Half-Life - Blue Shift Ultimate Strategy Guide
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FAQ TITLE:
The Half-Life: Blue Shift Ultimate Strategy Guide (PC version)
COPYRIGHT INFO:
This FAQ is copyright 2008 by Stanley E. Dunigan (dunigase@wmconnect.com).
This FAQ may be posted and used anywhere by anyone as long as it's unaltered,
but always check one of the official websites listed below for the latest
version.
GameFAQs (www.gamefaqs.com)
GameBoomers (www.gameboomers.com)
SuperCheats (www.supercheats.com)
Neoseeker (www.neoseeker.com)
If you want to print this walkthru out, it's best to do that with the version
from GameBoomers, since it's the only one that's formatted for word wrap, and
would therefore take up much less paper (especially if you use 1/2 inch or less
margins and a font size of 9 or 10).
Also, check the Universal Hint System (www.uhs-hints.com) for a complete Half-
Life: Blue Shift hint file. It's not a FAQ-style walkthru, but instead organizes
the hints into a hypertext-like Q&A document, making it easier to find the hints
you need without accidentally seeing other hints you don't want yet.
FAQ DESCRIPTION:
This FAQ is a *very* complete walkthru of Half-Life: Blue Shift that includes
all of the best tips, strategies, and secrets that I've discovered or heard
about during my seven years of playing the game. This walkthru was written as a
"companion" to my Half-Life 10th anniversary ultimate strategy guide, which
should be available in the same place you got this from.
To write this walkthru, I played through the game in its original version
(1.0.0.0) and with the version 1.0.0.1 patch installed. I don't know what all
differences other patches make, but this walkthru should work pretty well with
all versions of the game. Some strategies that key off of exact details or
specific creature behavior might need a bit of adjusting, and related updates
will be made after I get a chance to play other game versions.
If you have a favorite Blue Shift strategy or secret that isn't in this walkthru
yet, send me an email at the address listed above in the copyright section. If I
like it enough to include it after I try it out, I'll add it to the walkthru and
give you credit for it as long as you specifically tell me what contributor name
you want me to use.
VERSION 1.1 (10/6/2008) NOTES AND CREDITS:
For this version, I replayed the game with the 1.0.0.1 patch version installed.
I didn't find anything new (except that the flashlight seemed to work a bit
better), but I re-proofed the entire walkthru and made quite a few minor
adjustments and clarifications.
VERSION 1.0 (10/3/2008) NOTES AND CREDITS:
This is the original version of this walkthru, so I have no one else to credit
yet.
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**** STARTING TIPS AND NOTES ****
This walkthru is organized around the same major chapter divisions that the game
is, with these starting tips and notes put in at the beginning. If you're
"joining us with a game already in progress," so to speak, you'll need to search
for the title of the chapter that you're in. Or you can quickly browse through
the chapters in order by repeatedly searching for five asterisks followed by a
space.
Each chapter's info is divided up into sections that correspond to the chunks
that the game itself is divided into. Whenever you move from one section to
another, you'll see the word "LOADING..." in the middle of the screen while the
section you're moving into loads up. Each section has an internal codename, and
I use that in naming the sections in this walkthru so that if you're on the PC,
you can use the console's "status" command to see what section you're in (check
the "map" field).
In many places in this walkthru, I refer to the quicksave and quickrestore keys.
If you're not already intimately familiar with them, get that way at once! To
find out (and/or change) what keys are defined for those functions, go to the
game's main menu and choose "Configuration" and then "Controls." I strongly
advise you to redefine quicksave to be F5 and quickrestore to be F9. That way,
the two keys won't be too close together. (That's practically an industry
standard, anyway.)
Another thing you should do on the main menu's configuration screen is choose
"Video" and then "Video Options," and move the gamma slider all the way to the
right. That'll make all the game areas much easier to see in, and it won't blind
you like some games' full-gamma settings do.
I don't include anything about the Hazard Course in these hints, but you should
start out by playing through it at least once, especially if you're not yet
familiar with the concepts of jump-crouching and crouch-jumping. Those moves are
essential in many places throughout the game. I remember having a heck of a time
on my earliest playthrus because I didn't know how to jump-crouch, and therefore
had to use the "noclip" cheat to get past all the obstacles that you're supposed
to jump-crouch onto.
I mention crouch-walking a lot in this walkthru, but what I'm usually referring
to is crouch-running, meaning you're moving around while using the "Duck" key,
but not the "Walk" key. True crouch-walking involves using the "Duck" and "Walk"
keys at the same time, and makes you move extremely slowly. This is sometimes
useful, but usually not necessary. You can take any reference to crouch-walking
to really mean crouch-running, unless I say to very slowly or very carefully
crouch-walk, in which case true crouch-walking should probably be used.
A favorite tactic of mine that I'll often say to use is sneak-shooting. That's
when you sneak up on an enemy who's unaware of your presence and position
yourself so that you can see only a small part of him, such as an arm or a leg.
When you shoot that part, the enemy will often just turn in place to face you.
If he still can't see you due to an obstruction to his view, you can keep
sneak-shooting exposed parts until he's dead. Some enemies will move around a
bit when sneak-shot, but they still won't be aware of you unless they get a
clear look at you while moving around. If you're afraid that will happen,
quickly strafe to where you'll be out of sight right after taking a sneaky shot.
If you have problems making the flashlight work, try moving up against a wall
(facing it) to see if the flashlight will work better then. If not, try pressing
the "Pause game" key, then the "Flashlight" key, and then the "Pause game" key
again. If even that's not good enough, you'll have to enable the console. (See
the Half-Life cheat code list on GameFAQs or any other cheat-carrying website.)
Try bringing the console window down, typing the command "impulse 100" (w/o
quotes), and then removing the console window. As a last resort, use the
"r_fullbright 1" console command to remove all shadows. Use the same command
with a 0 instead of a 1 to restore shadows. (Or get the version 1.0.0.1 patch,
which fixes the flashlight problems.)
One fun thing you could do to extend gameplay is to use the crowbar to beat on
all the dead bodies you find (and make) until they splattify. I've always
enjoyed doing that immensely, and I'll never forgive Half-Life 2 for making dead
bodies invincible.
Another way to extend gameplay is to play on the highest difficulty setting
without using any cheats at all. Once you're good at that, try adding the
"damage-free" restriction. It is possible to play all the way through Blue Shift
without ever taking even one point of damage from anything. It's often a pain,
and there are certain areas where you'll have to retry something several times
before you can make it through damage-free, but it can be done (especially if
you use all the best strategies in this walkthru). The one exception is that you
can't get to Chumtoad's Lair in the Focal Point chapter without taking a lot of
temporary health damage. (Of course, you could just say that doesn't count,
since it all gets restored after you start breathing again.)
***** LIVING QUARTERS OUTBOUND *****
^ Section ba_tram1 thru ba_tram3: RIDING THE TRAM
This is just the starting tram ride. Enjoy the sights as you ride along,
including a glimpse of Gordon Freeman waiting for a tram car when you're near
the end of your trip.
***** INSECURITY *****
^ Section ba_security1: GETTING IN THE DOOR
After your tram car door opens and the two little steps extend, leave the car
and go press up against the nearby door to get an "I'm locked" sound. Turn and
watch as Gordon Freeman rides by in his tram car, wondering why you're just
standing there and looking goofy. Ah, the memories!
Your pressing up against the door alerted the security guy on its other side to
your presence, so wait until he opens the door, then go through it and wait for
him to open the next doors. When you go through them, section ba_security2 will
load.
^ Section ba_security2: GETTING READY FOR DUTY
Go forward and turn left, then go down some stairs and through some doors. Move
up to the front desk to get the guard at it to talk to you, then go down the
hallway to the left of the desk to reach the locker room. Go over to your locker
in the second section and get the two pieces of security armor hanging there.
Your armor rating will now be 100.
You can push up against your locker door to open it and see what's inside,
though there isn't anything you can take. Go to the nearby bathroom area and
enter the left stall, then jump up and down on the toilet so you can see into
the next stall. There's a picture of some freaky horrid-head guy on the inside
of the other stall's door that may look familiar to you if you've seen it in a
previous game (like on the bulletin board in the first displacer destination in
Opposing Force).
Go back to the front desk to get another bit of talk from the guard there, then
go over to the nearby window and listen to a scientist complain to another guard
about his lack of access. Go down the hallway between the desk and window to
find an elevator. Get in it and use its interior button panel to reach the floor
with the armory and video surveillance areas.
Follow the green wall stripe to the video surveillance room, and open its door
by using the large black panel that's to the right of it. There's nothing you
need to do in the surveillance room, but you can walk up to and use its three
large screens in order to get views of nearby areas, one of which shows Gordon
Freeman on his way to the science personnel locker room to get his HEV on.
Use the black panel to the left of the door, then leave the surveillance room
and follow the blue wall stripe to the armory door. Open it by using the panel
to the left of it, then go forward and down the steps. Move up to the window to
get the guard behind it to hand you a pistol. Too bad he won't give you any of
those shotguns you can see on the rack behind him!
Go back up the steps and around to the practice range area. You can pick up
spare bullet clips from the three vacant booths, and you can wonder exactly what
in the heck the fatguard in one booth is doing with that pink-frosted donut. You
might want to quicksave so you can have the pleasure of shooting the fat moron
without losing any progress due to being "terminated."
You can crouch-jump into the target range area from one of the empty stalls. If
you get in front of the guard who's shooting at a target, he'll ask if you're
crazy, and will keep shooting. (So why isn't he "terminated" for shooting you?)
Go back to the armory door and open it by using the panel to the right of it.
Return to the elevator and ride it back to the floor with the locker room and
front desk.
After quicksaving, return to the locker room and use all 17+51 of your bullets
to shoot open the small package that's in the bottom of your locker. You'll find
that it contains a weird alien frog-like creature called a "chumtoad." You'll be
seeing more of them in their secret lair in the Focal Point chapter. Needless to
say, that was a terrible waste of ammo, so quickrestore when you're done looking
at the chummy toad.
From the front desk area, go back through the doors and up the stairs to where
you started this section, then go over to the locked doors with a guard in a
side booth. When you move up to the doors, the guard will see that you have your
armor and pistol, and will open the doors for you. Soon after you go through
them, you'll reach the ba_maint section.
^ Section ba_maint: MAINTENANCE AREA DETOUR
Move along until you come to a room where two scientists and a security guard
are working on a computer console. Wait around and see what happens if you want,
then keep going until you reach the tram station. A scientist will tell you that
the trams to Sector G are having "problems," so you'll have to get there on
foot. (Besides, you've had your tram ride for the game already.)
