3.8 Chapter 8 - Sandtraps    CC8

[Battery Search]
Crash through the first zombie, shoot another one while he still lays on the
ground and disembark. Don't worry; it's not for too long. Open a supply crate
on the right (you probably need it at the moment). Crawl through a vent and
kill two headcrabs with the gravity gun for a lot more good stuff. Cute how
the zombie bangs at the window, isn't it? Leave the room and kill him as well
as another one behind the fence. This triggers three super zombies to rush in
on you. Retreat to the buggy. Its gun will shred any enemy apart in no time,
so also use it against some normal zombies eventually showing up. Then clear
the path via gravity gun and ride out of the tunnel.

Surprise two Combine in front of the house by hitting them hard with your
buggy gun. Get off, break open the supply crate and enter the building at its
back. As you search for goodies, equip the gravity gun, because on the
highest storey two mines will fall down a hole in the ceiling. Grab one of
them, toss it into another corner of the room and then pick up the other one,
throw it against a window and through it. Now also grab the first one again
and throw it out as well. As you walk back to the buggy three more mines come
crashing down; simply repeat the procedure.

Drive on to a Combine outpost. Eliminate the guard on the tower with the
buggy gun, disembark and toss two mines away down the beach. Don't take the
path the Combine had in mind for you; instead walk around the barricade on
the left, enter the house, grab the radiator with the gravity gun and use it
to kill two Combine which expected you to come along the street. Leave the
house where you entered it and look up at the barricade to see another
Combine. Still carry the radiator with you, walk over to the entrance of the
outpost and wait for an enemy to leave the base and run right into your arms.
Again, grab the radiator and walk over to the shack where the last enemy
awaits you. Use the health panel if you need it and then drive on. Try to
avoid those yellow-black striped ground panels which are likely to stop you,
requiring you to disembark and push the car out of the trap.

Drive on until you see a crashed truck in your way. Ride up the little hill
to the right of it at full speed (no turbo boost) to get past it. Disembark.
Two gunships will come by, but luckily they won't attack you directly (or at
least not that hard as they usually do), but drop down five Combine behind
the gate up ahead and two mines before the gate. Throw the latter one into
the water and climb back into the buggy before the real enemies close in on
you. Have the buggy stand just behind the truck to have the whole street in
sight. The Combine come in from the left (only one) and just above the cliffs
on the right (four of them). The buggy gun should easily deal with this
situation. Now look around for items (there are lots of them) as well as for
two batteries you need to insert into the gate console inside the house. One
of the batteries lies on top of the mill (throw something up there or shoot
the objects on the mill) and the other is on the bed in the house. Proceed
into the tunnel.

[The Light House]
Ah, finally: The light house. Proceed to the rebel outpost and park the buggy
in the garage to your left as you are told to. Head for the stone wall behind
the garage, hide there and equip the pulse-rifle. You are about to fight the
fiercest battle in this game so far. Stand on the left side of the low wall
section and look over it to see when the first dropship has landed. Once it
has, run around the wall and position yourself left of the dropship. Four
Combine are about to debark and since they always hop out onto the very same
spot you can quite easily nail them with a short pulse-rifle blast. A nice
shoot-hit-ratio is when you have to reload after every two Combine. When the
transporter leaves again, turn around to see another one. Carefully move
along the wall and once the enemy vessel has landed, position yourself to its
right where you can kill four more Combine with ease. Then run straight to
the play ground and up to the rock near the house. Duck here to avoid the
dropships fire. Equip the crossbow and try to hit as many of the Combine with
it as you can, before switching to the pulse-rifle. Next, head for the light
house and run around it on the left side. Two Combine will head for you,
while the other two stay at the front side of the light house. Quickly kill
the latter ones as a gunship has appeared. Enter the light house and pick up
some health and rockets. Head for the top to fight the gunship. There's a
rocket crate a storey below and throughout the whole building you will find
medi kits, but still this battle is hard. It takes a while to take cover, you
usually need some time to find out where the gunship actually is whereas it
already opens fire and it stays far away for most of the time. Luckily
there's a rebel inside the tower who provides you with medi kits from time to
time, so just relax for a few minutes at the basement if you have already
nabbed all the items here.

Phew, finally the battle is over. Head for the settlement to loot it from
anything you need. The rebel in the light house opens up a secret path down
in the basement when you follow him. Take the path, break open the supply
carte and afterwards just ignore the newly landed Combine and the headcrab.
Run past them into the next area.

[Sand...lots of Sand]
Don't even bother trying to save the two poor rebels from the antlions. Once
they are dead, kill the antlions with the gravity gun and pull any good
objects to you with it. He said not to get onto the sand and you better
listen to him, because if you don't antlions will appear...every time you do.
Jump from rock to rock (place pallets between them via gravity gun if you
feel unsure), pulling in two supply crates from the left. Then hop over the
trash onto another rock and pull in the trash afterwards to build a path over
to the next rock. Continue your jumping until you reach a big valley.

Take the obvious path, which means to hop up to the big rock, go along, hop
down to the wooden bars and walk over them to a small puzzle: Jump onto the
seesaw, grab the crate at its end and place it at the other end. Then quickly
run to where the crate used to lie and jump onto the rocks. On the right you
can see a small house. Go there, picking up some good stuff and finding two
supply crates at the end of the pier. Duck on the pier and aim at the broken
boat to pull in two more crates, but make sure to duck and to aim well all
the time or else they disappear under the pier. Far behind the boat are more
crates, but the hassle to get them isn't worth it: You would have to place
crates and such in front of you, jump over them, pick them up again, place
them in front of you and so on. Instead either create a short path over the
sand back to the rock or simply jump there. If you're lucky you won't even
trigger an antlion here when briefly landing on the sand.

