WALKTHROUGH TITLE

The Half-Life: Blue Shift Ultimate Strategy Guide (PC version)

COPYRIGHT INFO

This walkthrough is copyright 2008-2013 by Stanley E. Dunigan (dunigase@yahoo.com).

Always check one of the official host websites listed below for the latest version of this walkthrough.

GameFAQs (www.gamefaqs.com)  -- always the first site updated

Neoseeker (www.neoseeker.com)

GameBoomers (www.gameboomers.com)  -- official source of this RTF version

PlanetPhillip (www.planetphillip.com)  -- official source of the PDF version

SuperCheats (www.supercheats.com)

Cheat Happens (www.cheathappens.com)

Check the Universal Hint System (www.uhs-hints.com) for a complete Half-Life: Blue Shift hint file. It's not a GameFAQs-style walkthrough, but instead organizes the hints into an HTML-like Q&A document, making it easier to find the hints you need without accidentally seeing other hints you don't want yet.

WALKTHROUGH DESCRIPTION

This is a very complete walkthrough of Half-Life: Blue Shift that includes all of the best tips, strategies, and secrets that I've discovered or heard about during my eleven years of playing the game. (I happened across it in Best Buy one Sunday in 2001. I wasn't sure at first if it was a single-player game, but I risked buying it for $30, and finished playing it later that afternoon. It went on sale for $20 the very next week!) This walkthrough was written as a "companion" to my Half-Life 10th Anniversary Ultimate Strategy Guide, which should be available in the same place you got this from.

This walkthrough was written with a conservative play style in mind, meaning that very few areas are skipped, and keeping your character healthy is always the main concern. When deciding what strategies to include and recommend, my top priority was to take as little damage as possible (within reason). My secondary priority was to use as little ammo as possible, especially rare ammo. I do often recommend using more ammo than is absolutely necessary so as to avoid compromising the top priority.

My third priority was to skip nothing, except for a few areas that I deemed to be way more trouble than they're worth. For instance, any skippable area that has several enemies and only a health pack or two in it clearly isn't worth the damage you'd take and the ammo you'd expend to clear it out, especially if your health is at or near 100. Of course, some side areas that I recommend visiting may not be worthwhile for you, so you'll have to make your own decisions as you go. (And quicksave often!) Hopefully, I've written the walkthrough so that anyone can use it to improve their gameplay experience.

To write the first version of this walkthrough, I played through the game in its original version (1.0.0.0) and with the version 1.0.0.1 patch installed. More recently, I've played the version that's available on Steam. I don't know if there are other patches or versions, but this walkthrough should work pretty well with all versions of the game.

If you have a favorite Blue Shift strategy or secret that isn't in this walkthrough 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 walkthrough and give you credit for it.

VERSION 1.20 (3/10/2013) NOTES AND CREDITS

This version adds in several new tips and tricks that I learned about while reading through the PlanetPhillip.Com TREE event.

·  Section ba_security2: Note about the dancing scientist on a screen.

·  Section ba_canal1: A third way to get past the fence door.

·  Section ba_canal1b: Quicker way to use the crane cars to get to the ladder.

·  Section ba_canal2 (again): Tip for shooting marines to get shotgun ammo.

·  Section ba_yard2: Tip for shooting out the headcrab grating.

·  Section ba_yard4a: Alternative way to kill off marines in warehouse storage.

·  Section ba_yard4 (again): Alternative way for dealing with the marine who's behind a glass window.

·  Section ba_yard5: Alternative way to take out the tank and its marines.

·  Section ba_xen2: Alternative for dealing with the drop-down headcrab.

·  Section ba_xen3: Advise using .357 on first floating platform vort.

·  Section ba_power1: Improved rocket strategy for marines at big lift.

·  Section ba_power2: Tip for sneak-shooting a houndeye near the coolant basin & satchel bomb alternative for two vorts past coolant pump door.

·  Made the final part of the game into a separate chapter called "Deliverance."

·  A few minor notes here and there.

VERSION 1.16 (1/13/2010) 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 1.15 (4/11/2009) NOTES AND CREDITS

I played through the 1.0.0.1 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 walkthrough.

VERSION 1.1 (10/6/2008) NOTES AND CREDITS

For this version, I replayed the game with the 1.0.0.1 patch version installed. I didn't find anything new (except that the flashlight seemed to work a bit better), but I re-proofed the entire walkthrough and made quite a few minor adjustments and clarifications.

