a FAQ/Walkthrough for Half-Life by black hole sun last updated on September 13 version Final ____ |__ \ \ \ \ \ / \ H a l f / _ \ L i f e / / \ \ __ / / \ \ / / / / \ \/ / / / \ / /__/ \__/ This guide may NOT be freely distributed among the WWW. This guide may NOT appear on ANY site, or be linked to on ANY site, but GameFAQs and GameSpot. This guide may not be ripped off, meaning you cannot paraphrase this and submit it under your name. It may not be redistributed electronically or physically, except for personal, private use. Anyone who violates these terms of service is subject to the punishment of the full extent via various copyright violations. ------------------------------------------------- i. The easiest just got easier! (Version History) ------------------------------------------------- v. Final - Okay I lied. Maybe ONE more update, just to fix the last of the errors. v. Final - After three more damn updates, I STILL haven't rid this damn thing of 79 character violations and other text corruption. Grr. If this update doesn't do it, well, too bad becasue I am SO sick of updating this thing. v. Final - Damn MSWord. Currupts everything I send. Changed the extension to .txt, maybe that’ll help. v. Final - Reformatted the whole f’in thing so it wasn’t so eye-soringly plain as it was. Except the walkthrough. That was fine to begin with. No more updates, as I have way too many things to finish and much too little time. Not only that, but there’s nothing left to do with this thing. v. 6.0 - I re-wrote nearly half of it, but I kept the main sentance structure intact. I made explanations a lot clearer and I fixed a boat load of grammar and spelling mistakes, and I caught some mis-information errors. v. 5.0 - Changed the art around--again. Added my little sig to the intro. Another minor update but hey--what do you expect? The walkthrough is done; I submitted this guide when it was fully completed. I’m just tinkering around with the format to make it look the best it can before I put this guide to rest and move on. Also I found a numbering error and fixed it. v. 4.0 - Well, as you may have noticed I brang this guide back from the version Final simply because I kept on updating. Also for the first time I added a version history. As for this versions changes, I removed the lame art and replaced it with what it originally was, an alpha symbol. Other then that I reformatted, and changed some lousy grammar mistakes. ------------------------------------------------- ii. T a b l e o f C o n t e n t s ------------------------------------------------- i. Introduction ii. Weapon Details iii. Enemy FAQ iv. Walkthrough Level Sections: • Anomalous Materials • Unforeseen Consequences • Office Complex • We’ve Got Hostile’s • Blast Pit • Power Up • On A Rail • Apprehension • Residue Proceeding • Questionable Ethics • Surface Tension • Forget About Freeman! • Lambda Core • Xen • Gonarchs Lair • Interloper • Nihilanth • End Game v. Cheats vi. The Final Word ______ _____ _______ _______ |@@@@@@| 999999002 | | 02934830248 39940 | | 002200 |0000666| ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ i. I n t r o ______ _____ _______ _______ |@@@@@@| 999999002 | | 02934830248 39940 | | 002200 |0000666| ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ “Black hole sun, won’t you come...and wash away the rain...black hole sun, won’t you come, won’t you come” - SoundGarden Well, here I am, come to wash away the rain of questions you have for this game, and welcome to one of the greatest games ever created, and the guide for it. I got this game for the first time on Christmas of 2001, and have rarely put it down since. When I’m not playing it because I get a newer one for my GCN or PS2, as sure as the rising sun I come back to Half-Life when the newer one has worn out. This is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, FPS of all time. In 1998, when it was released, it had some pretty stiff competition in the FPS genre...it had to live up to the standards of the previously released Golden Eye, which ended up selling over 10 million copies. It had be at least as good as Metal Gear Solid for PS1, which is regarded as one of the best PS1 games of all time. So, this game, contrived by complete no-name developers, who never published anything before, had to live up to some incredible quality. Yet it surpassed all critics, however, and became the greatest thing since Doom, revolutionizing yet again the FPS industry. If you end up not liking this game, well, the fact is you can’t, and if you do not like it you got yourself a severe case of fanboyism and denial ;) You may be wondering why I decided to write for such an old game. Since Half-Life is one of my all time favorites, and many other people’s, I thought the H-L section in GameFAQs would be swarming with guides. But no; only one actual walkthrough contributed by a reader, the other a link to a GameSpot one. Both were rather vague and missing at points. So, I decided “why not”? I must admit; this was an easy guide to write for me, playing through it about the dozen times I’ve done so already, so I should provide accurate strategy and information. I am on a three month summer vacation(w00t for me!), so I spent as much time as I wanted with this. So, sit back, relax, and have fun with Half-Life, and don’t forget to come here with any problems or questions you might have. ______ _____ _______ _______ |@@@@@@| 999999002 | | 02934830248 39940 | | 002200 |0000666| ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ii. W e a p o n D e t a i l s ______ _____ _______ _______ |@@@@@@| 999999002 | | 02934830248 39940 | | 002200 |0000666| ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ____________ \ Crowbar \ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ The crowbar is the first weapon in the game you will be able to use. If its name didn’t tip you off, you can slash stuff with it. Use it on crates, glass, or anything else that needs to be destroyed or broken. Its not a very efficeint or powerful weapon, but when your run out of ammo, your crowbar is always there. _________________ \ 9mm Hand Gun \ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ This 17-clip hand gun is standard issue among Black-Mesa personel. Every FPS shooter has one of these; the one gun you can really rely on when your machine guns ammo is depleted. Aside from its unusually good damage rates, this is very plain. It’s got decent accuracy, even from the longer ranges, standard low recoil, and good firing rates. A nice thing about it is it sounds really life-like; like something you hear on a shoot-out on an episode of “Cops”. ____________ \ Magnum \ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ The magnum, straight out of the wild wild west, is of a great and poweful caliber that easily kills. One shot does in a marine, three for an alien grunt, and two for those troublesome xen masters. The main problem, aside from its abvious slow firing rates and reloaing times, is you can’t carry very much ammo for it; only a make of 41 bullets. Ammo for this gun is hard to find, so use it economically. ________ \ MP5 \ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Containing a 50 round clip that can be emptied in less then 5 seconds, this is the weapon of choice amongst special-ops military forces. It has surprisingly good accuracy but low damage rates, especially against the strong alien scum you’ll face in this game. It has a grenade launch secondary fire, which is the only reason its a worthwhile weapon. The grenades in the MP5 have excellent accuracy and detonate on impact, with just as much power a hand grenade, leaving very little (or no) time for the enemy to escape the blast radius. __________ \ Shotgun \ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Found only in weapon and supply crates, the shotgun is what we’d all come to expect: loud, intimidating, powefully wild, and a good weapon for a hard-ass such as yourself . It has a secondary fire of a double-barrel double blast, which increases the power. Your best bet against bullsquid, marines, or vortiguants. ________ \ Gauss \ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ A manical radiation-spewing powerhouse, this baby was born and raised in the dark research laboratories of Black Mesa. You can fire single shots, which usually (and literally) blow-up an entire enemy. The secondary fire allows for even more power, it being a charged shot. However, when using the charge shot, don’t let it overcharge since unwanted things may happen... _______________ \ Hornet Gun \ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ A weapon of alien origin, usually located as a body part of an alien grunts. It spits out hornets(duh) which on primary fire home-in on anything with a pulse. The ammo is infinite, though the longer you hold the fire button the fewer hornets the thing fires. Let it recharge(or create more...however it works) to let a whole pack of the bugs loose. It isn’t very powerful, but, like the crowbar, useful when all other ammo is depleted. _________ \ Egon \ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Death. Destruction. God-like power. These would all be synonmys with the egon gun if it were real. It fires a blue beam that completely disintergrates enemies when its placed upon something. The most poweful firearm(if it could be called that) in the game, besides the fully charged Gauss. Very useful against grunts, but its ammo can be drained easily. ________________________ \ RPG (Rocket Launcher) \ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Long, heavy, and spits out something fun(kinda like... ;), the rocket launcher is also a standard among FPS’s. When firing rockets make sure you aim the laser at your target the whole time; the rockets can be controlled using the laser. Its slow to reload and the blast radius is large, making it a not-so-ideal weapon up close. Mainly you should use it against clusters of large enemies that are somewhat away from you. ___________ \ Stachel \ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Deceptively looking like a back-pack, its an explosive charge that can be thrown or placedand, then detonated on command. A large blast radius, its great for luring ememies to it then pushing the