pool of water. Don't open the supply crate yet, if you can take a bit of
frustration and if you want some suit energy. I'll tell you what I mean in a
few sentences. Drop down from pipe to pipe to find a valve pumping more water
into the two rooms. Now pick up the crate and carry it over to the first room
where four manhacks have spawned in the meanwhile (is "spawn" actually the
correct term for manhacks after all?). Lay down the crate while fighting them.
Then pick it up again, jump into the water, climb up the ladder while only
seeing it at the left end of your screen (or else you cannot carry the crate
while moving up), hop onto the pipe and place the crate at the bend on your
left so you can use it to reach the bar directly in front of you and the vent
behind it. There is only one single suit energy item in the vent, so decide
for yourself whether this is worth all the hassle (and don't forget to bust
open the supply crate).
No matter how you decide, you have to swim down into a tunnel and break some
boards underwater in the other room. This makes some objects float at the
surface so you can use them to get up onto the ledge leading to the next area.
[Radioactive Man]
Get up the ladder, dispose a Sentry Drone and mentally prepare yourself for a
rather difficult fight. Jump down behind the fence, turn right and run in on
a manhack while shooting your SMG at it. Continue to a dead end, turn around
and destroy another manhack. Shortly after two Combines rush in, so I hope
you have taken care of both manhacks before. Use the SMG on these four
enemies. Go on, jump up via the barrel and let three manhacks taste your
crowbar before nabbing some items. Up ahead are even more goodies you can
earn by distracting a Barnacle with a barrel. Climb up another ladder and
feast on the two lambda symbol spots before dropping down on the other side
of the wall (watch out, though: I once got stuck and squished in midair when
dropping down here).
Return to the daylight. This time around it is gonna last for a while. Stay
away from the radioactive waste and traverse it on the pipes for some items.
Then move on at the lower level and assist a rebel against two headcrabs. The
crate on your right holds an infinite amount of SMG ammo. The next section is
best dealt with by advancing slowly, watching for all those headcrabs to
unbury themselves. There are also a few zombies mixed in, but as you can
always go back to pick up SMG ammo you can shoot around as wildly as you like
to. Close to the end of this place (which seems to have been a living place
for some rebels) you come across an electrified cable (wait for it to swing
right before running past it on the left) and an electrified container which
seems to be more of a problem than it really is. Only the container walls can
hurt; standing inside of it doesn't do anything. So go through it and stay in
it when a headcrab missile crashes down. The headcrabs will jump against the
container, dying instantly. Hehe.
After a short walk you arrive at a hovercraft garage of the rebels. Board
your new vehicle and ride along the radioactive river up to a shut gate on
your left. Get out of the hovercraft near the headcrab missile ahead and kill
one of those aliens behind the stack of boxes. Then open the gate and drive
through to the next chapter. Look closely to see a supply crate in the liquid,
which you should break open by driving over it.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-3.4 Chapter 4 - Water Hazard-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-CC4
[Station 12]
Disembark and climb up the ladder at the lambda symbol for some pistol ammo.
After a short bumpy ride you will see a big red house. Remember how you were
told to get there to seek help at station 12? Get off the hovercraft, enter
the house and...face two zombies. The Combine were faster than you. Use the
crowbar against these two foes as well as against a face hugger on the planks
below the ceiling. Climb up to the room that controls the block and pulley.
Hitting the barrel with the crowbar lets the cage fall down into the water,
releasing some goodies.
Ride over the ramp and come to a halt at the bridge on the right. A fellow
rebel drops some supplies before running away from a Sentry Drone. After
picking them up, grab the blue drum, take a dive and set the barrel beneath
the open cage. Leave the basin and go through the passage at the yellow
lambda symbol to find two more of those blue, light barrels. Place at least
one of them in the cage as well to build a ramp you can jump over with the
hovercraft.
New enemy crafts: These things that look like some sort of an alien-
helicopter-hybrid serve only as troop transporters at the moment, but later
in the game they will be way more annoying. Either stop on one of the small
islands and kill the three Combine from there, or simply drive over them,
taking a bit damage while approaching them. Afterwards place a barrel under
the opening with the lambda symbol next to it and swim through to reach a
zombie and some items. Move on with the hovercraft, crashing into three
Combines on the way and speeding over another ramp. Upon your landing you
drive through some thin wooden poles that hold a platform. See hoe the Source
Engine nicely crashes the whole construction? Don't you, too, think this is a
great sight? Perfect: Quickly race on and repeat this crash on the right side
to surprise two Combine soldiers. The Barnacles under the bridge shouldn't be
a problem to you.
