, not sure why you would want to take the beach. Anyway, just go to the house and blast the two guys outside with your turret. One box by their APC and feel free to go in or avoid this house. Nothing on the first two levels, and then some items at the top. It's when you reach those items that things to cooky. Two roller mines drop, so you'll have to quickly throw them out the window and toward the ocean. Then another, another, and one more before you get back out. Continue onward taking the road. You'll hit a roadblock where there is a guard shooting at you and two roller mines incoming. I suppose you could just run right through this place and ramp over the gate if you want, as that is what you do when you clear it out anyway, but that's no fun. Kill the four guards that will attack you when you break the perimeter, and then watch out for the two more hiding in the house on the left. Grab the items around and then back in the buggy to ramp over the gate via the popping up ramp thingies. Down the road you will notice a lot of flat land on the left, and eventually there will be a hole in the road, so just stay on the grass to be safe. Then you will hit a truck turned over and in your way. Get out and get ready for some fightin'. Make your way to the gate, and then you'll hear and then see two dropships appear. One will drop soldiers off behind the gate, and the other drops roller mines on the road. Use the GG to grab and toss the mines into the ocean, then get out your magnum or any other big gun to dispatch with the five or so Combine that appear. You can toss frags to the left and right of the gate to test your luck, then get ready for them to rush toward your position. You can just stay in the road and blast them with the revolver, or take cover if you really want to. Shouldn't be hard at all. After that, you'll find suit batteries on both sides of the building, and more inside. There is a lambda cache above the bathroom in this building, and if you want to pull down all the items, go to the wall on the right, stand on the green box on the table, and pull down the four items. Next comes finding the two batteries for the power line on the left. You'll see two red lights on the table by the bathroom, and only the slot with a battery has a green light. One battery is in this room on the bed, so grab it and place it in one of the blank slots. Now go outside, to the right, and find a bathtub that is turned over. Use the GG to blast it away and you'll have the second battery. Place it in the slot and the gate will open. Now go get in the buggy, drive over the mound on the right of the tanker, and head into the tunnel. On the other side will be a short little drive to a small village where you meet some friends. Drive into the garage on the left and then go talk with the guy. Next will be a series of dropship droppings near the village that leave about five Combine apiece. Before that though, you can quickly visit all the buildings and try to grab all the items. The big building has many rooms, a frag box in a closet, and an ammo box on the outside. There will be four dropships worth of soldiers to drop in, all from different spots. The first three are basically the same routine, and as the dropships are landing, it's best for you to either find some items in a building or just stay out of sight because the ships have turrets that will tear you apart. Once you see the ships go away, that is your time to pop out and start shooting whoever is in sight; feel free to toss a frag at the dropship as it opens its doors to let the guys out. After the first three, then go into the big building and use the ladder on the wall to get into the upper loft (ha, loft, I don't say that enough). Use this window to shoot or snipe all the guys coming from the lighthouse. FYI, for all of this, go magnum, crossbow, Pulse-Rifle, and then SMG, with anything else if you run out of ammo for all of these; and feel free to use your rockets as you'll get more soon. After you kill the last group of guys, make your way for the lighthouse with your rocket launcher in hand. Go to the right to find the door and start climbing the tall stairs, with some items along the way. Before you get to the very top of the tower, there will be a rocket box, so stock up and then face your enemy at the top. The gunship goes in one direction around the tower, so when you shoot your missiles, shoot them in the direction the ship is going; if you shoot them away, the ship may outfly the missile and shoot it down. Just pop up, shoot, guide, hit, and when out of ammo, go down to get more. Should be very easy. After the game saves, a guy will come up to tell you the next more. Grab ammo and supplies, health kits along the way, and go down to the bottom. A few crates when you two stop and then wait for the door to open. Go outside, carefully look over the edge, and drop down; take it easy for this whole cliff- side. Smash a crate and have a gun ready to shoot one bad guy on the ledge above; also keep an eye out for the dropship that flies by with your old dune buggy. Then you have a long jump, which you need to get a sprinting start to make; you could fall to a lower ledge if you don't make it to the top one, so not too bad if you miss. Then a small jump and more small jumps that should be no problem. Get across and go through the dark tunnel for a loading. The Sand Between Your Toes... Stings! ----- *NOTE: 360 owners should know there is an achievement worth 20g if you manage to get through the beaches without touching the sand. So pretty much, you'll have to make sure your steps are on something solid, and you false step will mess you up. So save now and revisit this save later if you really need the achievement. Keep saving as you go on if you want to get it in one try, but if you just want to play the game, save now and leave the file alone.* Follow the cliffside to a patch of sand and two allies, but don't you dare step on the sand. Watch the guys and soon some bugs come up, and you can try to save the guy on the rocks, but you don't have to; you DO have to kill the bugs though. Again, don't step on the sand. If you do, it's not my fault and you will have to save yourself. The first thing you want to do is get out your GG and grab the items on a little rock island in the sand. Whatever you do, don't break the wooden pallet. You want to jump your way to along the rock wall, staying off the sand, and if you want to you can bring that pallet with you; it's not needed but it makes the next area much easier. In the next area you have two, what we will call tiles, in the pallet and the metal sheet. If you brought the other pallet with you, makes things a heck of a lot easier. First, move a tile a little to the left so you can use the GG to grab the suit battery, crate, and ammo way over in a crevice, though, you probably only need the battery. After that, use the tiles to make a bridge as far as you can to the light-colored rock. And just keep moving the tiles as you go, pulling the one from the back to the front, until you are over. Once to the rock, you can keep making the bridge, all the way over to the next light- colored rock. Or, jump up to the two higher rocks nearby, and when at the top of the one, set the tiles below you and then jump down to cut some time off the journey. You will probably still need to keep making a bridge the rest of the way, however. When on the smooth rock at the top of this slope, make a short bridge over to the next rock and then you can pretty much abandon the tiles you used. You can bring one with you if you like, but you don't have to. Jump your way down to the bottom of the slope to be in the next portion of the sand. If you look, you can go either left or right. I'll tell you right now, unless you really need to see every inch of this game, you don't need to go left. If you do go through the trouble of going left, there will be a lot of bridge building for just one suit battery, some ammo, and an Antlion eating some dead guys. If you really want to go over there, start making your bridge, and then make it all the way back. And no, it is not a lambda cache to the left. So, still at the bottom, go right along the ledges on the rock wall. When you get to the end, you can jump over the gap to a rock in the sand. Jump to the left to be at the foot of two boards slanted upward. Go up one board, and yes, the boards can be moved, but don't move them. At the top, you'll see another see-saw puzzle. Use the GG to pull the junk from the opposite side of it and place them on the side near you. Also jump down to the saw and look right on the sand for bricks. Put as much junk as you can to weigh down this side, and then sprint up the saw and jump to the rock above. *NOTE: You could have also used one of those movable, big boards, to make a direct bridge up there, but that would be tricky. And while extremely time- consuming, you could have just made a sand bridge all the way to the end of this beach, but that's no fun.* While atop this big rock, you will notice you can go left or right. Going right takes you to a little shack by a dock. The shack has some items in it, there is ammo at the end of the dock, and from there you can pull some items from the beach using the GG. You'll then use the door and another "tile" to make a bridge that leads to the sloping rock by the ruined, wooden bridge to get back to the start. When back, go left this time, and if you look right before you jump over a gap, you'll see two crates and some health items by a big rock on the beach. If you are at or around full health and armor, you just ignore those items. If you need them, feel free to try and pull them, but you can't pull them all from way up here. You'll have to drop down to the beach, on a tile, and then go all the way over to the sloping rock by the ruined bridge, again. So I would advise skipping altogether. Now, when you jump along to a high rock where there is a tree and a green cabinet, move the clutter off a big board and pick it up. The idea here is to position this board so that you can get over this gap. You can either make an end-to-end bridge from one side to the other, or just make sure the board is slanted to the other side and walk up it. BUT don't leave this big board there. Pick it up once you get over and take it with you. You'll place it on a ramp to the right of this shack, and you'll place it on the ramp so that you have a path to the shack that is sitting above the beach. It's hard to explain, but when you see a ramp tha leads in to the beach, place the big board on the ramp so that you have a new ramp up to the little shack. But, you're not done with the shack by the rock wall. Go inside for a few items and then look up to see another, tiny shack up even higher. Seems like it's not something for you to reach, but you can, but it's hard. You don't have to go up there. Remember the ramp we talked about on the right? Go there and then turn around and look up. Shoot the red barrel and you should blast the two crates off the platform; good enough to get the lambda cache. If you don't want to blast the crates all over the place, just go inside the open shack, look up, and try to pull down just one crate, and you'll still be good for the cache. If you want to do things the hard way, you can get up there yourself. There are two ways to get up there, either by stacking everything you can by the wall inside the shack so you can reach the roof, or by stacking stuff you can in the crevice between the rock wall and shack. Bottom line, if you are looking to get the achievement for all the lambda caches, and don't want to spend a ton of time, then just pull down one box and you're good. Wow, that was pointless. Getting back on track, remember the ramp you made with the big board? Use it to get up to the next shack. Inside will be a crate with many suit batteries, and none of which you should need; any spares should be flung toward the thumper down the ways, just to be really safe. Then if you look at the ramp from this shack, it is awful close to the rock that has the house on it. You can be really smart and go use the big board once again to make your bridge over. *NOTE: I can't stress it enough, if you aren't use the big board from the gap, then you are making things much harder on yourself.