Now you have to get over to the hut behind the trench. Place the plank so
that it is half over the trench and half on the rock you are standing on. Put
any objects you can find on the rock side of the plank to stabilize it when
you run over it. Pick up all the stuff in the hut and if you want to you can
also place the barrels on the rocks behind the hut to get up to another shack.
I don't really recommend this, though, as there is nothing to be found except
for a supply crate and it is pretty hard to get up there. Head right for the
rock under another hut and place the pallet in the sand in front of you. Then
grab the door, drop down onto the pallet and place the door in front of you.
Walk onto it, grab the pallet and place it in front of you. Grab the do- oh,
you've already got the idea? Great.

Place the door on the sand between the rock and the wooden ramp to get up to
some goodies. Then walk to the back of the house on the lower rock. Turning
on the generator activates the antlion blocker. Ignore the crates on the rock
and on the beach to your right. Simply run to the antlion blocker and past it
up the rocks near some junk. Also ignore these crates here unless you are
desperately in need of health. Drop down to start the battle with some sort
of antlion queen. Run straight to the other end of the pit and circle around
a rock to protect yourself from the ram attacks of the queen. Use the shotgun
mainly on the normal antlions when they come too close and in between the
antlion attacks, also damage the queen. After a while a rebel will assist you
by manning a machine gun. Stay in the area you are at the moment so your
buddy can continuously deal damage to the antlions and the queen. At the
beginning of the pit you can find some supply crates, but the path to them is
too long and furthermore they are out of sight of your ally. Wait for the big
bug to be defeated before opening the crates.

A vortigaunt comes out of the rebel hideout, telling you to pick up the
pheropods inside the queen. Do so and follow him into the outpost where
nothing special awaits you, except for some crates and a nice dialogue
between two vortigaunts. At the end of the base you will get a training unit
in the use of pheropods. From now on no antlion will ever attack you and
furthermore you can even control them. Toss one of those bug baits into the
pit, then one at the Combine suit and then use the alternative fire mode to
make the bugs follow you. Afterwards approach the provisional gate and wait
for it to be opened.

[Pheromones]
Deactivate the first two antlion blockers (climb up the ladder to do so) and
approach a rock on the beach. As you do, some Combine will rush out of a
bunker. Throw a pheropod at them before hiding and waiting. Then loot the
bunker and move on to another one which you clear the same way. Enter the
bunker, deactivate the alarm and use the machine gun against four Combine
closing in from the beach. Some supply crates are behind the bunker. Turn off
the third antlion blocker. Note that you have four antlions at your heels.
Even if one of them dies, others will spawn so you always have four of them.
This makes them a great and cheap weapon you should always use unless you
want them to distract some other threat.

Throw pheropod in the direction of the next bunker. Once your bug friends
have run past you, head for the first rock on the beach ahead. Throw a
pheropod at the Combine in front of you while you stay hid behind the rock.
Then again bait the antlions towards the bunker and run along the beach up to
a big heap of rocks. Run up the grassy area onto the hill and past any
Combine. Try to kill them (with the pulse-rifle) but don't stop. Eventually
the pheropod's smell wears off so the antlions automatically come by to help
you out. Throw a bug bait at the bunker. Unfortunately your bugs won't reach
it as the machine guns inside will tear them apart, so go back to the
beginning of the grassy area. The enemies inside the bunker will concentrate
their fire on you, but they won't hit you, giving the antlions enough time to
clear the area. Nab all the goodies inside.

Now enter the big bunker in the rocks, sending in your new friends first.
They will both powerfully and intelligently wipe out any manhacks and Combine
they encounter here. At the far left corner is a room hidden behind a barrel
in which you will find lots of items. Leave the building and clear out
another small bunker with the pheropods. Either wait for the bugs to clear
the second one far up ahead or enter the first one and use its machine gun.

Walk out to the big open field and throw a pheropod in the direction of the
(so far) unmanned bunker. Infinite Combine rush in from the far right, trying
to reach the bunker. Your bugs should take care of them while you head for
the bunker. As soon as you enter it, the Combine stop spawning. Go along the
cliffs, jump over the pole and shoot down two zombies with the pistol. Push
the two wooden bars aside so the plank can be used as a ramp.

Throw up a pheropod against two Combine, climb up the ladder, hop over to the
supply crates, look closely for two more (guarded by a headcrab) and again
use the power of the pheromones against some Combine high up. Climb up the
rocks to enter the sewers.

[Sewers]
As you leave the canal, toss up a pheropod to the left. This will distract
the guard towers while you can safely climb up the ladder. Snipe at the two
Combine on the leftmost tower; then send in the bugs on the centre one.
Finally hit one of the guards on the third tower with the crossbow and let
the insects do the rest to clear the yard. Move on and throw a bugbait over
the fence to get rid of some more Combine.

For a few minutes the antlions will sadly lose their power as you will face
two gunships. Attack the first one as hard as you can and nab the missile
under the low roof on the left and another one on top of a supply crate at
the left wall. Then rush into the corner room, killing two Combine with the
pulse-rifle (the antlions would be too slow here) and refilling your health
and suit energy. Throw a pheropod at the guard hut up ahead and run around
the left corner into a container. Assist your bugs by firing at the Combine
above you.

Step out of the container, turn around 180 degree and throw a pheropod up
ahead. Then walk up the stairs, grab the two missiles and retreat back to the
container. I hope you've been aiming well so far, because if you did you can
destroy the first gunship now, which makes the whole situation a lot easier.
Run up the stairs again and open the missile crate. Against a single gunship
you can run around the area where the crate lies and hit the enemy as hard as
possible while constantly strafing around. Search for items after this really
fierce battle (don't overlook the medi kit inside the container near the
missile crate).