[A Hero...wow]
Give another Combine an involuntary swim. The water way is blocked by a gate,
so disembark to search for a switch or something else. Climb up the ladder,
listen to Dr. Breen (yeah, we're a hero!) and pick up the items in the two
small rooms before peeking around the corner and shooting the explosive
barrel on the left and some Combines. See the grenade crate? This means you
can and should use grenades over the course of the next rooms. Toss some
through the windows near the manhacks, so only a few of them can get out of
there and attack you. Open the door and haste behind the wagon to your left,
as a Combine stands at a machine gun up ahead. Push the wagon forward while
crouching to eventually get close enough to the enemy to throw grenades at
him. Restock on grenades; you'll need them in the next room. After opening
the door, throw in two grenades and repeat. While this might not take care of
all Combines in there, it eases the situation a lot. Now storm in and finally
clear the area. Climbing over the blue tanks on your right earns you an SMG
grenade.
Outside you find the gate opening mechanism. Ok, it's broken, but at least
you've found it. Don't worry, though. Shoot the barrels behind the fence to
break open the gate. Then get back to the machine gun and use it to get rid
for four Combines. Back in the Combine garage you will have to face some more
Combines, but the infinite amount of grenades ought to make this battle
rather easy. Just watch out for the newly installed machine gun behind the
liquid barrier.
Return to the hovercraft and get going. The oncoming passage is crammed with
Combines, Barnacles and even missile-shooting police cars, but there isn't
anything good to nab. Ergo: Keep driving at high speed and move a bit to the
sides to dodge the missiles. After a right bend you will see a barricade
that's even being lit up. Stick to the right wall to get over a ramp. After
that stick to the left wall to be somewhat hid from the Combine cars.
[Comeback]
Stop at the lambda symbol, taking the concrete blocks out of the basket. This
lowers the other basket, which contains some items. Hop into the hovercraft
again and ride out into the open, where the gate is shut down and you are
being shot at. Ignore the Combine; drive to the door on the right, pick up
the Magnum inside and aim it at the door behind the table. Three Combines
open it, but your new weapon quickly takes 'em out.
Prepare for what is the most difficult area so far: Remember how I said the
copter would bother you for a long time? Now he really is after you. Go up
the stairs and keep on running as you shoot a Combine. Also kill the next
Combine at full speed and then hide in the container from the copter fire.
Here you should also take care of the manhack. When the copter fire ceases,
run out of the container and move on. Hit the third Combine and hide inside
the big container where you can also take the time to pick up some supplies.
Leave the container on its other end to face two Combines, guarding a supply
crate. During the whole course of running around in this area you should keep
an eye on the position of the copter and on when it is about to fire, so you
can crouch behind any objects to hide.
Now haste into a storage hall past some manhacks. Fire your SMG grenade at
the two Combines up on the left and equip the crowbar when standing just
beneath them. Destroy the manhacks, before the other Combines in this hall
close in on you. Shooting them down probably is the easiest part of this area.
Then search inside the containers and the rest of the hall for lots of items
and advance by walking up the stairs and hopping onto the containers. As soon
as you see that you've triggered three Combines up ahead, drop down and hide
from them, allowing you to eliminate two other guards entering the hall from
the big gate you came through. Then aim up and finally clear the area.
Behind the place where the three Combines came from, you have to duck under
some windows to get past the copter slowly, but safely. Break the crates with
the crowbar and throw a grenade against the wall in the next room in such a
way that it bounces off to the right, killing an enemy. If you attack him the
direct way, two more Combines would rush up the stairs, causing quite some
trouble in this tight place and with your health probably being a bit low by
now. But since you (hopefully) used the grenade to get him, his buddies won't
notice you, allowing for you to slowly move down (after picking up some
health) and carefully aim for their head from behind. Relax at the health and
suit energy panels, as your way gets you back into the copter's sight.