trigger. __________ \ Snark \ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Smaller version of headcrabs, but much, much faster and quicker. They have low damage rates, but can help you out a jiffy if you need to distract and get by a large enemy. They are killed with one shot from any weapon, and self-distruct after a while, so use them sparingly. _____________ \ Tripmine \ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ A bomb attatched to walls that gives off a laser-beam. When someone or something disrupts its beam it detonates. Not very efficeint because of its small blast range, and its long assembly times. ______ _____ _______ _______ |@@@@@@| 999999002 | | 02934830248 39940 | | 002200 |0000666| ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ iii. E n e m y F A Q ______ _____ _______ _______ |@@@@@@| 999999002 | | 02934830248 39940 | | 002200 |0000666| ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ M a r i n e s Special forces sent in by the government to clean out any and all evidence of Black Mesa. Their orders were simple: to kill all; scientists, aliens, personel...oh and BTW that list includes YOU. They usually always will carry MP5s, but don’t try and use it against them. They wear protecive body armor that makes them almost as strong as you, and couple that with Hard Mode and the weak damage rates of the MP5 and you’ve got yourself a suicide right there. These guys are tough to defeat; they work together, flanking you or using cover fire. They will never be caught in the open; they always will use cover. Your best bet is to blow them up with or blow them away with your magnum. B u l l s q u i d These strange things look and sound like mutated hogs. Mostly they spit out some green radioactive at you, but if you get too close they will swing their powerful nozzle-noses like a baseball bat. The best way to kill them is with the shotgun, double blast. They will follow you until killed or blocked from going farther, almost vendetta like. I t c h y o s a u r The hardest, most terrifying enemy in the game, and not to mention the toughest to pronounce. This, sounding like some neo-dinosaur, is a mutated sharkfish which is fatal and nearly invulnerable in the water, unless your using a crossbow. If your in the water with it will bite you until you are dead, each bite taking about, on estimate, 50 health points each :O. The crowbar is nearly worthless, and your machine guns do not work under water. Your best bet is to avoid it, but if you must kill it use your crossbow from the water or magnum from above the water. H e a d c r a b s Resembling a mutated crab, hence its name, these mainly jump and bite you in mid-air. They are very quick in jumping, but are slow in walking or running, leaving them as easy pickings. Try sparring ammo by using your crowbar on them. V o r t i g u a n t When they see you, they will charge up electricity then fire it in a burst action at you. Like the grunt, if you get two close they will swipe at you, only they will use their sharp claws. The magnum works best for them; one shot will do it. M a w m a n I’m really not sure how these evolved...I think they were scientists who got too close to the alien radiation and then...mutated...or maybe they were standing where the aliens teleported and somehow combined...bah it’s not important. They look and act like Resident Evils’ zombies: their ugly as sin, make messed up noises, walk slowly and clumsily, then swing at you with their claws. And boy does it hurt; 20 to 50 health taken away each clean hit. Stay away and fire at them from a distance; its a life-saver. A l i e n G r u n t They usually use distant attacks, notably their in-grown hornet gun. If you get close enough, they will swipe, which you REALLY don’t want to happen... Try and use grenades or other explosives on them; regular hand gun or MP5 fire won’t usually work. On a side note, when you are killed by them, before loading to the last quiksave, take a look at the grunt and what it will be doing to you...you’ll see :| H o u n d E y e Small, plump, and otherwise hideous aliens that compare strangely to overly bloated and mutated dogs. They charge up energy with their eyes, as you can hear them doing so, then let it all go for a large shockwave that goes through walls. One shotgun shell would do it it, two hangun ammo, about 5 bullets from the MP5. They are pretty easy except when there’s a lot of them together. They are immune to their fellows’ shockwaves, BTW. X e n M a s t e r A alien straight out of Xen, these flying things float and when they see you fire off a yellow energy blast at you. In the air and moving, they make hard targets, and they are remarkably strong for how small they are. Use the magnum; one shot usually takes them down. B a r n a c l e Attatching itself to ceilings with a sticky rope thing hanging from its mouth, it hopes to get something stuck in the web. If something does, the barnacle will start sucking up the rope, sucking it along with it. These are easy to avoid, but if you do get caught in its web just shoot at it enough and the rope wil break, and you will fall to the ground. ______ _____ _______ _______ |@@@@@@| 999999002 | | 02934830248 39940 | | 002200 |0000666| ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ iv. W a l k t h r o u g h ______ _____ _______ _______ |@@@@@@| 999999002 | | 02934830248 39940 | | 002200 |0000666| ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- A N O M A L O U S M A T E R I A L S --------------------------------------------------------------------------- After the 15 minute intro, Barney, the security guard with a thousand lives(you’ll see what I mean later), will open your door and let you out of your cramped little car. Run to the security seals, and wait for Barney as he will unlock both. Through the seals is the Black Mesa Research Facility. In the main reception area of the Black Mesa Research Facility, ignore the receptionist(Barney again...) and enter the hall to the right. Look on the wall for the letters that say “Personal Facilities”. Follow the line it makes to a locker room. To the left are the tubes containing hazard suites. That’s where you’ll find yours. Press the button to raise the glass then run into the suite to put it on. Exit the personal facilities and find the line on the wall that says “Test Chamber.” Follow that to a control center, where you’ll engage in conversation with a trio of old geezers who will babble some unintelligible yet scientific that I couldn’t understand even with a thousand-page dictionary in front of me. The dialogue will end soon(not soon enough :P) and one of them will unlock a door for you. Enter and follow the halls to the next pair of scientists who will talk to you about some more...stuff. Afterwards enter the test chamber and climb the ladder to the computer terminal. In a few seconds the scientists will go on the pager and tell you to activate the “rotors”. Do so by pressing the switch on the computer. Climb back down the ladder and wait until the test unit arrives. First note that a scientist will tell you of a “small discrepancy.” Uh-oh; you know what that means. Sure enough, right after you push in the specimen, the whole place will be plunged into chaotic disarray. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- U N F O R E S E E N C O N S E Q U E N C E S --------------------------------------------------------------------------- After a freaky cutscene in which you’ll be scared out of your wits(or should be...kind of...well, a little...okay I’m just a wimp), you’ll arrive back in the test chamber, with the whole complex falling apart in front of your eye’s. Head back to the blown open security seal and enter it. Press ‘use’ on the malfunctioning switch, making it laboriously open the door. Grab the health pack near the scientist trying to revive a(notice I say ‘a’) Barney, if you need it, which you shouldn’t. Follow the corridor(watch out for the computer terminal that will fall on you when you pass it) to the two scientists that will be crouching near a computer, talking about what went wrong. Press ‘use’ on the african american(didn’t want to say ‘black’---oh :P) scientist until he agrees to follow you. Run to the door and he will unlock it for you using the retinal scanner. In the control center, some electrical bolts will come in through the window. It will blow open the door, but if you pass through one of the beams, well... In the next corridor a pair of lasers will be running wild; duck under them or wait until they give you enough room to walk under them. If you pass through the lasers you will instantly die. Take the crowbar near the door(this is the first weapon you will receive!) near the dead Barney and use it to smash the glass off it. Crouch under and through the displacement and press the switch on the elevator. It will crash, as you can hear three scientists screaming as it goes down. Enter the shaft and climb the ladder to the top. You’ll encounter your first enemy; the mawman. Try your hardest to save Barney by helping him kill the mawman with your crowbar. If you save the Barney, not only do you get a nice, warm, special feeling inside, you can get him to follow you and he will shoot enemies for you. This proves very useful. With Barney, backtrack to the reception area. Once there, kill Barney with your crowbar :O. He may try and resist, but if you slash him quickly with your crowbar you’ll defeat him easily. The reason for this betrayal was to get his gun. If he died from the mawman, you would have had to use his gun and drain ammo on the headcrabs and mawmen. If Barney lives, then he fires at the enemy not wasting up precious ammo. Crouch under the hole near the desk and shoot the headcrab. If you need it there’s a health station to the right; press and hold ‘E,’ your Use key, to gain lost health back. Use the fallen mainframe as a ramp up to the shaft. Enter it and drop down to the floor. Witness a brutal attack on a scientist by a headcrab in the bulletproof windows to the left. Helpless to stop it, enjoy watching the scientists pathetic attempts to save himself. At the end of the corridor you’ll find a dead mawman, killed by another Barney, though in the process he himself was killed. Take the health from the station if you need