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FAQ TITLE:
The Special Secrets and Strategies Guide for Half-Life 2 (PC version)
COPYRIGHT INFO:
This FAQ is copyright 2004-2010 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 these official host sites for the latest version:
GameFAQs.com  (always the first one updated)
Neoseeker.com
Gamershell.com
Supercheats.com
Thegenie.net
Cheathappens.com
Also, check the Universal Hint System website (www.uhs-hints.com) for my
complete Half-Life 2 hint file. It's not a FAQ-style walkthru, but it includes a
lot more game details than this FAQ does.
FAQ DESCRIPTION:
This FAQ isn't a walkthru of any sort, but only contains details on super-
special secret areas, big shortcuts, and inobvious strategies for tough fights.
I thought of making it while playing through the game on Hard difficulty without
any cheats, and that's the sort of thing that it's most useful for, since so
many parts of the game are significantly harder when played that way. For
instance, most gunship fights and all three antlion guard encounters are in
here. Hopefully, this FAQ will be useful to those who don't want to use
walkthrus but sometimes get stuck in very tough areas.
If you have a super-special secret or strategy that I don't (or if you have an
improvement for one that I have), send me an e-mail at the address listed above
in the copyright section.
VERSION 3.3 (7/10/2010) NOTES AND CREDITS:
After nearly nearly four years, I *finally* have something new to add to this
file, namely Dave's cool tip on skipping the barrel-rolling cop ambush in the
Ch. 4 area that's between the high-up secret area and the two-APC area.
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NOTE: In many of these tips, 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 under
"Options" on the game's main menu, choose the "Keyboard" tab, and scroll down to
the "Miscellaneous" section.
*** Chapter 3: Route Kanal
^^^ Way to skip four cops at beginning of huge steam pipe
Not too long before you reach the secret area that's covered in the next tip,
you have to swim through some water and then get out in an area with a huge
steam pipe that you need to get up on and walk across to get to the next area
with water to swim through. To get onto the pipe, you're supposed to go up onto
the grassy hill, kill the four cops that appear, and then get on the pipe from
there and go along it.
However, you can shortcut the area and skip fighting those four cops if you
bring a barrel with you from the area right before you dove into the water and
swam here. (In other words, from the area where you got your very first SMG.)
When you emerge from the water, don't go toward the grassy hill, but instead
take your barrel in the other direction and drop it on the ground next to the
wall that the pipe goes into. That way, you can use the barrel to jump onto the
wall and then onto the pipe.
*** Chapter 3: Route Kanal
^^^ Hard-to-get-to secret area
In the big room with all the explosive barrels and manhacks in the fourth
chapter section, the manhacks all come out of one certain vent shaft near the
top of the room. You can get into that shaft and claim an armor battery if you
can manage to carry an item with you up the big ladder and onto the big light-
blue pipe. Drop the item on the light-blue pipe next to the large metal beam
that's next to the manhacks' shaft opening. Jump onto your item and then the
beam, and then across to the shaft opening (not forgetting to hit the Crouch key
before you land in the shaft).
The best way I've found to handle this whole situation is to not blow up the
explosive barrels at all. As soon as you drop into the room, head down the
ladder and drop into the shallow water below. It's very hard for manhacks to
hack you if you're crouched in the water, and it's easy enough to whack them
with the crowbar when they approach. Stay down there and whack manhacks until
they're all destroyed, not forgetting to jump up every now and then to get a
quick breath of air when you need to. (NOTE: This strategy works with some other
manhack attacks earlier in the chapter. If the manhacks don't appear near water,
lead them back to water!)
Then climb up the ladder and move along the pipe until you get to where you need
an item to jump onto. Look down and to the right to see an explosive barrel
that's within reach if you crouch down and carefully pick it up. Once you have
ahold of it, carefully swing it around the end of the big pipe where it curves
downward, then set it gently in the right spot on the pipe, then use it to jump
to the vent shaft.
CONTRIB NOTE: GoldenWyrm wrote in saying that he found it much easier to blow up
the barrels and then use a wooden supply crate to jump onto in order to get into
the vent shaft. If you didn't bring an unbroken supply crate with you from the
previous area, you can get the one that's floating in the water in the tall pipe
room with the valve wheel, but you have to make a lot of long, hard trips up
ladders with it.
*** Chapter 4: Water Hazard
^^^ Big shortcut at the closed gate that's opened by swinging beams
NOTE: This is the first situation you encounter in the second chapter section.
You know if you've played through this part before that the gate is opened by a
bundle of large metal beams that are attached to the big crane that you can
easily see towering up over the gate. Also, the beams are resting on a rather
flimsy wooden platform on the side of the canal opposite the crane, and you get
the beams to bash open the gate by blowing up some explosive barrels that are
near the base of the platform the beams are on.
Here's the shortcut, courtesy of contributor Kusanagi: you don't have to go all
the way through the building and fight all the soldiers and manhacks to get to
where you can blow up the barrels. Instead, stop and exit the airboat somewhere
near the gate, then move to where you can lob an SMG grenade high into the air
so that it drops near enough to the explosive barrels to detonate them. (Yes,
you can have one SMG grenade by now if you got it from a certain lambda-marked
secret stash in Route Kanal and didn't use it.) You need to stand in just the
right spot and look up just the right amount to get it to work. Quicksave before
you try and keep quickrestoring and trying until you get it.
