Half-Life Walkthrough

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FAQ TITLE:
The Half-Life 10th Anniversary Ultimate Strategy Guide (PC version)
COPYRIGHT INFO:
This FAQ is copyright 2008-2010 by Stanley E. Dunigan (dunigase@yahoo.com).
This FAQ may be posted and used anywhere by anyone as long as it's unaltered,
but always check one of the official host websites listed below for the latest
version.
GameFAQs (www.gamefaqs.com)  -- always the first site updated
Neoseeker (www.neoseeker.com)
GameBoomers (www.gameboomers.com)
Game Guild World (gameguideworld.net)
SuperCheats (www.supercheats.com)  -- I've been having trouble updating this one
Cheat Happens (www.cheathappens.com)  -- this one, too
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 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 that includes all of the
best tips, strategies, and secrets that I've discovered or heard about during my
nine years of playing the game. (I didn't get it until 1999, when it was on sale
for $10 at CompUSA on the day after Thanksgiving. I got there late, and picked
up the last copy they had!) I didn't keep track, but I estimate that I've played
through the game more than 50 times by now, and am therefore more than qualified
to write the ultimate, most super-detailed walkthru ever for it. And what better
time to do it than on the 10th anniversary of its original release?
To write this walkthru, I played through the game in its original version
(1.0.0.5) and with the version 1.0.1.5 and 1.1.0.6 patches installed. I don't
know what all differences other patches make, and I have no idea what Steam's
Source version of the game is like, 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 if I ever get a chance to play other game versions.
If you have a favorite Half-Life 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.
VERSION 1.3 (9/30/2010) NOTES AND CREDITS:
I played through the game again to try out a couple of user-submitted tips, and
came up with several new things of my own along the way.
* Section c1a0c: George's tip about when the vort appears in the test chamber
* Section c1a2 (again): tip for killing a headcrab past a floor grating early
* Section c1a2c: tip for best spot for sneak-shooting bullsquid in meat locker
* Section c1a3a: optimized route through area to skip some tripmines and turrets
* Section c1a4d (again): improved tips for fuel room combats
* Section c1a4i (again): tip for taking less damage when dropping down
* Section c1a4f: tip for ignoring bullsquid in lift room (based on a tip from
Tony Sinclair) & new way to kill zombie next to reactor chamber
* Section c2a3d: improved crate-bashing tips for vort hallway
* Section c2a5: new tips for fighting soldiers near dam
* Section c2a5f: improved tips for dealing with snark-infested vent shaft
* A few other minor fix-ups and rewordings
VERSION 1.26 (1/8/2010) NOTES AND CREDITS:
This version mainly updates the email address in the copyright section (the
wmconnect.com address is no longer active), though it also includes a few minor
formatting improvements and other corrections.
VERSION 1.25 (4/5/2009) NOTES AND CREDITS:
I played through the 1.1.0.6 game version yet again, and carefully reproofed the
entire file, fixing errors and making minor improvements. No one's written in
with anything, and I probably won't ever be able to find any more new tips, so
this is likely to be the last release of this walkthru.
VERSION 1.2 (10/11/2008) NOTES AND CREDITS:
I played through the 1.1.0.6 game version again and came up with various new
things, including:
* another way to safely shoot the explosives past a ladder in section c1a1b
* easier way to kill the first bullsquid in section c1a4
* better way to handle firing chamber entry in section c1a4i
* slightly better way to get the crossbow in section c2a3a
* helpful notes for the lobby combat in section c2a4e
* sneaky way to take down the marines in section c2a5w
* way to make the rocket-firing tank blow itself up in section c2a5b
* note about one teleport-in alien grunt not appearing in section c3a2c
* great new shortcut for getting through section c4a1a
* a few little misc. changes
VERSION 1.1 (9/28/2008) NOTES AND CREDITS:
For this version, I replayed the game with the 1.0.1.5 patch version installed.
I didn't find anything new, but I re-proofed the entire walkthru and made quite
a few minor adjustments and clarifications. I also added brief descriptive names
to each chapter section's title to help you more quickly figure out which one
you're in, and I added several sites to the official host website list in the
copyright section.
VERSION 1.0 (9/10/2008) 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  ***************************
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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 several 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). Each section name also has some brief descriptive text in case
you'd rather figure out what section you're in that way.
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 by now, 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 or wash out all the colors 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.