Nearby is a newly blown opening in the wall. Step in and shut down two gas
valves. It's time to leave your new insect friends.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=3.9 Chapter 9 - Nova Prospekt=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=CC9

[Help the Bugs]
Down the stairs, into the hole and past a headcrab (gravity gun) is all it
needs to see your antlions again. Admit it: You've missed them, right? Show
your love by tossing the sentry gun away as well as two more up the stairs.
Recover in a prison guard room where you also should switch the cameras to
see what to expect later on: Another antlion queen! Go up another set of
stairs, push two cannons aside and swim through the next room. Feed some
objects lying on the ground to the Barnacles to zip by.

Climb up the rubble. See and hear the glass breaking above you? As you open
the next door four super headcrabs fall down the ceiling. Stay in the hallway
and use the gravity gun while constantly moving around. Leave the hallway and
drop down one level and enter the hall. Try your best to hit the two sentry
guns above you with the barrels and radiators strewn around. If you can't do
it, go up the stairs, hide behind the columns and try again with new objects.
If you still keep missing you have to run up all the way (guarding yourself
by carrying a barrel) and use the gravity gun directly or try to push them
aside with a normal gun. Go through the hallway on the highest level.

[Force Fields]
Kill a headcrab to clear the path to the queen. Drop down and quickly crawl
through the holes in front of you to get to the lavatories where you can
circle around while fighting the big bug. Use the gravity gun on anything you
can find (except for the explosive barrels which should only be shot at from
a distance) to deal lots of damage, especially with the radiators. Once
you're done with it, your smaller antlion buddies are at your side again.

Open the door and send your bugs along the hallway to rid it of some Combine.
Against the two sentry guns, though, you have to act yourself. While they
concentrate on the bugs you can run along on the left side and crash the guns.
Quickly turn around and send your allies down the hallway on the right to
fight some additional Combine and manhacks. After the dust has settled,
approach the force field at the end of the passage. There are two Combine
hiding behind it, but they are dumb enough to come out eventually, being easy
enemies for your antlions. Now pull the trigger with the gravity gun and
activate the switch inside.

Leave the room. Around the corner is a newly opened gate. Look under the
stairs for a supply crate before moving up. Toss a pheropod at the entrance
ahead to both clear the trip bomb and to dispose of the Combine around the
corner. Activate the next switch to open yet another gate and search for
items on the upper level. Drop down and send your bugs through the gate to
take out a sentry gun. Afterwards haste through, pull away the vent girder
and crawl through. Hold the plank and the concrete block into the fan to
destroy it eventually. Move on, killing a lone Combine with the pulse-rifle
and pulling the plug with the gravity gun. Wait a few seconds to give the
antlions the time to at least kill any remaining Combine here. The sentry gun
on your left has to be dealt with by you, though.

[Big Hall]
Walk up the stairs and lob a pheropod down the hall which should be enough to
clear it. Advance further, sending the antlions up front so they attract the
fire of the machine gun station up ahead. Run behind them and around the
corner to get out of danger. Pick up the explosive barrel with the gravity
gun and throw it at the sentry guns down the corridor. If you miss you have
to enter the room, hide on the right and throw other things at them.

Go up the stairs and let your insectoid buddies do some more work. At the end
of the passage, briefly go up to see two Combine and retreat into one of the
cells. Simply let the antlions take care of these Combine as well as of some
more in front of the machine gun. It may seem tempting to use it against them,
but don't do it (at least not on hard) as you would be under fire from two
directions.

Don't go over the small bridge, but turn left and once again send the bugs in
first to clear the oncoming corridor of a bunch of Combine. Proceed, go over
the other small bridge and throw a pheropod into the opening on the left to
eliminate a sentry gun and two guards. Stock up in the guard room, activate
the switch and watch loads of Combine desperately trying to close in you. You
don't even have to do anything to make the bugs tear them apart.
Simply enjoy. ^^
Go through the gate nearby.

[Laundry Hall]
Fresh up your health in the room ahead. Phew, luckily the Combine have
already killed the queen that roamed around here. Toss a bug bait around the
corner and then again around the next corner. The antlions distract the
sentry guns, while you can attempt to throw a radiator at them or just run
into the corridor and hide in the room on its right side. Watch out for the
trip bomb in the dark when using the gravity gun through the far-most opening.

Next, throw a pheropod into the big hall. It might not seem to be good for
anything at first, but if you stay patient the bugs will eventually kill an
all too courageous Combine and after that they should be powerful enough to
clear the hall. Look at the right side of the hall for a dark passage with a
toxic zombie. Since there are lots of big objects scattered around, he isn't
any true danger. Search for some items and return to the hall.

Walk up, throw a pheropod into the short corridor on the right, run past it
and open a supply crate in a room nearby. Use a pheropod in the kitchen and
rush in, hiding behind any solid objects afterwards. Toss something against
the left sentry gun and then run to the other one. Stay away from the gas at
the hole, since it will easily be lit up. Send the antlions into the corridor
behind the hole and once the Combine are dead, run in there yourself and head
for the two right-most sentry guns. These can't hit you here, but afterwards
the other two can, so hurry when tossing them down. Go back to the open
entrance to the corridor in which the two guns stood to find a supply crate.

Walk up the first set of stairs. Before walking up the second one, throw a
pheropod up there. Restock and say good bye to the antlions. Who knows if
it's forever this time? Well, I know, but I won't tell you. Don't wanna spoil
anyone. Anyway, drop down through the broken window to find out where the
gunfire you can hear comes from: The right door is blown open and some
Combine come through it. Ignore them, though, as they are totally fixed on an
antlion queen. Wait for the queen to win and then first use the gravity gun
and afterwards the shotgun to end this battle, which actually is pretty easy
in comparison to the other queen encounters.