Some alternatives that I came up with include using frag grenades and the
pistol. You can sneak carefully into the building and fill up on frag grenades
from the first infinite grenade crate in there without having to fight anything.
Then you can come back out here and toss frag grenades instead of the much rarer
SMG grenades to send those metal beams swinging. Or you can walk up near the
gate and use the HEV suit's zoom feature to spot the platform the metal beams
are resting on, then back up to where you can see the vertical wooden supports
for that platform. Use zoom mode to help you decide exactly where to aim, then
de-zoom and use the pistol to shoot out the wooden supports. (Note that you'll
be shooting through a large hole near the top of the gate.)
GoldenWyrm and Brendan wrote in at the *exact* same time with another tip on
doing this. If you climb up the ladder that leads to the building's door and
then stand on the tiny balcony where you can see the gate and crane off in the
distance, you can target the explosive barrels directly with your pistol. As in
the above pistol tip, use the HEV zoom feature to see exactly where you need to
shoot. (Note that blowing up the nearest barrel won't work -- you need to
carefully maneuver to where you can zoom-see the barrel that's behind it, then
shoot that one.) If you do it right, you'll only use 2 or 3 bullets instead of
the 18 or so needed to shoot out the wooden platform's support beams.
NOTE: To get a bit closer to the target, get up on the balcony's rail and make a
running jump toward the small semi-circular concrete ledge that's in front of
the balcony.
*** Chapter 4: Water Hazard
^^^ Big shortcut at Gate 5, including total hunter-chopper avoidance
In the third chapter segment, where Gate 5 is closed before you can get through
it, look at the structures to the right of the gate to find a white handrail
going along a raised cement walkway near the water. Find the small gap in the
handrail near the right end of it. You can jump through that gap if you park
your airboat next to it, exit the boat, and jump up onto the boat and then
through the handrail gap. This is easier now thanks to Josh "Stigma"'s tip,
which is to back the airboat up to the rail gap instead of parking parallel to
it. It's a bit tricky to get the airboat backed up to the right spot, but it's
not too hard, and once it's in position, it's pretty easy to go around to its
front and jump on up over the rail.
If you can make it, it's just a short jog along the walkway to reach the ladder
that leads up to Gate 5's control room. The only problem is that you'll be
skipping your first opportunity to get the .357 Magnum and a bunch of ammo for
it.
NOTE: After you open Gate 5, you could move on past the gate control tower to
get to some of the areas you were supposed to come through from the other way
and get stuff without having to worry about the helicopter showing up (just a
few cops).
NOTE: If you avoid "activating" the chopper here, you won't have to deal with it
again until the next chapter section loads. That'll make the canal run that
immediately follows Gate 5 nice and easy!
CONTRIB NOTE: GoldenWyrm wrote in with another good shortcut for this area.
Instead of messing with the rail-hopping routine, go through the padlocked door
that you're "supposed" to go through, get the .357 Magnum and shoot up the cops,
and then head up the stairs that lead to the large outdoor crate storage area.
Shoot the cop who's out there, then find the nearby spot where you can use
several wooden crates to hop up onto a large blue storage container. Once on top
of it, you can run across and jump over the fence and land in the same spot that
my rail-jumping tip gets you to. Unfortunately, you'll be under chopper fire as
you do this, and the chopper will be active in the area past Gate 5, too. But
you do at least get to skip a lot of combat in the container area and large
warehouse. (And you can go for the nearby health and armor rechargers after
scaring the chopper off with the control tower's window guns.)
*** Chapter 4: Water Hazard
^^^ High-up secret area near Gate 5
I never thought it was possible to get up onto the upper dock structures that
you can see near Gate 5, but DarkLordSkippy wrote in with a tip that helped me
figure out how you can. After you go through the padlocked door and get the .357
Magnum, move on until you're outside again, but don't go up the steps that
trigger the appearance of the enemy chopper. Instead, look for a spot near the
doorway that leads back into the building where the dock structure is right
above you. To get up to it and over the chain-link fence, push the nearby large
crate over to the fence under the walkway you're trying to get to, then stack
the boxes from the .357 Magnum's room on top of it so you can climb the boxes
and jump over the top of the fence. (If you destroyed some of the boxes, such
as the supply boxes, you can use barrels instead, but it's harder.) The thing
that makes this a secret area instead of just a tricky place to get to is the
large blue trash bin in the back corner past a small ramp. You'll have to carry
over and stack up some barrels to get into the bin. Inside it, you'll find a
watermelon to slush with the crowbar (what fun!) and a frag grenade.