Once you get the hornet gun in the "Surface Tension" chapter, you can often use
it to sneak-shoot enemies around corners, and even through ceilings and the
bottoms of walkways, without having to see any part of them at all.
There's a peculiar glitch that might cause you to be frozen in place after you
ride on a lift or elevator. When it happens, you may or may not start slowly
taking damage. In any case, crouch and start moving around in order to break out
of the glitch. If you're already crouched when the glitch happens, there won't
be any way to break out of it, so don't ever crouch on lifts while they're
moving. (Unless you briefly crouch and then stand up again before the lift
stops. That may help prevent the glitch in some cases. Jumping around right
before the lift stops may also help.)
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.
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*****************************  BLACK MESA INBOUND  *****************************
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Sections c0a0 thru c0a0d: RIDING TO WORK
This is just the long, scenic tram ride that you have to go through every time
you start a new game. You don't need to do anything during the ride, and could
just go take a break until it's over, but you might want to check out the sights
along the way.
To start with, you'll see a security guard on a little platform pounding on a
door. That'll be *you* pounding on that door soon after you start playing the
Blue Shift add-on game (though hopefully you won't look nearly as goofy as this
guy does). You'll go through several areas past that, some of which you'll be
seeing again as you pass through them on foot in the Opposing Force add-on game.
Near the end of the ride, your car will stop briefly next to another one in
which you'll see the so-called "G-Man," who I've nicknamed "Briefcase Bastard."
He's *always* carrying that briefcase, and he's such a ... you know!
Section c0a0e: BEING LET IN
After the tram reaches the end of the line and stops, wait for the security
guard to come over and open the door for you. Exit the tram and follow him over
to a big reinforced door that he'll also open for you. Go through it and walk up
to the second big door, then wait for the Anomalous Materials chapter to start.
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****************************  ANOMALOUS MATERIALS  *****************************
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Section c1a0: STARTING FUN
Go through the door and up to the desk with the security guard seated at it.
After he finishes talking to you, look down at the desk and hit the "Use item"
key in order to press a hidden button and sound an alarm briefly. That and using
the communications console in the corner to the left are good for a few laughs.
When you're done there, start down the big corridor with the large colored
stripes on the walls.
After you turn a corner, you can check out a computer room to the left, and then
follow the brown wall stripe past a couple of rooms and to a guarded door. You
can have fun trying to listen in on the G-Man's conversation with a scientist or
by turning off the lights in the other room, but what you need to do is return
to the corridor junction and go toward the small downramp to get to section
c1a0d.
Section c1a0d: GET YOUR HEV ON
Turn right past the ramp and follow the green wall stripe to the break room.
Walk up to the microwave oven and press the "Use item" key repeatedly while
facing it. You should soon be able to cause the microwave casserole inside to
explode! (Note that this bit of hilarity will earn you a reproachful comment
from Dr. Magnusson near the end of Half-Life 2: Episode Two.)
Leave the break room and continue following the green wall stripe to reach the
employee locker room. The bathroom in the back right corner of the locker room
isn't very interesting, but the HEV suit room in the back left corner is. Use
its control panel to open up the one case that still has a suit in it, then walk
into the case in order to put the suit on. Now you're ready to do some half-
lifing!
Find the locker labeled "Freeman" near the bathroom entrance and push against
its door to open it up. Go inside the locker to pick up an armor battery, then
check out the wall-mounted first aid station just around the corner. You don't
need any aid yet, but you're going to have to get used to the stupid "hee-yee-
hee-yee" sound that first aid stations make when you use them, and now's a good
time to get in some practice.
Go back the way you came, then go down the corridor with the blue wall stripe
until you reach the security post. The guard will see that you've got your HEV
on, and will open up the nearby security door for you. Go through it and the
next door to get section c1a0a to load.
Section c1a0a: MOVING TOWARD THE TEST CHAMBER
Go around to where you can use a button panel to the left of some doors to open
them, then get on the lift past the doors and use its button to descend to a
lower level (or climb down the side ladder to reach the same area). Go through
some doors and down a corridor, then keep going until you reach the spot where
section c1a0b loads.
Section c1a0b: STILL MOVING TOWARD THE TEST CHAMBER
Enter the control room and wait while three scientists talk to you. After one of
them uses a retinal scanner on the other side of the room, go through the door
he unlocked and on to where two scientists (one of whom will supposedly be Dr.