VERSION 1.0 (10/3/2008) NOTES AND CREDITS

This is the original version of this walkthrough, so I have no one else to credit yet.

STARTING TIPS AND NOTES

This walkthrough 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.

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 walkthrough 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 walkthrough, 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 F8 or 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 (which the game calls "duck jumping") and crouch-jumping. Those moves are essential in many places throughout the game. I remember having a heck of a time on my earliest playthroughs 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 walkthrough, 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.

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.

If you have problems making the flashlight work, try moving up against a wall (facing it) to see if the flashlight will work better then. If not, try pressing the "Pause game" key, then the "Flashlight" key, and then the "Pause game" key again. If even that's not good enough, you'll have to enable the console. (See the Half-Life cheat code list on GameFAQs or any other cheat-carrying website.) Try bringing the console window down, typing the command "impulse 100" (w/o quotes), and then removing the console window. As a last resort, use the "r_fullbright 1" console command to remove all shadows. Use the same command with a 0 instead of a 1 to restore shadows. (Or get the version 1.0.0.1 patch, which fixes the flashlight problems.)

One fun thing you could do to extend gameplay is to use the crowbar to beat on all the dead bodies you find (and make) until they splattify. I've always enjoyed doing that immensely, and I'll never forgive Half-Life 2 for making dead bodies invincible.

Another way to extend gameplay is to play on the highest difficulty setting without using any cheats at all. Once you're good at that, try adding the "damage-free" restriction. It is possible to play all the way through Blue Shift without ever taking even one point of damage from anything. It's often a pain, and there are certain areas where you'll have to retry something several times before you can make it through damage-free, but it can be done (especially if you use all the best strategies in this walkthrough). The one exception is that you can't get to Chumtoad's Lair in the "Focal Point" chapter without taking a lot of temporary health damage. (Of course, you could just say that doesn't count, since it all gets restored after you start breathing again.)

LIVING QUARTERS OUTBOUND

Section ba_tram1 thru ba_tram3: RIDING THE TRAM

This is just the starting tram ride. Enjoy the sights as you ride along, including a glimpse of Gordon Freeman waiting for a tram car when you're near the end of your trip.

INSECURITY

Section ba_security1: GETTING IN THE DOOR

After your tram car door opens and the two little steps extend, leave the car and go press up against the nearby door to get an "I'm locked" sound. Turn and watch as Gordon Freeman rides by in his tram car, wondering why you're just standing there and looking goofy. Ah, the memories!

Pressing up against the door alerted the security guy on its other side to your presence, so wait until he opens the door, then go through it and wait for him to open the next doors. When you go through them, section ba_security2 will load.

Section ba_security2: GETTING READY FOR DUTY

Go forward and turn left, then go down some stairs and through some doors. Move up to the front desk to get the guard at it to talk to you, then go down the hallway to the left of the desk to reach the locker room. Go over to your locker in the second section and get the two pieces of security armor hanging there. Your armor rating will now be 100.

You can push up against your locker door to open it and see what's inside, though there isn't anything you can take. Go to the nearby bathroom area and enter the left stall, then jump up and down on the toilet so you can see into the next stall. There's a picture of some freaky horrid-head guy on the inside of the other stall's door that may look familiar to you if you've seen it in a previous game (like on the bulletin board in the first displacer destination in Opposing Force).

Go back to the front desk to get another bit of talk from the guard there, then go over to the nearby window and listen to a scientist complain to another guard about his lack of access. Go down the hallway between the desk and window to find an elevator. Get in it and use its interior button panel to reach the floor with the armory and video surveillance areas.

Follow the green wall stripe to the video surveillance room, and open its door by using the large black panel that's to the right of it. There's nothing you need to do in the surveillance room, but you can walk up to and use its three large screens in order to get views of nearby areas, one of which shows Gordon Freeman on his way to the science personnel locker room to get his HEV on. (Note that if you keep using that screen, you'll eventually see a scientist do a dumb little dance.)

Use the black panel to the left of the door, then leave the surveillance room and follow the blue wall stripe to the armory door. Open it by using the panel to the left of it, then go forward and down the steps. Move up to the window to get the guard behind it to hand you a pistol. Too bad he won't give you any of those shotguns you can see on the rack behind him!