* Once this rock, lots of items in the house, and toss whatever you don't need toward the thumper. Then go to the back of the house and press the button on the generator to turn the thumper on. Now, you are supposed to think "oh ah, now I have the thumper going, I can just run over there and be safe." Well, I'm afraid to say this, but that is sucker talk. Yes, you can run over there, wake up a whole bunch of bugs, then run for the rocks, and then fight the bugs off, that is a plan. The slower, safer, wiser plan is to look to the right and go toward that big rock. For the last time, use the big board to make your bridge and the game should save once you hop up to the rock. To the right of this rock will be a beached ship with some crates around it, but you can ignore them completely. Look in the direction of the thumper and look down. You will see flat rock on the sand. Jump down there and now you have a decision, with the option of running to the thumper and then to the big rocks as a constant option. For one, you can start using the two big blue sheets of metal to go either toward the thumper for all the items around it, or go to the round rock where you can jump to the rock wall. Either way, just use the two sheets to make your bridge and you'll move pretty fast. Going to the thumper gives you a lot of items, but you probably don't need them; a better idea would be to throw all the items to the solid ground up high, or over it (you'll know why in a bit, it's all about being super, extra safe). *NOTE: There are also two crates by the towering rock on the beach, near the ocean, but they just have ammo inside.* No matter how you do it, get to the solid ground and you'll be done with moving tiles around. Any items you may have tossed up here with the GG, toss them over and into the next area. You'll hear a music cue and see all the debris and stuff on the sands, so you know something big is about to go down. Just save and hop down. No, this isn't a boss fight, as there is no such thing in Half-Life 2. This is an Antlion Guard, one of the big enemies in this game. There is nothing fancy you need to do to take it down, just shoot it, a lot. Just run around, avoid its charge, avoid its close ram attack, and ignore the little guys. Howeva', if you have three rockets in the old launcher, using all three when he is completely out of the ground also seems to work just fine. If not, don't forget to use the red barrels, the alternate fire on the Pulse-Rifle if you have an energy ball, and use the SMG grenades. Oh yeah, and if you run to the other side of this "pit" you will have a friendly firing from a turret to help you a little. It's not that hard, just stay in motion and you should win no matter what. After the fight, collect all the items in the area and then meet up with the Vortigaunt who will extract Pheropods from the dead guard. Pick up the little ball from the ground and then follow the Vort into the den of allies. Items in many places, and some people to meet along the way to the training grounds. Just do what he says and you will realize that the Antlions are now and forever you BFF's! Just know that the fire button commands them to go/attack where the bait lands, and the alternate fire calls them back to you. Sweet. Let's do this! The Tides of War ----- *NOTE: 360 owners should note that a good way to quickly switch to the bug bait in the heat of battle is to keep moving, but take your right thumb and quickly tap Left on the d-pad three times. It odd, yes, but crucial that you learn this, and I guarantee you can use this trick in other games.* Go through the gate when he opens it and you are almost to the prison. Sprint to the end of the tunnel and on the outside you'll run into a thumper. Now, in a crazy twist of fate, the thumpers are now your ENEMY! You must turn them all off by going up the ladder, pressing the switch, and then jump down. Turn off this first one, and the next one. Then you need to toss the bug bait over toward the bunker and your friends should take care of the Combine. Feel free to pull out the handgun and help, and I say handgun because there is no sense wasting any other kind of ammo when you have an army of bugs at your side; you may even get a headshot or two. After this, the next thumper will need to be deactivated under fire, so sprint and turn it off, then send a pod toward the bunker; actually, send the pod before you turn off the thumper as your friends seem to get over to the bunker anyway. Kill any survivors and then go claim the loot up around the bunker, then be ready for a group of soldiers to attack from the beach. Next you will have to make a dash along the beach and avoid getting torn to pieces by the turrets. You'll also need to watch out for soldiers that will be waiting for you. So just toss the bug bait as far as you can and then run across the open with you SMG or something. Kill all the guys you can as you take the first left you see up a slope. Kill the guys and don't forget to call your friends to help. Go around and up and send the bait into the bunker to clear it out. Claim the crates inside and make sure you have all four of your troops following. Behind this bunker is a doorway into a dark area. Just keep the bait in hand and send in your bugs ahead of you. Around the first corner will be man hacks, so use the GG to help destory them. Then keep using the bait to advance your team and eventually Combine will toss flares and start attack from the three ends of these ruins. Just toss your bait as far down as you can and feel free to just sit back behind cover and let your guys do their work. If you have to fight, go ahead, just watch out for all the red barrels lying around. At the other end, on the left side, there is a small crawlspace with a barrel. Move the barrel and go inside for ammo. Outside you will be near the back of one bunker so send your guys to clear it out. Then throw a pod in the direction of the other bunker and they will eventually clear that one too. Swing around the bunker to get on the other side. Toss another bait as far as you can across the open field and then go with your army to meet the Combine. It seems like the soldiers will keep coming unless you go toward the dropship. So clear this area out and once the dropship is away you will have successfully stormed the beaches. Go to the cliffside and follow the path, jump over a gap, and send a bug bait near the fire. Let them kill the zombie or do it yourself, but it is funny to move that board and see the ramp squish all of them. Either way, move the board to make your ramp and keep along the cliff and around the corner you will come under fire by guys up high. Just toss a bait up there and your friends should handle all the enemies. Climb the ladder, go around, and then jump over to a ledge with some crates. Follow this path, sprint and jump over the gap, and then have the your pheropod in hand as you go up the little steps toward the pipe, and send in the bait early as a fast zombie of all things in waiting in the pipe. Then go in for a loading. This next part will go from pure fun to harsh test in a snap. First, go to the end of the pipe and in the water look up and to the left and toss your bait anywhere. Then swim to the ladder on the right and go up. There are three towers you need to clear. Start with the one on the right, then the next and then the last, and you and can use the bugs to clear them. Some items around and then toss the bait behind the fences around the corner so the Antlions can get the jump on the soldiers. Get out your SMG or whatever and help them clear this area of bad guys. You'll notice a red flare went up, which means gunships are incoming. But no matter what, you need to clear out the soldiers on the ground. You can send the bugs way ahead of you, just keep moving and move fast. First there will be two guys in a room on the corner, then more guys in a room around the corner, then a post up on the left, and then a final station up to the right. You need to quickly get to the end of this area so you can use the rocket box on the gunships. There will be two, so focus on one at a time, hard, I know, but try to use the smoke coming off a damaged one to know which you need to take down first. Health is scattered all around, so don't panic, and there is a health pack in the dumpster by the rocket box. Also, feel free to save the suit armor station inside the first guarded room on the corner, as you can always find health, but you'll probably be out of suit armor after the fight. *NOTE: I don't recall there being two gunships at the same time on the PC version of the game, but it has been a while so I don't know. I'm pretty sure the two gunships at the same time is a little tweak made The Orange Box, because I was surprised by it, and it was tough.* After the fight, gather the items all over this area, the stations inside the first room, and then go through the burning hole in the wall. Turn the valve by the fire and then another around the corner that is up above you. Go through the doors to a loading screen to end this chapter at long last. ========== Chapter 9: Nova Prospekt ========== Breaking Into Prison ----- Break some crates and open the door. You will for a while by without your friends, but no worries. Go down the steps, look left, and crawl through the hole in the wall; after the headcrab scares you, kill it. On the other side, get out your GG and use it to tip over the turret on the other side of the gate. Go up the stairs and crawl through the crack in the fence. Push over the two turrets behind the bars and then go around the corner. Two stations to fill up your health and armor, and then turn the video screens to see various places in the prison; also, a G-Man sighting if you wait on the one that looks at a door. Around the corner and up the stairs will be a room with a door that you can push out of the way with the GG for one crate inside. Then go topple the turrets. In the next room will be some water, and watch out for the Barnacles in your way, give them junk and walk under. In the hallway, when you go to the double doors, four fast headcrabs fall from the skylight, so blast them quickly. Go through the doors and you'll be in the cell block with all the turrets you knocked over. Drop down and then go through the opening into the next area where there will be two turrets up high. Get below them, pick up barrels and whatever, and try to knock them down with the GG while they can't fire at you. Then go up the steps to see a lambda sign on the doors. Just knock off the boards on the left and hop through for some supplies. Hop back through and follow the path to a load screen. A headcrab in the next room and a crate. Bust all the boxes out of your way and go down the long stretch of path, noticing the big open shower area on the right - the same one you saw on a video screen earlier. When you get to the end, get out your rocket launcher, hopefully with three rockets, and hop down. Look right for the Antlion Guard to crash through, and just lay all three rockets into him. And if that isn't enough, just run around, use grenades, shotgun shells, barrels, and whatever to take him down. Assault ----- After you slay the beast, go into the other half of the showers and start moving the junk from the doors. Go through and you will have your friends once more! Go around the corner and toss a bug bait toward the enemies and let them have at it. But you need to go help knock over two turrets. Go for the one on the left first, and use a barrel to both shield yourself a bit and then toss it at the turret, then pick up the second turret and toss it at a Combine if you can. The bars on the forward gate won't open, so turn around and go to the side of this room and wait for the gate to open. Toss in a bug bait and then assist your army in killing the many soldiers down this cell block. Once the first group is gone, go to the end, look right and wait for guys to exit from the force field to shoot them. Pull the cord from the wall on the left inside the field and you'll get in. Go right of the dead Vort and flip a switch on the wall. Move the cabinet from the door and go through to see the gate you just opened. Go up the stairs and toss the bug bait toward the control room; yes, the bugs will trip the laser mine, poor things. Then send them into the room to clear the soldiers. Inside will be one crate and then a button to open the gate down below. You can then make a quick escape by taking a door just in the hallway outside the control room, but be ready for some guards to come up the stairs. Through this door will be some crates on this level, and across the gap is a lambda sign by a prison door. Use the GG to blast the door open and claim the goods inside. Back