Eli Vance in Half-Life 2) notice some equipment problems. Across from them, use
a button panel to summon a lift, then use its button panel to go up a level.
Exit the lift and go down the corridor until you reach the test chamber door,
where section c1a0e will load.
Section c1a0e: THE TEST CHAMBER
Enter the test chamber's outer room and wait for the two scientists to finish
talking and open the main test chamber doors for you. Go through them and across
to the other side of the chamber, where you'll be able to go up a small ramp.
Look for a ladder on the wall past that, and climb it to reach an upper walkway.
Go over to the walkway's computer panel and watch for the red glass cover on the
button to rise. When it does, use the button, then watch as the big scanning
machine powers up.
Climb back down the ladder and go stand next to the cage that's near the ramp's
bottom. When the "specimen" arrives, do a quicksave, then get behind the gadget
it's mounted on and push it forward into the scanning beam. Move back a bit
after the crystal enters the beam and wait while you're teleported to a couple
of harmless border world locations, followed by the Unforeseen Consequences
chapter.
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**************************  UNFORESEEN CONSEQUENCES  ***************************
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Section c1a0c: LEAVING THE TEST CHAMBER AREA
The first thing to do is check to see if a vortigaunt is in the test chamber
ruins with you. This only happens very rarely, and when it does, you'll want to
restore your quicksave and go through the telezapping stuff again in hopes that
the vortigaunt won't be there next time. (Note that the vort will almost
certainly appear if you pull the specimen's mounting gadget back out of the
scanning beam after pushing it in, so don't ever do that.)
Leave the test chamber through the big jammed-open doors, then try using the
retinal scan device that's next to the exit door. After the door opens, go
through it to find a scientist trying to revive a security guard. You could wait
around and take the guard with you (by talking to him after he's on his feet),
but that's not helpful since he can't get over some nearby rubble.
Go around the corner and move forward slowly. After a computer bank falls over,
go past it and jump over the debris that's in the corridor leading to the lift.
It'll still work, so get in it and use its button. Go through the doors and over
to the two scientists nearby. After they're through talking, get the black one
(Dr. Vance, I presume) to follow you over to the control room door's retinal
scanner.
After he opens the door, move far enough through it to get a large electrical
surge to shoot into the control room through the window that's over to the
right. Wait until the surge blows up the door at the other end of the room, then
carefully time your run across the room so you won't get zapped. In the next
hallway, section c1a1 will load.
Section c1a1: YOUR FIRST TWO WEAPONS
When you reach the next room, run through it and out its other door as quickly
as you can, since a headcrab will teleport in right after you enter the room,
and you have nothing to kill it with yet. In the next hallway, carefully crouch-
walk under the red laser beam and over to where another laser beam will break
free of its confining pipe. Don't try to crouch-walk under this one, but instead
run around it right after it slices through a dead security guard's body.
Pick up the crowbar that's next to the nearby doors, then go back past the two
laser beams and to the room where the headcrab teleported in earlier. Quicksave
before entering the room, then check to see if the headcrab is levitating up in
the air. If it is, you'll need to go around the large fallen pillar and toward
the headcrab, right-strafing at the last instant to dodge its leap. Quickly turn
and run up to it, then crouch down and crowbar-whack it before it can turn and
leap again.
If the crab starts out on the floor next to the other end of the pillar, you can
do the same dodge-the-leap thing, or you can let it see you, then crouch and
back up around your end of the pillar so it can't leap at you. When it walks
into view in front of you, quickly move forward and crowbar-whack it to death.
Move on until section c1a0c loads back up, then time your run through the
control room again. (Note that it's best to wait for the surge to hit the spot
that's farthest from you, then quickly run through.) Go all the way back to the
test chamber door, then quickly crowbar-whack the revived security guard to
death. After you do, you can take his pistol. It'll come in real handy soon.
Go all the way back to where you picked up the crowbar, then crouch down and use
it to bash out one of the doors' lower glass panels so you can crouch-walk
through. Do the same with the next set of doors, and watch the elevator crash.
Turn right and climb down the ladder so you can grab an armor battery from the
floor next to the elevator wreck. Climb back up that ladder, then climb up the
ladder that leads up to the next floor.