Go back up the steps and around to the practice range area. You can pick up spare bullet clips from the three vacant booths, and you can wonder exactly what in the heck the fatguard in one booth is doing with that pink-frosted donut. You might want to quicksave so you can have the pleasure of shooting the fat moron without losing any progress due to being "terminated."

You can crouch-jump into the target range area from one of the empty stalls. If you get in front of the guard who's shooting at a target, he'll ask if you're crazy, and will keep shooting. (So why isn't he "terminated" for shooting you?) Go back to the armory door and open it by using the panel to the right of it. Return to the elevator and ride it back to the floor with the locker room and front desk.

After quicksaving, return to the locker room and use all 17+51 of your bullets to shoot open the small package that's in the bottom of your locker. You'll find that it contains a weird alien frog-like creature called a "chumtoad." You'll be seeing more of them in their secret lair in the "Focal Point" chapter. Needless to say, that was a terrible waste of ammo, so quickrestore when you're done looking at the chummy toad.

From the front desk area, go back through the doors and up the stairs to where you started this section, then go over to the locked doors with a guard in a side booth. When you move up to the doors, the guard will see that you have your armor and pistol, and will open the doors for you. Soon after you go through them, you'll reach the ba_maint section.

Section ba_maint: MAINTENANCE AREA DETOUR

Move along until you come to a room where two scientists and a security guard are working on a computer console. Wait around and see what happens if you want, then keep going until you reach the tram station. A scientist will tell you that the trams to Sector G are having "problems," so you'll have to get there on foot. (Besides, you've had your tram ride for the game already.)

Go around the corner to the left of the vending machines to find a "Maintenance Access" ladder that you can climb down. Go along the walkway and through a door, then down some stairs and over to another door. Push the barrel out of the way of the door, but don't go through it yet. First, go through the fence door on the opposite side of the room and use the switch on the power box in the dark corner just past the door.

Go through the formerly barrel-blocked door and turn the dark, curving hallway's lights on by using the switch that's just to the left of the door (as you face it). Make your way past all the boxes and barrels in the hallway, and push the barrel at the other end of the hallway out of your way. Turn right and climb a ladder, then go along the metal walkway to reach a door. Past the door is a spot where you'll need to use a movable walkway bridge to cross a tram track.

But first you'll have to wait for the G-Man to ride by on a tram. (Why is he bothering to ride a tram when we know he can do freaky teleportational things at will? Maybe it's for appearance's sake.) After the light above the button to the right of the walkway bridge turns green, use the button to get the bridge down to where you can cross it. Go through a door on the right and up some stairs to reach the ba_elevator section.

Section ba_elevator: ELEVATOR RIDE

Go through another door to reach the Sector G tram station. Enter the waiting room, then follow the wall stripe to the elevator that's supposedly having problems. It turns out that the scientists in the elevator aren't bright enough to know how to press a simple button, so help them out by using the large panel that's just to the left of the elevator doors.

After that, stand well away from the black scientist (to avoid his fate) and wait while the elevator descends. Before long, the big screw-over will happen that causes aliens to start teleporting in all over the base. (You do remember the precipitating event from the original game, don't you? A certain crystal in a certain test chamber?) After the elevator falls and crashes, the "Duty Calls" chapter will start.

DUTY CALLS

Section ba_canal1: THREE DOORS TO GET PAST

Wait until you fully recover, then exit the elevator and pick up the crowbar. Switch back to the pistol, then go right and kill both of the houndeyes that are near some stairs. (You could use the crowbar on them, but there's a greater chance that you'll get sonic-zapped, and there's no need to skimp on ammo.)

Switch back to the crowbar and start bashing all the boxes stacked around near the elevator. One of the boxes has a bullet clip in it, and there's a first aid station on a wall behind another box. After you find those items, bash boxes along the hallway that goes around to the other side of the stairs, then look on a shelf for another bullet clip.

Keep bashing along until you reach the doorway to a room with a power box on the back wall. Bash the boxes to the right of the doorway to find another bullet clip, then shoot the power box with the pistol. Use the flashlight to help you find your way back to the stairs, then go down them and through the formerly locked door.

Go down the hall to reach a room with a big toxic waste spill. Crouch-walk into the room while looking to the right so you can sneak-shoot two headcrabs. After quicksaving, jump onto the big table, run across it, and jump to the floor on the other side. Turn right and shoot down the crab that's behind the other big table.