Go around the corner to the left of the vending machines to find a "Maintenance
Access" ladder that you can climb down. Go along the walkway and through a door,
then down some stairs and over to another door. Push the barrel out of the way
of the door, but don't go through it yet. First, go through the fence door on
the opposite side of the room and use the switch on the power box in the dark
corner just past the door.
Go through the formerly barrel-blocked door and turn the dark, curving hallway's
lights on by using the switch that's just to the left of the door (as you face
it). Make your way past all the boxes and barrels in the hallway, and push the
barrel at the other end of the hallway out of your way. Turn right and climb a
ladder, then go along the metal walkway to reach a door.
Past that door is a spot where you'll need to use a movable walkway bridge to
cross a tram track. Before you can do that, you'll have to wait for the G-Man to
ride by on a tram. (Why is he bothering to ride a tram when we know he can do
freaky teleportational things at will? Maybe it's for appearance's sake.)
After the light above the button to the right of the walkway bridge turns green,
use the button to get the bridge down to where you can cross it. Go through a
door on the right and up some stairs to reach the ba_elevator section.
^ Section ba_elevator: ELEVATOR RIDE
Go through another door to reach the Sector G tram area. Enter the waiting room,
then follow the wall stripe to the elevator that's supposedly having problems.
It turns out that the scientists in the elevator aren't bright enough to know
how to press a simple button, so help them out by using the large panel that's
just to the left of the elevator doors.
After that, stand well away from the black scientist (to avoid his fate) and
wait while the elevator descends. Before long, the big screw-over will happen
that causes aliens to start teleporting in all over the base. (You do remember
the precipitating event from the original game, don't you? A certain crystal in
a certain test chamber?) After the elevator falls and crashes, the Duty Calls
chapter will start.
***** DUTY CALLS *****
^ Section ba_canal1: THREE DOORS TO GET PAST
Wait until you fully recover, then exit the elevator and pick up the crowbar.
Switch back to the pistol, then go right and kill both of the houndeyes that are
near some stairs. (You could use the crowbar on them, but there's a greater
chance that you'll get sonic-zapped, and there's no need to skimp on ammo.)
Switch back to the crowbar and start bashing all the boxes stacked around near
the elevator. One of the boxes has a bullet clip in it, and there's a first aid
station on a wall behind another box. After you find those items, bash boxes
along the hallway that goes around to the other side of the stairs, then
look on a shelf for another bullet clip.
Keep bashing along until you reach the doorway to a room with a power box on the
back wall. Bash the boxes to the right of the doorway to find another bullet
clip, then shoot the power box with the pistol. Use the flashlight to help you
find your way back to the stairs, then go down them and through the formerly
locked door.
Go down the hall to reach a room with a big toxic waste spill. Crouch-walk into
the room while looking to the right so you can sneak-shoot two headcrabs. After
quicksaving, jump onto the big table, run across it, and jump to the floor on
the other side. Turn right and shoot down the crab that's behind the other big
table.
Push open the nearby door and notice the headcrab next to a green barrel over on
the right. You can't sneak-shoot this crab for some reason, so move into the
room far enough for it to see you, then quickly back up to avoid its leap. Shoot
it, then check the shelf in the back of the room to find two bullet clips. Climb
the ladder to the right of the shelf to reach a high-up, red-lit area where a
scientist is hiding out.
Crouch-walk over to him to get him to talk to you, then look to the left. From
up there, you can aim at and shoot the explosive barrels that are on the other
side of the locked fence door in the room below. That's one way to get past the
door, but there's another way that doesn't require using any bullets.
Climb back down to the storage room, then leave it and go over to the fence
door, being careful not to touch the toxic spill. There's a movable office chair
near the door that you can pull out of the toxic liquid if you stand close to
it, hold down the "Use item" key, and move backward. Get the chair up next to
the door, then jump-crouch onto the chair. From there, you can jump-crouch over
the door and drop down on the other side.
Use your flashlight as you go along the walkway past the fence door to make sure
you don't take any fatal plunges. When you reach a small conveyor lift with a
button panel on the wall near it, use the button panel and get onto the lift
before it starts moving. Get out the pistol and quickly shoot down the houndeyes
that run into view on the walkway that you're moving toward.
Get off the lift after it stops, then go straight for the small door that's to
the right of the big "NORTH TUNNEL" door. Go through the small door and look to
the right for a control console. Use the working button panel on the right end
of the console, then go stand in the doorway and watch the big south tunnel door
until it stops opening. Get out your crowbar and quicksave.
As you run for the south tunnel door, a vortigaunt will teleport in. Swerve just
enough to whack it once with the crowbar to interrupt its charge-up, and keep
running for the left side of the south tunnel door. You should make it through
the door and around the crates to where section ba_canal2 will load without
getting zapped. If not, quickrestore and try again.
^ Section ba_canal1b: CRANE CONTROL ROOM AND VORT PASSAGE
Since you just passed through a "loading point," the vort you whacked in the
previous section will have forgotten about you, so you don't need to worry about
it following you into this section.
Go around another corner to find an area with two houndeyes. Stand and shoot
them until they're dead or have run off, then move forward to find a large door
on the left that's blocked open by a crate. Crouch down and shoot any houndeyes
that are in the room past the door.
Switch to the crowbar and bash all of the nearby small wooden crates, plus the
houndeye that's hiding behind one of them. Crouch-walk under the blocked-open
door, then check near the barrel-crushed security guard's head to find a helmet
and a bullet clip. (Note that security helmets and vests work like the armor
batteries items in other Half-Life games, and you can only pick them up if your
armor rating is less than 100.)
Get behind the big "CRANE CONTROL UNIT" console near the dead guard and use its
left lever to lower the left crane car to its lowest position. (To do that, face
the left lever and lean on the "Use item" key.) Find the movable green barrel
near the dead guard and push it up next to the lowered crane car. Then find the
movable crate that's next to the large wooden crates and push it up against the
movable green barrel.
Return to the crane control console and use its left lever to raise the left
crane car up to where its floor is about halfway between the top of the green
barrel and the top of the large wooden crates. You should then be able to jump
onto the movable crate, then jump onto the green barrel, then jump (or jump-
crouch) onto the crane car, then jump (or jump-crouch) onto the large wooden
crates. If not, make a small adjustment to the crane car's height, then try
again.
Once you're able to get up onto the big wooden crates, drop back down to the
floor and use the right lever on the crane control unit to lower the right crane
car until its floor is about even with the top of the large wooden crates, or
just a little bit above. You can then get back onto the big wooden crates, jump
to the right crane car, and then jump onto the ladder on the wall.
Climb the ladder to the top, then turn left and go over to the start of a short
right-angled hallway. When you're halfway through the hallway, get out the
crowbar and quicksave. You're about to pull another tricky whack-and-run routine
on some teleport-in vortigaunts.
When you run into the room past the hallway, turn right and whack the vort that
teleports in right next to you as you run by. Keep running for the ladder in the
alcove, and climb down it as fast as you can. You may have to retry this a few
times before you can get the timing down right. After you make it to the bottom
of the ladder unzapped, move forward to get section ba_canal2 to load.
^ Section ba_canal2: LOWERING A LIFT WITH AN EXPLOSIVE CRATE
Find the doorway that leads to a narrow concrete ledge between canals, then
follow it along until you reach a walkway. Turn right and go through the nearby
door, past which you'll come to a platform in a large room with upper and lower
walkways. Jump to the nearby ladder that leads to the upper walkway, then climb
up it.
Use the valve wheel that's on a large vertical pipe near the top of the ladder,
then go along the upper walkway until you reach the top of another ladder near a
steam leak. To get ahold of the ladder without falling, crouch-walk very slowly
onto the ladder top. Climb down the ladder, then jump if necessary to get off of
it.
Find and use the valve wheel that's on another large vertical pipe nearby, then
keep going along the walkway until you reach a small room with a shotgun lying
next to a dead scientist. Get the shotgun, then go back the way you came and
climb back up the ladder. Turn left past the ladder top and move along until you
reach a room that has a large window overlooking the canal.
Check near the first aid and HEV wall stations for a bullet clip on the floor,
then use the first aid station if you need to. (Remember that you can't ever use
HEV stations since you're not wearing any type of powered armor.) Go over to the
window and use its large button panel, then get out the pistol and quicksave.
Watch for a lift to lower in the area you can see through the window. The lift
has three vortigaunts on it, two of which will see you as soon as the lift
lowers. Quickly back up from the button panel a little bit, but not so much that
you can't clearly see and shoot the vorts. Duck down the instant either of them
starts charging up, and you should be able to avoid all of their blasts.
When the first two vorts are dead, move back up to the window and strafe right
until you can see and start shooting the third vort, which is hiding to the left
of the crate on the lift. It'll come out and start zapping at you after you
shoot it a couple of times, so quickly back up to where you can safely duck its
blasts.
After you shoot it to death, go back to the previous room's upper walkway and
carefully climb down its ladder again. Jump over the railing to get into the
water, then climb up the ladder that leads to the platform where you entered. Go
back to the walkway that goes across the two canals, and head over to its other
end.
Use the flashlight to find a ladder in a dark corner, then jump over the railing
to get onto it. At the top of the ladder, get off to the left. Past the small
metal walkway, jump over a narrow gap, then jump onto a large, rusty metal beam.
Turn right and follow it along until section ba_canal3 loads.
^ Section ba_canal3: FINDING A WAY TO GET TO THE EXPLOSIVE CRATE
Move along the beam until you can turn left and drop into a pool of water. Avoid
the barnacle tongues while looking along the back wall for a broken grating that
you can swim through. Turn left past the grating and swim along until you can
get up onto a small platform with a "FLOW CONTROL" wheel. Use the wheel to raise
the water level, then swim back out through the broken grating.
After the water stops rising, hop onto the top of the green barrel that's
nearest the back wall, then jump from it to the back walkway. Turn left to find
some crates you can bash for a pistol clip, then go the other way to find a
shotgun and a box of shells near a doorway. Get the shotgun out before you
approach the doorway, then go through slowly until two vorts teleport in over to
the left.
Let them see you, then quickly back up through the doorway to avoid their
blasts. You'll want to double-barrel them in the head at close range, so if they
don't come after you, let them see you in the doorway again until they do. (Or
use regular shotgun blasts from the doorway to wear them down.) After they're
dead, go onto the metal walkway past the next doorway.
Go along the walkway until a vort teleports in ahead and falls through the
walkway, then turn around and wait for another vort to teleport in right in
front of you. If it doesn't do so right away, try backing up a little. When it
does appear, quickly charge it and double-barrel up close.