Of course, you're probably all full up on fraggies from the infinite grenade
crates earlier, so you figure "Why bother?" I'll tell you why! It's because you
can easily bypass the chopper-activating stairs from here. Just take one upright
barrel and carry it up the ramp with you, then turn left and set the barrel down
near the edge of the concrete so that you can use it to jump up onto the nearby
wooden beam structure. From there, you can easily jump over the nearby fence and
end up in the warehouse's freight container yard. Sure, you'll still have to
deal with all the soldiers in and around the warehouse, but the chopper won't
make an appearance until you've passed Gate 5 and moved on to the next chapter
section. (Some people may find this a bit easier to do than the above chopper-
avoiding method.)
*** Chapter 4: Water Hazard
^^^ Way to ensnare the chopper at Gate 5 if you didn't avoid activating it
As you may have noticed, the chopper appears and Gate 5 closes behind you soon
after you go through the gate. However, those two things don't happen at the
same time -- the chopper appears first. The instant it does, zoom back through
the gate and on a ways. The chopper will try to follow you, but if you were fast
enough, it'll instead get caught in an invisible snare that's right above the
gate. It won't be able to follow you, fire at you, or drop any bombs no matter
what you do from then on!
If the chopper misses the snare, it'll start firing at you and dropping bombs.
You can then either restore a save and try to get back through the gate faster
so the chopper gets ensnared, or you can go back through the whole warehouse
area again to reach the gate control tower and use the window guns to destroy
the chopper. (That's fun, but it's a real pain to run all the way back there
while under chopper fire.)
*** Chapter 4: Water Hazard
^^^ Another high-up secret area
This secret area is near the beginning of the seventh chapter section. It's in
the small side alley that's just past the two covered bridges (one of which has
a G-Man sighting on it). The alley has a cop that shoots at you from behind a
pitiful tire blockade at its entrance, a windmill up high on the right, and a
zombie in the back plus a bunch of headcrabs that drop down and attack. Found
it? Good! Locate the white van near the alley's entrance that's been turned on
its side and set an upright barrel next to its underside so you can easily jump
up onto it. (You could park the airboat next to the van and jump onto it that
way, but using the barrel is easier.)
Now you need to stack stuff up on top of the van so that you can jump up onto
the concrete ledge that's next to it. The easiest way is to get the two large
wooden crates that are small enough to carry up there and stack one on top of
the other, then set an upright barrel next to them. That's not quite tall
enough, so get something small to set on top of the top wooden crate. I usually
use either the basket or the small shelf item that's in the room you have to
climb a short ladder to get to. Set your chosen item on the left side of the top
crate while standing on the van, then jump up onto the barrel, then the top
crate, then the item that's on the crate, and then onto the ledge. Running along
it, you'll find a box of Magnum .357 ammo setting next to a single boot (the
significance of which eludes me).
*** Chapter 4: Water Hazard
^^^ Shortcut through the barrel-rolling ambush
Past the above high-up secret area and a tunnel with zombies in it is yet
another cop ambush. This one isn't too much trouble, but Dave wrote in with a
cool way to skip the whole ambush, so I decided to add it in. As you exit the
tunnel, move forward very slowly until you can see into the ambush area. Shoot
down the two cops you can see on a cement ledge, then run the airboat up onto
that ledge. It may take a couple of tries, but it isn't hard. Once you're on it,
you've skipped the ambush, and can move on to the next area.
*** Chapter 4: Water Hazard
^^^ Safe way to destroy the two APCs in one area
Right before you get to the area where you can shoot down the chopper once and
for all, you'll come to a place where there are two elevated APCs (black rocket-
firing tanks) near a ramp you have to take. There's a way to carefully shoot
both of the APCs without them being able to fire one rocket at you.
Notice that to get to where you can see either of them, you have to pass a huge
red-and-brown beached boat to your left. Get up on the narrow slanty bit of land
between the boat and the water and slowly edge forward until you can see a small
part of the first APC to the right of the wooden plank ramp that's just past the
boat. If you do it just right, you can shoot that APC into scrap without it even
seeing you, then reposition yourself carefully for the next one.
For the second APC, back up and then approach slowly on the land to the right of
the water (the side opposite the one you were on before). Slowly sneak forward
until you can see a small part of the APC above the wood ramp and to the right
of the ship's big rudder, then blast it!
NOTE: It's hard to slowly maneuver the airboat into just the right position, and
even harder to make it stay exactly there while you shoot. You'll have to
quickly retreat behind the big red-and-brown boat (or quickrestore) if you
accidentally go out too far and start taking fire from the APCs.
*** Chapter 4: Water Hazard
^^^ Another way to handle the APCs in the same area
Brecht Claeys wrote in again to tell me that once you get the gauss gun on the
airboat, the APCs start acting a little funny. If you can't see them, they can't
(usually) see you! Dumb, but true. So approach them while driving backward (or
looking off to the side) so that you can pass them without seeing them. You can
start doing this with the first APC in the seventh chapter section, but even if
the APC isn't firing at you as you go toward the bridge backwards, the cop on
the side will, and it's way too easy to back up into something that you can't
get past without slow and careful maneuvering before you can get under the
bridge. However, if you're familiar enough with the terrain there that you can
back all the way up to the bridge without hitting anything, you can quickly
blast the cop, turn around, and head on down the "road." The APC will start
firing at you after you pass under its bridge, but it'll be very easy to zoom
around the corner before it can hit you with much (or you can carefully move
back out to where you can see a part of the APC and shoot it without it shooting
you).