Push open the nearby door and notice the headcrab next to a green barrel over on the right. You can't sneak-shoot this crab for some reason, so move into the room far enough for it to see you, then quickly back up to avoid its leap. Shoot it, then check the shelf in the back of the room to find two bullet clips. Climb the ladder to the right of the shelf to reach a high-up, red-lit area where a scientist is hiding out.

Crouch-walk over to him to get him to talk to you, then look to the left. From up there, you can aim at and shoot the explosive barrels that are on the other side of the locked fence door in the room below. That's one way to get past the door, but there are two other ways that don't require using any bullets. One is to move as close to the door as you can without falling, then jump over to the light fixture that's on the wall above the door. Once there, crouch-drop carefully onto the door, then drop down on its other side.

For the other way, climb back down to the storage room. Leave it and go over to the fence door, being careful not to touch the toxic spill. There's a movable office chair near the door that you can pull out of the toxic liquid if you stand close to it, hold down the "Use item" key, and move backward. Get the chair up next to the door, then jump-crouch onto the chair. From there, you can jump-crouch over the door and drop down on the other side.

Use your flashlight as you go along the walkway past the fence door to make sure you don't take any fatal plunges. When you reach a small conveyor lift with a button panel on the wall near it, use the button panel and get onto the lift before it starts moving. Get out the pistol and quickly shoot down the houndeyes that run into view on the walkway that you're moving toward.

Get off the lift after it stops, then go straight for the small door that's to the right of the big "NORTH TUNNEL" door. Go through the small door and look to the right for a control console. Use the working button panel on the right end of the console, then go stand in the doorway and watch the big south tunnel door until it stops opening. Get out your crowbar and quicksave.

As you run for the south tunnel door, a vortigaunt will teleport in. Swerve just enough to whack it once with the crowbar to interrupt its charge-up, then keep running for the left side of the south tunnel door. You should make it through the door and around the crates to where section ba_canal2 will load without getting zapped. If not, quickrestore and try again.

Section ba_canal1b: CRANE CONTROL ROOM AND VORT PASSAGE

Since you just passed through a "loading point," the vort you whacked in the previous section will have forgotten about you, so you don't need to worry about it following you into this section. Go around another corner to find an area with two houndeyes. Stand and shoot them until they're dead or have run off, then move forward to find a large door on the left that's blocked open by a crate. Crouch down and shoot any houndeyes that are in the room past the door.

Switch to the crowbar and bash all of the nearby small wooden crates, plus the houndeye that's hiding behind one of them. Crouch-walk under the blocked-open door, then check near the barrel-crushed security guard's head to find a helmet and a bullet clip. (Note that security helmets and vests work like the armor battery items in other Half-Life games, in that you can only pick them up if your armor rating is less than 100. Vests are worth 60 armor points, and helmets are worth 40.)

Get behind the big "CRANE CONTROL UNIT" console near the dead guard and use its right lever to lower the right crane car. (To do that, face the right lever and lean on the "Use item" key.) Keep lowering the car until its floor is just a little bit above the top of the two large wooden crates. If you get it too low, you can stop using the lever, then start using it again to move it in the opposite direction.

Next, use the left lever to lower the left crane car until its floor is about even with the upper of the two iron bands that go across the sides of the two large wooden crates. Once you set it right, you can jump-crouch onto the control console, then jump-crouch across to the left crane car, then jump-crouch over to the top of the wooden crates. From there, you should be able to jump-crouch over to the right crane car, and then jump onto the ladder on the wall.

Climb the ladder to the top, then turn left and go over to the start of a short right-angled hallway. When you're halfway through the hallway, get out the crowbar and quicksave. You're about to pull another tricky whack-and-run routine on some teleport-in vortigaunts.

When you run into the room past the hallway, turn right and whack the vort that teleports in right next to you as you run by. Keep running for the ladder in the alcove, and climb down it as fast as you can. You may have to retry this a few times before you can get the timing down right. After you make it to the bottom of the ladder unzapped, move forward to get section ba_canal2 to load.

Section ba_canal2: LOWERING A LIFT WITH AN EXPLOSIVE CRATE

Find the doorway that leads to a narrow concrete ledge between canals, then follow it along until you reach a walkway. Turn right and go through the nearby door, past which you'll come to a platform in a large room with upper and lower walkways. Jump to the nearby ladder that leads to the upper walkway, then climb up it.