To get across the new walkway gap, you could look to the left for a large pipe
to drop down to, but a better way is to use the barnacle that's hanging over the
gap. Get out the crowbar, quicksave in case you mess up, then take a running
jump straight at the barnacle tongue. As soon as it catches you, look up and
wait for it to pull you close enough to whack it. The instant you do, start
leaning on the "Move forward" key so you'll land on the other side of the
walkway gap.
Get the two health packs on the walkway if you need them, then crouch-hop onto
the right railing (right as you face the walkway gap) and carefully drop down to
the huge rusty pipe below. Drop off it to the floor, then follow it along until
you enter a huge area where two zombies are fighting over a live security guard
on a walkway ahead.
After they drop the guard and get back up, you could start shooting them in the
head with the pistol, but it's easier to just stand and wait for them to shamble
around to your walkway, where you can easily blow them away with up-close
double-barrel shotgun blasts to the head. After they're both down, move into the
room with the wooden crates while looking left to find another zombie to blow
away.
Get the armor vest from the middle of the floor if you need it, then get the
shotgun shells near it and bash the wooden crates to find more shells. Be ready
to double-barrel another zombie in the head just past that room, then bash the
crates in its room to find a pistol clip. Cross the next walkway to find a first
aid station on the left wall.
Go around the next corner slowly and with the flashlight on. There's a bullsquid
just past the bottom of a short ladder ahead, and it'll see you when you get
near the top of the ladder. When it does, quickly back up to avoid its toxic
spit, then move forward slowly until you can see the squid and shoot it with the
pistol without it being able to spit at you.
After it's dead, get the shotgun out and drop down to its floor. Turn right and
start walking past the two huge vertical rusty pipes on their right side. When
you're next to the second pipe, turn around and slowly walk backward until you
hear the first teleporting-in sound. Immediately start running forward, ready to
double-barrel the vort that teleports in directly ahead of you.
There's now another vort on the other side of the first huge rusty pipe, so go
around to where you can double-barrel it, too. To get the third vort, go along
the pipes' right side again, then go slowly along next to the huge concrete
pillar that's past them. As soon as the vort sees you, back up and wait for it
to come within shotgun range.
If you get careless and the bullsquid that's a ways to the left of the vort also
sees you, quickrestore and try again. You want to sneak-shoot that squid with
the pistol. To do that, go between the second vertical pipe and the huge pillar,
then turn right and carefully crouch-walk along, looking to the left with the
flashlight on. When you get to where you can see part of the squid, start sneak-
shooting it.
After it's dead, crouch-walk down its passage, and look around the corner to the
right to find another bullsquid to sneak-shoot. Run up to its area after it's
dead to find some shotgun shells and a health pack, plus some crates you can
bash to find a bullet clip.
Turn around and go toward the power box you can see on the wall up ahead, but
don't go straight for it. There's yet another bullsquid that needs to be sneak-
shot with the pistol in an alcove on the left. After you kill it, go use the
switch on the power box to restore power to the lifts, then get out the shotgun.
Go back to where you found the supplies, ready to double-barrel a vort when it
teleports in right in front of you. Get on the lift past the supplies and use
its button panel to ascend. Bash the crates near the top of the lift to find
another health pack, then go down the nearby walkway to return to section
ba_canal2.
^ Section ba_canal2 (again): USING THE EXPLOSIVE CRATE
Go along the passage until you emerge on the ledge next to the big lift with the
explosive crate on it. At last! Bash the two nearby wooden boxes to get another
pistol clip, then get behind the explosive crate and push it all the way into
the canal. Drop in after it, and hang way back as it blows up part of the crate-
crushing machinery ahead.
After quicksaving, make your way carefully between the two bits of machinery
without touching either one, then move on to find a ladder you can climb. Wait
and listen to the marines above as they make a comment about Shephard (the guy
you played in Opposing Force), then go around the circular walkway and down the
dark hall until the Captive Freight chapter starts.
***** CAPTIVE FREIGHT *****
^ Section ba_yard1: MUNITIONS TRUCK AND STEAM TUNNEL ACCESS
When you reach a room with a ladder, climb to its top, then crouch-walk all the
way over to the center of the middle sandbag wall that's next to a military
truck. Get the shotgun out and crouch-walk around the right side of the wall
until you can double-barrel a turret to "kill" it in one shot. Stay crouched as
you go to the other side of the wall and double-barrel the other turret.
After they're both down, you can stand up and go over to the back of the truck.
Jump into the truck and pick up all the bullets and explosives, then bash the
crate to find a health pack. Exit the truck and go down the street to a set of
large semicircular doors. They can be opened by using the control panel that's
on the wall just to the right of them.
Go down the large tunnel past the doors until you come to a car with a dead
security guard on the ground next to it. Get the .357 Magnum and ammo box from
next to the guard, plus his vest and helmet if you need armor. Open up the back
of the car with the "Use item" key, then crouch-jump in and move around to pick
up the shotgun shells and health pack.
Exit the car and get onto the small concrete platform that's nearby. Use the
crowbar to bash the padlock off the fence door, then go through it and lean on
the "Use item" key while facing the wheel until it stops moving. Get the pistol
out and start climbing down the ladder in the vertical shaft you just opened.
Before you go very far, turn so that you're facing away from the ladder, then
look down and keep climbing down. After the ladder breaks, you'll fall into
section ba_yard2.
^ Section ba_yard2: STEAM TUNNELS
As soon as you land, look up and shoot the nearby headcrab to death before it
can leap at you. There's another crab down the tunnel to the left, but don't
bother trying to sneak-shoot it. Just run over to where the first crab was, then
turn and shoot down the second one before it can leap at you.
Move along the tunnel until you come to a room with a closed door at its other
end. Look to the right of the door for a wheel that you can use to open it, then
go through it and on to the next corner. There's a headcrab near that corner, so
approach it with the pistol out, and quickly back up when the crab sees you.
After it leaps, shoot it down before it can turn and leap again.
At the next corner, turn and shoot the headcrab that's near the steam, then
crouch-walk along the left side of the tunnel until you're past the first jet of
steam. Turn right and crouch-walk over to where you can use a wheel on a steam
pipe, then wait until all of the steam jets disappear.
Move on past that until you reach another room with a closed door at its other
end. The only difference here is that the room is flooded, and the wheel that
opens the door is underwater. It's still in the same spot (to the right of the
door), so you should easily be able to find it, especially if you use the
flashlight.
After you go through the door and approach the next corner, get out the shotgun
and quicksave. There are two bullsquids in the tunnels ahead, and you'll want to
get them to fight each other so you can easily finish off the winner with the
shotgun. When you turn the corner, run toward the first squid while strafing to
dodge its spit until the second squid (which is down the tunnel on the right)
sees you.
Quickly run backwards while still strafing to avoid spit, then go around the
corner and wait near it for a bullsquid to follow you, at which time you can
give it an up-close double-barrel blast. Hopefully, that'll finish it off, but
be ready to dodge and keep shooting if it doesn't.
If you find that to be too hard to pull off without getting injured, you could
very carefully crouch-walk to where you can sneak-shoot each bullsquid with the
pistol, or get each one's attention and shotgun it while backing up and dodging
its spit.
Go slowly along the right side of the second bullsquid's side tunnel with the
flashlight on until you can see some explosive barrels in the small fence room
that's ahead and to the left. Shoot one of the barrels once with the pistol to
blow them up, killing one headcrab and injuring another. The injured one is on
the right, near the lift you're going for, so let it see you, then back up and
shoot it with the pistol after it leaps.
Get on the lift and use its button panel to go up to a warehouse basement, then
get out the pistol and move to the lift's front left corner so you can see and
shoot a headcrab on a wooden crate over to the right. There's another crab over
there that you can't see yet. Go forward a little from the lift so it'll see
you, then run backwards onto the lift again as it leaps by. Stay crouched at the
back of the lift, ready to shoot the crab when it walks into view.
After quicksaving, leave the lift and turn left. Go toward a large oil spill on
the floor with the flashlight on, ready to quickly run backwards and strafe
right when a headcrab drops onto the oil. Shoot it to death with the pistol,
then stay back and watch for another crab to drop down. After you shoot it, go
past the oil spill to reach section ba_yard3a.
^ Section ba_yard3a: WAREHOUSE BASEMENT
Get the shotgun out and quicksave, then go around the corner and forward until a
vortigaunt teleports in ahead of you. Run forward and double-barrel it, then
quickly run backward as two more vorts teleport into the hallway on the right.
Do a quicksave, then round the corner and shoot the nearest vort. Back up for
cover, then peek around the corner for another shot. Keep this up until both of
those vorts are dead.
Go down to where there's a ladder set up in the middle of the hallway, then run
up to where you can look and shoot through the center of the ladder. Use regular
shotgun blasts to take down the vort that appears on the other side of the
ladder, then go down to the next corner and look to the left to see a headcrab
on a crate a ways ahead. (Use the flashlight if you can't see it.) Shoot it to
death with the pistol, then get out the shotgun and quicksave.
Turn around and walk backward toward the headcrab's crate slowly. The instant
you hear a teleport-in sound, run forward and around the corner, since several
vorts just 'ported in behind you. Run past the ladder and around the next
corner, then look back around it and watch for two vorts to follow you. Dodge
their fire and shoot them with the shotgun as they approach you until you finish
them both off. It's possible to do this without getting hurt, so keep trying
until you manage it.
Quicksave again, then go back to the hallway junction where the first two vorts
teleported in. The third vort is down the right branch, so let it see you, then
duck for cover and wait for it to run over so you can double-barrel it. Get the
pistol out and crouch-walk down that hallway to where you can sneak-shoot the
headcrab that's hiding behind the second wooden crate.
NOTE: If you go straight at the hallway junction instead of right, you'll have
to kill another vort and a bunch of headcrabs, and all you'll get for it is a
room where you can bash some large wooden crates to find a first aid station.
That isn't worth it even if you need health, so just skip it.
Around the next corner is an electrical hazard. Before you try to get past it,
turn the flashlight on and look for a headcrab on the hazard's other side. It
should see you and start walking over toward you. See if you can maneuver it
into getting killed by the hazard. If not, dodge its leap and quickly shoot it
with the pistol. (Or just shoot it to begin with if you prefer.)
To cross the hazard unzapped, crouch-walk along its very right edge until you
come up against a piece of rubble, then turn and watch the electrical bolt as it
zaps along. Right after it passes by you, get up and run past the rest of the
hazard, keeping right to avoid the dangling electrical wire.
As soon as you're across, turn the flashlight on and shine it down the dark
tunnel to the left so you can see and shoot a headcrab before it can reach you.
Switch to the shotgun and quicksave, then crouch-walk down the dark tunnel on
its right side until section ba_yard3b loads.