Push aside some junk in a corner, crawl outside, break open two supply crates
and kill a zombie. You've basically just left Nova Prospekt, but the prison
still doesn't want to let you part off. Go through the strange-looking
passage and place any object under the ledge on the right so you can hop into
the opening before the metal structure outside crushes you. Fortunately
you're in no hurry as it takes a while. Defeat a single headcrab and drop
down.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=3.10 Chapter 9a - Entanglement=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-C9A

[She's back]
Drop down and move along until you meet Alyx. Follow her into a lift. Take
out three Combine with the pulse-rifle after the ride, but also let Alyx do
some of the work. After she has hacked two consoles you are in for a rather
hectic battle: Follow Alyx while eliminating various Combine with the pulse-
rifle and be quick about it as Ms. Vance is about to take lots of damage
otherwise. Once up the stairs, go around the left corner to kill a lone
Combine in Alyx' back. When the area is secure, enter a dark room for a
supply crate. Then follow her to an interesting story scene. Seems like you
didn't really leave Nova Prospekt, but you have just entered its interesting
parts.

Alyx opens the next door, but retreats to assist you from a distance. Open
the left door in the dark passage to access two supply crates guarded by two
super headcrabs. Afterwards enter the guard room. Find a hidden vent by
pushing the cupboards away. Crawl through, killing three headcrabs on the way.
At the end, toss the girder outside and hop down to give any surviving
headcrabs the rest with the gravity gun.

Wait for Alyx to open the left gate. Advance to the guard room and look at
the monitor. It shows four Combine approaching the other entrance to this
room. Wait for the correct moment to lob some grenades through the broken
window towards the gate. Then switch to the pulse-rifle and do the rest. Look
into the next hallway to see two more Combine. Give 'em a grenade. Now just
one more grenade to the sentry guns inside the hallway and you're done for
this battle. Go back to the guard room for a grenade crate.

Return to the sentry gun hallway, enter the left corridor and throw a grenade
around the corner. Equip the pulse-rifle to kill any Combine that has
survived there and in the upcoming room. Throw a grenade through the force
field into the room with the plug to advance. Lay down a sentry gun with the
gravity gun and two more of them with a wide grenade toss down a corridor.

[Defence]
Dispose of two Combine with the pulse-rifle. After that you have to act
relatively quickly. Open the right cupboard (there's a button right at it)
and pick up one of those sentry guns, Alyx has just recalibrated. Place it
down one of the sets of stairs. Put the other one at the end of the other
stairs. Behind the force field Combine soldiers are about to rush in for a
few minutes, as well as three manhacks near the end. Stay on the upper level,
assist either sentry gun a bit with the pulse-rifle and when one side is
clear for the moment, run over to the other side. If you hear a sentry gun
siren and a heavy shooting where the gun stood, it has been thrown down.
Quickly go to it and put it back up by simply pressing E, walking a few steps
forward and backward and dropping it again. Then go back up and assist the
other gun. In between you can also use the health panel at the wall. Once the
manhacks appear, concentrate on them and crash them at any wall via the
gravity gun.

Alyx appears once again, revealing a shocking bit of story. Carry one of the
sentry guns and take a left behind where the force field was. Clear the path
from all the junk, go down the stairs and place the gun right in the doorway
to easily kill three headcrabs. Break open a supply crate pick up the sentry
gun again and proceed to a flooded and electrified room. Shoot the gun over
to the platform up ahead (with the gravity gun) and follow it over the pipes.
Kill two headcrabs, shoot the cannon over to the exit out of this room (at
the fence) and pull in two crates to build a small bridge over to the exit.
Jump onto the first one, drop the second one in front of it, pick up the
first one, drop it ahead of you and so on until you are back on solid ground.
Turn left to see some ammo you can reel in with the gravity gun.

Move on with the sentry gun. First enter the left room to recover; then walk
up to the Combine, which triggers some zombies to stand up and attack you.
Simply retreat to the flooded room and place the sentry gun. Up the stairs
(at the very top is a supply crate), past the crates and the cupboard which
block an entrance and up some more stairs (while still carrying the sentry
gun along) to face two Combine. Place the cannon at the opening on the left
or if you don't carry it along: Use the pulse-rifle. Pick up some ammo in the
guard room and jump down.

I consider this to be one of the most difficult situations in the whole game
if not even the most difficult one: You have to defend yourself against
hordes of Combine and manhacks, spawning just about everywhere. Swiftly enter
a small room with three sentry guns behind a force field. Place two of them
at the left entrance of this room and the other one at the other entrance. If
you have kept another one all the way as I told you, use it to reinforce the
single cannon. Have the pulse-rifle in your hands and watch out for anything
around you. If a cannon is pushed aside, put it back up. If a Combine
attempts to attack a cannon in close-quarter, kill him. If a Combine appears
in front of the cannons, trying to shoot at you, hide in the cupboard. When a
manhack appears, switch to the gravity gun and destroy it. The main threat
are the grenades. Whenever one rolls into your little fort, you better run
out and head back after the explosion, putting the sentry guns back in place.
Switching to the gravity gun to toss them away is too risky in my opinion. In
between the attacks you should refill at the two wall panels.

Look around for items (there is an SMG ammo crate, but the pulse-rifle is way
better of a choice in this fierce battle and you should find more than enough
ammo for it after the battle as well) and follow Alyx down the stairs.

[Dr. Mossmann]
The lights are turned off, but don't worry: The Combine light up the place
soon after. Still have the pulse-rifle equipped and head for the single
Combine around the right corner. Move along the right side of the fence and
hide between the crates as you somewhat surprise the enemies on the other
side of the fence. If you run out of pulse ammo, switch to the SMG. Restock
at a health panel and follow the only available path to another story
relevant scene. After entering the Combine teleporter hall, turn left and use
the two wall panels to fill up your health and suit energy.

Listen to the dialogue and watch the whole scenery until Alyx tells you to
cover here. Place two of the sentry turrets at the glass openings and the
last one in front of the force field next to the Combine teleporter. Stay on
the centre platform while lots of Combine try to rush in from three different
places. The turrets will settle the situation nearly all on their own; just
put them back into place if they get struck down by a grenade. If you get
hurt, heal yourself at the wall panels. After a while Alyx finally gets the
teleporter back up, allowing you to escape.