Use the valve wheel that's on a large vertical pipe near the top of the ladder, then go along the upper walkway until you reach the top of another ladder near a steam leak. To get ahold of the ladder without falling, crouch-walk very slowly onto the ladder top. Climb down the ladder, then jump if necessary to get off of it.

Find and use the valve wheel that's on another large vertical pipe nearby, then keep going along the walkway until you reach a small room with a shotgun lying next to a dead scientist. Get the shotgun, then go back the way you came and climb back up the ladder. Turn left past the ladder top and move along until you reach a room that has a large window overlooking the canal.

Check near the first aid and HEV wall stations for a bullet clip on the floor, then use the first aid station if you need to. (Note that you can't ever use HEV stations since you're not wearing any type of powered armor.) Go over to the window and use its large button panel, then get out the pistol and quicksave.

Watch for a lift to lower in the area you can see through the window. The lift has three vortigaunts on it, two of which will see you as soon as the lift lowers. Quickly back up from the button panel a little bit, but not so much that you can't clearly see and shoot the vorts. If you duck down the instant either of them starts charging up, you should be able to avoid all of their blasts.

After the first two vorts are dead, move back up to the window and strafe right until you can see and start shooting the third vort, which is hiding to the left of the crate on the lift. It'll come out and start zapping at you after you shoot it a couple of times, so quickly back up to where you can safely duck its blasts. After it's down, go back to the previous room's upper walkway and carefully climb down its ladder again.

Jump over the railing to get into the water, then climb up the ladder that leads to the platform where you entered. Go back to the walkway that crosses the two canals, and head over to its other end. Use the flashlight to find a ladder in a dark corner, then jump over the railing to get onto it. At the top of the ladder, get off to the left. Past the small metal walkway, jump over a narrow gap, then jump onto a large, rusty metal beam. Turn right and follow it along until section ba_canal3 loads.

Section ba_canal3: FINDING A WAY TO GET TO THE EXPLOSIVE CRATE

Move along the beam until you can turn left and drop into a pool of water. Avoid the barnacle tongues while looking along the back wall for a broken grating that you can swim through. Turn left past the grating and swim along until you can get up onto a small platform with a "FLOW CONTROL" wheel. Use the wheel to raise the water level, then swim back out through the broken grating.

After the water stops rising, hop onto the green barrel that's nearest the back wall, then jump from it to the back walkway. (Note that you can push the barrel up against the back walkway first if you want to.) Turn left to find some crates you can bash for a pistol clip, then go the other way to find a shotgun and a box of shells near a doorway. Get the shotgun out before you approach the doorway, then go through it slowly until two vorts teleport in over to the left.

Let them see you, then quickly back up through the doorway to avoid their blasts. You'll want to double-barrel them in the head at close range, so if they don't come after you, let them see you in the doorway again until they do. (Or use regular shotgun blasts from the doorway to wear them down.) After they're dead, go onto the metal walkway past the next doorway.

Go along the walkway until a vort teleports in ahead and falls through the walkway, then turn around and wait for another vort to teleport in right in front of you. If it doesn't do so right away, try backing up a little. When it does appear, quickly charge it and double-barrel it up close.

To get across the new walkway gap, you could look to the left for a large pipe to drop down to, but a better way is to use the barnacle that's hanging over the gap. Get out the crowbar, quicksave in case you mess up, then take a running jump straight at the barnacle tongue. As soon as it catches you, look up and wait for it to pull you close enough to whack it. The instant you do, start leaning on the "Move forward" key so you'll land on the other side of the walkway gap.

Get the two health packs on the walkway if you need them, then crouch-hop onto the right railing (right as you face the walkway gap) and carefully drop down to the huge rusty pipe below. Drop off it to the floor, then follow it along until you enter a huge area where two zombies are fighting over a live security guard on a walkway ahead.

After they drop the guard and get back up, you could start shooting them in the head with the pistol, but it's easier to just stand and wait for them to shamble around to your walkway, where you can easily blow them away with up-close double-barrel shotgun blasts to the head. After they're both down, move into the room with the wooden crates while looking left to find another zombie to blast.

Get the armor vest from the middle of the floor if you need it, then get the shotgun shells near it and bash the wooden crates to find more shells. Be ready to double-barrel another zombie in the head just past that room, then bash the crates in its room to find a pistol clip. Cross the next walkway to find a first aid station on the left wall.