A similar no-look technique can be used with the two APCs in one area mentioned
in the previous Chapter 4 tip. You can drive into their area going forward as
long as you keep looking to the right so they never come into your view. Drive
all the way to the back and then make your way along until you're right along-
side the vertical logs that hold up the ledge that the first APC is on. While
facing away from the second one, slowly maneuver to where you can see a small
part of the first one and shoot it to pieces. Then back up until you're against
the bottom of the ledge that the second one is on and maneuver to get a shot at
it. If you're careful, you can pull it off without ever coming under fire.
(However, I still think my other way of using the big boat for cover is easier,
just because I can always see where I'm going!)
*** Chapter 4: Water Hazard
^^^ Safe and easy way to finish off the hunter-chopper
In the final chapter segment, where you're supposed to fight the chopper to the
death in a big arena-like area near the dam, there's a great alternative way to
do it. First, do *not* take the airboat out of the tunnel you go through to
enter the large area where you fight the chopper. See all those logs strewn
about the tunnel exit? They make it very difficult (though not impossible) to
get the airboat back into the tunnel later. (If you want to do this, you need to
hit the logs just right on their left side and keep pressing forward.)
Park the airboat a ways back in the tunnel, then head out to the outdoor arena
on foot. Go over to the right where you see a large red-and-brown boat lying
around and find the partially buried concrete pipe near it. Crawl into the
pipe's open end to find two health kits and an armor battery. What the nearby
supply crates have depends on what your health and armor values are. If either
is low, you'll get recharging items -- otherwise, just ammo. (Thanks to Fang
Xianfu for confirming this.) Anyhow, pick up and carry every health pack and
armor battery that you can't use now back to your hidey-hole one at a time. It's
a good idea to drop the items on dry ground a ways back from the tunnel exit.
This is so you can heal up if you take damage later without having to leave the
safety of the tunnel. (Note that this step can be slow and time-consuming, and
isn't really necessary if you're careful later on. But better safe than sorry!)
Now walk out toward the dam area until the alarm sounds, alerting the chopper to
your presence. Immediately turn around and sprint back for the tunnel. Your
auxiliary power will deplete very rapidly on this run, so seek cover (like
inside the big cement pipe and next to the larger rock formations) to use while
waiting for auxiliary power to recharge. When you're nearing the tunnel
entrance, use the cement ledge along the right to get in more quickly and easily
than log-hopping.
Get back into your airboat and start shooting that chopper. Note that if you're
sitting in the tunnel entrance, the chopper will often hover nearby and shoot
you with its cannon, so you'll want to move back to just out of its range so
you'll be safe while it's doing that. As soon as it stops, move forward to where
you can shoot it as it flies by dropping mines (but be careful not to go over
the logs, since it'll be a pain to get back into the tunnel if you do). Keep
shooting the chopper as it flies by (and retreating when it shoots back) until
it goes down. Nice and easy, huh?
NOTE: Sometimes the chopper will hover and fire its cannon continuously at the
tunnel entrance for a very long time. When this happens, try moving way back in
the tunnel and then forward again. If that doesn't work, just wait it out.
*** Chapter 5: Black Mesa East
^^^ How to use your new gravity gun to set fallen-over things upright
Before you get the gravity gun, the best way to set things (like a fallen-over
barrel) upright is to grab the item while looking down at one end of it, then
lift it up and drop it so that its top hits the edge of a table or railing and
its bottom falls all the way to the floor. Then you sometimes have to pick it up
and hold it against a wall and drop it in order to get it fully upright again.
After you get the gravity gun, there's an easier way. Use the gravity gun to
pick the item up from the bottom as before, but then look straight up in order
to hold the item almost directly above your head -- this will straighten it out,
with its top side up. Release the item from the gravity gun's hold, then quickly
grab it again (preferably with the Use key) before it hits the floor. It should
now be upright and easy to set down without it falling over. This can be very
useful with overturned barrels and enemy sentry guns. (Remember that all you
have to do with friendly sentry guns is pick them up and give them a shake or
two, and they'll automatically right themselves.)
*** Chapter 6: "We Don't Go to Ravenholm..."
^^^ Fun tip for using Dog's ball in Ravenholm
Skys_end wrote in with a fun thing you can do with Dog's ball. After Alyx tells
Dog to throw something bigger when you're still in the Chapter 5 outdoor
scrapyard area, pick up the rollermine ball with the gravity gun and start for
the exit. Keep ahold of it as the Combine attacks and you are sent down the
tunnel to Ravenholm. It's a bit of a pain to climb the long ladder with, and I
advise you to drop the mine, start up the ladder, then turn around and face down
and suck it in with the gravity gun, then make your way the rest of the way up
the ladder while facing down. At the top, turn around and drop the mine on the
nearby floor before getting off the ladder.