it, then take Barney’s ammo and enter the sliding doors. You’ll find some aliens that look like fat dogs with one giant eye and sound like mice. Well, those are called “houndeye”. Check my ‘Enemy FAQ’ for more info. Kill it with two shots from your hand gun, then watch out because another will warp to you a little ways ahead. To the left is a hall, head through it to find a mystery: Look up at its end. You will see what looks like a business executive holding a briefcase, looking down at you from the walkway. Shoot him and he will simply walk away. How strange... Kill the next two houndeye in the room then jump into the small storage room with a medical station, if you need it. If not enter the door to your right. Kill the headcrab then climb the ladder to the top, but don’t get off the ladder; just peak above it and you’ll see some mawman and headcrabs. Fire a few shots at the barrels behind them to...take care...of the problem. To the right of where the aliens were is a scientist cowering in the corner. Get him to follow you and lead him across the walkway the business exec went. You’ll find a mawman and a locked door. Kill the mawman before it kills the scientist. The scientist will unlock a door to a room full of goodies; ammo clips and 10 grenades. Take all you can carry, then go back down to ground level where you fought the two houndeye. This time take a left by the health station. Walk up to the locked door; a mawman will spawn(err...you know what I mean) behind it, and it will rip open the door. Kill it, then enter the doorway to find some clips for your hand gun. To the right of the fan is a dumpster with a scientist in it. Looks like Black Mesa has been circumventing budget cuts. Behind it is a health station BTW. Notice the drainage hole in the center of the room. Down it are two headcrabs; kill them before you drop into it. Also before you drop into it, look across from the hole to a mawman, blocked by a metal framed fence. You have to get across that fence. Drop into the drainage hole and you’ll come to some sewage pipes. Look around a bit to find a wheel. Turn it and the water levels will rise, forcing Gordon to swim. As the levels rise, guess what! You can reach higher area’s then you could before! Ahhhh--the laws of physics at work... Swim to the roof of the pipes and find another drainage hole, this one allowing access to the other side of the metal fence. In the next area you’ll find a lift. This part is very tricky. Save right here(F6). Press the lever by the dead Barney to make the lift descend, and jump on and over the rail to catch up with it. However, infinite crabs appeared out of a shaft. While your going down, they ALL will attack making this part impossible, UNLESS YOU DUCK. So, right when you get on the lift, go to the point nearest the wall and duck. This way the crabs will not see you, thus won’t attack. At the bottom your lift will act as a bridge from the muck, which coincidentally has a large shredder hidden in its shallow depths. Take the health from the station if needed, then kill the newly teleported houndeye. Break all the boxes with your crowbar to reveal a good many clips for your hand gun. Enter the corridor and stop at the bridge. A bullsquid will materialize in the air about a five feet above the bridge, but the heavy thing’s impact will cause the bridge to collapse. Use the pipes to the right as an alternate route. Jump from the highest point near the shaft to where the bridge was leading(the shaft leads to the same place). Take the batteries in the hall then proceed to find another area with a broken bridge. Before hopping down, though, look at the aliens across the muck. The big bullsquid will kill all of the headcrabs, doing your job for you. Nice to know the bullsquid have no political affiliation. Kill the it once it has outlived its usefulness then drop into the muck(there’s a health station in the dark corner to the right). Follow where it leads(watch out for the barnacles) to another health station and to the other side of the muck. Enter the door, follow the shaft, to a jumping puzzle. Climb both ladders to the top, then use the hanging crates as a means to cross the abyss. From here, find the elevator behind you. Press the switch to open it, the press it again inside to make it go down...or up...whatever. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- O F F I C E C O M P L E X --------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the dark area there will be about 5 crabs to your left. Don’t worry about any of them; sit back and watch them all get zapped by the exposed electrical wire. Since your name is not Rambo, you also cannot cross its path. Enter the small shaft just before the wire and follow it right to the area behind the locked doors. Watch the scientist get eaten by the barnacle(hehe...that’s funny to watch) then proceed to the small room to the right. That is where you can power down the electrical wire. Do so by pulling the lever then exit from the doors and proceed to the table. Push it to the window, jump on top of it, and break the glass with your crowbar/enter the office region. To the left you’ll find a small brown door that’s not openable. Wait a second and mawman will break it open for you(don’t kill it until he finishes opening the door!). In there you’ll find two clips for your hand gun. Go back to the place where you entered and look through the broken window. In the office you’ll find water on the floor(???), a headcrab on a table, and another electrical wire hanging from the ceiling. Well, put the pieces together and you’ll find that you’ll be fried if you step on the floor. So, jump on the table and RUN to the light switch. Turn it off to turn off the electricity. Before entering the shaft throw in one or two grenades to take care of some future problems. In the shaft you’ll find a large moving fan...don’t get in its path. Crouch under it to the next part of the floors ceiling. It will break and you will fall to the floor. Kill the two headcrabs that will fall with you, then push the two crates together and align them with the ladder above you. Once done, get on the ladder and take it to the part of the ceiling from which you fell, then break the grate and fall to the next level of the ceiling. Break the next grate to a new area patrolled by a chain gun, or turret. Wait a few seconds for some dumbass scientist to run into the area, chased by a headcrab, and watch them both be killed by the rain of bullets. Wait for the turrets sound to stop. That means its back in its s, or whatever you call it, and it cannot sence your presence. Jump from where you are and hide behind the metal crate. RUN to the area under the turret to its switch and turn it off. In the corridor to the north you’ll find the shotgun(finally: a decent weapon...) and some ammo for it. Enter the corridor the scientist and headcrab came from. You’ll find about 7 headcrabs; throw two grenades at them, run away, then come back after the boom to find the place secure; messy, but secure. Head up the stairs and from there find Barney(that guy is everywhere!). Get him to follow you, and go down the ramp. A few aliens will teleport; let Barney kill them. Afterwards take all the clips of ammo from the crates. Now go back up the ramp to the next large chamber. You’ll find it littered with mawman and headcrabs. Let Barney take care of them all then go to the boarded up entrance. Break it down with the crowbar and continue to the entrance to the freezer. Kill the two mawman, take the health, then enter the freezer. The door will lock behind you. First your going to have to eliminate any and all alien monsters...so you go do that. When you find a switch, pull it with ‘use’ to make the platform above you start going back and forth. Backtrack to where you entered the freezer and find the ladder. Use it to get to the shaft. Break it open using the jump while crouching. The Crouch-Jump will be a very important tactic for you to utilize in this game, so get used to it. Following the shaft you’ll come to a ledge, and following that you’ll come to the platform you set in motion. Get on it then get quickly get to the other side. You being in the dark here, it may be wise to turn on your light[F]. If you have it on you’ll find a headcrab, so kill it and follow the shaft to its end. It will be a small ventilation area...I do hope our Gordon doesn’t have claustrophobia. Take the ladder up(there’s some shot gun ss littered around here...what a strange place for them to be located :|) and enter the shaft. Follow that to the end to another area with some stairs. Don’t worry though; there is no turret awaiting, but there are some headcrabs and mawman to deal with. Take care of them(if you enter the locked office to the left using the Crouch-Jump technique, you’ll find some shotgun ss and health) then enter the shaft. In there you’ll have to play a deadly game of jumping ladder to ladder making your way upward. Atop you’ll be on an inactive elevator. Break the grate, drop into it, and press the switch. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- W E ‘ V E G O T H O S T I L E S --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exit the elevator and turn right. Ignore the frantic scientist and take what you need from the health and HEV stations. Continue down the hallway to face a mounted turret; use a grenade or double-barrel buck shot on it. Continue past it(a vortiguant will spawn once you pass the turret) and you’ll find some tripmines. Shoot at their mechanisms from a distance to be rid of them. Navigate to the kitchen area with a pair of soda machines to the right. Two vortiguants will teleport to your location; kill them then enter the hall to the left. You’ll face two turrets, destroy them then hop up on the crates to the top. You’ll veiw two more turrets; destroy them then drop down. Once you do RUN to the fire door, get through it, then smash the glass with a bullet to make the fire door slowly close. You closed the door because you’d otherwise face around 20 headcrabs that will teleport, one after another. The crabs cannot enter through that iron mounted barricade, if you didn’t know. Jump up and past the crates to a hall with spilled water. The water makes it slippery; you could easily fall into the empty shaft or go around the corner to unsuspectingly face a turret. Walk or crawl past the water, destroy the turret, and then break all of the boxes to reveal a good many clips and grenades. Go up the ladders, pass the walkway(watch for the barnacles) to find what all of the science team and the many Barney’s have been whispering about: the government has arrived! Your saved! But before you rush into the arms of the military officer watch him for a moment...a scientist will run to him, but the marine will shoot and kill him! Apparently the government is your new enemy; in the game as well as in real life ;) I guess the government chose to cover this up...by killing everyone and anything that knows about the Black Mesa project. Well...that’s democracy at work for you. Kill the new enemy and take his gun, the MP5. Take the clips for it on the crates then get on the elevator. Atop you’ll come to a coordinated assault from the marines. Try and kill them up-close, as from afar as they like to shoot grenades at you. A single or double shotgun blast should do them in. Either way kill everything then head up the ramp to the walkway. At the top enter the doorway, cross the walkway, and you’ll come to a preemptive strike from the marines. Throw a grenade from the ledge you are on to the floors below. This might kill a few, but it surely will scatter them all. Next, run away from the entrance, otherwise you’ll be bombarded by their grenades they never seem to run out of [face_angry]. Get to one of the lower walkways and snipe off the rest of the remaining marines, then go to the elevator. Press the switch to make it go up and you’ll come to the surface. Take health from the station, then RUN to the center of the large fenced area. It will be a bomb shed. Enter it then go down the ladder. Suck up some health from the chargers then enter the shaft. Wait for an explosion and a rain of debris will fall from the sky, allowing you a quick drop into the wreckage and to make your way to the bottom. Crouch into the vent shaft and get to the loading point. If done quickly enough, you’ll avoid all military interference that would have come from above. From this shaft, navigate through about 3 more shafts, but watch out; some are decoys that contain only ammo or other supplies. Find the correct ones and you’ll arrive at the silo control room. Press the switch, then take the shotgun ammo. Enter the silo doors. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- B L A S T P I T --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Take out your crowbar and use it against the barricade. Kill the two headcrabs on the other side then pick off from a distance the bullsquid. Head to the controls(watch the mawman that will break open the door) and pull the lever. This will make a lift come up. Get on it then press the switch to...guess...make the lift go down! Take the health then get on the tram car. Press ‘use’ on its controls and press forward to make it go faster. While on it, your practically invincible against all the monsters that would cause you harm. It will run over some, swish past others. Once the tram car reaches and goes past a wooden arm jump off. Why? The car will be out of control from here on out and cannot be stopped. If you stay on it will throw you into a pit of radiation when it hits the blockade. So, make your way down the tunnel to where the tram car stopped. Jump on the blockade, then use the blockade to jump to the ledge to the right. Follow that ledge to the end and you’ll encounter a bullsquid. Double barrel it between its eye’s(if you can figure out where those are), climb the ladder and enter the pipe. At its end jump out and kill the bullsquid. Before climbing the next ladder, kill the bullsquid in the green radiation. Use the pipework as a bridge from the toxic muck, and jump from it to the health kits and batteries. Again use the pipework as a bridge for the radioactive sludge, and get on the lift. Press the switch to make it go up. At the top, go to the right-hand corner and peer around it. You’ll find a bullsquid feeding off a dead scientist. Stand back and shoot the explosive barrels...then view the gruesome sight with pleasure. On the walkway about 7 houndeye will attack you. One s from your trusty shotgun will do in each one. There’s another houndeye on the bridge; shoot the barrels near it to blow it up. However, a portion of the bridge will be blown up as well. Simply make a running leap across that gap. Enter the silo by turning the lever. Listen to the strange noise that sounds like someone banging against the floor. Go through the control room to find a monster loking like a large and mutated finger pulling a scientist to his death. Try pressing the ‘Test Fire’ but it won’t work. Continue on and find Barney. He’ll say “Be Quiet! It hears you!”. Barney is correct. Enter the room with the explosives to get a look at this beast. It has no eye’s, but, as Barney pointed out, it does have a keen sense of hearing. When they hear you, well, look at what the monster will do to the other Barney shooting at it from the ledge :|. You must either crouch or walk past it, as running makes way too much noise. They are invincible as of yet, so don’t even try firing at them. When your on a ladder, there is no way to stop them from hearing you, so stay on the ladder until they are done smashing the floor in front of you, then throw a grenade somewhere as a distraction. Make your way to the first boarded up entrance. Smash it open with your crowbar or grenade and enter. Cross the next bridge, but it may be broken, so jump across it. Enter the door, trek the hall. At the first ladder, look down with your flashlight on. You’ll see a pair of mawmen. Drop a grenade to take care of them, then climb down the ladder under the grate. There, stay on the pipe(ignore the monster behind you) and follow where it leads, to the left to another ladder. Head up and you’ll find another mawmen. Put enough holes in him and he’ll die. Grab the grenades, press the switch to open the door. Kill the two monsters then descend the ladders to the base of the large and inactive fan. Press the switch to turn it on, then head back up to the top. From there jump into the turning blades and you’ll float to the ceiling. Smash the boards with your crowbar, then enter the shaft. Kill the headcrabs and progress to the oxygen and fuel room. Press the switches to turn them both on, then climb the ladder. Return to the room with the giant monster, but this time enter the other boarded entrance, this one on the bottom near the monsters’ base. Proceed across to the bridge. Before or on it, shoot the explosive crate near the bullsquid to blow him up. Cross to where the monster was, take the health kits if necessary, and continue on down the hall. When you find the spilled water, note its location. There are crates in the next room; position them as a bridge for the water. Test your bridge so that you can cross the water without actually touching the water. Why? You’ll learn later. Ignore the elevator(it will malfunction and drop into the radioactive goo) and use the railing to jump to the ladder. Make the long climb down, then jump to the platform. Cross the spilled radioactive matter when you find it, knowing you’ll lose at least 15 health. An enormous cylinder power station is what you’ll come to. Get on the platform, press the switch, and let it swing you to where you need to go. Climb the ladder and you’ll find another of these swinging things, but this one is out of control and is swinging dangerously from point to point. Avoid it and climb up any of the two ladders on this level. Atop the generator press the button to activate it. Do the same for the other side. After this is done, let it be known that you can now destroy the big monster. Backtrack to where you made the bridge of crates to find that the water is now electrified and would kill on contact. Now...aren’t you happy we(‘I’ is more like it) thought ahead? Back at the monsters lair, head back up the ladders to the room with the explosive crates. From there, head back to the room where the monster pulled the scientist to his death. The “Test Fire” button is now operational. Press the switch and put on some sunglasses, ‘cause this baby’s gonna burn big. Go to the hole the monsters occupied. Climb down the ladder then scale the rocks to the bottom(MAKE SURE YOU LAND IN THE WATER POOL!). Take the Barney’s magnum and some ammo for it, then dive back into the pool. Enter the hole on the right, and find the new area to the side. Surface onto the platform. Climb down the ladder to find an HEV and health station. Climb on the pipes, trace them to another set. This one looks strangely like a submarine. Turn the wheel to extend the tube, then enter it. At the end a weak portion of the pipe will collapse from your weight, so make sure you land on a crate to break your fall. Kill the headcrab, grab the health, then break the boxes to find a new item: the tripmine. Enter the hall to encounter a new horror. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- P O W E R U P --------------------------------------------------------------------------- This new horror, which you’ll find by walking forward a bit, is an immense alien called a gargantua. He’s invincible to all else but electricity. Watch the marines’ feeble attempt to kill it, then while the gargantua is distracted RUN to the small corridor behind the marines. From there kill the vortiguants and run past the flaming pipe. Don’t get on the bridge; it will break and would plunge you head first into a maelstrom of about 10 headcrabs. Snipe them all from above then drop down. Follow the corridor, killing vortiguants along the way, to some dark closed doors. Use the wheel to open them and enter the radioactive pit. Climb the ladders, kill the marines, and at the top destroy the turret with a well placed bullet. Turn right and you’ll come to a bunker area filled with the omnipresent military. One is shooting from the cover of explosive crates; you know what to do. Eliminate all the marines in the bunker then go to the lift. Throw a satchel on it and make the lift go down. When the lift is at bottom detonate it, blowing all of the set tripmines. Take the lift down again and follow the walkway to a set of stairs. Go to the lowest level to find a submerged power converter. Break the boxes that are blocking its motion, then head back up the steps to the second lowest level. Press the switch on the console to reactivate power to the station. Backtrack to the gargantua. Run to the huge entrance to the left, the only one big enough for the gargantua itself to fit in. Make it follow you; yes, that’s right, follow you. Run into the door and you’ll find a power station of sorts. Get on the walkway then pull the lever to activate electricity. If done quickly enough, when the electricity was activated the gargantua would have electrocuted himself by trying to follow you further. After it explodes, enter the door to the right(you cannot pass the two electrical pads), go back to where the gargantua lurked, and you’ll find a tram. Run it onto the yellow pad, and find that you must rotate it to get the tram facing the correct direction. So, go back to the broken bridge that overlooked the 10 headcrabs, but this time enter the boarded up door. You’ll find a dying Barney, and a lever. Pull the lever then jump out the window back to your tram. Get on it, then run it at max speed to get smash past the barrier. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- O N A R A I L --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Run the car past the water filled corridors, then bring it to a stop at the first marker that could change the cars course. You need to go left, but something hanging from the ceiling is blocking you. So, back up and go straight. Make the next marker point up for straight. Continue going along until you find a platform to the right with a few dead marines and a bullsquid. Get off there. Kill the bullsquid then head up the steps. Break the crates and destroy the chain gun, then press the lever to move the thing that was blocking you. Ride your car back to that junction and into the tunnel. Continue on and you’ll find a part in the tram line where it splits and it goes to a new, shorter track leading to a dead end. If you get on it it will act as a lift and take you and the car up. Stop and get off before you do that. Climbs the ladders and kill the marines first, then go back and put the car on the circular platform. It will go up. Get off at the broken track switch and look left. You’ll see a battle taking place between marines and some vortiguants. Kill them all, with the help of the useable chain gun to the far right if you want, then head up the steps. You know what to do: kill all the marines and vortiguants. Boy that never gets tiring :). Head down the steps, kill any opposing marines, and head into the tunnel. Don’t worry if you don’t have a tram car for this part, just stay on the sides so you won’t get electrocuted from the rail. You’ll find a raised platform with some marines on it. Kill them and enter the hall next to the sandbags to encounter another vortiguant vs. marine fight. Kill them all as usual, then break open the boards to find a Barney and some ammo. Take them then progress down the hall to find a gunner in the cover of sandbags. This is hard; try and throw a grenade into the small slit he looks out from. It may get him, may not, but keep tying at him and he’ll eventually die. Enter the fire door, climb the ladder and kill the marine. Enter the next fire door and enter the rail tunnel. Crouch under the trip lasers, which would activate nearby turrets, and ignore the bullsquid. Ignore the door to the left, unless you desperately need ammo. Stop right after you pass the door and get off the tram car, if your on one. While crouching, keep following the tunnel and you’ll find a marine manning a rocket-launching sentry. Throw a grenade at him and blow him up, then return to your car(if you have one, which isn’t required to complete the level). Round the corner to the left of where the gunner was then get off the car and on to the platform to the right. Get the health from the station, then kill all of the vortiguants then proceed to some dark green crates. Shoot out the tripmines and Crouch-Jump on the crate to get over it. Head up the slanted elevation and kill the marines. Press the lever to open the barriers. Go back to your car(another tram car to the left may start moving; with a marine on it) and enter the left hand tunnel. When you reach a bunker area to the right, DISREGARD IT AND RUN PAST !!! There is another gunner in there, this one nearly impossible to eliminate. Since its not required, just ignore him and run past the barrier, without your tram car. Progress on until you reach another circular lift for your tram car. Ignore it and head to the elevator. Put a satchel on it, then send it up. Detonate it when its atop. This will take care of some pesky mines and explosive barrels. Find the ladder leading down. Halfway the game will load, and you’ll see at the very bottom a trip laser. It will set off four turrets in the area. Drop down a satchel and detonate to destroy one turret and kill a mawman. Avoid the laser and proceed to take out the turrets one by one. There’s a large crate near the tram line to the left. Get behind it then peak around it. You’ll spy a marine behind a block of sandbags and another gunner. Quickly run across to the next set of crates. From there, crouch to the sandbag block. Take out your MP5, then stand up and fire a grenade into the bunker with the gunner. If you have no grenades for you MP5, use a hand grenade. If you have neither, throw in a satchel. If you have none of those, well, sorry buddy, but your screwed. Through the corridor to the right you’ll start to hear a pair of marines talking about this “Freeman fellow”. A well placed grenade between them will kill both. Remember this location and the bay door to your right for later use, then trek to the blast door. Enter it using the door pad, then enter the next blast door. Kill the local marines then enter the next blast door. You’ll find a room rigged with TNT, with some trip lasers along the steps. Crouch under the first two then lightly jump over the third. Enter the door, kill the two marines, then find the button to launch the shuttle. Press it. Everything will be locked up until the rocket leaves the atmosphere, so you’ll have to wait. Afterwards backtrack to the large bay door I told you to remember. It’s now open. Get in its tram car then ride it to its end. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- A P P R E H E N S I O N --------------------------------------------------------------------------- For the first part of the level your going to have to swim underwater. Enter the shafts until you find some floating barrels acting as a bridge to the platform. Enter the door and head up the ramp. Watch the mawman, BTW. In the next room you WONT want to fall into the water...an Itchyosaur is swimming around in it. Walk around the walkway to a ladder. Climb it and find HEV and health stations. Talk to the scientists then jump from the cliff to the cage with the crossbow. Pick it up and the cage will fall into the water. You going to have to kill the Itchyosaur now, but you don’t have to do it in the water. Get back onto the walkway and shoot at it when it surfaces for air. It will take a while, but better safe then sorry. You’ll know it’s dead when it makes a loud groan and starts to floats face down. After it dies immerse yourself into the muck and dive to the bottom. Turn the wheel and enter the passage it unlocks. Swim to the surface and you’ll be on another walkway overlooking muck containing two Itchyosaurs, so don’t fall in. The bridge will partially collapse in one section, and a vortiguant will teleport, so be on the ready. Jump into the hole in the fence and avoid the hagworms. At the power generators station, avoid the bullsquid and climb the ladder. Press the switch to activate the generator pads, then observe and memorize the pattern they follow. Jump across from pad to pad to the other walkway. Kill the teleported headcrab then enter the hall. Right when you reach the health station a bullsquid will teleport behind you so again, be wary. Kill every vortiguant and headcrab to get the scientist to open the seal. Talk to him then press the switch to open the door. In the chamber, it will be very, very cold. If you have any batteries or HEV power, you’ll lose one point per second while in their. If you don’t have any HEV power you’ll lose one health point per second. So, ignore all of the enemies and run like mad, trying to find an exit. You’ll find it in a ladder leading down. In the hall you’ll find many vortiguants, some already materialized and some that will teleport. Kill them all then take the lift up. You’ll find Barney about to tell you something critical, but before he does he’ll be shot from behind. Hmmm... Here’s the lowdown for this area: You’ll hear a lot of footfall from someone running; when you hear that, that means an assassin is nearby. An assassin is a female that looks like a black robot. You have to kill them nearly on the spot; they shoot about 2 bullets then run off before attacking again. After they are all dead get up on the platform and turn the wheel to open a shed. Enter it then walk towards the tantalizing health. The lights will go out, and you’ll be beaten and knocked out by some marines. Don’t worry; its unavoidable. You will lose about 20 health when this happens; and you CAN die from it. Listen to the conversation from the rogue marines as they disobey orders and dump you off to be killed. You will soon black out. When you come to you’ll be in a garbage masher, completely weaponless. Use the crates to get out before your squished, and grab the crowbar on the other ledge. Use it to the grate then fall down it. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- R E S I D U E P R O C E E D I N G --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get out of the pipe and head into the ravine to the right. Two headcrabs will teleport. Since you have only the crowbar, try and avoid them to save health. Turn the wheel on the silo then QUICKLY climb the ladder and get on the descending wooden platform before it gets too steep. At bottom, enter the pipe. Kill Barney to take his useful handgun, then jump into the vat to the right. It contains biohazardous viruses and other corrosive materials; don’t fall in. Use the debris as a bridge to get to the pipe. You’ll come to another biochemical processing center; jump across the vats to the other side. Enter the shaft, and at the end you’ll have to make your way under some submerged crushers. At the end of the swimming you’ll find another junk processing place. Press the middle switch to make a conveyer belt move in another direction, the direction you need to go. Press the switch near the dead bullsquid and Barney to temporarily stop to smashers. Quickly get on the belts and get past them. Get past all the hazardous machinery, and you’ll come to a set of treadmills. Get on the first available one, then where it would dump you into a vat of green stuff drop to the next. Avoid the next vat by dropping to the next below treadmill. You’ll next come to a conveyor where a tripmine is in place. Throw a satchel at it from a distance, back up, and set it off to take care of the problem. Next you’ll have to jump back and forth between treadmills to avoid getting crushed by the roller things. At the end jump to the right hand treadmill and enter it. Escape the mechanical teeth of the crusher by dropping threw them, then trek across the radioactive pit. Enter the shaft to find your way back to civilization. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q U E S T I O N A B L E E T H I C S --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Climb the ladder, smash the grate, and you’ll find about 10 houndeyes al loosed from their cages( screwy Black Mesa personell...what are they thinking, keeping houndeye’s as pets!?). If you have any satchels, use them, or use your magnum. Remember not to get into their vision. After they are dead, notice the electrified fence. Look past it to its power supplier. Shoot at it(it will look like a computer) and the door will open. Across the hall you’ll find an alien grunt sealed behind a sheet of glass. Man does that look scary. You have to let him out by smashing the glass of the switch, otherwise the door won’t open. Use a satchel or magnum on the alien grunt; if you have neither, God help you. Down the hall you’ll find another testing chamber with some headcrabs behind a fence. Press the switch near the health station to kill them all, then kill the marine who will inspect what the noise was about. Pass the health station to find Barney. Listen to his wonderful wisdom, then get him to follow you, a.k.a. kill stuff for you. In the reception area let Barney loose on the marines. He’ll do the work, and he shouldn’t yet be killed. Take the shotgun ammo, you’ll need it later. Down the hall go up the steps to find another testing chamber with some headcrabs. Sic Barney on them. He probably will be killed at this point, but he saved you a lot of ammo and work, so you salute him, mister! Where the headcrabs were you can find a crossbow and 5 snarks, just so you know. Kill the next two marines in the hall then proceed to the next testing chamber. Notice the tripmines. If you blow one of them, about 6 marines will arrive, and at the same time a pair of alien grunts will emerge from their cells. So, blow the tripmines and run for cover, letting the marines and alien grunts duke it out. Afterwards kill the remnant then enter the once tripmine guarded hall. Pass the explosive crates and kill the marine to your left. For now, all you have to do is clean out the entire area of bullsquid, headcrab, and marine. After they are all dead, find the area where there are some explosive crates that won’t blow up when you shoot them. Go near them a get a conversation between a Barney and a scientist. Here’s a bit of their dialogue(it may be a little inaccurate...I’m basing this on memory alone here) : Barney picks up gauss and says: “What’s this?” Scientist: “Put that down, now. Its an experimental weapon.” Barney fires it through the wall and says: “Woah! Why aren’t we using it?” Scientist: “Its much to powerful.” Barney starts charging it up. “Don’t let it overcharge!” Barney: “Huh?” Both: “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Lol...that was amusing. After the wall is blown open take the gauss from the remains of Barney and scientist and press the switch. This will activate a laser beam. Find all of the auxiliary laser beams and activate them, then go to the primary laser control room. Press the switch and watch how the shield comes down to intercept the laser. After its done, go to the crate and move it so that it will block the shield from descending where its supposed to. Press the laser button again; the shield will go back up and the laser will blow open the wall. Jump to the pipe, then jump down to the crate. You’ll lose at least 25 health doing this, I do hope you can handle it. Talk to the scientists then go into other room with the machine gone wild and turn it off. Get one scientist to follow you and lead him back to the reception area. He’ll use the retinal scanner to open the door. NOTE: If both of the scientists die, you’ll get a strange and mysterious mission failed screen and the game will load where you last saved. Enter the swinging doors. Destroy the tri-pod chain guns on the roof then enter the tunnel. Make sure you don’t blow the explosive crates up when your close...move towards the button that opens the doors and the section will end. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- S U R F A C E T E N S I O N --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kill the local marines(boy do I sound treasonous) then get to the dam. Take out your gauss and put it to use on the apache that will fly overhead. Two fully charged shots will bring it down. Jump into the dam’s dirty water then groan because you’ll see a pair of Itchyosaur’s. For now you can avoid them; swim to the ladder. Climb it then press the switch to turn off some fans underwater. Now you have to kill the Itchyosaurs. Use your crossbow; three shots should do in each, and hopefully you have the ammo. Swim to the bottom and turn the wheel so that the grates open. When they open far enough, let go of the wheel and swim into them before they close. There are no enemies in this area; just a dead scientist and a battery. Pick it up then proceed to the ladder. Climb it and enter the tunnel. Smash the boxes to pick up some ammo, then climb the ladders. Another apache helicopter will emerge from beyond the bluff. Again, bring it down with your gauss. Atop, enter the opening in the rocks. Kill the area’s marines then enter the silo. Turn the wheel to open a drain hatch you’ll need. Follow the sign where it says “Storm Drain Hatch.” You’ll find a mine field. This is very easy; simply hug the rock wall to your right. You’ll encounter only one mine, which is passed an overhanging rock structure. Jump over the barbed wire and enter the hatch. At the end of the pipe you’ll have to snipe off a marine and a chain gun. Do so before dropping down. Get to the lowest point, dropping from ledge to ledge. You’ll face a few marines; you know what to do. Cross the bridge by using its cables instead of its wooden steps(they will break). Cross the catwalk, and you’ll face another apache ‘chopper. There are rockets located in a small cavern within the wall; take them but don’t use them yet. Use your gauss for this part. Afterwards scale the cliff by using its ladders and stepping stones. When you come to the pipe a headcrab will pop out; watch it. Through the pipe and above it is a bunker area swarming with blood hungry government cronies known as marines. The best strategy for this is to snipe them from the pipes. Since there are two ends and two exits to the pipe, this makes it easier. When you snipe off a marine from, say, the left end of the pipe, the marines will all concentrate fire and grenades on that end. So, while they are occupied, go to the other end and give them a wake up call. Then go to the other end, and on and on until they are all deleted from your computers RAM. Use your rocket launcher on the tank; you’ll need the gauss for later. Take all the ammo and health that’s to the left of the tank then press the button to open the door. A peaceful area you will find...as you should have learned, never trust a peaceful area. There’s another rocket-firing tank past all the crates. To beat it, get out into the middle of the street(yes, the middle!) and RUN towards it, firing charged gauss on the run. This should destroy it easily. NOTE: The tanker will reveal a secret area if it shoots the wall to the left of it: a ravine with a few marines and lots of ammo. This area isn’t required, though. Enter the doors to a mine field. An alien grunt and a vortiguant will teleport; watch out for them, then head right. Shoot out the tripmines then kill the invisible gunner with a single rocket. Take the dead Barneys gun then throw a grenade at the floor of the mine field to set off all the hazards in the vicinity. Kill the next gunner from below using a rocket, then crouch under the barbed wire to the other side. Use a gauss, rocket, grenade, or a lot of ammo from your other guns to destroy the computer terminal blocking your way. Get past it then hop on the felled antenna. On the roof of the building make your way around the shafts to a hole. Drop into it. This is no ordinary building your in. It has only three enemies, which are headcrabs, but the place is rigged with tripmines for some reason which I cannot begin to think of. If one of them goes off, no matter how secluded it seems from the rest, so do all the others. You may think: So what? All I have to do is find cover and I have no problems, right? Wrong-Oh. In case you didn’t know, this is a nuclear missile storage facility and the chain reaction would set off the two nukes it houses. The screen will gamma white then load at the previous save point, adding a nice scare affect and sense of suspense. So, crouch under the first tripmine, jump on the rail to avoid the second, and jump over the next. You should now see the two very large missiles above you. Kill the two idiot headcrabs that would start the chain reaction, then make your way to the steps. Watch the tripmine then head up. Kill the headcrab, then jump over the trip laser. The button will bring up a cargo lift, but before you