[Dr. Kleiner]
Enter Dr. Kleiner's lab and search for a suit energy panel, an energy item
and a supply crate while your allies have a conversation. At the end, drop
down into the hole near D0g.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=3.11 Chapter 10 - Anticitizen One=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=C10

[D0g]

Walk out, approach the car wreck and watch D0g going rampage on the Combine.
Afterwards D0g will open up a path for you. Go through, climb over the fence
and walk over the rubble on the left inside the house.

[The Uprising]
Ah, you're back to the play ground - but - they have nearly completely
destroyed it. Not it's personal! Proceed to the main station, destroying two
sentry drones and meeting four rebels on the way. The uprising really has
begun, so take them with you as your squad. Pressing C sends them to where
you currently aim at; pressing C twice makes them follow you again. Another
rebel drops down some supply crates. Pick up their contents and look out for
two Combine opening a gate to your right.

[Hoppers]
Usually you would have to clear the hole, jump down and try your best to
avoid the blast of the hopper mines, but there is an easy way to get through
here safely: Stand on the corrugated iron, look straight down and fire the
gravity gun at it. This catapults you high up, allowing you to steer over the
fence to the rebel in midair. Enter the left house for some goodies. Clearing
the rest of the area is rather useless. You would have to deal with some
headcrabs and a lot of hoppers, with only sometimes one of your squad members
coming along later on as a reward. Since you meet three new squad members on
this side of the fence anyway, I'd say you just move on.

The strider on your right luckily isn't interested in you and your squad, but
the lone Combine on the guard tower on the left is. Use either the crossbow
or the pulse-rifle. Then equip the gravity gun and hunt down those headcrabs.
A bunch of hoppers drops down from above, so you better know how to deal with
them: If the light on top of them is green, they mean no harm, but if it is
red, they will hop up (now you know why they're called hoppers) when you get
too close and blow up upon landing. Unfortunately you cannot do anything
about them until they are in midair. Once they are, hurl them away with the
gravity gun, hence you better watch out to approach them in such a way that
they can fly over a rather long distance and not straight into a wall in
front of you. If there is no big space behind them, approach them and retreat
when they hop up.

Look on the truck for health, turn on the flashlight and clear the right path
of two hoppers. Use the pulse-rifle against a Combine appearing in the window
up ahead and another one running in from the left. Search for a medi kit in
the hut on the right which triggers another Combine to appear in the window
above the other shack. Pull in an explosive barrel and hurl it at him. Move
on, firing the crossbow on a Combine down the alley. Then look left to the
lambda symbol. Long time no see. At first I though you would have to climb up
the shack and onto the balcony, but actually it is far simpler: Approach the
left end of the shack to open it.

Watch out for the hopper near the explosive barrel. It's best just to ignore
it and to stay out of its reach. Pick up the barrel with the gravity gun and
throw it at the three Combine around the corner. If any survives, fire off
some pulse-ammo. If the one behind the barricade still lives, blow up the
barrels that stand near him. Pick up the medi kit inside the shack.

[House Battles]

Ignore the stairs (there's only some ammo and two zombies upstairs) and leave
the building. Go right, fill up your squad with new rebels and enter the
house nearby. Down in the basement are some supply crates, only guarded by a
single headcrab. Walk up the stairs to the second storey and position
yourself at the second glass door on the left. Pull out the shotgun, aim for
the Combine behind the door, open it and quickly kill this enemy as well as
another one on the left. Now go back and walk around a different corner to
find some more Combine. Once the storey is clear, look around for supply
crates. Snipe at a Combine standing outside, drop down the hole in the floor
and hurl two sentry guns away with the gravity gun, before using the health
panel.

Keep the gravity gun equipped, haste along the street to the right, break
open the window on the right with the gravity gun to find a supply crate and
when you get close to the Combine barricade, simply ignore it. It will be
closed and guarded by infinite enemies, so instead of battling them, enter
the building on the left where you kill two Combine with the pulse-rifle (one
of them is on a higher level). Watch out for two hoppers, kill another
Combine on the stairs and smash some supply crates on the highest storey.
Drop down twice.

You're at the back side of the barricade and somehow the Combine have stopped
spawning. Hmmm. Shoot the few enemies around and walk up to the other
building. Enter the right-most room, strike a Combine with a close-up shotgun
burst and while you open the crate your squad should deal with the other
enemy in the next room. Enjoy the suit energy panel. Enter the cellar, open
three crates and wield the shotgun against quite a few Combine in the hallway.

Walk down the stairs, switch to the SMG (you probably don't have that much
shotgun ammo left by now) and again kill lots of Combine in a hallway and in
some adjacent rooms. Push the cupboards forward with the gravity gun for some
easy kills and use the gravity gun against the manhacks as soon as they are
in range.

Down the stairs (refill at the health panel) you have to say good bye to your
squad. Pretty surprising actually; they just suddenly aren't with you anymore.
Deactivate a sentry turret on the left and then two more on the right. Look
down at the ledge to see a zombie crawling around. Kill him with the crowbar
before walking up the stairs to some supply crates. Pull them in with the
gravity gun, move the gun over the fence and see the goodies come in. Get
back down and go along the hallway.

[Tunnels]
Meet up with a new squad. Run straight down the corridor, only hurling away a
manhack if it gets too close. Since new manhacks will appear ever after, it
is useless to destroy them. Climb up the rocks at the end of the tunnel, up
onto the truck and on the fence. Drop down, shoot the lock and go on.

Here now you should wait inside the small room and wait for manhacks to come
in so you can smash them against a wall. Open the supply crates; then kill
the two Combine right behind the door with the pulse-rifle and head to a
lambda symbol down the tunnel on the right. Return to the door and try to
position yourself in such a way that you can see the Combine at the right
machine gun on the far end of the tunnel, but he doesn't shoot at you. Aim
the crossbow between the pillars and take him down. Approach the car in front
of the other machine gun to get close enough for another crossbow hit. Open
three supply crates. Approach the blocked opening to make a rebel plant some
charges at the stuff that blocks the path. Quickly return to the left machine
gun and man it. A few Combine and infinite manhacks will rush in on you. As
soon as you can, hit the Combine (just look at those explosive barrels;
tempting, right? So hit them!) with the machine gun. Against the manhacks the
gravity gun is the better choice as it allows you to dodge attacks.