Once in Ravenholm, you can fire the mine at zombies to kill them in one shot, or
you can have fun letting it roam around and distract zombies and kill headcrabs
for you. It can't actually hurt zombies on its own, but they can't hurt it
either, and it'll serve as a distraction while you casually crowbar-whack or
shoot the zombies to death (or throw things at them with the gravity gun). In
other words, the mine gives you a lot more time to decide how to dispose of
zombies and to do it without rushing. This can be exceptionally useful in the
areas where you're attacked by several fast zombies at once -- stand back and
carefully pick them off one by one as they cluster around the mine.
WARNINGS: You need to be very careful not to let anything explode next to the
mine, or it'll blow up, too. Also keep it away from fire. A small amount of
water won't hurt it, but it'll blow up if you submerge it too far (like if you
drop it into the big underwater passage in the mineshaft area). Alexander
Waldmann wrote in to say that the game will crash if a barnacle (like the one in
the mine's underwater passage) gets ahold of it. I haven't tested that out, but
it's something to watch out for.
NOTE: It can often be easier to throw the mine ahead to where you know you're
going to go rather than trying to carry it there. The car-crusher area is one
example -- just toss the mine through the window you know you're going for, then
take the car-crusher ride to get up there yourself. The part where you ride
Grigori's lift across is even more important. You can't carry the mine across
with you on the lift due to invisible barriers that it can't pass through. What
you need to do is stand next to the lift and fire the mine toward the church at
a very steep angle (nearly straight up) so that it goes over the invisible
barriers and lands in the church yard. That way you can take the mine with you
all the way to the mineshaft area.
TIP: In the big headcrab-infested room at the bottom of the first mineshaft, you
can drop your rollermine to the floor to let it slowly but surely finish off all
the headcrabs for you. You could also use it to distract all the headcrabs while
you make a run for the exit. (You probably won't want to go to the trouble of
taking it past the water-filled shaft that's just ahead, anyway.)
CONTRIB NOTE: Stealth-X wrote in with several tips on taking the rollermine
further along in the game. To get it past the underwater tunnel, you have to use
the gravity gun to toss it high into the air as you're falling into the water,
then quickly surface and nab the mine before it falls into the water, too.
Carefully hold onto it while skimming along the top of the flooded shaft so that
it doesn't go too far underwater and blow up. This works, but I found that it
wasn't *nearly* worth all the trouble. Most of your enemies for awhile ahead
will be Combine soldiers, and they and the rollermine ignore each other (and
it's too easy for the mine to get blown up by a soldier's grenade). Also, try
and imagine what a pain it is to take the mine along during the entire jeep run
in Chapter 7 and early Chapter 8. Sure, you can set it on top of the jeep and
get in quick in order to trick it into sticking, but it'll keep zapping the jeep
constantly even though it doesn't have any electrical charge! And that's not to
mention all the invisible barriers that you have to toss it around or over. I've
heard that you can take the rollermine all the way to the third and final
antlion guard encounter in Chapter 9, but I didn't take it past Chapter 8
because it just got to be *way* more trouble than it could ever possibly be
worth (especially since it's such a distraction for your antlion army as you
assault Nova Prospekt).
*** Chapter 6: "We Don't Go to Ravenholm..."
^^^ Shortcut for the area with the electrified fence
John "d j" suggested that instead of entering the main building and finding the
lever that turns off the power to the electrified fence, head up the slanty side
street until two zombies break out of a butcher shop on the right. Kill them,
then use the gravity gun to take one of the tables out of the shop and set it
down next to the raised grassy ledge that's just past the shop door. The point
is to set the table so that you can use it to jump up onto that grassy ledge.
Once you accomplish that, you're going to need three upright barrels to take up
onto that ledge and stack next to the wooden structure so that you can use them
to jump up onto the board walkway that you can see up above you. This requires a
bit of planning ahead, as the only way you can have three barrels is if you
saved a few explosive barrels from previous areas and brought some of them
along. If not, you can try using other stuff to make your "staircase" up onto
the board walkway, but barrels are the easiest to deal with. (Note that you can
find some inside the main building, but one of the points of this shortcut is
that you never have to enter that building at all.) Once you're up on the board
walkway, don't follow it along, but instead turn and go through the nearby
window.
*** Chapter 6: "We Don't Go to Ravenholm..."
^^^ Blocking some of the fast zombies near the elevator
In the third chapter section, soon after Father Grigori gives you your very
first shotgun, you'll jump into a water tank and then climb two ladders to get
to an area where a bunch of fast zombies converge on your position. Before you
climb those ladders and attract the zombies, first look around for any red drain
pipes that you can get to -- those are what zombies love to climb.
You'll find that you can get to two red drain pipes from the lower areas that
you explored prior to jumping in the water tank. The first one is down on the
lowest ground level, between a bunch of white pipes and a fence. (And no, you
can't build a box staircase to get over the fence. I've tried.) The second one
is behind the building that you enter that has all the stairs you climb. What
you want to do is find all the boxes in that building and stack several of them
around the base of each drain pipe. That way the zombies can't use those drain
pipes to come at you from all directions.
When those two drain pipes are box-blocked, go on back up the stairs in the
building and on across to the water tank and then climb the ladders to get to
the zombie attack area. Now all you have to do is stand near the drain pipe
that's attached to the platform you're on and shoot down at zombies as they
climb it -- there's no danger of any of them leaping up behind you. (Remember
that a couple more appear and climb the drain pipe after you summon the
elevator.)