in the first the gate is open, but the turret will be covering it. Send in your bugs to act as decoys, get out your GG, grab a barrel, and run in with the barrel as your shield, or just toss it at the turret; either way, knock down this turret. Hide behind a column near where the turret was, and look to the right wall to see a small vent. Get out your GG and run there and quickly knock it out of the way and go through. Crawl to the other side to see a fan blade spinning. No, you can't run through it, but you can pick up the cement block and use it to jam the blade until you see a spark that lets you know your broke it; careful as you crawl under as to not touch the blade at all. Crawl through the next vent and you can just toss a frag out the other side, then jump out and blast the two enemies. Pull the cord out of the wall nearby, then topple the turrets. Through the bars on the left nearby will be some enemies, but a second group of bugs should take them out. Proceed to hit a load screen. Up the stairs will be a laser mine, so better them than you. After that is taken out, toss a bait as far into the next cell block as you can and then feel free to hide behind the bullet-proof glass at the top of the stairs. You should help out, at least killing the guy on the upper level. Then toss your bait to the very top behind the turret placement. Then go right to see a red barrel by an open doorway. Around the corner will be two turrets, and they will tear you up if you don't have a good plan. You need to either push the red barrel away from you, when not under fire, or try to toss it toward the turrets. Then you can run into the room, go right, blast the red barrel toward the turrets, and then light it, or toss the other barrels over there. But the best plan, just toss a frag to the turrets from the start, saves a ton of damage and work. Up the stairs will be a new wave of enemies along the upper levels, and mainly a gunner at the turret on the other end, so snipe him with the crossbow. Toss a bait to the stairs behind this turret to flush out two hiding Combine. Go up to the third level and toss a bait on the bridge nearby to handle the guards that appear. Go right for a quick crate, then go left and take out the laser mine. Toss the bait into the next hall and let your army handle all the enemies. Get to the end and go back to the upper area of the block, toss a bait to the other side of the bridge and your team should handle all the guards in the control room. Go in the room for health and armor, and if you really want to overdo things, toss a bait to get your bugs out of the room, then block the doorway with crates, but again, this in not crucial, only if you are really terrible and a patsy. Flip the switch on the wall and make sure your bugs are waiting outside this room so they can take on the many Combine that try to storm you, so just wait in the room and be ready for anyone to sneak in. Then flip through the video monitor, then proceed down the open line of gates to hit a load screen. Toss a bait around the corner to the left to have your guys take out some enemies while you go into the room nearby. Health and a video screen, then go into the hallway that should be clear. Either use the empty bed frames or something else to toss at the turrets covering the next hall, and a frag works too. You could even have taken a series of rooms on the right of the turrets, just watch out for the one laser mine. Then in the laundry room you need to toss a bait as far as you can, then just sit back behind the bullet-proof glass and watch the bugs go to work. You should eventually make a dash down the left side of this room and then pop the turret by the stairs, then hide again as the bugs clear out the rest. Just small rewards and one crate on the ground floor, but if you notice there are two little hallways on the right side of this room. If you go in there, you meet up with a poison zombie on in the shower, so kill him fast. Then you'll find a lambda cache in the closet. Rejoin the team and go up the stairs to the next area. Toss in a bait to let your army take care of the soldiers in the area, then toss a frag down the dark cell to take out the turrets, or you could ignore them if you really want to. Some items in the room with shelves, then you run into turrets in the kitchen. And any bullets in the kitchen cause a fire, so smoke up and toss frags at each turret to bring them down (though, I could have sworn there were no turrets in the PC version). Get through the kitchen, watch out for the laser mine around corner, and then make a dash to the other side and out of view of the turrets. You bug buddies may take out these turrets, or use another frag or an object. Up the stairs and send in your friends for one last raid of Combine soldiers. Go up, claim all the loot and use the two stations. This is really a sad moment because you will lose friends, and it's really, really sad because they are sitting right there, looking at you with their big round... uh, their big sharp teeth! Save, and then jump through the window alone. Have your best gun in hand too, which won't be the rocket launcher probably; if you got any energy balls for the Pulse-Rifle, use those. You'll see some soldiers backing out of a doorway, but they could care less about you, they are a little more worried about the Antlion Guard chasing them. While they are fighting, it is probably a wise idea to gather a few red barrels together in either one spot, or scattered in the open. It is after the guard kills all these guys that he will focus on you. Use the red barrels, SMG grenades, magnum rounds, and whatever else you got. Stagger him three times and he's dead. It's a tight fit in here, so wait by a wall or pillar, let him charge toward you, and then sprint to the side to lose him for a second. And that should do it for ya. Move the junk from the ruined doorway in this room to crawl through. Smash some crates and get to a staircase, a ruined one. There is one zombie at the bottom, for no reason, and then a long stretch down a junky path of clutter. Go down the way until you see an opening up to the left. Grab a crate as you hear metal screeching and use a crate to jump in the hole. You have three crashes of metal along this path and then the one that falls where this hole is, so you have plenty of time to get up there before you die. Get in might be a headcrab, and then fall off the side for a loading. =========== Chapter 9a: Entanglement =========== Fearless ----- Drop down and follow the path to see a glimpse of Alyx - be sure to thank her for making you "find another way" out of the base. Drop down under the tracks and follow them, and look up when you see a soldier drop to talk with her, or at least she talks to you. Keep going and wait for her to drop down. Listen to her and follow to the elevator. At the top, get ready for a fight, and exit the elevator because a frag will be tossed in. Kill the three or so guys, grab any ammo, and then into the room on the left. After the scene, follow Alyx down the hall and be ready for two guys around the corner. Up the stairs will be a fight, so help her out before she gets torn up. A crate in the room before the next scene. After that, go through the door and you'll be alone again, kinda. Get out your shotgun and when you open the door on the left be ready for two fast headcrabs. Grab the ammo in here and go past the clutter to reach another door. Look in the upper corner to see a video screen where Alyx will talk to you. Move toward the gate and she will open it for you. Go down this hallway to the next gate where she will try to open it, but it won't work. Come back and look above the vending machine to see a lambda sign on the ceiling. Just stand by the glass and pull down the items. Go in the office, push the shelves out of the way, and go through the vent. There are three crabs in the vent, so be ready. At the end, you can peep through the vent cover to see a bunch of crabs on the floor. Stand back as far as you can in the vent with the GG in hand and blast the cover off to blow up the laser mine. Then look out the opening and pop the crabs left with your handgun. Jump down and look to the right. You will see two turrets behind bulletproof glass. You should also notice an opening in the glass on the right. Get out a frag, toss it upward through the opening, and you should knock over both guns. A single crate behind the fence and Alyx will open the next gate. Go into the office, grab the grenades from the box, and look up to the monitor to see you have tangos incoming. Toss a frag through the glass, careful not keep it in the room, toward the gate to get the guys as they come through. Kill the four or so guys, then toss a frag down the next hallway to disable two gun turrets. Stock up on frags and move on with the shotgun in hand. Two guys around a corner, waiting behind a guard field, then more guys in the next room hiding behind a force field. After they are dead, toss a frag into the little room with the plug to blast off the wire that powers the field. If you somehow manage to miss five times, go all the way back to the box to get more frags. Collect the ammo and there will be one more turret around the next corner, then you hit the hallway with the two turrets you cleared. Go break the crate by the doors. In the next hall is a loading. The next area is the first turret stand-off in the game. Kill the two soldiers already here, then go to the right side of this control room to find a holder for two turrets. Press the button and pull out both turrets and place them by both windows up here that cover both the left and right hallways on the ground. Yes, you could set them up in many places, but anywhere outside this room and you will find heck trying to stand them back up if they fall. Also, you may notice a tall, green cabinet on the left wall in this room. Grab it with the GG and try to clog either the left or right staircase with it; just to help you out. Then you need to go by one window and help on that side for the coming waves of enemies, then help on the other and go back and forth. You can just use your pistol if you want, maybe even some pulse-rifle rounds. Correct any turrets that tip over, quickly, and be ready to blast anyone that slips by the defenses. The last wave is signalled by man hacks, so quickly toss them into a wall and then fend off the invaders. Don't forget to use the med station on the wall. Alyx will drop by and then go into a scene at the computer. Stock up and head down the left hallway. Move some clutter from a door and go through for a long staircase that has no surprises in it. Three headcrabs in the room at the bottom, and two crates. Go through the door and the next room you hit will be a puzzle room. The water is electric, so don't touch. Look left as soon as you enter and jump over the rail to get on the pipes. Just shoot the Barnacle up near you and get to the next lower pipe so you can jump over to the solid ground. There are some blue barrels up here, and then more crap when you take the steps. You'll need to mainly get 2-3 blue barrels at least, the two crates from below, and the pallet. Drop all of these down the ladder and then go down there. Place two or as many barrels as you want in the water leading to a solid walkway, then put the pallet on them, then place the two crates along the rest of the distance. Hop over this ugly bridge and you'll be across. Probably only needed the two crates, but you never know. *NOTE: Before you leave, you can look to the wall across the water, and down to a little spot where two pipes intersect, and there will be a case of shotgun shells you can pull over to you.