After a while the opening is...well - open...so go through, try to open the
left door and then crawl through another even smaller opening up ahead. I
hate this passage...hop onto the car (it sinks!), over the crates and onto
the truck. It's time to build a bridge with two objects again. So pick up one
of the cable wire things, place it in the radioactive water, pick up the
other one, step onto the first one, drop the second one, walk onto it, turn
around, pick up the first one and repeat. Don't try to take the seemingly
easy way over the solid platform in the centre, as this would trigger lots f
zombies to stand up. Instead, stay on the water all the time, also just
pulling in the medi kit later on with the gravity gun. This way you will only
have to fight two zombies (shotgun) up to the end of the passage. Ignore the
two other zombies there, turn left, jump over to the pipes at the wall and
walk up. Open any of the vents (it really doesn't matter which one you pick),
drop down, smash some crates, open the door for your ally and walk up the
stairs.

[Bridges]
Meet another squad member and let him aid you against some super headcrabs
while you use the gravity gun and keep moving. Pick up the suit energy on the
right side of the car and open a supply crate. Enter the house, kill a single
headcrab with the gravity gun and open the crates after dropping down at the
Combine barricade thing. Go outside, wait for one of your allies to say the
correct password (what a great password, actually... ^^) and enter the
building on the right.

Kill a Combine on the stairs with the shotgun, look for two supply crates in
the dark room nearby, rid the stairs of two more Combine with the pulse-rifle
and once you're at the top, look down into the small hole and eliminate
another soldier with the pulse-rifle. Drop down, head for the room straight
ahead, surprise a Combine with the shotgun and approach the window to get the
bridge lowered (enter the other room in this building for magnum ammo). Cross
it, search for some items and walk up the stairs to find lots of super
headcrabs. Use the shotgun as you haven't got much space to dodge attacks.
Around the right corner is a medkit, guarded by a super zombie. Drop down,
hit the burning super zombie on the lower storey before he gets to jump up to
you, drop down, aim for a normal zombie below, drop down one last time and
hit two super headcrabs with the gravity gun. Feast on the numerous supply
crates, prior to leaving the building on the left.

Take out the grenade throwing Combine on the roof to your right with the
crossbow. Then kill another Combine up ahead with the pulse-rifle and two
more in the building on the left. Before entering it, though, you have to
clear the path of two hoppers. Equip the gravity gun as you are about to face
lots of pesky super headcrabs. Climb up and meet your new squad members.

Stock up and go outside, sniping at a Combine on the left and three on the
right. Lower the bridge with the lever, run across it and defeat two Combine
in close quarter with the pulse-rifle. Just ignore the other enemies on the
roofs. As you enter the building another Combine hops down from above. Give
him a taste of your pulse-rifle as well as two more below. Drop down, smash
the supply crates and position yourself near the windows; several Combine
will rush in from up ahead, so be quick and precise with the pulse-rifle.
Move along the right corridor, look out for an explosion at the ceiling and
kill some more Combine on the upper level. Further move to see some more
enemies on the left. Go up the stairs and hit a Barnacle above it as well as
some more around the corner.

A super zombie drops down, but the shotgun should take him out quickly. Jump
down, dispose of another super zombie and a Combine with the SMG and watch a
nice battle down on the lower storey. If a super zombie comes up to you, kill
him, of course, but otherwise wait for the battle to end and easily eliminate
the few survivors. Go around the corner to where the yellow lambda symbol is.
Like a few minutes ago you have to pull in some supply crates with the
gravity gun and move them over the gate. Afterwards go around the corner into
another hallway.

[Guarding Alyx]
Duck to get the sentry tower into the reach of your gravity gun. Then drop
down, kill a headcrab and restock at the wall panels while Alyx makes for a
great return. Enter the living room to trigger a lot of Combine to come by.
Use the pulse-rifle against them and hide behind the furniture every few
seconds. Proceed to another suit energy panel, go down the stairs and take
out another Combine with the pulse-rifle. Alyx assumes there's some sort of
command station in the next room. While she will storm through the right door,
you are assigned the left one. Open it and strike hard at three Combine with
the pulse-rifle.

Walk outside onto the square. Alyx heads for the control station at the
liquid shield thing, trying to expose a crucial energy core. In the meantime
you have to defend her. This might seem hard and it can be, but it doesn't
have to. Ignore the single guards on the watch tower and on the balcony; your
squad will deal with them. You just position yourself close to Alyx. Destroy
the manhacks with the gravity gun and except for that, mainly stay behind the
shield and use the panels if you need to. Infinite Combine rush in from the
sides. Your allies stay close to you and if you are where I tell you to be,
they will be pretty safe (especially since they duck behind the low walls)
and they should keep most Combine away. Whenever an enemy still manages to
get close to Alyx or even just close to the fountain, get out and quickly
kill him with the pulse-rifle. Otherwise watch the Combine and if you see
that a few of them stand close together, step out and toss a grenade at them.
Even if it misses them, it still slows them down. Absolutely do not try to
run to the enemies here. It is dangerous and useless at the same time as new
ones spawn nearly immediately. The tactic I suggest you keeps the Combine
alive for a long time, but this isn't a bad thing, as they don't do any harm
and as none will spawn as long as the older ones still live. After a pretty
long while, the energy core will finally be visible, yet it still is
protected by a final layer. Wait for Alyx to tell you that it is time to use
the gravity gun on the core. Do so, kill two elite Combine (yup; a new kind
of enemy) and retreat with Ms. Vance through the newly opened gate. Watch her
climb up if you want to or just enter the canal instantly, smash a supply
crate and go down the stairs.