do so make sure you break the box that’s on it. Jump out onto the cargo platform, then use it to jump to the lift blocked off by the tripmines. Take it down. Kill the marines and pick up the hornet gun. Go down the corridor, then destroy the turret in the truck. The road will be filled with alien grunts. Well, a jet will come and bomb them back to the test tube they came from. Blow up the tank using your gauss. Before continuing break the boxes to the right to pick up valuable health and ammo. Eliminate the annoying gunner above then enter the building. Kill the marines then find Barney upstairs. Get him to open up the storage room to find a load of ammo, explosives and health. Still on the second floor, jump outside the window to the ledge. From there jump on the two terminals then to the ladder. Kill the marines atop and use the cemented roofing tiles as stepping stones to the other side. You’ll come to a helicopter landing pad. Move towards the shed door and it will blow open revealing some alien grunts. By then you should hear the sounds of some kind of plane. It will be full of marines, so let them eliminate the grunts before shooting it out of the sky. Enter the shed the alien grunts came out of and climb the crates to the rocket launcher. Shoot out the other shed door then spill the guts of the grunts that come out with it. Enter it and man the gun you’ll find. Crouch and fire at the 20-25 alien grunts that will teleport. Afterwards use the blow pad(an alien thing that blows upward when you step on it) to reach the higher levels. Watch the battle with the grunts and marines then destroy both. Enter the shaft and watch out for the annoying snarks. At some point some marines below will shoot out and break the shaft. You’ll land in an auto shop. Kill the marines then open the door. An explosive crate...and someone just threw a grenade at it. Stand back. The door will be sealed off by falling debris, so you’ll have to find another way out. Press the switch to make the platform come down. Press it again to make it go up, only this time go up with it. Jump through the hole then kill the marines. Man the rocket launcher the blow the shed door open. Use the rockets to kill the grunts that will offer themselves as a sacrifice. You’ll find another battle between alien and marine. Let them wear themselves out then attack and finish them off. Enter the door by the walkway. To the right a part of wall will be smashed open by a corpse of a marine and an alien grunt will follow. Kill it then find yet another alien vs. human battle. Again spectate for a while before moving in. Use the blow pad to get on the roof. Break the grate then drop into the water. Enter the tunnel. Halfway a marine will open the end and drop a satchel. This will make a large fireball explosion, so get back into and under the water and duck to avoid the flame. Kill the marines and headcrabs then enter the next pipe. Get Barney to follow you(he’s upstairs) to the door switch. Back outside, kill the teleported alien grunts and make him follow you to the guardhouse. He’ll open a door for you. Enter to find another gargantua. As in “Power Up,” you cannot kill it using conventional means. So, run past it and through the parking lot to the other side. Grab the health’s and use the blow pad to the water vat. Jump down onto the next blow pad as to avoid gravity’s crushing properties, and get on top of the silo to the ground-to-air missile control system. Make the targeting lines target the large antenna. It will fall down. Next, make the machine blow up the wall that the antenna will lean against. Use it a final time to break open the hatch. The gargantua will have broken the seal by now; run past him and use the antenna as a bridge. Enter the tunnel to end this LONG section. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- F O R G E T A B O U T F R E E M A N --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The sky is falling, the sky is falling! Ack, everyone the sky is falling! Well, not quite, but the rock ceiling above you sure is. Avoid the blocks and use them to get to the doorway. Enter it and hop over the railing. Draw the two alien grunts towards you then get back into the controls room. Press the lever and activate the drone gun. Ahh...don’t it feel good to use what for so long has hindered you against your enemies? Head towards the stop sign and turn right(take my word for it: ignore the passage to the left). Kill the alien grunts then shoot at and destroy the alien...spherish...cocoon? and three snarks will emerge from it. They will all plunge themselves into the water and self destruct shortly. How convenient :) That’s the advantage in this game that you have over the enemy: your not stupid(if you are, well, at least you have me telling you what to do). Enter the hatch using the wheel to an underground sewage system. Push the metal crate into the water on the LEFT HAND SIDE! If you put it on the right hand water tunnel, you’ll have to deal with another able Itchyosaur. Use the crate to jump over the metal fence. Kill the headcrab and avoid the deep water with the Itchyosaur. Duck under the turning wheels(what purpose, exactly, do they serve?), avoid the hagworms and keep under the water because there is hot steam above it. Knock over the tripod chain gun, and knock off the marine while your at it. Take the rocket supplies and ascend the ladder. Use them or the gauss on the tank, then continue past it to a health station and a chain gun. Enter the elevator and take it down. Avoid the radiation spills and progress to another alien vs. predator fight. Kill whoever wins then man the tankers gun. Blast open the seal then man the machine gun and mow down the vortiguants and alien grunts that teleport. Afterwards round the corner and destroy the alien crafted drone gun. Press the switch and enter the large doors. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- L A M B D A C O R E --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Press the button to make the lift with the truck go down; go down with it. Kill off the local headcrabs and bullsquid. Head up the ladder and grab the shotgun ammo. Enter the door past the dead scientists to find a storage area, unfortunately littered with assassins. Put the elusive females to death, break the boxes and head up. Fight will you another assasin(sounded like Yoda there didn’t I?). Take care of her then cross the walkway. Head down to find an HEV and health station. Take what you need and go to the elevator. Go down on it you naughty thing you and you’ll find an antechamber of sorts. The way right is locked; the left is the only option. Before you do, place a tripmine near the explosive barrels to your right. You’ll find its use later. Enter the door and several grunts will teleport. Kill them then you’ll hear another grunt, this one behind you. That tripmine will do its work now. Once the area is clear, head up the ladder to the scientist. Take the crossbow ammo clips and let the scientist use the retinal scanners to open the door. Get on the lift and head right. In the room you’ll pick up the mother of all guns: the Egon gun. Try it out on the pet headcrabs. You’ll see just how powerful it is. No more bar fights for Freeman :). Go back and take the lift up. Kill the grunts in the area then get on the walkway entitled in a blue “Coolant System 01”. At the door, turn around because a vortiguant will spawn, ready to shoot at you in the back. In the coolant chamber kill all the grunts/vortiguants, the usual drill, then press the button to make the machine go and do whatever its supposed to do. Now get to the walkway leading into the orange coolant chamber. Turn off the steam with the wheel and enter the door. Kill the alien grunts and head up. Another grunt will teleport to the catwalk; he’ll break it and fall to the ground, so don’t be on it when he does. Enter the coolant chamber and press the lever to activate the pumps. Backtrack to the beginning where the elevator was. Turn right and follow the sign that says “Maintenance.” You’ll find Barney, head past him and down the steps to the scientist and the lot of ammo and health. Take it all and head back up, this time following the other sign(I forget what it says :P). Enter the door and you’ll face off with a load of grunts, some that will teleport after others die. Kill them all with the Egon and jump into the water. Swim into the tunnel, past the loading point to the reactor core. Press both wheels to increase the water levels. Ride the wave up and kill the grunts, avoiding the electrical bursts coming from the reactor and keep heading up to the top and the door. Enter the elevator shaft and climb the ladder. Jump to the platform and get inside the room Barney is in. Take the health from the station and get Barney to follow you. In the hall a LOT of vortiguants and grunts will spawn; let Barney take care of them, if not weaken them. Continue to a wheel on the wall. Turn it to turn on some steam. Walk down the hall and a vortiguant and an alien grunt will spawn; draw them into the steam and they will die instantly. Turn off the steam then round the corner. Three more alien grunts; run back and turn the wheel to make them die a fiery death. Down the ladder contains is only some sparse health and ammo, so unless you need it enter the door marked “Core Level 3.” Here is your first encounter with portals. One doesn’t do anything, the other warps you to the next portal which is visible through the fence. When the moving platform is under the portal though the fence, enter the portal. From there, enter the side that is marked “Port 02” and look up. Again you must time your entrance to the portal so that you fall onto the platform, not back to the ground. Duck under the pipes then enter “Port 07” when the timing is right. Now simply enter the final portal, “Port 02”. In here you have to use the platform and press both switches on the sides of the room. Once you do, enter the portal. Ignore the headcrabs and head up the ladder. Enter the room with Barney and scientist. They’ll blab to you for a while...while they do take all of the goodies in the supply chambers. You should get practically full everything, including health and HEV. After the talk the scientist will let you have the long jump. The long jump, hence its name, triples the length you can jump. To use it, Run, then Press Duck, then quickly press Jump. Practice it for a while then get Barney to follow you into the portal chamber. Get up the ladder and on top of the platform. From here, wait for the scientist to get the portal going. Sure enough, once he does more alien scum will emerge. This time they are flying things called Xen Masters. Three shots with the magnum should do them in. Your objective here is not to keep yourself from being killed, but the scientist working the portal. So just kill every Xen Master you see. With the help of Barney this should be no problem. About 10 seconds after the scientist says “Its almost ready...” jump down and RUN to the portal. Let the scientist fend for himself now, then wait for him to say “Go! You must go now!”