^ Section ba_yard3b: WAREHOUSE BASEMENT, PART 2
There's a vortigaunt just around the corner ahead, so quicksave before charging
it with the shotgun and double-barreling it. After it's down, strafe over to the
left side of the tunnel and crouch-walk forward until you can see an explosive
barrel ahead and a bit to the left. Shoot it with the shotgun to blow it and one
vort up, then quickly double-barrel the vort that teleports in near where the
barrel was.
You need to get into the vent shaft segment that's leaning down near where the
vorts were, but you can't without a boost. Look on the other side of the area to
find several small boxes. Bash all of the wooden ones, then push and/or pull the
larger unbreakable box over to where it's as close to the shaft opening as it'll
go. Jump-crouch onto the box, then crouch-jump into the shaft.
Go up the slanting shaft part to reach an undamaged shaft, then turn left and go
up the little shaft ramp. Approach the top of the ramp slowly and with the
flashlight on, since there's a headcrab to the left that you'll want to sneak-
shoot with the pistol. After it's dead, turn right and look for a bashable vent
covering on the left wall.
Before you bash it, move to where you can see and shoot a headcrab through it.
Turn right past that crab and go up to the next corner slowly, ready to sneak-
shoot another crab that's a ways to the right. Past it is a vertical drop-down
point in the shaft with another headcrab at the bottom. Walk very slowly up to
the drop-off so you can sneak-shoot the crab, then drop down to reach section
ba_yard3.
^ Section ba_yard3: THREE MARINES AND A DYING SCIENTIST
Bash the grate covering at the end of the vent shaft, then drop down to the
floor past it. Pull the barrel out of the room's doorway so you can go through
it, then go left and down some stairs to find a dead security guard with a vest,
helmet, pistol, and two bullet clips lying next to him. Get what you need, then
go back up the stairs and crouch-walk over to the bottom of the stairs that lead
up to the room with two marines in it.
Crouch-walk up the left side of the stairs, then crouch-walk over to where
you're next to a green crate. Toss a C4 satchel bomb so that it lands near the
marines, then crouch-walk back down the stairs before detonating it. Run up and
grab their dropped guns, which include an Mp5 assault rifle, then push the green
crate so that it's directly in front of the door that it starts out to the left
of. (Note that you may need to pull the crate away from the wall before you can
push it over to the door.)
Go through the other door to find a wounded scientist. While listening to what
he tells you about Dr. Rosenberg and the escape plan, check the shelf on the
left for two health packs (one of which is inside a bashable box), then push up
against the lockers on the other side of the room to open the middle one and
reveal a box of .357 ammo. To pick it up, you may have to crouch-walk into the
locker and move around.
After the scientist dies (whack him with the crowbar if you want to speed this
up), move toward the door that you pushed the green crate in front of to get a
marine to open it partway. Let him see you, then quickly strafe right for cover.
Get out the pistol and very carefully crouch-walk to where you can shoot him
without him being able to shoot you. You might want to quicksave first, since he
sometimes runs left and right, and may get a shot at you if you don't strafe out
of the way fast enough.
After he's dead, pull the green crate back so the door can fully open, then go
through it and pick up the marine's dropped rifle. Go down the hallway and turn
right, then use the crowbar to bash the boards that are covering the large hole
in the right wall. Go through the hole and bash some boards with a sign on them,
then enter the elevator and use its button panel to descend to section
ba_teleport1.
^ Section ba_teleport1: EARLY VISIT TO THE TELEPORTER LAB AREA
You can't actually enter the teleporter lab without Dr. Rosenberg, but you can
do two things now. One thing is to jump onto the large leaning chunk of vent
shaft that's near the elevator and crouch-walk up it with the flashlight on to
where you can see another picture of that freaky horrid-head guy. Weird!
The other thing is to push through the left door that's past the shaft piece,
then turn right and go through the security door to find a room with two full
sets of armor and lots of ammo for the .357 and shotgun.
You can try the handprint recognition device to the left of the lab door, but it
won't let you in. Return to the elevator and use its button panel to ride back
up to section ba_yard3.
^ Section ba_yard3 (again): GOING DOWN THE HALLWAY
After you exit the elevator, go back through the wall hole, then turn right and
go down the hallway until section ba_yard4 loads.
^ Section ba_yard4: ASCENDING TO THE SECOND FLOOR
Go through the door that leads to the stairs, then run up them until you reach
the first floor. Go through the storage room door and search the shelves for
four health packs, some of which are in bashable boxes. Go through the next door
to find a room with several worthless boxes, two red gas cans, and a barrel.
Ignore those items and go push open the "EXIT" door. Get out the .357 and
crouch-strafe into the doorway very slowly while looking left. There are three
marines standing near the parked cars out there that you'll want to sneak-shoot.
Move to where you can only see the rightmost marine, then quicksave. Shoot him
in the head with the .357, then quickrestore and try again if you don't get a
one-shot kill. Once you do, quicksave again.
Crouch-strafe slowly to the right until you can see the next marine. If he's
still turned away from you, you can repeat the sneak-shooting to the head
process with him, though note that it's harder to get a one-shot kill, so you
may need to retry several times. If he's facing you and sees you, quickrestore,
then sneak to where you can see part of him, but he can't see you. Shoot him to
get him to running, then quickly shoot him again to kill him before he can stop
and turn to see you.
Now take down the third marine near the cars, using the exact same process you
used on the second marine. There are two more marines way over at the far left
end of the area, near some large semicircular doors. Don't bother trying to
sneak-shoot them, but strafe slowly out to where the first one will see you,
then take him down with the .357 as he runs toward you. Repeat with the second
one, then quicksave again.
Crouch-walk through the door, then turn left and crouch-walk over to a nearby
corner. Turn left at the corner and crouch-walk toward a dumpster until a marine
breaks through the window that's up above it. Crouch-walk forward a little more
to make sure you're in the marine's blind spot, then get out the pistol and
shoot him in the head until dead.
Go collect all the weapons and AR grenades that the other marines dropped, then
jump-crouch onto the top of the dumpster. Turn and jump to the nearest tire
stack, then to the next one, and then to the ledge. Crouch-walk along the ledge
until you're to where you can crouch-walk through the window.
Turn left past the window and go through a door to enter a room, then go through
its other door to enter another hallway. Go along it until section ba_yard4a
loads.
^ Section ba_yard4a: WAREHOUSE STORAGE AREA
In the room past the next door, jump onto the desk to get the .357 and ammo box,
then bash the crates in the corner to the left of the desk to find a health
pack. Bash the padlock that's on the nearby fence door so you can go through it
and get an armor vest, a bunch of shotgun shells, some bullets and another box
of .357 ammo.
Go down the short hall that leads to another door, then quicksave. Push the door
open and move a short way through it to make sure you're seen by the marines in
the big warehouse storage area to the left. Quickly back up through the door,
then turn and run back to where the previous section will load up again. As soon
as it does, turn around and return to this section.
Doing that will "freeze" the pursuing marines where they are and make them
forget about you. (As long as you didn't let any of them pursue you too closely,
that is.) Get out the .357 and slowly crouch-walk your way back to the storage
area door, sneak-shooting any marines you come across on the way. Note that if
you're very careful, you can edge to where you can see part of a marine's head
without him seeing you, then kill him with one quick head shot.
Crouch-walk through the door and see if you can sneak-shoot any more marines. If
not, run around near the door to get their attention, then repeat the run-back-
to-the-previous-section routine on them. Do this until all the marines are dead,
then return to the storage area and go through the door marked "PARCEL
RECEIVING."
Use the light switch on the left wall a bit past the door, then bash all the
boxes in the room to find three health packs. Leave the parcel receiving area
and search the storage area's nearby upper walkway for crates to bash for
supplies, including a C4 satchel bomb that you'll need later.
Go down the ramp that leads to the main storage area, then go over to the large
red storage car. Push up against its nearest end, then back up so its door can
open without pushing you around. Walk up to the live scientist inside the
storage car and wait for him to admit that he's not Dr. Rosenberg, then crowbar-
whack him for being useless if you want to.
After you leave the storage car, turn left and crouch-walk your way along the
black-and-yellow-striped line until you get near the door with the "STORAGE
ROOM" sign next to it. Turn and crouch-walk slowly toward the door until a
marine opens it from the other side.
Quicksave, then move over to where you can sneak-shoot the first marine with the
pistol. If you can't do that without being seen and fired on, quickrestore and
use the .357 to sneakily head-shot him. Do another quicksave, then repeat the
.357 head-shot process with the other marine.
Bash the boxes in the storage room for health packs and assault rifle clips,
then go through the "FREIGHT YARD" door. Use the flashlight to see a large
wooden crate ahead that you can bash for another assault rifle clip, then go
down the hallway until section ba_yard5 loads.
^ Section ba_yard5: FREIGHT YARD AND ENEMY TANK
Go push open the door that leads to the freight yard, then get out the .357 and
quicksave. Very carefully crouch-walk along next to the open door while looking
to the right until you get to where you can sneak-shoot a marine who's standing
a ways to the right of a large blue storage car. The instant you shoot him,
strafe right and back up all the way to the wall that's opposite the doorway to
keep from being seen.
Quicksave, then crouch-walk up to the doorway again and see if you can get to
where you can sneak-shoot another marine. If you're seen, quickrestore and try
again, remembering where the marine who saw you is. If you can't help being
seen, let them see you and then "freeze" them into new positions by returning to
the previous chapter section briefly.
That can be a very lengthy and tedious process, and you may want to use a more
direct approach if you don't mind taking a bit of damage. For instance, let them
see you, then step back from the doorway and quickly shoot any marines who
appear in it with the shotgun or assault rifle.
After you get them all, bash all of the crates on the upper walkway near the
door to find lots of health packs and assault rifle clips, and check near the
dead security guard to find a full set of armor. There are some more crates to
bash along the left wall of the area (left as you face into it from the door)
that have health packs and hand grenades in them.
Look for some steps near those last crates that lead up onto the large concrete
platform that's next to the big red storage car. Look to the right of the car to
see two huge, round spool-like things that are being held in place by small
wooden chocks. Shoot each chock with the pistol until it breaks, then wait for
the spools to roll out of the way.
There are two more chocks next to the red storage car's door, but they'll be
broken by the door swinging open, which it will after you push up against it.
Inside is another scientist who isn't Dr. Rosenberg, and therefore deserves a
sound crowbar thrashing for wasting your time.
Quicksave, then exit the storage car and turn right. You see that big door on
the far wall with the "FREIGHT CAR STORAGE YARD ACCESS" sign to the right of it?
As you run toward it, four marines will open it and run through. You can avoid
their notice by running up to a spot under the sign and waiting for them to go
past you, then entering the tunnel through the door they opened.