Quickly get off the ladder and run through the doorway to find a zombie closing
in on a nearby security guard. You want the guard to survive the attack, which
he may not be able to do on his own. That's the main reason I had you go all the
way back to the test chamber to get that other guard's pistol. Use it to quickly
head-shot the zombie before it can kill this guard. (Or if the zombie notices
you and starts coming toward you, back away from it while the guard shoots it
for you.)
Hopefully, the guard will be able to shoot down the other nearby zombie all by
himself, so you can just stay out of the way and watch. After that's done, talk
to the guard to get him to follow you, then go through the nearby open doors to
reach section c1a1a.
Section c1a1a: LOCKER ROOM REVISITED
Past the next set of doors, go around the corners just far enough to get your
guard pal to notice two zombies ahead, then stay out of the way while he shoots
them down. He won't notice the nearby dead scientist with a live headcrab on his
head, so either ignore that or whack it to death with your crowbar.
At the path split, go straight ahead to find the corridor with the break room
and employee locker room that you visited before. All you can do in the break
room now is have fun vandalizing the soda machines with your crowbar. In the
locker room, get two armor batteries from the "Freeman" locker, then grab the
two bullet clips in the flapping-open "Guthrie" locker. Go back the way you
came, then turn left and go up the slanty bit of floor to reach the spot where
section c1a1f loads.
Section c1a1f: GETTING TO THE FORMERLY RESTRICTED AIRLOCK
Turn left and follow the hall to get back to the room you first entered at the
beginning of the previous chapter. Notice the explosion that destroys a vent
covering near the floor. Shut off the annoying alarm by using the security
desk's button, then go over to the wall hole where the destroyed vent covering
was.
If you can get the attention of the headcrab that you can see a short way past
the wall hole, back off so your guard pal will shoot it for you. Otherwise,
slowly crouch-walk toward the crab until it's crushed by a falling computer
bank. Stand up and look to the left to see a second headcrab in the distance.
You can either shoot it to death or try to lure it out to where your guard pal
will shoot it for you. Either way, this is the end of the line for the guard, so
crowbar-whack him to get his pistol.
Before you reenter the computer room, go over to the big doors that lead to the
tram arrival platform. You can partly open those doors by crowbar-bashing the
largest of the three panels on the wall to the right of the doors. Crouch-walk
under the upper door, then run down to the other set of doors and do the same
thing. You can then grab a bullet clip from near a dead guard, and you can kill
a scientist by walking a short distance onto his unsteady bit of walkway, then
quickly retreating before it collapses.
Go back through the two half-open door sets and then crouch-walk through the
wall hole to get back into the computer room. Go to the room's back left corner
and jump onto the slanty computer bank, then crouch-walk through the small
crawlspace to where you can drop down into a corridor. Watch the scientist in a
nearby room get headcrabbed, and carefully avoid the same fate by not going near
the section of fallen vent shaft that's just to the left of that room's windows.
In the dark room across the hall, you can whack a chair zombie to death and
smash a few things. Past that, you'll come to an area where a security guard and
a zombie are both about to die. If you're quick, you can crowbar-whack one of
them a few times before they both turn intangible, but it's not useful. Grab the
guard's gun and crouch-walk through the left part of the first set of doors to
reach section c1a1b.
Section c1a1b: HOUNDEYES AND HAND GRENADES
Use the button panel on the left to get one of the doors ahead of you to start
opening and closing. Time your way through it so it doesn't close on you and
damage you. Turn right past the door and move forward with the crowbar ready.
When a houndeye teleports in, back up a bit, then charge him and whack him with
the crowbar as soon as he starts whining up a sonic charge. Do the same to the
other nearby houndeye who's attacking a scientist. (It's perfectly fine if the
scientist gets slushed.)
Move on to the next area, where you'll find two more houndeyes. You can either
crowbar them to death or use the pistol to make sure you don't get zapped. If
you jump into the side room that one of the houndeyes broke out of, you'll find
a first aid station on one wall. Back in the main room, find a door in one
corner with a headcrab past it. Open the door and immediately retreat, then
carefully move to where you can shoot the headcrab without it hitting you.
When you come to a ladder, get the pistol out and slowly climb the ladder to
where you can shoot the top of some large explosive containers, thereby blowing
them up and destroying the zombie and headcrabs near them. It can be kind of
tricky to climb the ladder just enough to shoot the explosives without getting
damaged by the explosions or leaped at by the headcrabs, so you'll probably want
to quicksave before you try it.