* Survivor ----- The next room has five sleeping zombies, so toss a frag right, and then get out your shotgun to blast the rest. Med station and two crates in the tiny room on the left and then take the stairs; at the very top will be some items. Take the door and then blast stuff from the doorway with the GG. Around the corner you will hear chatter from guards. Go up the stairs and keep looking out into the cell block area for three soldiers to appear. Shoot them and then go into the office for some items. When ready, go to the the railing, save, and then jump down. When you jump down, go into the middle area and stock up on the med and suit stations on the wall. Then quickly get out the three turrets from the holders and set them up on the left side (left if you are looking at the turret holders). You will set up two looking the way you came, and then one looking behind you. It should look like this: B B ---- -------------- -------- T> F B B ^ F B- where the turrets face B - where the bad guys come from F - force field P - pillars, or columns, whatever You are hiding in the corner, and looking back to cover the rear turret mainly, but of course you are looking up and hitting anyone that gives your turrets trouble. I advise using the magnum, then the pulse rifle, then the crossbow, and hopefully the fight is over by the time you use up all your bolts. Don't forget to make runs for items in the cells on this side, and the stuff in the two middle areas; there's quite a lot of stuff around here, but you can only go for any of it in between the action. Once the man hacks arrive, just shoot them, and the fight will soon be over. Also, when needing to pick up a down turret, just grab it, no need to switch to the GG. After you hear Alyx, go meet her and then comb the area for loot. Stock up, refuel, two stations on the wall as you leave, and follow her down to a loading screen by some doors. Go through them and you'll hit a long corridor, but when you go down it, the lights get cut. Turn on your flashlight and be ready to engage in long range combat with the ambushing soldiers. They bring a good mix of close and long range guys, so kill them all from afar; a good time to use up SMG grenades if possible, or the crossbow. Kill them, move up, and be ready for three more toward the end. She will lead you to the next security console and then follow her through the next blast doors before the Combine close in on you. Follow Alyx's lead and soon you guys will confront Mossman. Follow into the next room and go left to not only use the suit station, but to also know where the turrets are located, but you can't get them now. Just follow the girl and when the alarm goes off, look at what Mossman does. Interesting. Then just wait for Alyx to tell you to use the turrets. Here is the setup for these guys: B B --- ------- ------ ^ ^ T T Y -- ------ T> B --------------------------- Don't forget to use the stations on the wall, and start off with the pulse- rifle, then SMG, then crossbow, then whatever. She will say "halfway" and that means you got about a minute more to go. Once she says "it's done" and starts moving around, that is your cue to go up to the platform and wait for the field to lower. As soon as it does, jump in and watch the next events unfold. FYI, it's comical to watch the "overwhelming force" that busts in get torn to pieces by the awesome turret placements; they were are mowed down and all the turrets remained standing! I don't say ownage enough, but that was ownage right there. Back where you started, just follow the motions and then go follow Dog. Grab items in the hall and the SMG ammo from the box. Drop down for a load and a new chapter. You my friend, are almost done with this game. And by almost I mean about four hours away. =========== Chapter 10: Anticitizen One =========== Bringing Down The Man ----- Just go outside and watch Dog do what he does best; which is to say he kicks a whole lot of butt at all times. You don't have to do anything, just enjoy the scene. Don't forget to grab the pulse-rifle ammo, then go through the opening he makes for you. One more little cool tid bit as he flies off into the sunset to help win the war. Watch out for the moving wall behind you, so just jump over the fence after all that is over with. Quickly go around the corner and into the room on the right to see the infamous G-Man sighting where he appears on a TV, a TV not connected to anything. There is also a doll in the adjacent elevator, which is creepy. Take the hallway to the left of the elevator to hit a loading. Go outside to see a familiar playground. A citizen nearby will be attacking two drones, and then he joins your team. You and him swing around the corner and make your trip back to the central square where more citizens will join you after they finish some work. Then go into the right corner for a crate and then look up until some friendlies drop three more crates from above. Then look to the right and wait for two cops to come out of a metal door. Kill them and go through to a loading. *NOTE: Know how to send and call your team.* Next you will see a whole bunch of little mines on the ground below, and if you move the metal sheet from the hole in the cemet you will see about six hopper mines where you are supposed to drop. Use the GG and pick up all of them and move around the hole to see the rest before you drop down. These hopper mines can only be grabbed when their lights turn red, and once you grab them their lights will be blue until the re-dig back into the ground, and then their lights are green to let you know they are friendly. So "turn" all the mines down the hole, drop down, and then turn the rest in the yard and up the steps, and watch out for the headcrabs. In the little room will be a mine if the crabs didn't set it off, and then some items. Two more mines on the other side of this room, and then take the path on the right. In the street, there is a big Strider to the right, but just hold back in a corner and away from the car and he won't bug you. Focus your attention to the left where you see a cop up on a high post and then some crabs roaming about. Some drones will fly over the street and drop some mines at the top, so go disarm them and kill any crabs. Watch out for the two mines in the corridor at the top of the street, and bring one or two with you to take out the cops in the alley. Watch out for the two mines in the area around here. To the right will be a shack with two mines and some items, which will trigger another cop to appear in a window. Before you leave, go into the corner where you see a lambda sign by a locked shack. Pull off the metal sheet to reveal an opening to some supplies. When you go down the steps, grab the mine in the corner to the right before it cause you grief, and send it down the next stretch of ground to the cops. Kill them, watch for the two mines that are around the dumpsters and then kill any surviving cops. Collect the items in the shack and move down the hallway in the building to hit a loading. FYI, you may not get your team to follow you, but feel free to try; I'm not sure if you are forced to only have one guy, or it's just a mistake, either way, just move along and you'll get more. In the building, you can go up the stairs into an apartment where you'll meet two zombies, but that's all that's up there. Just go into the streets and then go right under the overpass to avoid the Strider attacks and he will go away. Two more teammates if you need them, then go down into the nearby basement; I'm almost certain the medic was moved from the overpass to the basement in The Orange Box, almost certain. Some items in here, and a crab amidst the boxes, then go up the other steps to be in the building and the medic should join up with you. Go up the big stairs, open the door on the left, and shotgun blast the cops in this room. Some items and then turn around and go down the hallway and there will be more bad guys to the left and right, so consider tossing frags into the rooms, or just blast away. Kill them and then go left until you hit a hole in the floor. Look down and pop the barrel with your handgun until it burns, and stand back. Drop down with the GG to knock over another turret in the room. When you step outside, be cautious of any mines, and then be ready for an attack from the cops at the barricade. Just run to the right and jump over the car, then run left to get inside a building. Two guys, one up and one down, and two mines. Go up the stairs and there should be one more guy. Smash the crates through the door and then hop down to the ground. Go through the open doorway to be on the other side of the barricade, and take out the cops holding it. Watch out for another behind you and up high on a roof. Then open the door via a switch in the booth, and disarm the two mines around the walls. When your team shows up, feel free to collect any and all items around the area. Go along the walkway up to the building and be ready for any more cops to run out and meet you. Inside, there are two cops waiting in each room, and each room has some stuff, mainly a suit station in one. Go down the stairs, as up there is just a turret and nothing more, there will be two crates in a room before you hit a heavily- infested hallway. Lots of bad guys, near and far, and you'll be surprised how effective your shotgun is from long range. Use it to clear out the enemies, and feel free to either use your team as decoys or support; decoys mean you send them in first to die, and support means you let them hang out behind you. Clear these rooms and go down for an even more entrenched hallway. Enemies in the first couple of rooms, then a second group pops up with man hacks, so use that shotgun to maximum effect. Take the stairs at the end down down to a room where you will find a turret immediately around the corner to the left waiting to surprise you. Knock it over and the other one by the hole. Smash a crate for shotgun shells and then drop down, but turn around quickly to blast the torso zombie in the crevice. In the hallway, go right and up the stairs to find a lambda cache behind a fence; just smash the crates and pull the ammo to you if you need it. Then go back down and take the other hall to hit a loading. The Detour ----- Any teammates you lost will be refilled down the steps. When you guys move down this tunnel, be ready for a big swarm of man hacks to fly in from above. Use the GG and make sure you toss them either into the ground or some other hard surface. Then send your team down the road and join with them. Crawl through the debris left and then right to get around the truck; if you didn't realize the swarm of man hacks keeps coming, so you want to leave this area as soon as possible. Go to the fence, blast off the lock from the other side of the door, and call your team through. When they are all through, close the door and then bust open the crate. Go into the next area and be ready for another group of hacks to fly in through the windows. Grab and smash them, then claim the crates near the door. On the other side of this door will be a squad of cops, and two turret gunners way down the road. Use the barrels wisely and set them all off or launch them, then quickly take out the gunners. Bring up your team, smash the crates, and then go behind the truck to talk with an ally behind the rubble. When he says give him a minute to blast open a hole, go get on one of the turrets and start blasting all the hacks and cops that make their assault. Just keep firing and wait for the guy to open the path, he will say "stand back" and then the hole will be open. Go through, clean up any hacks, and collect yourself. The door is locked, so to right to crawl through another hole to be in one nasty little tunnel. Go around to see that this place is filled with toxic sludge. The idea is the same as from the Sandtraps segment, just make a moving bridge all the way to dry land. Jump along the boxes and then move the spool from the truck to get up there. Grab the two sawblades and toss them into the walls so you can use them later. Now you can use the spools and boxes, or just the spools, and make the long journey to the dry land in the center of this area; the idea is drop one spool, get on, grab the other spool, drop it, get on, and repeat until you can jump over. Bringing the boxes with you to the dry land is optional, and probably not necessary too. And watch out for the one zombie as you go. Once you touch the dry land, about six zombies rise up all around. Use the red barrels first, careful not to hit any of your bridge-building material, then the sawblade(s), the axel by the pillar, and then use the old shotgun. After that, look to the right to see a small ledge with a box on it, under some odd graffiti on the wall. Set up a box and jump over there. You next destination is the back of the truck with the fire, but not on the fire. Use the spools and any boxes to get over there and be sure to hug this wall. When on the truck, you can bring as many or as few "tiles" from the other side over to this side, then jump on the ledge with the med kit. Two zombies will rise and that's it. Next you need to go over the van on the right, or go around it. Best to just stack up some junk and then jump on top of the van, then sprint jump over to the dry land. From there, go to the opposite wall and