When you reach the turn in the tunnel and can see into the area past it, get out
the .357 and quicksave. Move to where you can see a marine standing a ways past
the left side of a truck, then crouch-walk toward him. Stop when you can see the
right arm of the marine who's standing to the right of the truck, then quicksave
and try to kill the marine to the left of the truck with one shot to the head.
Keep quickrestoring and trying again until you manage it, then quicksave. (Oh,
what I wouldn't give for a decent sniper rifle or crossbow right about now!)
Your next target is the marine to the right of the truck. While keeping his
right arm in view, slowly crouch-walk toward him, keeping an eye on the tank
that's to the left. When you're almost to where the tank's turret can see you,
stop moving forward and strafe very slowly to the left until you can head-shot
the marine. This is tricky to do without the marine or the tank seeing you, but
keep trying until you do it.
Quicksave again, then run along the left side of the tunnel until you exit it
briefly, which allows a marine to the left of the truck to see you. If you can
run backwards all the way to the turn in the tunnel before the marine runs into
view near the truck, he should find himself unable to shoot you. When this
happens, shoot him down with the pistol. (If he doesn't run into view near the
truck, you may have to go let him see you again, or quickrestore and try again
until it works.)
One of the last two marines is over on the left side of the area, on the other
side of the flatbed car with a bunch of crates on it that's in front of the
tank's flatbed. After quicksaving, run out of the tunnel, turn left, and quickly
run over to the crate flatbed and crouch-walk under it. You should be able to
easily see the marine you're after ahead.
Don't move to where you can see his head, but get as close as you can without
that and double-barrel him with the shotgun. He'll run around the back of the
tank and stop in a spot a bit to the right of it, where you can easily finish
him off with the pistol.
After that, it's time to destroy the tank. Doing that will also kill the final
marine, who's standing directly behind the tank on its flatbed. The safest and
easiest way to do this is to crouch-walk up next to the left side of the tank
(its left) and stay crouched while looking up and shooting its turret with the
assault rifle until it explodes. To save on ammo, you could jump up and bang on
the turret with the crowbar a bunch of times before shooting it, but you could
get damaged if the turret explodes from a crowbar hit, so be careful. (Also,
remember that assault rifle ammo is *very* plentiful around here.)
My favorite way to destroy the tank is to make it blow its own turret up, though
this is a slightly more dangerous way than the one described above. Crouch-walk
over to the tank's right side (its right), and make sure it sees you there and
starts rotating its turret that way. Crouch-walk under the tank, then move to
where it'll aim its cannon a tiny bit to the right of the "MAINTENANCE ACCESS"
sign that's on the wall near a door. If it's not firing, very slowly crouch-walk
forward until it starts, then wait for it to blow itself up.
After the tank is destroyed, look on the ground between its flatbed and another
one to find some health packs and ammo, then go jump into the back of the truck
to get some more health packs, an RPG, and a full load of rockets. Jump-crouch
onto the metal connector between the tank's flatbed and the one with the crates,
then bash all the crates to find more health packs and ammo. Drop down and bash
the crates on the ground near the crate flatbed to find another rocket and more
health packs.
Jump-crouch onto the connector thingy on the back of the flatbed car that's near
the truck, then bash your way through the big wooden crates until you can enter
a blue storage car through a hole. Bash the crates inside it to find yet more
health packs and some much-needed .357 ammo. When you're ready to leave, go
through the maintenance access door near the tank and down the dark hallway
until section ba_yard5a loads.
^ Section ba_yard5a: RAILROAD YARD
Quicksave when you come to an open door. There's a turret over to the right, but
you don't have to attack it. If you run out the door and down the tunnel to the
left fast enough, you can make it to the flatbed car around the corner without
getting shot. Quickrestore and try again if you need to.
Use the tiny ladder on the right side of the back of the flatbed to get up onto
it, then bash all of the wooden crates with the crowbar. When you reach the
four-canister set, return to the back of the flatbed and shoot the tip of each
canister once with the pistol. That'll cause them to make a new hole in the wall
ahead.
Move up near the hole to make sure the four marines in the railroad yard see
you, then quickly run back to the very back of the flatbed. Stay there and shoot
at marines with the pistol whenever you can see them through the hole. They
won't be able to shoot back unless you move up closer to the hole. (You may have
to every now and then to keep them running into view, so be careful and
quicksave after every kill.)
NOTE: Even though they can't fire their guns at you, there are two of them that
may get close enough to the hole to lob AR grenades at you. If that starts
happening, quickrestore and see if you can get them with the .357 before they
start doing that. If not, get off the flatbed and run over next to the hole and
see if you can kill them by firing your own AR grenades through the hole without
getting hit. If things get too bad, you may want to start over and use RPG
rockets to quickly kill all of the marines when they first run into view. (Those
who appear on the ground near the hole, anyway.)
After you've gotten all four of them, go through the hole and pick up their
dropped weapons. Find the little turntable control room near the large, round
turntable track thing, and pick up some armor from near the dead guard if you
need it. Use both of the controls on the room's panel to rotate the turntable
the way you need it, and to open up the door that's next to the "RAILROAD YARD
TOW ENGINE BAY 5" sign.
Before you see what's past that door, get up on the raised concrete walkway and
bash all the wooden crates you can find (using the flashlight to help you see)
for ammo and health packs. Go through the bay 5 door and past the storage car to
find that it's attached to a small tow engine. Climb onto the tow engine on its
right side, then use its control panel to back the storage car out of bay 5. (If
the panel doesn't seem to work, try moving a bit and using it again.)
After the engine stops, get off it and go over to the back of the storage car.
Get out your C4 satchel bombs and toss one so that it lands on the concrete
close to the car's door, near its center. You may want to quicksave first in
case you mess up and have to re-toss. Once that satchel is in place, run over to
the "FREIGHT WAREHOUSE" door that's near the other end of the raised concrete
walkway and use the altfire key to toss your other satchel into the corner
between the door and its sign.
Go back and press up against the storage car's door to open it, then go inside
and over to where Dr. Rosenberg is sitting. After he finishes talking and gets
his hands in a position to boost you up, detonate your satchels. Hop onto his
hands and up to open the ceiling vent, then carefully jump up to where you just
barely catch hold of the vent's grating.
Turn around and move carefully up until you can see whether or not both of the
marines near the storage car's door were killed by the satchel you placed there.
If not, fire RPG rockets back there until they're both dead. The third marine
over near the "FREIGHT WAREHOUSE" door undoubtedly got killed by your other
satchel, so there's no need to worry about him.
Drop carefully down to the ground, then go to the back of the storage car and
open it up again. Approach Dr. Rosenberg and wait for him to stop talking, then
get him to follow you. You're going to have to escort him all the way back to
that elevator you took down to the old lab earlier, and you'll need to carefully
watch him and make sure he keeps up every step of the way.
Lead him through the now-open door with the "FREIGHT WAREHOUSE" sign next to it
(the one you dropped your second satchel bomb next to), then around to where
section ba_yard4 loads up again.
^ Section ba_yard4 (again): BACK TO THE BASEMENT
Follow Rosenberg up the stairs to a room where he'll stop following you for now.
Push open the door that leads to a hallway, then use the pistol to shoot out the
window that's on the wall to the right. Crouch-strafe slowly left while facing
that window until you get to where you can stand up and see a marine's right arm
without any bits of indestructible glass between you and it.
Shoot the arm with the pistol to get the marine to move up to where he could see
you, but won't because he's facing the wrong way. Crouch-walk up closer, then
stand up and double-barrel him with the shotgun to finish him off. From there,
run quickly to the nearest little stick-out part in the hallway's left wall. If
you're fast enough, the marine who runs into the doorway at the other end of the
hall won't see you.
After quicksaving, crouch-walk very slowly and carefully to where you can sneak-
shoot the marine with the pistol. He'll probably move and see you, so try to
quickly finish him off before he can shoot you. Quickrestore and try again if
you need to, and use the .357 if he keeps shooting you when you use the pistol.
Bash the box on a table in the first marine's side room to find a health pack,
then get Dr. Rosenberg to following you again. In the room at the other end of
the hall, check near a dead guard for a helmet and a bullet clip, then go down a
short hall to reach the freight records office. Leave Dr. Rosenberg there, then
go through another door and approach the door that leads to the stairwell.
Go up to the stairwell door by crouch-walking along the left wall. As soon as
the door opens, get out the .357 and quicksave. Edge carefully over to where you
can see part of a marine's head without being seen, then kill him with a head
shot. There are two more marines on the stairs to the left that you can do the
same thing with, though you could save one .357 slug by using the pistol on the
first of those two.
If Dr. Rosenberg doesn't start running down the stairs on his own after you kill
the last marine, go get him to follow you, then go down the stairs. After you go
through the door that leads to the basement, he'll say something and then stop
following you. Get him to follow again, then go down the hallway until section
ba_yard3 loads up again.
^ Section ba_yard3 (yet again): BACK TO THE TELEPORTER LAB
Run into the elevator past the big wall hole and use its button panel to get it
going as soon as Dr. Rosenberg is inside. After the elevator stops, you'll be
back in the ba_teleport1 section.
^ Section ba_teleport1 (again): FOLLOWING ROSENBERG AROUND
Get Rosenberg following you again, then go back to the door with the handprint
scanner next to it. While he's opening that door, check the nearby security room
to see if you left anything there before that you can use now. As you follow
Rosenberg through the handprint door, check the wall on the right for a first
aid station.
Catch up to Rosenberg and follow him around, listening to his explanation of the
situation. Wait until he opens a teleporter orb on a large platform, then run
into the orb to get taken to the border world, where the Focal Point chapter
begins.
***** FOCAL POINT *****
^ Section ba_xen1: FINDING THE TUNNEL MAZE
Get the shotgun out as soon as this section starts, and wait for three houndeyes
to run up to you. After you blast all of them, you could go for a nearby healing
pool, but you probably won't need to. Look near where you appeared to find three
large rocks of different sizes that are right next to each other. Jump onto the
shortest rock, then onto the middle one, and then onto the highest one.
From there, you can jump onto the large circular path that's nearby. Wait for
two more houndeyes to run up to you so you can easily blast them with the
shotgun, then run along the path to the other side of the area. You'll find a
small cave with a lone houndeye (crowbar it) and a big spiky plant next to a
small vine-covered tunnel.
After quicksaving, crouch-walk along the wall to the right of the tunnel
entrance to hopefully reach it without getting hit by the plant. If you do get
spiked, quickrestore and try again. When you make it, bash the vines with the
crowbar, then enter the tunnel.
^ Section ba_xen2: NAVIGATING THE TUNNEL MAZE
Move along the tunnel until you come to another small cave. Bash the vines out
of your way, then find the two vine-covered entrances to other tunnels. The one
you'll be taking has a spiky plant near it, so quicksave. Crouch-walk over to
the wall at a point that's about halfway between the two spiky plants, then turn
left and crouch-walk over to the tunnel entrance.