Or you could go back to the door you came in through and look near it for three
metal barrels. One of them can be pushed and pulled around, so shove it over to
the area with the ladder. Push it up against the wall that's directly opposite
the ladder, then jump-crouch onto it. Stand and face the ladder, and you should
easily be able to shoot the explosives without getting hurt.
Go along the walkway past the top of the ladder until you come to a dead-end
area where a zombie is passing his hands over a dead scientist in some bizarre
alien ritual. Look near your end of that area to see if there's a large
explosive device there. There may or may not be, depending on whether or not it
was accidentally detonated by houndeyes earlier.
If it isn't there, you'll want to use the pistol to head-shot the zombie to
death. If it is there, move close enough to the zombie to get its attention,
then retreat past the explosive to where you can just barely see it around the
corner. Shoot it quickly with the pistol when the zombie gets close to it.
Hopefully, the explosion won't damage you any. (Run backwards right after firing
the shot to be sure.)
Return to the top of the ladder and go left to find a crouching scientist in a
small niche area. Walk up to him to get him to stand up, then talk to him and
have him follow you back to where you found the zombie. When you pass the
retinal scanner, the scientist will use it to unlock the nearby door, which
allows you access to a room with a first aid station, some hand grenades, and
some bullet clips. Grab those goodies, then return to the houndeye room. (You
can shortcut your trip back there by jumping over a railing.)
In the short corridor that leads onwards from the houndeye room, push one of the
two movable barrels as close to the door ahead as you can. Move around either
side of the barrel until you hear a teleporting sound, then get back behind the
barrel. Right after the vortigaunt breaks through the door, toss a grenade so
that it goes into the vort's room. After it's blown up, enter its room to find
some more bullet clips.
Just past that, watch under the blue D475-KL sign for a zombie to climb up
through a grating. You could shoot or grenade it to death, but there's no need
to. Instead, stand back and toss a grenade so that it goes down the hole in the
floor that's on your side of the bars. It should blow up the headcrab that's in
the water directly below the hole. Toss a couple more grenades down the hole if
you want to be sure the headcrab is dead, then go back to the room where you
found the grenades. Resupply using the ones you couldn't take before, then
return to the floor hole and drop down through it.
Explore the watery tunnel area until you find a small cement platform with a
valve wheel on it. Jump onto the platform and use the wheel to flood the place,
then swim over to the nearest ceiling grate. It'll open when the water reaches
it, and you can hop up through it. The zombie that climbed through another grate
will be nearby, but you can ignore it and go down the hall to where section
c1a1c loads.
Section c1a1c: CANAL AREA
You'll soon come to a big room with a large platform lift in it. On the walkway
next to the platform, get the two bullet clips that are near the dead security
guard. You're now supposed to hit the big lever to get the platform moving, then
ride it down, dodging headcrabs as best you can. However, a much better way is
to ignore the lever and drop from the right side of the unmoving platform to the
slanty slope underneath it, then hold down the "Move right (strafe)" key as you
slide down. You should end up on a narrow ledge next to a first aid station
without taking any damage.
Jump across to the main floor using the four raised cement things next to the
aid station, then quickly shoot the houndeye that teleports in on top of a large
crate. When it falls down into the crate, move around to where you can shoot it
through a crack in the crate's side. (Or just bash through the crate with the
crowbar and whack the houndeye to death.) Bash all of the crates to find more
bullets before you move down the adjoining corridor.
When you come to a room with a metal walkway crossing it, strafe left to avoid
the bullsquid's toxic spit when it teleports in and falls. Go a short way onto
the remaining metal walkway piece, then turn right and jump to the lowest set of
nearby pipes. After jumping onto the highest pipe, move down to where you can
jump onto a large machine and crawl along another pipe. Jump to the highest pipe
past it, then follow it along to a small platform with a vent grating. Bash the
grating with the crowbar, then crouch-walk through the vent shaft until you
reach the second floor grating at its other end.
Bash it and drop through, then turn right and bash all the crates you find to
get armor batteries. Look across to the lower floor on the opposite side of the
big room ahead to see a bullsquid killing off several headcrabs. As soon as it's
done with that, use your pistol to kill it, strafing whenever you need to in
order to avoid its spit. (Note that it may not have seen the leftmost headcrab
due to a crate blocking its view, so shoot that headcrab, too.)
You now need to cross over to where that bullsquid is. The fastest way is to use
the broken piece of