NOTE: A much simpler way to block the zombies is not to mess with the drain
pipes at all. Once you get up to where they attack, run into the room with the
elevator, close its door, and summon the elevator. Then quickly use your gravity
gun to move the crates in the area to blockade you into the corner with the
elevator. If you do it right, the fast zombies who crash down into the room
through the ceiling windows won't be able to get to you, and you can duck into
the elevator and take it down as soon as it arrives. Unfortunately, some of them
may jump down into the area at the bottom of the elevator and attack you there
(though you can try quickly running up the "car ramp" to avoid them).
*** Chapter 6: "We Don't Go to Ravenholm..."
^^^ Another way to handle the fast zombies that attack after you get a shotgun
As soon as you get the shotgun from Father Grigori, jump into the nearby water
tank and climb up its ladder, then carefully crouch-walk along the tank's rim
until you're standing on the side opposite the ladder. It's *very* hard for fast
zombies to attack you there, and most of them will fall into the water tank
while trying (which makes them very easy targets). It's rare, but a zombie may
land on the wooden boards near the top of the water tank's ladder and then leap
at you, knocking you off the tank. To prevent this, immediately shoot down any
zombie that lands there. (Or, as contributor Koji suggested, stay crouched so
the fast zombies can't leap at you and knock you off.)
This strategy is also good for when the fast zombies attack you on the rooftop
ledge near the elevator. As soon as you get onto that ledge and hear the zombies
in the distance, climb back down the ladder and crouch-walk along the water
tank's rim as before.
CONTRIB NOTE: Dorian wrote in to say that if you position yourself just right at
the top of a ladder, fast zombies will be unable to hit you, but will instead
"freeze" and give you extremely easy head shots. That is true, but it doesn't
always quite work. If the ladder's too short, a fast zombie can attack you from
below. I found that staying right at the top of the ladder leading out of the
water tank works best in that area.
*** Chapter 6: "We Don't Go to Ravenholm..."
^^^ How to completely bypass the elevator and poison zombie area
After you finish off the fast zombies that attack you on the rooftop ledge that
has the door that leads to the elevator, don't go inside (unless you want to
look for supplies). Instead, look down over the edge of the roof with the drain
pipe on it to see down into the poison zombie's area. Now look to the left at
the fence that you need to get over from down in that area. Don't you see? You
could jump over that fence from way up here! You can even do it without taking
any damage if you aim for the parasite rocket that's on the other side of the
fence (to the left of the telephone pole). However, you may want to first use
the gravity gun to throw health packs over the fence just in case you do take
damage and need them. Also, quicksave before you jump, because you might get
hopelessly stuck between the parasite rocket and the wall.
*** Chapter 6: "We Don't Go to Ravenholm..."
^^^ Big shortcut for the street/rooftop area with tons of respawning zombies
John "d j" suggested that in the area past the above-mentioned elevator and "car
ramp," you don't have to go to all the trouble of getting up onto the rooftop
ledges and running along them to the doorway that leads to the next area.
Instead, use the three explosive barrels that the fast zombies knock down when
you first enter the street area to make yourself another barrel staircase. (Note
that if the zombies don't knock all three barrels down, you should be able to
pull the rest down with the gravity gun. If not, you can make do with two
barrels, though it's hard.)
The place to make the "staircase" is just a short way down the street, near a
drain pipe and where the wall turns a rusty green color. There's light shining
on that particular area, as if encouraging you to think about what you can do
there! Use the Chapter 5 gravity gun trick to set each of the three barrels
upright, then stack them into a standard barrel staircase right at the rusty
green wall corner that's near the drain pipe. After saving your game, hop up
your staircase and turn right and go up a ladder. Fast zombies will now start
appearing, so quickly run forward and go up another short ladder and then jump
across to the walkway with the doorway. Quickly run through it, and you'll be
safe!
*** Chapter 6: "We Don't Go to Ravenholm..."
^^^ Many good ways to handle the zombie attack while waiting for Grigori's lift
For the area where you'll be on a rooftop platform waiting for Father Grigori to
send you his lift, you can do the same sort of thing as in an earlier tip.
You'll have to pick up some furniture and/or boxes from the room with all the
headcrabs (and the rooms before, which you can still reach) and carry it across
the roofs with you one piece at a time and drop it down into the area you're
going to. Be sure to drop at least six things down there before you drop down
yourself. One red drain pipe you want to stack stuff at the base of is near the
small rail fence with the break in it, and you can find the other one by going
around behind the buildings. Be sure to stack at least two large things side-by-
side at each drain pipe base and then put one more large thing on top of your
stack. You need a tall, sturdy barricade that the zombies can't easily knock
over or push aside. When you get up to the rooftop, your blockades should stop
the first two fast zombies, and the others won't even appear! (If the zombies do
manage to push your stuff aside and start climbing the drain pipes, you can
restore your save and see if it happens again -- maybe they just got lucky
once.)