. Jump in and you’ll be teleported to the alien world of Xen. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- X E N --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, these are the last few levels in the game. For some reason I hated Xen(pronounced “Zen”)...I don’t know why. Probably the unrealistic and overdone sci-fi level design got to me. Oh well, back to the FAQ. You’ll find yourself on a floating platform. Use the long jump to get to the next. Kill the grunt and houndeye, then hop to the closest moving platform. Make your way to the bottom platform. Avoid the alien sentries and houndeyes and enter the small crevice in the rock walls. Break the webbing and go up to all three...things that look like they’re important...and press ‘E’ on them all. Next, find the butterflies(???) trapped behind webbing. Break the webbing and wait. They will fly to the things you switch on and make a portal. How this occurred I haven’t the slightest clue. Anyway enter the portal. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- G O N A R C H S L A I R --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pick up the ammo then face big momma(what the game calls it), or, more technically, the Gonarch. Basically its a big-ass spider with a big-ass pouch, spawning all the you have to kill day after day. Its main weapon will be spitting some toxic acid at you, but it will also let loose some baby headcrabs or, if you get to close, it will run you over. So, now your aware of the hazards, take out your egon gun and aim for the pouch. Don’t let go or budge until the monstrosity runs away. Follow it through a tunnel and past a loading point. Fall into the hole in the center the find a healing pool(a puddle of water that heals lost health). Use it, as by now I’m sure you’ll have use for it, and fire some rockets or egon/gauss lasers at it until it runs again. Follow it again, this time your able to kill it. Run away from its able baby headcrabs and shoot at the pouch enough and it will FINALLY die. Drop down the hole the dead gonarch will make then drop to the ledge. A healing pool is its contents; heal up before you enter the portal. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- I N T E R L O P E R --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The platform you are on will crumble, not giving you enough time to jump to the portal. So, run to the opposite side, past xen masters and grunts, to a small cavern. In it kill the grunt, the break the webbing, and fall down the hole. Pass the sparsely guarded tunnels and you’ll come to some more webbing, this blocking a large pillar from moving up and down. Break it then get on the pillars top when its fully down. Let it take you up, then jump to any one of the moving-floating platforms. Use the platforms and carefully make your way to the lowest one, and from there jump on one of the flying things. It will take you to the portal; jump into it before the flying thing disappears. Exit the cavern and jump on its roof. From here you have a birds eye view of the area. Scanning it you’ll find a pair of grunts and vortiguants. Kill both, and right when you do be wary because two more grunts will teleport. The cavern ahead of you and by the things that look like oil drills contain some health, ammo, and a healing pool. Stock up then head to the other cavern to the left. In it contains another gargantuan. Dash past it to a small hole in the wall, reachable only by ducking into it. The gargantuan will lose you and run away to somewhere where he won’t be a problem. Get out and jump onto the rocks ahead of you, then leap to the opposite side. Crouch or walk past the fanged beasts seen in ‘Blast Pit’ to an area with two grunts and a portal. Ignore them and enter the portal. In this alien infested area is a lot of grunts and xen masters. Put the pests out of their misery then cross the bridge to the other side. Pass the lifts to a blue tube. Enter into it and it will act like a healing pool. You’ll find a lot of these along your way. Another thing you’ll find a lot of are large barrels. They contain alien grunts, so its not wise to open any. Use the lifts to get higher(haha) to the treadmills. Jump to the second one and follow it to a pool of toxic water. Quickly jump out and kill the xen masters and grunts. Across from the treadmill is a grunt, kill it. Kill all of the next grunts and xen masters in the area then enter the doorway. Take the lift up, kill the grunt. You’ll come to a hallway full of barrels containing alien grunts. Take out your egon gun and get ready to blast away at the grunts and xen masters in here. Take the health packs then continue to an entrance blocked by a pair of barrels. Throw every satchel charge you have in front of the two, then detonate. It should blow the alien grunts limbs all over the place. Kill the xen masters with your egon then enter the healing tube. After your finished enter the vents. Drop down by using the posts to break your fall. Kill the grunts, xen masters, and all else and take the lifts up. Jump into the portal. Jump from platform to platform in the empty space to the portal. Enter it to go to the final boss. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- N I H I L A N T H --------------------------------------------------------------------------- First, before I describe the boss/how to beat it, let me explain the logic of this creatures name, which is an interesting tidbit IMO. Annihilation. That’s what its name comes from; look at it again: an-NIHILA-tion. Haha gee I’m smart. Aright, now I’ll get back to the boss. Nihilanth attacks in three ways: by throwing the standard energy balls at you, much like the ones xen masters fire, only 10x more powerful. It also spawns various enemies, or throws portals at you which, if comes into contact with you, sends you off to a meaningless puzzle room which the only purpose is to get back to the nihilanth. Since you cannot outrun them, avoid them by getting behind the pillars. To attack it, first you must destroy the three yellow crystals from which it charges up with. A pair of rockets will do in each one, but chances are you don’t have 9 rockets at your disposal. A clip from your handgun should do it as well. After you destroy the crystals, shoot nihilanth’s head until it opens. Once it does, run to any of the blow pads and use it. You’ll get to see the inside of the aliens head. Its basically another crystal, so just shoot at it until its destroyed, thereby destroying nihilanth and the evil ailen race forever, or at least till Half Life 2. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- E N D G A M E --------------------------------------------------------------------------- At the cutscene you’ll find that mysterious man who made cameo appearances all throughout the game. After he explains a few things you’ll end up in a car much like the one you started the game on. He’ll give you a choice: work for him by entering a portal, or well...you’ll see. I would recommend working for him though. Well, either way, congratulations on beating a marvelous game such as this. I hope you enjoyed this FAQ, as I sure enjoyed writing it. ______ _____ _______ _______ |@@@@@@| 999999002 | | 02934830248 39940 | | 002200 |0000666| ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ v. C h e a t s ______ _____ _______ _______ |@@@@@@| 999999002 | | 02934830248 39940 | | 002200 |0000666| ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Right click on the Half-Life icon. Click properties then click shortcut. At the end of the location type: -dev -console. During gameplay press ~ to display the text prompt and type in sv_cheats 1. Press ~ and enter one of the following console commands to activate the corresponding cheat function. Effect Code God mode god Adjust gravity sv_gravity <-999 - 999999> All weapons and ammo impulse 101 Developer mode on developer 1 Verbose developer mode developer 2 Developer mode off developer 0 Suicide kill Map select 1 /map No clipping mode noclip Obtain item2 give Opponents ignore character notarget Third person view thirdperson Return to first person view firstperson Auto-reload enabled +reload Auto-reload disabled -reload Brighten dark enviroments lambert -1.0001 Spawns gibs and blood impulse 102 Monster stats, while looking at monster impulse 103 List global entities impulse 104 Silent player impulse 105 Model/sprite stats impulse 106 Texture name, while looking at object impulse 107 AI node information impulse 195 AI node information impulse 196 AI node information impulse 197 AI node information impulse 199 Delete monster or NPC from world impulse 203 NOTE: These cheats are for GAME OF THE YEAR EDITION of Half-Life - older versions may slightly differ. [Credit: The cheats you see here are from GameWinners.com] ______ _____ _______ _______ |@@@@@@| 999999002 | | 02934830248 39940 | | 002200 |0000666| ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ vi. T h e F i n a l W o r d ______ _____ _______ _______ |@@@@@@| 999999002 | | 02934830248 39940 | | 002200 |0000666| ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ So ends another one of my guides. Its been a good experience, writing for one of my fav games. Sorry there isn’t an email address, but I’m not about to receive spam(I already get enough!) for a 4 year old game. So until next time, this is black hole sun logging off saying go play this game again, this time on Hard Mode you wimp!