Run out and around the right corner to find a grenade in a supply crate. Then
carefully observe the copter to hide successfully on your way to the upper
right end of the court where a single Combine awaits you. From here on there
isn't much to take cover so simply zip over to the guard tower, killing a
Combine behind the fence and two more up inside the tower. Duck behind the
windows so the copter can't hit you and in between the bursts you have to get
up and counterattack with the machine guns around until your flying nemesis
parts off. Hit the switch to open the gate and return to the hovercraft by
jumping over the railing.
Speed through the gate only to be facing another copter. This one doesn't
only have a machine gun, but also proximity mines. Stick on the right wall as
you haste through this canal. Race up the ramp and move right on it to
proceed. Directly after that the copter employs his machine gun, so head for
the passage on the right in which you are safe from that attack.
[A Bumpy Ride]
Take a left, speeding directly to the copter. It drops quite a lot of miens
now, so you might want to stay right of the enemy. After a while you will see
a broken ship on the right and a pile of dead trees on your left. Ride over
the trees to cut the track short. A bit later you see some concrete tunnel
pieces up ahead. Before heading there, take a left and drive over the supply
crate. It's worth it. Then go through the tunnel pieces and try your best to
stay in the centre of the track so you jump onto some more of those pieces,
leading into a real tunnel.
[Even Bumpier]
Break open the two supply crates ahead and move on up to two dead trees lying
there as a ramp. Naturally, you have to ride it up, but as you do, try your
best to fly off to the left at its end. If you manage to land on the left
ledge you automatically dodge most of the mines and you get to feast on
another supply crate. Take a right and fully concentrate on going fast and on
dodging the mines; there's only one supply crate on the way and you pick up
the goodies inside almost automatically as the passage is narrow and gets
even narrower due to a mine dropped right next to the crate. Stay left under
the first bridge to avoid some Barnacles, then go right and stay on the right
under the second bridge. Keep your balance on the way up to the ramp so you
fly over to the red storage building.
Ride into it and park on the metal platform to your right. Get out of the
hovercraft to break open some supply crate and to use the stations on the
wall, while always listening for the sound the copter makes just before using
the machine gun. Also activate the valve to lower the platform (you might
have to park the vehicle a few times before it finally moves down with the
platform, due to some strange clipping). Hop down and get back into the
hovercraft. Behind you is a supply crate with some health in it, but you
should already be at good health, so ignore it. It was probably only placed
there for if you miss the jump over to the red building. Instead, move on.
Keeping a good speed and staying left will get you past the collapsing
factory chimney without having to search for a way to get over it. Then stay
right to avoid the first few mines. Dodging the other mines and the missiles
shouldn't be too much of a problem now. Speed into the tunnel in front of you.
[Payback]
Get off the hovercraft, nab some health in a crate on the right and then some
more in the dark area, guarded by a zombie. Climb up the ladder, hop over to
the washing machine, which you need to push down into the cage where the
supply crate lied. This raises a ramp you can ride over. Move on to another
rebel outpost where you get a copter gun attached to the hovercraft after a
short conversation.
Move out and test your new gun on some Barnacles and even already on a copter.
Fortunately your gun makes the copter flee in no time. Then shoot some
explosive barrels and a watch tower on the right for some health. Continue to
two open gates right after one another. They close as you are in between, but
don't worry: Just position yourself at the second gate, turn around and hit
the explosive barrel to take out three of four Combines. Shoot the other one
before turning left where three more enemies will rush out of a door. While
it is possible to get up to where the four enemies came from, it is
completely unnecessary as there is nothing to pick up. Instead, ride up the
broken fence and disembark. There are quite some goodies in the room where
the three Combine came out.
Get back into the hovercraft and speed through the fence ahead right into the
metaphorical arms of a police van. Don't slow down; ride around the bend as
quickly as possible and shoot the heat-seeking missiles to take them out. Now
ride up the ramp to pick up some health and to make the instable tower
construction collapse. Around the next bend you will face some more Combines,
but they are no match for your new gun. Hit the explosive barrels and after
that some Combines in the tunnel. Again, it is possible to get up to the
ledges, but the scarce items around here aren't worth the risk.
[Close to the real Payback]
Do yourself a favour and ignore the Combine on the far left, even though
there is a tempting red barrel next to him. Instead, swiftly advance, only
concentrating on the missiles you should blow up in midair. Shoot the Combine
transporter in the next passage. Now relax a bit, train your aiming on some
Barnacles and...wait a second! It's him! Up on the left you can see the G Man
for a brief moment.
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