look left to see a ramp leading up. Sprint jump and follow it up. Bust open a vent cover and then jump down to the hallway below. Follow it down to some crates, bust them, open the door, and then up the stairs for a loading. The Push ----- Go up and have your shotgun in hand for when a shell of headcrabs falls. Go right up to the opening and just blast all six as they scurry out. Some suit batteries by the car, then go to the gate to have a chat. Take the hall and follow the path, which is not intended to have any combat, unless you shoot at the busy Combine outside the windows. After you see a Strider go by, drop down the hole in the back and drop down for some crates. Two friendlies on the couch in the next room, then go outside for more friendlies, and look up to see some of your guys get owned. Go through the door and around the corner will be a shotgun guy chasing a woman, so kill him. Some crates in the dark room on the right. Up the stairs will be two enemies chasing a dude, so kill them. Go up, kill a guy through a hole, then drop down and kill a guy in a room. Look across the way for the bridge to drop and go across, but be ready for a soldier to come across too. Take the hallway and swing around and down, then up some stairs; sorry, it's a linear path, so just ignore my directions and just go forward. When you hit the part with the headcrabs, kill them and when you go around the corner on the right, a fast zombie will be waiting for you, so feel free to toss a frag before you look. Jump down the hole and be ready for a burning fast zombie to jump up. More zombies and crabs on the ground level, so toss a frag before going down. At the staircase, go right and in the next room will be more crabs and a lot of crates. Take the door on the left, as the one on the right only leads you back to an old path, and kill a soldier up above you; move if he tosses a frag. Grab the mine to the left, but just drop it. Go right and up the steps, and get two more mines on the ground, call your team to the doorway with the bad guy, and stay in motion as grenades will be tossed from above. Use the mines to get the bad guys up top, and hopefully you will have some friends still alive when you enter the ruined building. Some crabs will jump at you, so be ready. Go through the doorway and go right as an enemy will toss a frag. Kill him and the crabs, then go up to a lambda cache by more allies. Go outside with either the crossbow or pulse-rifle in hand because you need to quickly kill the guys on the rooftops, all around you. Watch out for their frags and get rid of them, then pull the lever to let down the bridge. Be ready for one guy to rush you as you cross the bridge, and then more guys to be in the next room. Blast them and the guys down through the hole. Collect the items and drop any down the hole so you can get them down there. At this point, and allies is a big plus. When you drop down, feel free to toss a frag left toward the bad guys, then send your team into the room, and watch out for them the enemies toss in a frag. Kill the bad guys and collect any further items. Swing around to the right side and watch out for any guys up above through a hole in the ceiling. Then go up the narrow path and be ready for two more guys through the crack in the wall. Up the stairs will be some Barnacles, and in the next room be ready for a fast zombie to drop in. Drop down and then in the hall be ready for another fast zombie, this one on fire! Kill him and then creep up the hall. Through the hole will be Combine fighting with zombies, but you can't really tell who will win or lose. So, just toss down a few frags and then mop up the survivors. Go down and look through a doorway to see a lambda sign. Go out there and look left to see a trio of crates behind some trash cans. Pull them to you with the GG and then blast them into the ground, then pull in the items to grab them. Turn around and go up the steps to hit a loading. Proceed until you hit a hole in the floor that sounds like it has some wicked stuff going on down below. Go around this hole and toss a frag toward the two turrets after they are done shooting. Drop down and soon the door will blast open, but don't shoot, it's Alyx. Use the two stations on the wall and then get out the pulse-rifle. In the next area is a narrow hallway and then a big room with two halves. Go into the room and send an energy ball into the guys that you see, them get out the shotgun and be ready for more guys at the other end, and feel free to assist Alyx; again, it's just extra icing if you have any other allies too. Stock up on ammo and use the two stations before heading down the stairs. You two will set up a clever little ambush of this next room, so take up point at the left door. Open it and blast the three guys inside. Inside, stock up on supplies and more citizens should join up with you. Go out the doors after Alyx is done and go left. When outside, bust all the crates and then grab the hopper mines, all three of them. Set them up wherever you want, but try to keep them along the streets with the force fields, either all down one or two and one, and spread them out. Then get out the crossbow and be ready for quite a long fight. The first few waves are easy enough, and watch out for an emeny on a building directly up above you. Just stay in the center and take out anyone that gets out into the open. Things get tough late into the fight when the Combine attack from both sides at the same time, in bigger groups. So just survive, use all the weapons you got, and listen to when Alyx says the core is exposed. That is your cue to go to the pillar thing and blast the energy ball inside with the GG to open the gate. Go through and the gates will close. Alyx will climb up the building to get a better view, but of course she will get stuck and then you will need to hop down into the ditch. A crate in a truck and another nearby. Take the path on the wall and you'll hit a load screen by a gate. Separate Ways ----- Open the gate, though, I could have sworn you were supposed to move a latch from the other side. Either way, drop down the pit and now you will have to remove the board from another door. Go out into the long stretch and you'll run into three man hacks to the left. Kill them and then come back to the right for a ramp held up by barrels. Either move them or just get up to the ramp and then move the boxes. Jump up to the pipes and about halfway over you'll meet two more man hacks from the window without an outside (it's just white)! Open the vent and crawl through, either way. Hop down on the other side and look left to see another group of man hacks coming for ya. Smash them up real good, then go down their tunnel for some items at the end. Come back and then look to a platform with boxes for one crate of items. Go into the next big stairwell and look up and be ready for three Combine to attack you. Then look down and you should see a zombie waiting, so get him while up here. There is also a crate up on the top that you can pull down with the GG. Collect any items and then start making your way downward, making safe drops along the ruined stairs. At the bottom, two soldiers will meet you. Before you move on, at the very bottom you will notice a lambda sign against a wall. Go to the point in the walkway where it is split and look left to see a ladder on a pipe. Jump over there and take the ladder down. For the most part, when on a ladder, you can get level where you want to jump, look over, and press jump to get over there; the game is pretty forgiving but don't go crazy. Grab the crates and then go back up. Take the path and you'll see the gate is locked, so take the door. Watch out for the poison headcrab, grab the items, then go to the window and pull out the bar from the gate. Go through and kill the guy you see up close. Then just look down the sewer for two soldiers to drop down, although, one may get caught by a Barnacle. Let them/him go to work on the horde of zombies, and even help him by killing the zombie that gets close, but as soon as the zombies have low numbers, start killing the guys. Watch out for the headcrabs up here with you too. Go around the corner after that and watch out for all the tongues waiting for you, and some that only drop when you get near, and watch out for a lone soldier at the corner. Kill the Barnacles and go up the steps for one poison headcrab. There is a board blocking the way to some items, but you can just grab them with the GG. Breaking the board will drop some poison headcrabs, though, they are dead (but I could have sworn they were alive, I'm not sure). Anyway, go back and find the opening where the Barnacles are, put a box on its tongue and then drop down. A few crabs down the corridor, and if you want, there is a health pack at the end of this canal, but it's a bit of a walk, so ignore otherwise. Take the corridor and watch out for crabs, and you'll see there is ladder on the right. If you want supplies, go forward to see a lambda sign by some health packs, but those aren't the cache, the cache is down the little opening directly under the sign, so use the GG to get them. Going even further there is a poison zombie around the corner, so blast him quickly. If you keep following this path, you'll run into yet another cache. Come back and take the ladder. Two poison zombies at the top, then follow the path for one more near some boxes. There is one more headcrab behind the barrel in the way. Go up into the warehouse area and then up the slope. On the pipes is a ramp to get on the walkway. Then get on the bridge, but watch out for the grenade, so either blast it away with the GG or run all the way off this bridge. After that, and after the barrels blow up, run along the side of the bridge, or take the bridge if it's still there, and go through the door, but watch out for the Barnacle. Get over and use the crossbow to kill the guy up above giving you grief. In the room, collect the items and use the stations, then pull the lever to call the lift. Stand at the window and wait for enemies to appear on the bridge so you can hit them with the bow. After about four, use the stations again and wait for the lift. When the lift stops, you'll need to throw the lever again, then quickly jump on the platform before it goes away, or else you'll have to wait a long time. As you go up, be ready for just three guys to attack you. Once the ride is over, go left to a ladder and either go up it or fall back down to handle the Elite Combine soldiers up on the highest walkway. Kill them and then go up hte ladder. Cross the pipes to get to the thing that held up the lift, and follow the narrow beam all the way to under a walkway, but look down to the lift station to see a guy use the switch, so kill him from up here. Crouch under the walkway and then swing around to jump on the walkway. Follow it to a ladder and quickly take it up, then either be ready for the Elites to drop down, or blast the red barrel away. Kill the two Elites and the two guys across the way on a platform. After that, use the ladder to go down to a walkway, smash a crate, then go over to the other side to get more crates. If you follow the narrow ledge around the red, thing, you'll hit a lambda cache. Then come back and drop down to that ledge with the dead bad guys, but get the hopper mine first. Another mine down the steps and then you'll hit a loading that ends this chapter. =========== Chapter 11: "Follow Freeman!" =========== Sniper's Delight ----- You'll meet a friend and then get some crates. When you see the streets, there will be a guy that runs down the street, but there's not much you can do for his sake. Run across the street to a doorway and then tell your friend to just wait at this spot. The idea is to sprint down this street from cover to cover to avoid getting sniped. *NOTE: If low on frags, save now as this area doesn't provide you with a fountain of grenades. Killing the snipers appears to be completely optional.