Go around the next corner slowly and with the flashlight on. There's a bullsquid just past the bottom of a short ladder ahead, and it'll see you when you get near the top of the ladder. When it does, quickly back up to avoid its toxic spit, then move forward slowly until you can see the squid and shoot it with the pistol without it being able to spit at you.

After it's dead, get the shotgun out and drop down to its floor. Turn right and start walking past the two huge vertical rusty pipes on their right side. When you're next to the second pipe, turn around and slowly walk backward until you hear the first teleporting-in sound. Immediately start running forward, ready to double-barrel the vort that teleports in directly ahead of you.

There's now another vort on the other side of the first huge rusty pipe, so go around to where you can double-barrel it, too. To get the third vort, go along the pipes' right side again, then go slowly along next to the huge concrete pillar that's past them. As soon as the vort sees you, back up and wait for it to come within shotgun range.

If you get careless and the bullsquid that's a ways to the left of the vort also sees you, quickrestore and try again. You want to sneak-shoot that squid with the pistol. To do that, go between the second vertical pipe and the huge pillar, then turn right and carefully crouch-walk along, looking to the left with the flashlight on. When you get to where you can see part of the squid, start sneak-shooting it.

After it's dead, crouch-walk down its passage and look around the corner to the right to find another bullsquid to sneak-shoot. Run up to its area after it's dead to find some shotgun shells and a health pack, plus some crates you can bash to find a bullet clip. Turn around and go toward the power box you can see on the wall up ahead, but don't go straight for it. There's yet another squid that needs to be sneak-shot with the pistol in an alcove on the left.

After you kill it, go use the switch on the power box to restore power to the lifts, then get out the shotgun. Go back to where you found the supplies, ready to double-barrel a vort when it teleports in right in front of you. Get on the lift past the supplies and use its button panel to ascend. Bash the crates near the top of the lift to find another health pack, then go down the nearby walkway to return to section ba_canal2.

Section ba_canal2 (again): USING THE EXPLOSIVE CRATE

Go along the passage until you emerge on the ledge next to the big lift with the explosive crate on it. At last! Bash the two nearby wooden boxes to get another pistol clip, then get behind the explosive crate and push it all the way into the canal. Drop in after it and hang way back as it blows up part of the crate-crushing machinery ahead.

After quicksaving, make your way carefully between the two bits of machinery without touching either one, then move on to find a ladder you can climb. Look up above you to see two marines who make a comment about Shephard (the guy you played in Opposing Force). If you want to trade some pistol bullets for some shotgun shells, go around the circular walkway to where you can shoot up at them with the pistol.

If you're quick, you can kill one of them before they leave, which will cause him to drop his shotgun into the water you just climbed out of. (If you're *really* quick, and start with the guy on the right, you may be able to kill both of them.) Drop back into the water and crouch down so you can see the dropped shotgun, then pick it up and climb back up the ladder. Go along the circular walkway and down the dark hall until the "Captive Freight" chapter starts.

CAPTIVE FREIGHT

Section ba_yard1: MUNITIONS TRUCK AND STEAM TUNNEL ACCESS

When you reach a room with a ladder, climb to its top, then crouch-walk all the way over to the center of the middle sandbag wall that's next to a military truck. Get the shotgun out and crouch-walk around the right side of the wall until you can double-barrel a turret to "kill" it in one shot. Stay crouched as you go to the other side of the wall and double-barrel the other turret.

After they're both down, you can stand up and go over to the back of the truck. Jump into the truck and pick up all the bullets and explosives, then bash the crate to find a health pack. Exit the truck and go down the street to a set of large semicircular doors. They can be opened by using the control panel that's on the wall just to the right of them.

Go down the large tunnel past the doors until you come to a car with a dead security guard on the ground next to it. Get the .357 Magnum and ammo box from next to the guard, plus his vest and helmet if you need armor. Open up the back of the car with the "Use item" key, then crouch-jump in and move around to pick up the shotgun shells and health pack. Exit the car and get onto the small concrete platform that's nearby.

Use the crowbar to bash the padlock off the fence door, then go through it and lean on the "Use item" key while facing the wheel until it stops moving. Get the pistol out and start climbing down the ladder in the vertical shaft you just opened. Before you go very far, turn so that you're facing away from the ladder, then look down and keep climbing down. After the ladder breaks, you'll fall into section ba_yard2.