Bash its vine covering off, then move forward slowly with the flashlight on and
the pistol out. There are two headcrabs just past the spot where the tunnel
curves right, and you'll want to sneak-shoot them. If they see you, you're
probably still okay, since they'll have a very hard time leaping at you in the
narrow confines of the tunnel.
Move on past them to reach a two-way tunnel split, with another headcrab just to
the right of it. Take the left branch of the split first, and sneak-shoot a crab
that's past the point where the tunnel bends right. Just past the crab is a dead
HEV guy with an ammo canister next to him, so grab it before returning to the
tunnel split and going the other way (which is straight ahead as you approach
the split).
There's another headcrab past the spot where the tunnel turns left. After you
shoot it down, go past it to reach some bashable vines that lead to another
small cave. Crouch-walk slowly into the cave while looking to the right until
you can see and shoot a headcrab that's on a rock.
Quicksave after it's dead, then go over to its rock and move to where the
bullsquid in the small tunnel on the opposite side of the cave sees you. Quickly
turn left and run over to the spiky plant that's against the left wall (near
where you entered the cave). Crouch down and hide behind the plant so that it's
between you and the squid, then wait to see what the squid does.
It should kill the other headcrab in the area, then run up next to your plant so
that it's on the opposite side of it as you are. If it ignores the crab and/or
runs around to your side of the plant, quickrestore and try again. Once it's
next to the plant's other side, hit the plant with the crowbar until it kills
the squid for you.
Jump onto the rock that you shot the first headcrab on, then crouch down and
enter the tunnel after bashing its vine covering. As you move along, you'll see
a headcrab ahead of you with its back turned. Shoot it down, then move past it
to find another turned-around headcrab to shoot in a small cave.
Go around the cave's central pillar and on to a path split at a large yellow
crystal. Go straight at the split, then shoot the headcrab that's past the next
tunnel turn. There's a cave at the end of the tunnel that has two more crabs in
it (one of which is to the right) and a dead HEV guy with an ammo canister. Kill
the crabs and grab the canister, then go all the way back to the cave room where
you found the bullsquid.
There are entrances to two more tunnels in that room that you haven't explored
yet. They both lead to the same area, but I advise using the left tunnel (the
one that's at the top of a short rocky ramp). Soon after you enter it, you'll
see a headcrab in a small cave ahead, so shoot it with the pistol. Get the
crowbar out and quicksave, then run into the cave to get another headcrab to
drop down. It's possible to whack it to death without it hitting you, so keep
quickrestoring and trying again until you manage it.
Move along the tunnel until it splits, then turn right and keep going until you
reach some vines. Right after you bash them, get out the pistol and shoot the
headcrab that's on the other side of the large pool. Use the flashlight to help
you see it, and note that it may have seen you and started walking to the left.
After it's dead, crouch-strafe to where you can sneak-shoot another crab that's
just to the right of the tunnel exit.
Exit the tunnel and go stand in the healing pool, then dive into the big water
pool and swim down to a rocky ledge that's over on the right and not too far
down. It's pretty easy to see since it has a "plant light" and a dead HEV guy on
it. Grab the ammo canister from near the HEV guy, then lean on the "Swim up" key
to return to the surface. To get back up onto the pathway that goes around the
pool, jump onto it from a spot just to the right of the healing pool. If a
barnacle catches you, kill it with the crowbar.
And now it's time to go for the Half-Life series' most peculiar secret area: the
Chumtoad's Lair. All it has that you can take are snarks, which I never advise
using because they're so random and imprecise, so you might want to just skip
the whole thing. If you'd rather go for it, get back in the healing pool, get
out the crowbar, and quicksave. Run forward from the healing pool into the big
water pool, then look down and lean on the "Swim down" key.
Turn the flashlight on soon after you start descending so that you'll be able to
tell when you're nearing the bottom of this very deep pool. When you reach the
bottom, turn left and swim toward the large rock that you see nearby. Just to
the right of that rock is a large crack in the wall that's leaking air bubbles.
Bang on the wall near the crack with the crowbar until it breaks open, then
quickly swim into the tunnel, bash the vines, and surface for air. Made it! Jump
out of the water and move forward to get the three chirpy chumtoads to teleport
out. Check near the middle toad's rock "stool" to find two snark packs that you
can take.
After quicksaving again, dive back into the water and swim along the tunnel that
leads to the deep pool. As soon as you exit the tunnel, lean on the "Swim up"
key until you surface, then get back onto the pool's surrounding path. Find the
tunnel that's on the opposite side of the cave from the healing pool, and go
along it until section ba_xen3 loads.
^ Section ba_xen3: TWO FLOATING PLATFORM JUMP-A-THONS
Bash through the vines at the end of the tunnel and drop down, then turn left
and go forward to reach a large outdoor area with a floating platform jump-a-
thon. After quicksaving in case you fall, jump to the leftmost of the three
nearest rocky platforms, then jump from it to the next one, and then to the
third one.
It moves slowly up and down, so wait until it's as "up" as it'll go before
trying to jump to the next platform. When you reach the sixth platform in the
series, get out the assault rifle and quicksave before jumping to the next one.
Soon after you do, three vortigaunts will teleport in. The first one will appear
on the platform you just jumped from, the second one will appear on the platform
a bit to the left of that, and the third one will appear on a higher platform to
the left of the second one.
The third vort won't be close enough to zap you, but the first two will. What
you need to do is launch an AR grenade at the first vort the instant it appears,
then immediately turn and start shooting the second vort, preferably in the
head. Hopefully, you'll be able to kill it before it can zap you. If not,
quickrestore and try again. The third vort can be shot down with the pistol at
your leisure.
After all three vorts have been disposed of, quicksave and jump the rest of the
way across the platforms. After you jump from the last platform to the big cave
tunnel, get out the shotgun and move forward. When some houndeyes see you, stop
and wait for them to run up to you so you can easily blow them away. There are
more houndeyes outside, so blast them all before entering the next big cave
tunnel.
Past that tunnel's other end, jump to the nearest floating rock platform, then
to the second one, and then onto the big "donut ring" rock. Once you're on it,
turn left and face the small healing pool, then notice that there are two
floating rock platforms past it. Those platforms can be used to get across to a
secret side cave, but it's tough to make it there, since the second platform
will be blown up soon after you start.
While standing on the donut rock and facing the first rocky platform past the
healing pool, quicksave. Run over to the little ledge of rock that's just to the
left of the healing pool, then jump from it to the left side of the first rocky
platform. Immediately turn right, run to the edge of the first platform, and
jump over to the second platform. This is a *very* hard jump to make, and you'll
probably fall many times before you get it right. As soon as you do, turn and
jump to the cave entrance and run inside so you won't get damaged by the second
platform's destruction.
Once you make it to the cave, get the ammo canister from near the dead HEV guy,
then go back to the cave entrance and look over at the donut-shaped rock. There
will be two or three vorts over there, so shoot them all down with the pistol
before using the cave's teleporter orb to return to the small healing pool.
Crouch-walk out of the healing pool onto the ledge next to it, then jump the
smaller gap to reach the main part of what's left of the donut rock. Go over to
where a large rocky spire has fallen over. Crouch-jump onto its base, then
crouch-jump onto its main part.
Crouch-walk along the fallen spire until you reach the ground at its other end,
then go around behind some big rocks to find some vines covering a hole in the
ground. Crouch-walk onto the vines and bash them in order to fall into section
ba_xen4.
^ Section ba_xen4: WATERFALL AREAS
Get out the pistol, then go along the tunnel, keeping your head above water as
long as you can. After you go underwater and reach the bottom of a vertical
shaft, lean on the "Swim up" key to surface as quickly as possible. When you do,
a bullsquid will see you, so move to where the nearby rock and crystal are
between you and it.
Watch for it to change position, after which you might need to, also. Once you
get to where you can see the squid while bobbing on the surface of the water
without it being able to spit at you, shoot it with the pistol until it dies.
Jump out of the water, then drop into the large stream nearby that leads to a
waterfall.
After quicksaving, go up to the edge of the waterfall and look down without
falling down. Use the pistol to kill the bullsquid that you see on a small
island below while strafing to dodge its spit. After it's dead, go over the
waterfall and make sure you land in the water.
Get up on the bullsquid's little island, then search the back wall of the area
to find another waterfall. That's your next destination, and you're going to use
the island's big, round whoosh-thing to get up there. Stand on the side of the
whoosh-thing that's directly opposite the waterfall, then look up at the top of
the waterfall. Run forward onto the whoosh-thing and jump, then lean on the
"Move forward" key until you land. If you fall back down into the water, try
again.
Move down the tunnel past the waterfall, whacking barnacles as you go, until you
come to a healing pool with a dead HEV guy and an ammo canister next to it. Grab
the canister, then go down the tunnel that's to the left of the healing pool.
When you get near the tunnel's end, get out the pistol and quicksave.
Turn on your flashlight and crouch-walk slowly up to the end of the tunnel along
its left edge. If you're careful, you'll be able to sneak-shoot the bullsquid
that's on the pathway across the water and to the left without it seeing you. If
a houndeye starts running around over there, you might as well shoot it down,
too.
Drop out of the tunnel into the water, then swim across and jump onto the ledge
that the bullsquid was on. Shoot down the houndeye that's also on that ledge if
you haven't already, then run along the ledge until you come to the bottom of a
very small waterfall. A bullsquid up on the higher ground will have already seen
you, so jump up and down while shooting it with the pistol.
After it's dead, get up to its higher ledge by using the rocks to the left of
the mini-waterfall as jumping stones. Jump across the water to the ledge on the
other side, then shoot the houndeye that's at the top of the next set of jumping
stones. Jump up there, then shoot the headcrab that you can see on a rock a ways
ahead.
Look around in the water near the headcrab rock to find a dead HEV guy with an
ammo canister next to him. Get the canister, then use the nearby whoosh-thing to
get up to the higher ledge ahead, being careful not to land too close to the
spiky plant. Go down the tunnel past that ledge to reach section ba_xen5.
^ Section ba_xen5: FOCUS MACHINE AND HEADCRAB TUNNEL
Leave the tunnel, then turn left and drop down to the ground using the rocky
ledges. Look for a spiky plant nearby that has a dead HEV guy and an ammo
canister right in front of it. After quicksaving, crouch-walk up to where you
can get the ammo canister, then back up quickly. Turn right from that to see
another spiky plant next to two tall rocky spires. Go behind the spires to find
another dead HEV guy with an ammo canister and a health pack.