* From this doorway, sprint down the road and to the left to the cover of a building. Then look right and sprint toward a fence thing that has some debris around. If you wait here long enough, the sniper will shoot at all the objects around you. Sprint up the road to the left of a headcrab shell. Then you will need to sprint up the road, hug this wall and quickly take cover behind a truck near a building; just know that there will be the sniper that's been shooting at you and then another one down the other road. Grab the box, careful not to get shot at, and you'll get a health pack. Next you need to run further down this street, in the direction of the original sniper, and crouch behind the next truck. A dead guy nearby will have some frags if you need them. Now you are really close to the sniper, and from here you have two options: either toss a frag high and try to get lucky, or sprint to the left, around the car, and zig zag to get under his perch. Either way works, just know that you need at least two frags for the next sniper. As soon as you kill the first sniper, your lone teammate will be running to join you, but set a point for him to hide so he is off the adjacent street with the other sniper. Get to the corner and look across the road to see a store with open windows. After the sniper shoots, run into this store and you'll meet an ally. One box and after a brief chat she will go to the point where you set the other guy, but if you want to not risk her getting hit, you should run out of the store, go to cover on the left side of this street, then sprint to the end and behind some rubble. You'll need to toss a frag over the mound and toss it pretty high to land in the window; not too high, but just know you have as many chances as you have grenades remaining. After you blow out this last sniper, call your team close and go inside the building. There will be three headcrabs roaming about, and then one fast zombie as you get near a ramp at the back of the room, so be ready. There is a bathroom with some items inside, then take the ramp down to the watery basement. Go around the corner and to the side of a wounded comrade, and that will really piss off all the undead down here. About six normal zombies and two fast zombies will rise from the water and come after you, so quickly run out of this spot and into the water to blast the zombies as they rise. There are about two in one corner and the rest come from the other side; so toss a frag to the left if you want, you'll get more soon. *NOTE: The slow way to do the following sections is to use green cabinets on both the second and third levels to cover you from the sniper's bullets. It works, and will protect you, but it's awfully slow.* Go up and tell your team to stay in the stairwell as you get into the ruined second level. Some zombies will rise and come toward you, but if you use the GG to toss that green cabinet at just one, the sniper through the opening will handle the rest for you. Now peek around the corner and toss a frag into his window. Don't worry, no more on this level, so use the grenade box to get more and then go up to the corner to meet Barney through a hole in the roof. Go around the debris and go up to his level. Again, leave your team at the stairs and just go out and look to the left to toss a frag into the window of the nearest sniper. There are two headcrabs up here, so watch out for them as you quickly move toward the other end of this roof, and be sure to keep your allies behind cover or they will die. When you reach the narrow beam, you can just jump into the open and try to lob one into the sniper's window, but it's quite a throw and I don't think you're man enough for it. If health is permitting, just run to the edge of the roof and then toss one, but if you think you got the arm and accuracy, you'll have to toss it from afar. Also, if you want to use the green cabinets as portable cover, that works too. Once Barney is safe, follow him down to the streets and he will open the gate. Smash a crate, watch out for two poison headcrabs, and you'll hit a loading. Suppress This! ----- Go out and before you step out of the doorway, grab a red barrel with the GG. When you go right, just point your cursor up the steps and toss the barrel up there to hopefully get the turret, and if not just grab another and toss it, careful not to have it explode in your face. Then grab another barrel and toss it when the bad guys show up. Go up there and through the doorway will be five crates of ammo and supplies. Up the staircase you will notice the sound of a gunship. When at the top, go to the windows and just look out to see the various happenings and going-ons of the Combine. After Barney opens the door, go through and down the stairs. At the bottom, use the GG to grab a hopper around the right corner, and then peek to the left to knock over a turret. Pull up one more hopper and step onto the streets. Now, the big laser from the sky will show you it's power just once on the car, then it will target you and any with you. Sprint down the way toward the big, rolled-over dumpster, but stop if you see the laser targetting the ground in front of you. Go in the dumpster for health. After your team joins up with you, go left and directly around this dumpster to follow a path around the rubble, and just sprint to the door at the end. Not sure if your team will make it in one piece, but either wait or just open the door and shoot in an SMG grenade to kill the two guards. Use the health station and open the door when ready. Just run forward and when you see the beam in front of you, stop and let it go, then be ready for one enemy in the bunker. Run down in and wait for your team, or just run right through and keep going. Either way, run across to the next door with shotgun in hand, kill the first two guys, then quickly kill the guy inside before he kills the prisoners. Open the gate by smashing the lock and you'll add to your team. Stock up on supplies and go out the other door with pulse-rifle in hand. And don't worry, the beam won't bother you anymore. Go toward the front of the building and kill two enemies. When you get toward the steps, be ready to kill an Elite and about four others as they make a charge from the doors; use an energy ball before he uses his. Go around to the right and pull the plug with the GG to open the field. Use the health station and go up into the building for a loading screen. Through the doors will be a room on the right with lots of ammo and a frag box. In the hall you'll notice some blue lasers set up that you can't avoid. When you touch them, if there is a black square on the ground nearby, that will raise up to reveal a turret in the ground. These turrets have only a limited range set up by a line of blue lasers, so you'll know where to and not to stand. Get to the left wall and touch the lasers, and the turret will rise up, but it's range will be to the right, so toss a frag at it, stand back, and if the frag went down the turret will be taken out. Go into the lobby and you'll hear a dropship leave. Look to the left hallway and three or four enemies will come to fight you (though, I could have sworn it was more, maybe not). In any case, kill them and go to the left of the steps to see another laser grid. Tell your team to wait by the stairs and then touch the blue lasers with a frag in hand. Toss it directly at the turret when it rises, then peek around the corner to see another turret waiting. Toss a frag at it and in this room will be two Combine at the other end. Kill them and go up the stairs and into another holding cell room where Barney will free the captive. Collect the items and have a frag in hand. Tell your team to stay in the room, and when you go touch the lasers, you need to get one at a time and retreat to the room after you toss a frag, whether you hit or miss. Take out each one and go into the generator room for items and both a health and suit station. Use the GG to blast the ball out the generator, then you'll hear a dropship outside. The bad guys will be coming from the stairs you just came up, so when you hear their chatter, either wait for them at the doorway or toss a few frags down there; remember, expect Elites to be with each group. *NOTE: You actually could have ignored killing the double turret set up if it was that hard for you and just run into the room. Your team would have gotten through fine enough. And for handling the enemies that come up the stairs, just go across the bridge and be ready for them to come from the hallway near you as the lobby is closer to there; use the hopper mine and place it at the stairs to really get them good.* After that, go left across a bridge to notice a laser grid down a hall, but the turret is optional. The trick is to set that desk in front of the blue grid and when you toss frag into the turret, crouch behind the desk to avoid damage. Or, just use the GG to grab the crates, as the lasers don't respond to boxes for some reason. Anyway, go to the room on the left down the hallway and pull the hopper from inside. When inside, you lose your team and the doors close, and make sure you save your game. The idea in this room is to avoid the lasers at all costs of you're pretty much dead. Jump on the platform in front of you and jump to the left so that you can jump over the first laser. Now get on the platform by the wall and just jump over the wide set of lasers. Jump on the round, metal thing and up again to go around, and look to the ground to grab a hopper. Then jump to a pipe along the wall to jump up on top of the shelf. From here, jump to the one on the right, and then get to the edge and crouch to pick up the hoppers, just to be safe. Then jump left again, careful not to fall, and then cross over a pipe and follow it all the way to the other end of the room. Hop down and push the button to open the path. Grab the energy balls from the rack, and then quickly go grab the hoppers you disarmed, the last two. Take them and go out into the hall. Place them along this walkway over the lobby in any way and then be ready for an attack from another group of soldiers, or just attack them as they go through the lobby. Now go back into the second generator room and blast off the ball. Now, I'm pretty sure this is different from the PC version, as you'll have another group of bad guys to deal with, but you'll have to go back through the laser room to fight them. Kill them and cross over the stairs to the other side, and then wait for another squad of enemies to come from the lobby. After that, go up and around the right corner. When you reach the doorway to the ruined room, go inside and start collecting the many items, and don't miss the three crates up on the shelf. When you go over to the other door, you will be locked in and notice that many soldiers will be rumbling outside. There will be about two groups' worth of bad guys, and you can try to shoot them as they pass by the holes in the walls, and at some point there will be a few to shoot at your through these holes. When you see the guys start to cut open the doors, go grab the hopper mines and set one up by the door that is opening slowest, and hold the second one in your GG. When the first door is blown open, launch the mine at the doorway, then use maybe an energy ball or just blast the rest. Then go to the other door and use the other mine in the same way, or do whatever. After that, go into the opposite hallway to run into a laser grid. Yes, you can do the whole fragging of the turrets if you really want to, but the smartest thing to do is run through the laser and hide behind the cover of the doorway. Once the turrets retreat, go around and into the last generator room. Blast off the ball and then run to the lobby with the pulse-rifle in hand. Launch an energy ball at the large, double-sized last group of enemies down the hallway. Kill all the Combine and then go into the hallway with the flashlight on to spot the three hoppers in the dark hallway. Be sure to grab all the items in here and use the two stations. Go to the end and Barney will use the computer to open a door and some citizens will join you. Go up the stairs for one turret that you need to rush and knock over, then run up the rest of the stairs with the shotgun to blast two enemies, and you'll hit a load screen. Taking One for the Team ----- Go up top to engage in a battle with a group of enemies on the roof. Kill them and then use the crossbow to kill a guard on the outpost way across the roof. Grab rockets from the box and then go down the path to run into some dormant mines at the corner. Quickly grab them and set them up by the gate, then run back to the rocket box in anticipation of a gunship. It will go clockwise around the roof, so be ready for it and make all your rockets count. Get five good hits and it's over. After that, go back around the corner and wait a ways back from the gate as a dropship behind will let off a group of soldiers. Kill them, use the stations, and go through and get ready for a big shootout at the bridge. Some allies will