[Separated again]
Use the gravity gun to pull up the wooden bar that blocks the door. Open it
and while you're at it, stick with the gravity gun. Destroy two manhacks with
it. Then pull away one of the barrels on the right, climb up onto the pipes,
destroy two more manhacks, crawl through the vent and, guess what, destroy a
manhack. Don't drop down just yet. Instead pull down some of the cardboard
boxes up ahead to reveal a supply crate which you also pull down. Once you
are down, too, several manhacks come from the left. Destroy them to get
access to some health and suit energy behind them.

Enter the staircase and toss a grenade up and left to hopefully dispose of
three Combine. If any survive, use the magnum. Drop down from storey to
storey (ignore the zombies or use the pistol against it) until you see two
more Combine in front of you. Like so many times before, the pulse-rifle
works best. Then turn around and search for a ladder at a pipe. Get to the
upper end of the ladder and climb down to find two supply crates. Climb back
up, enter the room to the right of the Combine corpses and take care of a
toxic headcrab with the gravity gun. Also use it to pull up another wooden
bar which blocks a door.

Open the door and hit a Combine around the corner. Wait for a normal headcrab
and a toxic one to come by. Then go around the corner, kill another headcrab,
then a Combine at the end of the passage, a Barnacle on the right and a toxic
headcrab up the stairs. The suit energy, grenades and health should be worth
the additional shooting (note that you have to use the gravity gun in order
to get the items).

Go back and into the trench. There has been a severe battle between Combine
and zombies here, so there shouldn't be a lot of opposition here anymore.
Follow the trench to the right for a medikit. Afterwards search around for
lots of various headcrabs and even a fat zombie. The reward is some supply
crates at the end of a hallway. Also look out for a yellow lambda symbol
where the fat zombie was; pull in some items in a small hole in the wall.

Climb up the ladder, defeat another headcrab and climb over the rubble into a
big hall. Move up (there is some health on the right behind two barrels),
haste over the bridge, use the health and energy panels and snipe at two
Combine up ahead above you. Call the platform via the lever and snipe at two
more Combine. Once the platform has arrived, push the lever again and quickly
board the platform. Turn around to not be surprised by a Combine during your
ride. Kill another one on the other side and debark. Shoot a Combine above
with the pulse-rifle and/or the SMG, climb up the ladder, snipe at two elite
Combine and proceed on the right rail of the platform lift. Shoot another
elite Combine above with the pulse-rifle, climb up the ladder at the green
tower (this sure took me a while to find...) to the highest level and turn
right to quickly kill two white Combine. Hide behind the barrels on the left,
pull in an explosive barrel and hurl it down at the two enemies pretty much
right in front of you. Climb down the ladder one level, look for good stuff
(especially behind the red container) and then drop down to the hopper.
Ignore it and go through the door where another hopper awaits you. Approach
it and briefly retreat once it jumps up.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-3.12 Chapter 11 - "Follow Freeman!"-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=C11

[Snipers]
Open some supply crates and go outside. Haste along the left wall, hiding
from the sniper up ahead whenever possible. Then, once you are next to a
truck and a trash bin, run behind another truck, then behind a car and
finally rush towards the sniper. Beneath the window you are safe, so take
your time and throw up a grenade. Open the supply crates. Carefully go around
the corner where another sniper controls the street. Haste across the street
into the room with the big windows. Break open a supply crate, leave the room
and run on to the right, while strafing and jumping to hopefully avoid some
of the sniper attacks.

Enter the left building; kill two headcrabs with the gravity gun and a super
zombie in the dark area with the shotgun. Enter the bathroom for some medi
kits. Head down the ramp and go over to the hurt rebel. Defend him against
some zombies with the shotgun. Further down the water corridor are two super
zombies. Either use either use the pulse-rifle or the shotgun. It depends on
which ammo you can afford to use at the moment.

Go up the stairs to some zombies you can luckily ignore completely: A sniper
on the left takes care of them. Once he's done with them, lob a grenade into
the sniper's window. In case you keep missing, there is a grenade crate
nearby. Move on to meet Barney, asking you to eliminate two snipers. They
aren't visible at the moment, so walk up onto the roof to trigger them. One
is at the end of the roof (go down one storey to get him) and your second
victim is on the left, attackable from the roof (of course both of them are
behind windows again).

Approach Barney, help him against two toxic headcrabs and follow him down a
pile of rubble to a Combine console he manages to hack to open the path to a
supply crate and two poisonous headcrabs (gravity gun).

[Big Bertha]
Go outside to a small backyard and pull in an explosive barrel from the right.
Hurl it up at two Combine and a Sentry Turret. Smash the supply crate and
move on to see the true power of the Combine weapon you are aiming to destroy.
Go down the stairs, destroy the hopper, use the gravity gun against the
Sentry Turret on your left and destroy yet another hopper.

Outside you will have to tackle the super weapon: A devastating beam comes
down at a certain spot every few seconds. This spot is always right at the
point you are going to be at when the beam strikes. Since you can see where
it will strike next, you can try to dodge it. When you see it in front of you,
stop and go back a few feet, as the weapons also has a blast radius. Note
that you are safe under a roof or any under solid object. Head for the
container near the pit for some health and some cover. Then get back out,
turn left and run over the rubble. Somehow you seem to be more safe here than
on the street. Head for the door, enter the building and kill two Combine
with the pulse-rifle.

After patching yourself up at the health panel, open the next door, wait for
the beam to strike again and run outside, heading for the small bunker ahead,
which is only lightly guarded. Ignore any other enemies on the right and just
proceed ahead to the next building. Two Combine will leave it when you
approach it and another one waits inside. Pick up some more stuff and leave
on the right. Head for the museum or whatever it is to be safe from the super
weapon, but on the other hand you will have to face four normal Combine and
an elite Combine. You might want to consider using not only the pulse-rifle
but also its secondary fire. Walk past the main entrance, pull a plug behind
the force field and enter the museum.