In the center of this area is the focus gadget you were sent to reactivate.
Notice that there are two smaller gadgets connected to it by cables. Go over to
the one that's nearer the ground-level cave tunnel and use its power button to
turn the other two gadgets' power on.
Go over to the other small gadget and wait for it to open up. After it does,
you'll need to use its two knobs (one at a time) to rotate the two parts of the
main gadget into the correct configuration. Look at the display above a knob to
see that while you're holding down the "Use item" key to turn a knob, a yellow
triangle is moving around the edge of the display.
You need to get both yellow triangles into their displays' red zones. When you
do it right, the indicator lights next to the knobs will go from red to green.
Get that done with the left knob, then get out the shotgun and quicksave. As
soon as you finish with the right knob, turn and run to a spot just to the right
of the power gadget, and face the nearby cave tunnel.
When you see a vort teleport in ahead of you, charge it and double-barrel it up
close, but don't press up against it or you might get splattified for no good
reason. Quickly run into the cave tunnel and get behind the small crate. Look
back the way you came until another vort comes running toward you and starts
charging up. Duck down behind the crate and stay crouched until the vort runs up
next to you, then double-barrel it.
Go to the back part of the cave tunnel to find that there's been a cave-in. Look
to the left of the cave-in for a health pack, and to the right of it for another
health pack and a metal chest that you can open with the "Use item" key. Crouch-
walk into the open chest to get yet another health pack and an ammo canister.
Jump onto the lowest rock in the cave-in, then on up to the fourth rock. Turn to
face the tunnel that's a bit higher than you are, and that has a glowing yellow
crystal a ways down it, then quicksave. Jump over to a spot behind the rock
that's on the right side of the tunnel, then crouch there with the pistol out,
ready to quickly shoot a headcrab as soon as it walks into view. If it gets you,
quickrestore and try again.
After it's dead, crouch-walk around the rock and over to the edge of the drop-
off that has a healing pool below it. Don't drop down yet, but turn on the
flashlight and look for a headcrab on the ground a ways down the tunnel past the
pool. It's probably already seen you and started walking toward the pool. If
not, try crouch-walking along the edge of the drop-off to get its attention.
After it's shot, drop into the healing pool and quicksave before you start down
the tunnel. There are two more headcrabs in the tunnel, and they're hard to spot
before you get within their leaping range. Keep quickrestoring and trying again
until you can shoot both of them down without getting hurt.
Not far past the second crab is an outdoor area with a bullsquid in it. Crouch-
walk along the left side of the tunnel until you're behind some large rocks,
then stand up and shoot the bullsquid to death with the pistol, crouching as
needed to avoid its spit. Go out to where the squid's body is to get two vorts
and two alien controllers to start teleporting in, then quickly run back into
the tunnel.
Move to where you can see the vort that appeared on the rocky platform with a
spiky plant on it, then shoot it down with the pistol. Crouch-walk slowly toward
the tunnel exit along the left wall while looking over to the right for an alien
controller. As soon as you see one, start shooting it with the pistol. You
should be able to take it down without it firing any of its zappy orbs at you.
The same goes for the other controller, which starts out over to the left. (So
crouch-walk along the right side of the tunnel until you can see and shoot it.)
After they're all down, go out to where you can see the vort that's up on the
rocky platform over on the right. Look for it just to the left of the platform's
yellow crystal. Quicksave after you kill it, then use the whoosh-thing near the
tunnel exit to jump across to the platform that the spiky plant is on. It's
possible to land on the platform without taking any damage, so keep trying until
you do.
Crouch-walk carefully up to the ammo canister that's near the spiky plant. After
you get it, go over to the rock with the crystals next to it and jump back
across to the ground left of the whoosh-thing (but be careful not to land on
it). Get out the shotgun and run up the curving pathway, ready to double-barrel
a vort when it teleports in ahead of you.
Get the health pack and ammo canister from near the dead HEV guy, then quicksave
and move into the second part of the headcrab tunnel. Proceed carefully and with
the pistol (or assault rifle) out and ready to shoot crabs with. After you
encounter one crab, section ba_xen6 will load.
^ Section ba_xen6: TELEPORTING BACK OUT
Continuing cautiously down the tunnel, you'll encounter three more crabs before
you come to a drop-down point. Get out the shotgun and turn the flashlight on
before you quicksave, then drop down and turn right to find a large rock to hide
behind as two vorts teleport in ahead. Wait until the first vort comes within
shotgun range, then blast it and let the other vort see you.
After you blast it, quicksave and run outside. Double-barrel the vort that
teleports in on the walkway near you, then immediately turn and jump into the
teleporter orb that Dr. Rosenberg's voice is coming out of. If you're fast
enough, you'll make it before an alien grunt can hit you with any of its
hornets. You'll end up back in the lab in section ba_teleporter2.
^ Section ba_teleport2: A NEW PROBLEM
After you appear in the teleporter lab, listen to Dr. Rosenberg and follow him
when he leads you to a lift. After you get on the lift, quicksave before you use
its button panel. There's a small chance that the game will glitch and not load
up the Power Struggle chapter as you descend. If that happens, quickrestore and
try again.
***** POWER STRUGGLE *****
^ Section ba_power1: CUT-OPEN DOOR AND LEVEL 2 ACCESS LIFT
After the lift stops, use the button panel to the right of the large door to
open it, then stay near the button panel while using the pistol to sneak-shoot
the bullsquid that's just past the door. Check near the dead guard for some
bullet ammo and armor items, then get on the lift past him and use its button
panel to go up to a higher floor.
Go down the hall past the lift to where you can look through a fence to see a
guard and scientist who are talking about the power cell the lab needs. After
they get killed by a vortigaunt, go back down the lift (or just drop down) and
get out the .357. Marines will start cutting through the "RESERVE COOLANT BASIN"
door, so stand in the big doorway near the lab's lift so that you can only see
the right half or so of the door they're cutting.
Quicksave when the door is almost cut open, then wait until it falls. As soon as
it does, shoot one of the explosive containers that are just past the right edge
of the doorway. If you do it fast enough, both marines will be killed. If one
isn't, either sneak-shoot him or quickrestore and try again.
There are some supplies in the room past the cut-open door, but don't pay any
attention to those yet. In the area past the big doorway on the right are three
marines who are impossible to sneak up on or sneak-shoot. After quicksaving, run
back to the lab lift's big doorway and stand so you can see part of the cut-open
doorway. (In other words, stand where you did while waiting for the marines to
cut open that door.) Have the assault rifle out and use AR grenades to kill
marines as soon they appear in the cut-open doorway.
If that doesn't work well enough for you, you can let them see you, then run
straight back to the lab's lift and use it to return to the previous section.
Yes, this is another "freeze 'em where they stand" routine. After you reach the
lab, use the lift's panel to go back down.
If any of the marines see you as you descend in the lift, quickrestore and try
again. Quicksave once you make it back down unseen, then crouch-walk slowly
around to see where the marines are. You should be able to sneak-shoot at least
some of them. (Try to get them in the head with .357 slugs for one-shot kills.)
If you can't get them all without being seen, use the lab's lift again.
When you get all three of them, go to the room past the cut-open door and look
for health packs and ammo, including two RPG rockets and a C4 satchel bomb. Past
that, go through a fence doorway to a room with a power meter, then go through
its other doorway. Turn right and go through another doorway, then crouch-walk
up to the big window that's on the right.
Get to where you can see part of a marine through the right side of the window,
then do the routine where you carefully sneak to where you can take him down
with one head shot from the .357. After he's down, bash the small boxes nearby
to find two health packs.
A nearby marine will shout "Movement!" when you go through the doorway to the
blue-lit room, but don't worry -- he hasn't really seen you. Bash the boxes in
that room for another health pack, then crouch-walk up to the right side of its
other doorway. The marine is over to the left, so edge carefully to where you
can use the .357 to do the sneaky head-shot routine with him.
Crouch-walk through the doorway you just shot through, and move straight ahead
to a big doorway. Another marine is hiding just to the right of that doorway, so
do the sneaky head-shot routine on him. Check the walls in his room to find a
first aid station (and a useless HEV station), then quicksave before venturing
out onto the large level 2 access lift.
Move slowly along it while looking at the ledge that's up high and to the left.
As soon as a marine runs into view on that ledge, run backwards until you're off
the lift, then shoot the marine down with the pistol. Get out the RPG and
quicksave, then start running across the lift. When you're about halfway across,
two marines will run into view ahead of you, and you'll want to kill them both
with one rocket. Keep quickrestoring and trying again until you do it. If using
a rocket doesn't work for you, try it with an AR grenade.
If you used a rocket and didn't already pick up both rockets in the room past
the cut-open door, run back there and grab one, then return to the access lift.
Just past it, turn left and crouch-walk up to the left side of the doorway
that's past the vending machines. There's a marine past the doorway that you
should use the sneaky head-shot routine on.
Go through the doorway and crouch-walk up to the corner on the right slowly.
There are two marines in the room to the right that you can use the sneaky head-
shot routine on. After they're dead, check their room for supplies (including a
health pack in a bashable box), then go over to the ladder. Start climbing it,
then turn around and look up so that as you climb slowly upward (using the "Move
backward" key), you'll be able to see the marine who's at the radio on the floor
above.
Quicksave when you get to where you can clearly see his head, then keep trying
to kill him with a single .357 head shot until you do it. Climb up to his floor
and look around to find some health packs. If you're short on AR grenades, go
along the passage that's to the left of the radio. You'll soon come to the ledge
you shot a marine down on earlier. He had AR grenades, and you'll be able to
find them somewhere on the ledge's floor.
Return to the radio room and look for a large open ceiling grate to the left of
the ladder you climbed up. Crouch-jump onto the railing, then jump to the grate
to grab hold of it. Climb up it, then edge around until you're next to a large
wall grate. Bash it and jump into the shaft past it, then run along until you
can bash another grate and drop into a room with a dead marine. Look near him to
find some snarks, an ammo canister, an assault rifle, and a health pack. Go back
the way you came, then get on the large open grate and crouch-jump to the
railing (after quicksaving in case you fall painfully).
It might be best to wait until you return to this area after restoring power to
get the above-mentioned secret area's ammo canister, since you'll probably need
its ammo much more by then. In any case, go through the "AUXILIARY GENERATOR
ACCESS" doorway to the right of the radio and down the dark hall until section
ba_power2 loads.
^ Section ba_power2: COOLANT BASIN AND CONTROL ROOM
When you round the corner, you'll come across a plunger that's been set up to
blow the charges on the "COOLANT PUMP" door to the left. However, there's a
break in the fuse, so ignore the plunger for now and check near the dead marine
for ammo and hand grenades. Get the assault rifle out and quicksave before going
down the hallway and over to the big doorway with the red light over it.