come up to join you, but you would rather they not. Press a red button at the bridge and then use the crossbow to pick off a few bad guys in a little room. Now, they will send off plenty of energy balls, so kill them quickly, and be ready to blast anyone that rushes the bridge. If you want to, charge over the bridge and use an SMG grenade, or shotgun blast everyone, or a better idea, just toss a frag into that room, a couple of frags if you want. Once it's all clear, cross over and drop down for a loading. Go to the ground and meet a guy, then go outside with your rocket launcher in hand. There will be Striders afoot, and at last you will combat them. You can shoot your missiles into them now, then run to the steps of the building and go around the debris, then run all the way to an open gash in the ground and take cover down here. Run through the pipe and out the other side only after the Strider goes by. When it does, run out and turn around to go up the slope, and from there run around to that bunker that's in the middle of this area. Feel free to use the missiles in here on a Strider or two, and before or after a hole is blasted in the roof, run out and to the right (force fields are down) to hit the side of the building with the rockets. From here, you will engage in a battle of endurance and avoidance. Use the pillars here or any other cover to hide behind after you launch a missile. Make sure your aim and path is clear, or else your missile may to and hit nothing. Just jump out, shoot, aim, and then retreat to cover. Only when you get greedy or have a disrupted line of sight will you take damage. There are four Striders to kill, and they can come at any time. There is a hole in the wall near the box that should have a health station in the room. After they are down, or actually at some point while you are fighting, use some rockets to kill enemies coming from the left and down the street. There are about two groups worth of them, so use your rockets and get more before you leave. Head down the street and into a tunnel for crates and a load screen. On the other side will be a long tunnel with one single enemy shooting at you down the road. Kill him and when you get to the end, behind you a Strider will emerge from the rubble and start shooting. Sprint to the left and go into a building through a hole. Grab a red barrel and wait for enemies to come through the doorway and then toss it, or do something else if that's too risky for you. Some crates in here and then go up the stairs with shotgun in hand to kill two Combine. Lots of bots up here to grab and smash, so feel free. Some items around and when you go through the opening toward the ramp, go under and behind the ramp to find some crates. If you have any rockets, you can use them on the Strider when he is by and not looking at you; just shoot and retreat, but you don't have to. When you see an opening, that means when he is looking away, run up the ramp and run toward the center of this level and duck behind cover. Wait for him to blast down a beam so that you can go up; it will be around where the ramp was. When he is looking away, run up this beam, follow it to a platform, and either wait here or run along the rest of the beams to the stairway at the other side. Once you get there, you get a rocket crate, but you don't have to kill the Strider if you don't want to. Open the crate to fill up, jump over the gap for some crates and a lambda cache, and then drop down to hit a loading. Go to a doorway and move the boards as you talk with an ally. Go out and jump down to get more allies and then fight some soldiers in the car garage. Go around the corner and grab some supplies to the left, and once the music cues you should stay in the car garage and wait for the three-four Elites that come to get you. After that, and after the Strider patrolling goes by, run out and run left to either a store, a hole in the road, or run all the way to a store at the end of the street. Either way you will need to go to the store at the other side and kill the two soldiers. Inside, grab the items and hide behind the door. After the first Strider is turned away, run out and run to the right, but as you hit the dead end, run to the right and hide in a doorway as the second Strider rises from the rubble. He will knock a car to where you are hiding, but after he moves that car, just run out and go to the right and into the hole in the next car garage. Smash the crate and you'll hear a beeping. Just go down the way and you'll have to get blown into a pit. Look up after you are and shoot either energy balls or SMG grenades. Climb out and go to the right for a crate and then get ready for one final, big ass battle. Run up and you'll be attacked from all sides, so just run to the left and around the concrete and into a doorway. You'll see a tiny room by the stairs and you should go in for the items. Then pull out your shotgun and be ready for a soldier or two to come for you, but don't hit any allies. When ready, run up the stairs and you should probably use any and all SMG grenades to take out the enemies all around, even if just one. You can either stay behind some cover and fight, or run to the right and hop down to the ground; just watch out for the Strider's beam on the area with the crates. Hop down, use all you have and your best guns to kill anyone, and go through the opening. On the other side of this wall, you can try to kill bad guys, but just to to the left and into a closet with lots of needed crates. From here, go out with the crossbow and make sure you clear the immediate area of threats. Then go up the rubble and to the ruined room with the fire and be ready for enemies to rush you. Go to the center area and collect the many items in the closet, then just use the health stations, not the suit one as you'll save it for later. Get out your shotgun and go up the stairs, for what should be just two or so enemies up here. Then look up to see a gunship fly over, but it will pass by and you don't have to worry about it. As of now however, you do have to worry about the two Striders circling the wagon. You need to focus your rockets on just one at a time. Remember, it takes seven rockets to bring one down, so you have your work cut out for you. It's easy enough to dodge the fire of one, but you'll just have to hope the other one doesn't have a clear shot at you. Use the middle door, wall piece thing for cover from the Strider you are focusing on. When one is close to death, or after one is killed, at some point there will be a blast to open your path. After one is down, go down the steps and use the suit station as well as the health one. Then go back up and get more rockets and now you can just use the wall piece in the middle up here for cover from the last Strider. Pop out, blast, aim, and then hide, and reload when out. It shouldn't be too hard, as the hardest part is just killing one when there are two. *NOTE: Ignore the enemies on the rooftops, as they keep coming and they should not hurt you, much.* After both beasts are down, find the beams on the right side of this area and follow the beams over to an opening in the wall. You'll land on a dumpster and then you got to fight a few last couple of Combine on the streets. Move down the road and Dog will make one last appearance. He should help you kill the rest, but if he doesn't, just kill whoever is left. After the brief fight, talk with Barney and then go see what Dog is up to. He will lift a piece of the Citadel, and then you'll be told to go in. Hop down, say your last goodbyes, and drop down to a long tunnel with a loading screen. You are now almost done with the game. =========== Chapter 12: Our Benefactors =========== The Buck Stops Here ----- At the end of the tunnel, go left and either crouch and fall down, or carefully drop down to the lowest level you can go. Then jump across a gap to the left, and it may seem scary, but you'll slide to a stop. Jump across the next gap and then watch out for a headcrab in a crevice. Go to the pipe and you can either wait for the piston to come up, jump on it, and then jump to the walkway, or jump to the lower pipe and do the same but when the piston is down. Your call, just get to the opening and go through. Go up the ramp and then follow the linear path. To sum it up, go straight, go around the corner, drop down, follow this to a path to a long hall, and when you hit a part with a narrow path around an opening with beams in it, just follow the dark walkway to the other side. Hop down and hop down again to be in an area with many restraints. Go around the corner and you'll see two lines that you can jump on. If you notice, the first line you see will lead you straight into a laser for death. So go into the other line and jump in a holder for the ride of your life. Just keep your eyes open and look all around to take in the wonderful, yet ominous sights. You wonder how the Resistance even has a chance. Then you'll drop into a confiscation field that will zap each and every one of your weapons. But wait! What's this! There's magic in the air! Your Gravity Gun will survive the firearm holocaust and come out of it a much stronger weapon. Grab it and run forward to fight with some soldiers. Listening to Breen is completely optional. There is a station on the wall nearby that you'll see will heal your suit to 200. Don't get too happy about that though, as you will need all of it at some point. *NOTE: If you for some reason don't want to test the two buttons at your disposal, the pull in function of the GG will have an affect on enemies, and the blasting effect can be used up close for kills. Anything you shoot at enemies, even bodies, will result in death at first contact.* More soldiers will soon attack, so kill them and go down the walkway, and around the corner will be more. Another computer to listen to Dr. Breen, if you want, then go down the hall and jump over the railing. Two soldiers, then go right to run into another one. Go up the ladder and then there will be two soldiers behind a field. Either pull the energy ball from the generator on the left, or just pull the enemies to you, or pull an energy ball and toss it at the bad guys. Either way, pull out the ball from the generator and go right to use a station, then pull another ball from a generator and go through for a fight from both sides. Kill the first wave, then just sprint down the left path and use a station, then you'll hit a load screen; though I don't remember it this way, the right hallway has an infinite stream of baddies, so don't stick around. Kill two guys in the next area and then feel free to listen to the doctor. Go across the walkway to and push a button in the center to call the lift down. Then go to the other side, use the station, and then be ready for a whole lot of enemies to come at you from all sides. They mainly come from where you just came from, but also look up and all around for man hacks and drones and everything. Just stay in motion and use the station on the wall if you need to. When the lift is close, just run and jump on so the field will raise and shield you from harm. On the elevator, you will make three stops, and all you have to do is kill the bad guys along the way, either pulling them in to you or using the lines of enerby balls on the sides. Kill all the guys and at the top kill some more. Step off to kill any survivors and then listen to the thoughtful question from the doctor. To the left is the hallway and a station. Go down this hall and watch out for guys to the left. At the circular walkway, guys all around, so blast them and just go around to hit the open walkway, and then run. Stop at a station in a crevice and then keep running to hit a long, vast stretch of walkway as Breen talks. Jump down and 360 owners need to officially send hatemail to Valve. What you need to do is grab a capsule on the side and use it for cover as you get near the first bridge, where you can shoot it off to hit the guys. Kill the rest and grab another to go meet the next group of enemies, who are also followed by a Strider. This is where 360 owners will cry, so save when you are holding a pod and then be ready for the heartache. There should only be a few enemies left on the ground, but the sad thing is, you need to grab the energy balls on the side to shoot at the Strider, but try not to get caught up with killing the soldiers on the ground. You need to kill the soldiers with the pods while they are on the bridge. Either way, you need to hide behind the racks