CONTRIB NOTE: GoldenWyrm suggested that if you have Dog's rollermine "ball" with
you, you can skip the barricading of those drain pipes and simply drop the
rollermine down to the base of one of them from up on the roof. It'll distract
the first two zombies, and no more should appear. This is only advisable,
though, if you don't want to get the rollermine back for future use.
CONTRIB NOTE: Owen Graupman wrote in with another interesting way to handle this
area. Don't bother blocking any drain pipes -- just head for the roof where the
lift will arrive. Once there, find where Father Grigori is standing to talk to
you and jump over there. You can't get over the fence, but you can land on a
rocky ledge next to it. The advantage of this is that none of the fast zombies
can get to you over there, and you can pick them off at your leisure. When
they're all down, drop down carefully to the ground and make your way up to the
rooftop again. (The only disadvantage is that you have to use a lot of ammo
shooting the zombies if you do things this way.)
Another way that I found to be very easy and ammo-conservative is to use the
ledge mentioned in the above paragraph and the things below it to drop safely
down to the street right before the zombie attack starts, and then back up into
the nearby dead-end corner. You need to have a large item with you (radiator,
rollermine ball, sawblade, whatever) that you can throw at the zombies with the
gravity gun as they appear ahead of you. This is easy to handle because they can
only come at you from one direction, and it's easy to quickly suck up your
throwing item between zombies. Once they're all dead, head all the way back up
to the rooftop and take the lift. (NOTE: The rollermine ball of Dog's is the
best to do this with because it can be used to distract the fast zombies as well
as crush them. See an earlier Chapter 6 tip for all the details.)
CONTRIB NOTE: John "d j" came up with a variation on the above tips which is
almost as good as James Thorpe's tip below. As soon as you get up on the roof
and grab ammo, jump over to the rocky ledge near Grigori, then drop down to the
street. Don't stay there, but run back to the poison zombie's area and up the
stairs and enter the building again (closing the door behind you). Go over to
the ladder that leads to the roof and wait at its bottom until you hear Grigori
say to step into the lift. Then run up the ladder and across the roof to the
lift. The area will most likely be zombie-free!
CONTRIB NOTE: Brecht Claeys wrote in to remind me of how easy the "standard"
method of handling this fast zombie attack is, so I thought I'd go ahead and put
it in. Stay on the rooftop and find the drain pipe (the one furthest from the
lift's release brake handle) that the zombies will start climbing. As they
climb, shoot them when they near the top of the pipe with either the shotgun or
Magnum .357. All of the zombies that arrive before the lift does will come up
that one drain pipe as long as you stand next to it the whole time.
CONTRIB NOTE: The absolute last word for this combat has to go to James Thorpe,
who discovered a way to keep the zombies from even trying to climb up onto the
roof at all! When you go through the trap door, look around on the roof for
supplies, then look at Father Grigori to get him to start talking to you. As
soon as he does, return to the little fence niche with the closed trap door in
it and scrunch yourself into the corner where a box of shotgun ammo is (or was,
if you picked it up). Stay very still in that exact spot, and no fast zombies
will climb up drain pipes during the long wait for the lift. They might start
climbing when you go for the lift after it arrives, but it's easy to make it
inside and hit the yellow-handled lever before any zombies can reach you.
*** Chapter 7: Highway 17
^^^ Shortcut for entering first optional house
At the first house with a thumper next to it that you come to in the second
chapter section, you're supposed to enter it through the cellar door and then
figure out how to get up onto the house's main floor. However, you can open the
front door without ever entering the cellar. Go around the side of the house
left of the front door and break out the small window there with the crowbar.
Then throw a frag grenade in through that window so that it bounces off an
inside wall and goes toward the door. That'll destroy the board that's holding
the door closed. (If you then enter through the front door instead of the
cellar, the poison zombie won't even appear in the bedroom at all!)
*** Chapter 7: Highway 17
^^^ Best way to approach Northern Petrol and activate the thumper
To start with, when you come to where you drive under the large bridge, head
through one of the two central arches and drive straight into the water. The
jeep will stall, so get out and move around in the water to avoid any antlions
that fly at you. Any antlion that lands in the water will die as quickly as a
human bathing in molten lava, and no antlions will spawn while you're walking
around in the water.
After all the nearby antlions have drowned trying to get to you, run along the
middle of the pond and toward where an APC is parked on the sand way up ahead.
When you see the two soldiers appear near it, back off a bit and watch as they
make a run for the safety of the dock structure. Once they make it, you can
shoot down all three soldiers with the pistol from far enough away that they
can't return fire.
Then find the beached boat that's near the dock structures and jump up onto its
lowest point. You do have to cross a small amount of dry sand to get there, but
no antlions should spawn. Move along the boat's right (starboard) side as it
slants upward, and then make a running jump from the bow to the nearby wooden
walkway. Go halfway down the wooden ramps that lead down to the sand, then make
a running jump straight at the thumper. As soon as you activate it, get out the
gravity gun and knock away any antlions that approach you before the thumper
really gets going.
Then run back into the water and all the way back to where you left your jeep.