There are several houndeyes in the area just past the doorway, and it can be
tough to shoot them all down without any of them getting off a sonic blast. Keep
trying until you manage it, then return to the hallway and use the flashlight to
find the metal barrel that's in one corner. Bash the wooden crates around it,
then push it down to the area with the plunger and fuse.
Push it onto the fuse gap, then go use the plunger and quickly back away from
it. If the explosives don't go off, adjust the barrel's position and try again.
After the explosion, get out the shotgun and quicksave before going through the
new door hole.
Past the hole, move around the door debris and slowly forward until a vort
teleports in near you. Quickly charge it and double-barrel it, then turn and do
the same to the second vort to teleport in. You should be able to get them both
without getting zapped. After they're down, toss a hand grenade onto the upper
floor nearby to blow up some of the headcrabs up there.
Get out the pistol, then jump up and down to see if there are any crabs left on
that floor. If so, shoot them before you climb the ladder to get up there. Go
down the short hall and turn right to find another doorway with a red light over
it. Turn the flashlight on and crouch-strafe slowly left while facing that
doorway until you can sneak-shoot a headcrab.
After it's dead, crouch-walk up to the doorway while looking left until you can
sneak-shoot the other crab that's in there. Go in and use the wheel on the panel
to the right of the window to drain the coolant basin, then crouch-walk down the
short corridor that leads to a room with a bullsquid in it. Carefully sneak-
shoot the squid with the pistol, then look near the dead guard to find armor
items and .357 ammo.
Enter the room's small lift and use its button panel to go down a floor. Sneak-
shoot the headcrab that's around the corner on the right, then heal up at the
first aid station if you need to. Use the flashlight to help you find the short
hallway that leads to the floor of the coolant basin, then find the ladder in
the basin's back right corner.
Climb the ladder and carefully crouch-push the two coolant barrels off the side
without falling down and getting hurt. Climb back down the ladder, then start
pushing coolant barrels into place to form a bridge. Looking up, you'll see the
two ends of the broken bridge that you'll need to get across soon. In between
them on the floor is a large drainage grille.
Push two barrels onto the grille, then push the other two over next to it. What
you want to do is make a line of barrels that will bridge the gap once the
coolant basin is refilled. You don't have to make them into a perfectly straight
line -- you'll just have to be able to use them to jump across from one bridge
end to the other.
Once you have the barrels set in positions you think will work, go back the way
you came. Ride up the little lift, then go down the hall to the room with the
wheel you turned earlier to drain the basin. Turn it again to refill the basin,
then look through the window to see if your barrel arrangement looks usable. If
so, go back through the hole you made in the coolant room door and down the hall
to where you blasted some houndeyes earlier.
That's the upper floor of the coolant basin room, so go over to the broken
bridge. When you set foot on it, two vorts and an alien grunt will teleport in
on the other side. As soon as they start appearing, run back to the doorway. Get
out the pistol and use the flashlight to help you see them and shoot them down
from a safe distance.
Go back to the bridge and quicksave, then try jumping across using the coolant
barrels you arranged earlier. Even if they're well-positioned, you can't just
run across, and it's far too easy to fall into the coolant and die. If you can't
ever make it, you'll need to go redo the whole thing, moving the barrels into
better positions this time.
Once you make it across the bridge, turn left and go to where you can use the
flashlight to see the top of a bullsquid through a window. Sneak-shoot it to
death with the pistol, then get out the shotgun and look around for a door
that's opened by a button panel to the right of it. As soon as that door opens,
double-barrel the vort that's standing just past it. Go through the door and
turn right, then move forward slowly along the left wall until a vort teleports
in ahead of you.
Quickly charge and double-barrel it, then back up. If another vort runs into
sight, blast it. If not, charge around the corner and blast it. Get out the
assault rifle and quicksave, then go through the room's back door and forward to
where you can see two marines over on the other side of the area shooting at
some unseen foe. Even though they'll probably die or run off never to come back,
it would still be safer to shoot them both down now.
After that's done, turn right and go to the back wall. There's a first aid
station nearby, and this is a good spot to shoot a nearby alien grunt from. Get
out the pistol and use the flashlight to help you see the grunt next to a
railing on a higher floor at the other end of the area, past the crates and
barrels.
After the grunt falls over, move forward and jump onto the overturned coolant
barrel. Turn left and jump onto a crate, then turn right and jump onto another
crate. You can then run forward and drop down near a door. Check the floor next
to the dead marine for ammo and AR grenades, then get the pistol out and crouch-
walk through the door.
Use the flashlight to help you see a headcrab on the floor ahead after you turn
a corner. Shoot it, then crouch-walk up to the next corner and quickly shoot the
crab that's at the top of the first set of stairs. Crouch-walk up those stairs
to where you can sneak-shoot the crab at the top of the second set of stairs.
Past the stairs, walk carefully by the flaming pipe on its right side, then go
through the doorway and cross the room to find another doorway. Get out the
shotgun and quickly blow away the vort that's to the right of that doorway with
a double-barrel blast. Move on past the vort until you reach the control room.
Go through its door and drop down to its lower floor, where you'll find the body
of the bullsquid you shot through the window earlier. Look next to the window to
find a control console. Use both of the large red levers on the console to
restore power, then climb up the ladder and leave the control room.
Turn right past the control room door to find a railing that you can crouch-jump
over to shortcut your way back to the bridge. Quicksave and recross the bridge
using the barrels as before, then go down the hall and back to where section
ba_power1 reloads.
^ Section ba_power1 (again): GETTING A CHARGED POWER CELL TO THE LAB
Return to the radio room and go get its secret ceiling vent area's ammo canister
if you didn't get it before. Then go down the passage to the left of the radio
to get onto the access lift's upper platform. Now that power has been restored,
you can use the platform's button panel to raise the lift to your level.
Cross the lift to the platform on the other side, then get out the shotgun and
quicksave. Run down the dark hall to where you can turn a corner. When you do,
two vorts will teleport in. You could retreat and shotgun them as they come to
you, or you could move far enough in front of the nearby window to activate the
turret that's past it, then quickly retreat while it shoots the vorts for you.
Lure both vorts into being killed by the turret, then run past the window
quickly to avoid getting shot. (Or in the unlikely off-chance that the vorts zap
the turret, you'll have to finish them off with your shotgun.) Past the turret
window is a first aid station on a wall, next to a useless HEV station. A bit to
the left of that is a door you can open by using a wall panel. It'll be used
soon as a shortcut for getting back to the lab's lift.
After opening the door, head to the right to find the power cell charging area
that you saw through a fence earlier. The guard that got vort-whacked is still
alive, so go over to him and wait for him to get out of the way. Push open the
fence door that he was blocking, then push and/or pull the nearby power cell
through the door and into the charging station's large tray.
Press the big red button to the right of the tray, then wait for the cell to get
charged and ejected. Push and pull it back through the fence door, then get it
onto the delivery lift's tray. Use the button panel to the left of the tray to
get the cell sent up to Dr. Rosenberg, then go through the door you opened near
the first aid station.
Head right and drop down to the lower floor past the little lift to find that
you're back next to the lab's lift. Before you take it up, you might want to
check the areas past the cut-open door for supplies you left behind before. When
you're done, return to the lab's lift and take it up to start on the A Leap of
Faith chapter.
***** A LEAP OF FAITH *****
^ Section ba_teleport2 (again): TELEPORTING OUT
Run to the main teleporter room and climb up the ladder that's on the wall
directly ahead of you as you enter the room. (You may need to use the flashlight
to help you find it.) At the top of the ladder, turn left and run along the
upper walkway until you can turn left and drop into the control room.
Find the main power switch on one wall and stand next to it until its glass
covering rises out of the way. Use the switch to turn on main power, then climb
the ladder that leads back up to the upper walkway. Go down the walkway until
you see a system pressure monitor on the left. Stop next to it, get out the
shotgun, and quicksave.
When the primary coolant line ruptures, press up against the wheel under the
pressure monitor and lean on the "Use item" key to slowly turn it. When you hear
a teleporting sound, immediately release the wheel and turn left. Blast the
houndeye there, then turn around and blast the other one. As soon as it's dead,
turn back to the wheel and start cranking it again.
When the alarm stops sounding, release the wheel and run back to the control
room. Go over to the window and look down at the big red button that's to the
right of a green sign. As soon as that button lights up, use it to open a
teleporter field down below.
Stay at the window and keep doing that until Dr. Rosenberg teleports out, then
quicksave. Climb up the control room's ladder and throw two C4 satchel bombs
against the nearby "CONTROL ACCESS" door. Drop back into the control room and
listen for the explosion-like sound of the door falling. Immediately detonate
your satchels to hopefully kill both marines. Climb up the ladder to see if it
worked, and quickrestore and try again if it didn't.
As an alternative to using the satchels, you could wait near the top of the
ladder with the assault rifle out. Quicksave when the door is about to fall,
then keep trying to kill both marines with one quick AR grenade until you
succeed. (Or if you keep killing one but not the other, quickly shoot down the
survivor.)
Drop back into the control room if you're not already there, then switch to the
RPG and run for the window. When the red button lights up again, quicksave, then
use it. Wait at the window for two marines to run into the area through the door
that's on its other side (the one you came in through earlier). Quickly blast
each one with an RPG rocket, then switch to the SMG and run for the control
room's ladder.
After quicksaving again, climb the ladder and run along the walkway to the
ladder that leads down to the main floor. Stop near the top of that ladder and
toss four or five SMG grenades through the railing at the doorway that the
marines are coming in through.
That should kill all of the new ones, so hurry down the ladder and run for the
teleporter. It'll be a close thing, but you should make it out without getting
damaged at all. (Not that it really matters by now, I suppose.)
^ Section ba_outro: TELEPORTER SCREW-UP AND ESCAPE
You'll materialize outside, near a big exit gate. You'll be all screwed up,
though, as Dr. Rosenberg will start explaining before you teleport again. You
can move around once you're in the border world, but it won't do you any good.
After you teleport again, you'll end up in a small room next to the corridor
that two marines are dragging an unconscious Gordon Freeman down. Once your
Half-Life equivalency index has been established, you'll appear back in the
outdoor area, free of the teleporter glitch that held you before. All you have
to do now is stand and wait for the fade-out and the G-Man's case summary.
You're now done with the original Half-Life series! Good thing there's the Half-
Life 2 series to play through next. I'm not going to write ultimate strategy
guide walkthrus for the Half-Life 2 games since my UHS hint files for those
games are already ultimate, with complete details on all the best strategies,
shortcuts, and secrets. Check them out at www.uhs-hints.com when you're ready
for an ultimate Half-Life 2 playthru.
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