of pods at the front of the bridge, pull in balls, and pop out to shoot them. If you're lucky, the big thing will glitch up and not fire back, but either way, shoot about three or four balls into him and he'll blow up. After that, go forward and pull out three energy balls from a generator behind a field. Hop down for a loading and a station. Then walk down the next restraint ride and get on. Keep an eye out for the strange, four-legged things that have yet to be in any of the games as of Episode Two. Then it's up a long vertical shaft where you get one good look at City 17. =========== Chapter 13: Dark Energy =========== Coming to Terms ----- Just sit back and watch, I won't spoil nothin' for ya. Keep an eye on Mossman, then on Breen. After you are sprung free, follow Alyx. At the top of the lift, go reclaim your Gravity Gun. Then watch Alyx and do what she says. A station before you get on the lift, then say your goodbyes and get on. At the bottom, go out and listen to his ramblings. Now, go to the right as soon as he is done talking and follow a narrow ledge around the piston's spot to get around. Go up and start pulling the balls from the generator, but watch out for Combine to appear behind you. After you pull out the firs three, go around the glass and starting on the next set, then the third set. As you go to work on the last one, more guards appear all over, so feel free to toss the balls wherever. Once through, take this piston up and kill any guards up here. Go around and onto a narrow path and wait for a platform to rotate to you so you can get on. These platforms will go around this thing continuously, so when you get up to the higher level, be sure to jump onto the see-through walkway the first time. You'll find a suit station up here on this level with you if you need it. Go to the end of this walkway to find a piston going up and step on. And up to the next level, go around the walkway to kill a group of enemies. Then go left and ride the piston up. Be sure to save in case you die. Up here your goal is to destroy the core. Just go to the left or right of either the left or right column, and on these columns you will find a stream of energy balls; I prefer to be on the left side of the left column. Just stand in one place so that you can pick up the balls, fire at the side of the spinning core, pick up another ball, fire, and so on. You are trying to blast off the panels protecting the core, but just hitting it will knock off the panels. Oh yeah, you may notice there are two gunships here too, well, if you are quick enough and don't waste any time, you can just ignore the ships and just take out the core; once the core is gone, the ships will blow up. When all the panels are off, just shoot one or two more balls into the core and it's game complete. Just sit back and enjoy the ending scene. Now, go play the next two episodes, in order, and you'll still get the feeling that even when this is all over with, you won't have a damn clue what just happened. Great game, and one for the ages. ***************************************************************************** * 5. Weapons ( GUNS555 ) * ***************************************************************************** Here are all the weapons you use in the game. Don't forget, most guns have an alt fire. Pistol ------ Just your basic handgun. Has a lot of ammo in one clip, so that helps. A solid fall-back weapon if you need it. Magnum ------ This thing is perhaps one of the better guns you have. It's usually a one- hit kill on the smaller enemies. It has a decent range when you need it, but the limited ammo hurts. Crossbow -------- The sniper rifle of the game. You only get one bolt a clip, so each shot is crucial. The time it takes the bolt to fly will sometimes cause a miss, so just make sure your shot is right on. ALT: Zoom SMG --- This gun will pour bullets into targets, but the accuracy is bad; you will basically unload an entire clip on one enemy just to get a kill. ALT: Grenade, a valuable tool that will explode on contact Shotgun ------- Your basic boomstick. Use it at close range for ultimate effect, and it does have a decent range for a distance. Great against all enemy types. ALT: Fire two shells Pulse Rifle ----------- Rather than a human machine gun, this is a Combine rifle with the same effect. The only downside is that you chew through the ammo in a hurry. ALT: Energy ball Grenade ------- Simple enough. Toss, stand back, and then there's a loud bang. You can hold five at a time, so don't be afraid to use one on big groups. ALT: Drop it in front of you, rather than tossing it Rocket Launcher --------------- The most powerful gun you get. Shoot where you set the laser beam and the rocket will follow the dot. Crowbar ------- The classic melee weapon of Half-Life. Use it to smash wooden planks and crates. If you have to use this for an actual weapon, you got problems that are beyond my skill to fix. Gravity Gun ----------- The X-Factor of the game. Aside from the puzzle-solving aspect, using this gun as a weapon will be critical for big fights. If you have big objects like rocks and barrels and saw blades, pick them up and send them into the bad guys. Gas tanks and flammable barrels should be used at perfect times, otherwise you'll have them blow up in your face for various reasons. ***************************************************************************** * 6. Enemies ( BAD6666 ) * ***************************************************************************** Combine ------- Civil Protection are the cops and weakest enemies in the game. You mainly run into them at the start, and then a little bit when you return. They have little armor and rarely have any good guns. Soldiers are the most numerous enemies you face. They are well armored and can take at least two shotgun blasts to the chest, so aim for the head. They can have any kind of weapon, and the shotgun enemies have orange eyes. Elites are the toughest enemies you face. You only hit a few in proper battle and the rest are faced after you enter the Citadel. They only have Pulse- Rifles and they like to shoot energy balls. Manhacks are bots that fly around and try to slice into your health. They don't pose the biggest threat in the game and you don't run into many, so just run backward, pull out your GG, grab them, and then launch them into a hard surface. Turrets are quite frequent, and all you do is either toss a frag, any junk, or just run up and knock them over with the GG. Hopper mines are run into during the last leg of the game. All you do is pull them up with the GG and they will instantly be your allies. You can even toss them like SMG grenades. Helicopters are not run into much, and there is an Uber Copter you face at the end of the hoverboat section. You only have turrets to bring these things down. Gunships are the step above copters, and the only way to bring them down is with about five rocket hits, and it's made harder thanks to how well the ships avoid and shoot down your rockets. You just have to shoot them off at an angle and not let the ships get a clean look. Striders are the biggest of the bigs. You face many in this game, and they are all bunched together at the end. Takes about seven rockets to bring these down. Zombies ------- A simple undead enemy, but in the Half-Life universe these guys have headcrabs on their lids. The headcrab is the spot you want to aim for. Once the zombie is down, there is a chance the headcrab will stay alive, so keep an eye on it after it falls off. Fast zombies are a nightmare, as they will run up quickly and from far away they will leap toward you for a ramming attack. They aren't as bad as they seem, but still, take them out with some shotgun blasts. Poison zombies are the worst, unless you kill them quickly. Just run up and blast with the shotgun at their top until they fall over. If you let them go on for a long time, they will toss poison headcrabs at you, so again, kill these guys quickly. Antlions -------- These are basically big bugs. The smallest, regular type is fast and can glide through the air. You need to backpedal as you blast them with shotgun shells. And as a teaser, these guys aren't enemies for long... Antlion Guards are encountered just a few times, and if you have three rockets in the launcher, three direct hits will end the battle. If you must fight one of these properly, start with the red barrels in the area, then use SMG grenades, then energy balls, then the pulse-rifle, and then shotgun blasts. And when they are closing in, lead them to a wall and sprint to a side so they miss you. Other ----- Not many other enemies in the game. You have your Barnacles that hang out tongues from a ceiling to grab you. Put something in these tongues to distract the things, or just shoot them. If you ever stop and start raising off the ground, it's not magic, it's a Barnacle. Perhaps the headcrabs count as a seperate type. They crawl on four legs and they leap to attack you. You get three flavors: normal, fast, poison. Use the shotgun when these things are about your feet, and use the pistol when you are a distance away and out of their range. ***************************************************************************** * 7. Author Info / Copyright * ***************************************************************************** ------- Credits G-Man Sightings YouTube video, not by me: All the lambda caches: http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/showthread.php?t=42011 ----- -------------- Here is my website: www.herostrike.com Here is my list of guides on gamefaqs: (copy & paste) http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/recognition/60816.html?type=1 Follow me on twitter @ TheGum25 You'll find all my other guides here too and perhaps something else you may like. ------------- ----------- Please contact me if you need any help, if you want to thank me, if you want to talk, or if you want to ask a question. Efforts to get in a guide need to be exceptional as I dislike updates unless it's absolutely necessary, and I don't think I've updated an older guide. The golden rule: keep it short. If I see a wall of text I'm probably moving on. I've gotten real bad with emails lately. And flamers don't even bother, it won't work. My email: lunatic_252000@yahoo.com Title of your email should be: HL2 PS - To GameFAQ's users, if you like the guide, click "recommend" at the top of the guide, but only if you like it. PPS - I cannot fix bugs, glitches, or achievements/trophies not hitting. ----------- ----------- I have other guides floating around too. They are: Resident Evil 4 Dead Rising Gears of War Lost Planet Crackdown GRAW 2 Rainbow Six Vegas TES IV: Oblivion Shivering Isles Knights of the Nine The Darkness BioShock Halo 3 Half-Life 2 HL2: Episode One HL2: Episode Two Call of Duty 4 Assassin's Creed Mass Effect Advance Wars: Days of Ruin Perseus Mandate Sam & Max Episode 203 Devil May Cry 4 God of War: Chains of Olympus Rainbow Six Vegas 2 Okami Grand Theft Auto 4 Condemned 2: Bloodshot Metal Gear Solid 4 Alone in the Dark (360) NCAA Football 09 Madden 09 Dead Space Gears of War 2 Prince of Persia (2008) Call of Duty: World at War FEAR 2 Resident Evil 5 GTA IV: TBOGT Modern Warfare 2 Assassin's Creed 2 World of Warcraft Mass Effect 2 Heavy Rain Splinter Cell: Conviction Crackdown 2 Halo: Reach Dead Rising 2 CoD: Black Ops -------------- --------------- I've also been published in GamePro magazine, June 2007. Pretty cool if you ask me, and all because I write these little guides. Also, I am in the October issue as well, which should be out at the time of this guide's release. At least I ain't a one hit wonder. In a nice surprise, I didn't even know I was in the March 2008 issue of GamePro, but I am. Look to gamerstemple.com for a slew of random reviews. ---------------- ---------------- Here is my list of sites: GameFAQs (main host site) GameSpot IGN GamersTemple (http://www.gamerstemple.com/) OCModShop.com chaptercheats.com TheGameReviews wiredgamingcommunity.com neoseeker SuperCheats GamesRadar CheatCodeCentral (cheatcc.com) My360.com.au gamerevolution.com *NOTE: There are many more with single guides, and then others with a few, and some that I just don't keep track of.* All other sites must ask permission if they want this. All I ask is that the guide be ad-free and in this text format. ------------------- --------- COPYRIGHT --------- This guide may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. Copyright 2011 Brad Russell
Amazing Games. Many Cheats. Such Wow.