[A Visit to the Museum]
Open the left door. See those blue laser lines? These activate sunken Sentry
Guns which observe a certain area after having been activated. This one,
luckily, is rather harmless. Walk into the laser, step back and you should be
fine. Roll a grenade at the Gun while it is up to destroy it. In a small room
behind you are infinite grenades and two supply crates.

The main hall. Hurl a grenade at the Combine appearing behind the force field
at the exit sign and finish them off with the pulse-rifle. Then break the
blue lasers nearby and destroy the two Sentry Guns. The first one can be
struck without entering its area of sight, but for the other one you have to
swiftly go around the corner, throw the grenade and retreat. Eliminate two
Combine in the dark.

Go up the stairs, pass by on the lasers and rescue some reinforcements. Then
equip a grenade, break the lasers, quickly step around the left corner and
toss a grenade into both Guns without them being able to even see you.
Afterwards enter the room behind the Guns to find two wall panels and the
first shield generator. Use the gravity gun as you did when Alyx lowered the
shields on the square. Go back to face lots of Combine and an elite Combine
coming up the stairs you already came up from. I highly suggest a well aimed
secondary fire of the pulse-rifle.

Now search for a bridge near the stairs (not the one opposite of it), walk
over it, take a right and enter a room you are about to get trapped in. Stay
close to the various openings in the walls (patrol along all of them) to get
a shot at some Combine behind them. After a while one of the doors is about
to be opened. Hit the two hoppers with the gravity gun so they land near that
door. Once the door is open, a few more Combine enter the room, getting a
taste of their own hopper medicine. Finish them off with the pulse-rifle.
Also watch out for the other door which will also be opened (not as obviously,
though) by two soldiers. Move on, go through the lasers and do not destroy
the guns. Instead bunny-hop towards them and wait in between them for them to
cease fire. Then deactivate the generator, which also takes care of the Guns
and restock at the health panel.

Go over to the other wing of the building (either via the bridges or via the
main staircase), tell your squad to stay back and break another blue laser.
Toss a grenade at the only Sentry Gun and hide behind the table until the
grenade explodes. The Gun guarded some grenades and health.

Now again tell your squad to halt and enter a nearby room with lots of red
lasers and a hopper at the entrance. Dispose of the hopper, jump onto the
structure right in front of you, walk left past the first few lasers and hop
onto the block up ahead. Turn right to jump over the next lasers. Get onto
the round thing with the pipes sticking out, walk around it and jump onto the
pipe at the wall. Your way leads up the shelf, onto the right shelf and then
onto the big solid console nearby. The rest should be self-explaining over
the pipes to the switch which turns off the whole security including the
hoppers.

Destroy the last generator which triggers loads of Combine and elite Combine
to spawn on the ground floor at the main hall. Throw down a few grenades and
kill the survivors with the pulse-rifle. Follow Barney down through the exit
passage, destroy three hoppers, use the wall panels and proceed to a Combine
console, Barney is about to hack. Enter the newly opened gate, take out a
Sentry Turret (gravity gun) and two Combine (pulse-rifle) to clear the way up
to the roof.

[On the Rooftop]
Simply run along the roofs, killing some Combine with the pulse-rifle (and
taking cover, while your men keep fighting) until you reach a health panel
and a suit energy panel. As you use these, a gunship takes off. Fire off your
first three missiles from where you are at the moment and then head back to
the beginning of the roof area. There is a missile crate and luckily the
gunship stays rather close here so you can take it down pretty easily.

Stay near this crate for a while until you see a dropship coming from the
right. Hit the strider down below to not get bored as you wait. The dropship
drops three Combine and an elite Combine which will open the gate at the
panels, rushing towards you. Staying close to the gate is pretty much
suicidal on the hard difficulty setting, even if you use the hoppers, but
staying near the missile crate allows for a good overview of the situation
and the enemy position and it allows for the use of the missile launcher.
Just wait for the enemies to come into reach and kill them.

Move on to near the gate and snipe at an enemy in a guard tower. Move on
until you stand behind a container. Pull in the three supply crates, smash
them, bunny-hop to the switch near them, activate it and hop back. This
lowers the bridge over to a heavily guarded building where infinite enemies
keep coming. Fortunately you also have just triggered four rebels to join you.
Stay behind the container, waiting for the first three enemies to run over
the bridge. After having killed them, get onto the bridge yourself and use
the secondary fire of the pulse-rifle to kill three more enemies across the
bridge. Now let your squad lead the way and use the secondary fire again upon
reaching the other end. There shouldn't be much resistance left and as the
Combine stop respawning as soon as you successfully cross the bridge, you can
simply clear the rooms in close-quarter battles with the pulse-rifle. Drop
down the stairs.

[War of the Worlds]
Welcome to the spectacular battle against the striders. Run to the front
porch of the museum where some rebels are already fighting against the
striders. Fire off your first three missiles and run on into the pit up ahead.
Walk through the canal, wait for the second strider to cease firing and
quickly run out of the canal and up the rubble. Then take a left into the
building where you can nab some missiles. Fire them off, leave the building
through where entered it and head for the bunker in the centre of the plaza.
Again, pick up some missiles and use them to finish the job.

Proceed to the big pile of rubble, search for a passage through it and
restock at the missile crate. Take down another strider up ahead. Afterwards
step back and witness the striders' true power: A new strider coming from the
right fires its laser beam at the corner of the building, blowing a hole into
it. First destroy the strider then search for a health panel inside. Get back
and use the missile launcher against some Combine at a barricade down the
street. Go there, walk down the stairs and smash some crates.

[Big House]
Briefly step out onto the street to attract a Combine on your right. Retreat
and kill him when he's gotten close to