Use the gravity gun to knock the jeep all the way across the pond and onto the
sand near the thumper. (That avoids a long antlion-provoking drive across the
sand.) Now you're ready to head up onto the dock structure (via wooden ramps
this time) and finish off the rest of the soldiers up there.
*** Chapter 7: Highway 17
^^^ Secret stash at Northern Petrol
After you park your jeep near the Northern Petrol buildings, activate the
thumper, run up the little ramp, and kill all the nearby guards, take the time
to go for a secret stash that includes a health kit, an SMG grenade, and an
energy orb for the pulse rifle (which is a very rare item at this point in the
game). Look for a red shed over to the right of the ramp that leads up from the
sand -- it has the words LOADING ZONE in the middle of its door. You can't open
the door, but you can pile up some crates and/or barrels at its roof's low point
in order to get up on the roof. Once you're up there, walk over to the other
side and look down from the very edge. There's your stuff, which you can suck in
with the gravity gun. When you're done, simply head back over to the side of the
roof you came up on and drop off. (NOTE: This same secret stash can be accessed
later on after you get the jeep onto the road behind the buildings and are ready
to move on -- look around behind the buildings until you find it.)
*** Chapter 7: Highway 17
^^^ Shortcut for gunship battle just past Northern Petrol
Right after you get past the big Northern Petrol area and are heading up the
highway once again, a gunship will appear and attack. If you're on Easy
difficulty and have three RPG rockets, you can retreat back to the Northern
Petrol buildings and take cover there. You'll have to quicksave after every
rocket hit and quickrestore after every miss to make sure you destroy the
gunship. If you're on Normal or Hard difficulty, read on.
Quicksave your game after you make the ramp jump and can see the left turn in
the highway ahead that's blocked with car debris. What you want to do is ram
your way through the debris without stopping. Getting out of the jeep to shoot
down the gunship or to use the gravity gun to clear the wreckage is time-
consuming and will get you badly shot up, especially on Hard difficulty. The
wrecked cars provide little cover from the gunship, since it can constantly
circle around to where it can shoot you no matter where you're crouched.
What you want to do as you approach the wreckage is steer to the right around
the first two wrecked cars that are in the road, then hit the blue car straight-
on. (NOTE: The blue car is just to the right of the white van with the infinite
rocket crate.) It's a difficult maneuver, and you'll probably have to
quickrestore and try again several times. If you hit the main wreckage area
wrong, you could overturn the jeep or get it stuck on top of a car to where you
can't go forward or backward. But if you hit the blue car just right, you can
push it forward and then get around the last of the wreckage. (You may have to
stop, go back a little, and then push forward in turbo mode after you hit the
blue car.)
NOTE: If you overturn the jeep when it's totally or nearly past the wreckage,
get out and turn it back upright with the gravity gun and try to continue on
without quickrestoring. You may still be able to make it without taking too much
damage.
*** Chapter 7: Highway 17
^^^ Way to avoid the gunship entirely just past Northern Petrol
During my latest experiments in manipulating trigger points, I discovered that
the gunship that assaults you on the road past the Northern Petrol facility only
shows up if you drive past a certain point while in the jeep. That point is just
past where the road starts curving upward, so park the jeep before you get to
that point, then get out and shove the jeep ahead of you with the gravity gun.
When you're well past the road's curving-up point, get back in the jeep and
drive on, gunship-free!
*** Chapter 7: Highway 17
^^^ Shortcut for the third ambush area in the fourth chapter section
As you know, you need to get out on foot and kill off all the soldiers near the
gas station and then knock their APC loose so the force field that's blocking
the jeep from going down the road will drop. Well, you can remove the APC before
you go anywhere near that gas station, and then you can speed on through the
area without fighting any of the soldiers.
Before you get to the junk-blocked part of the road (near the grassy knoll with
the crossbow), stop the jeep so that you're facing the gas station across the
way. Using zoom mode, you should be able to see the back end of the APC and the
two little blocks that are keeping it from rolling into the ocean. While in zoom
mode, shoot those blocks with the tau cannon until they move aside enough to
allow the APC to roll. The tau cannon isn't perfectly accurate at that distance,
so aim carefully at each block and hit it with a couple of minutes of
continuous fire (or hit each block once with a charged-up secondary blast).
*** Chapter 7: Highway 17
^^^ Making the gunship battle at the bridge easier
When you deactivate the train tracks' force fields and the gunship shows up,
stay in the small downstairs room near the force field control room and shoot
the gunship from there. The two windows in the room are indestructible, and the
doorway is a great place to shoot rockets at the gunship from since it flies
right by there and you can quickly duck into cover when needed. This is a lot
better than trying to get all the way back to the nearest infinite rocket crate
while the gunship is swooping around and shooting at you. The only problem is
that unless you're on Easy difficulty and never miss, you'll run out of rockets
before the gunship can be destroyed.
The way to solve this problem is to import the five loose rockets that are lying
around next to the nearest infinite rocket crate before you shut off the train
tracks' force field. After blasting all the soldiers in the entire area,
including in the force field control room, carefully make your way back along
the bridge's structure to the supply hut with the infinite rocket crate. This is
very time-consuming and tedious, but you'll need to pick up and carry one spare