Section ba_yard2: STEAM TUNNELS

As soon as you land, look up and shoot the nearby headcrab to death before it can leap at you. There's another crab down the tunnel to the left, but don't bother trying to sneak-shoot it. Just run over to where the first crab was, then turn and shoot down the second one before it can leap at you.

Move along the tunnel until you come to a room with a closed door at its other end. Look to the right of the door for a wheel you can use to open it, then go through it and on to the next corner. There's a headcrab near that corner, so approach it with the pistol out, and quickly back up when the crab sees you. After it leaps, shoot it down before it can turn and leap again.

At the next corner, turn and shoot the headcrab that's near the steam, then crouch-walk along the left side of the tunnel until you're past the first jet of steam. Turn right and crouch-walk over to where you can use a wheel on a steam pipe, then wait until all of the steam jets disappear.

Move on past that until you reach another room with a closed door at its other end. The only difference here is that the room is flooded, and the wheel that opens the door is underwater. It's still in the same spot (to the right of the door), so you should easily be able to find it, especially if you use the flashlight.

After you go through the door and approach the next corner, get out the shotgun and quicksave. There are two bullsquids in the tunnels ahead, and you'll want to get them to fight each other so you can easily finish off the winner with the shotgun. When you turn the corner, run toward the first squid while strafing to dodge its spit until the second squid (which is down the tunnel on the right) sees you.

Quickly run backwards while still strafing to avoid spit, then go around the corner and wait near it for a bullsquid to follow you, at which time you can give it an up-close double-barrel blast. Hopefully, that'll finish it off, but be ready to dodge and keep shooting if it doesn't.

If you find that to be too hard to pull off without getting injured, you could very carefully crouch-walk to where you can sneak-shoot each bullsquid with the pistol, or get each one's attention and shotgun it while backing up and dodging its spit. (To make them easier to kill quickly, use the .357 instead of the shotgun.)

Go slowly along the right side of the second bullsquid's side tunnel with the flashlight on until you can see some explosive barrels in the small fence room that's ahead and to the left. Shoot one of the barrels once with the pistol to blow them up, killing one headcrab and injuring another. The injured one is on the right, near the lift you're going for. Let it see you, then back up and shoot it with the pistol after it leaps.

Get on the lift and use its button panel to go up to a warehouse basement. Get out the pistol and move to the lift's front left corner so you can see and shoot a headcrab on a wooden crate over to the right. There's another crab over there that you can't see yet. Go forward a little from the lift so it'll see you, then run backwards onto the lift again as it leaps by. Stay crouched at the back of the lift, ready to shoot the crab when it walks into view.

After killing it, leave the lift and look to the left. Use the flashlight to help you see a large oil spill on the floor, then look directly above it to find a breakable grating. Shoot the grating twice with the pistol, then watch for two headcrabs to drop down (one at a time). Kill them both with the pistol, then go past the oil spill to reach section ba_yard3a.

Section ba_yard3a: WAREHOUSE BASEMENT

Get the shotgun out and quicksave, then go around the corner and forward until a vortigaunt teleports in ahead of you. Run forward and double-barrel it, then quickly run backward as two more vorts teleport into the hallway on the right. Do a quicksave, then round the corner and shoot the nearest vort. Back up for cover, then peek around the corner for another shot. Keep this up until both of those vorts are dead.

Go down to where there's a ladder set up in the middle of the hallway, then run up to where you can look and shoot through the center of the ladder. Use regular shotgun blasts to take down the vort that appears on the other side of the ladder, then go down to the next corner and look to the left to see a headcrab on a crate a ways ahead. (Use the flashlight if you can't see it.) Shoot it to death with the pistol, then get out the shotgun and quicksave.

Turn around and walk backward toward the headcrab's crate slowly. The instant you hear a teleport-in sound, run forward and around the corner, since several vorts just 'ported in behind you. Run past the ladder and around the next corner, then look back around it and watch for two vorts to follow you. Dodge their fire and shoot them with the shotgun as they approach until you finish them both off. It's possible to do this without getting hurt, so keep trying until you manage it.

Quicksave again, then go back to the hallway junction where the first two vorts teleported in. The third vort is down the right branch, so let it see you, then duck for cover and wait for it to run over so you can double-barrel it. Get the pistol out and crouch-walk down that hallway to where you can sneak-shoot the headcrab that's hiding behind the second wooden crate.

NOTE: If you go straight at the hallway junction instead of right, you'll have to kill another vort and a bunch of headcrabs, and all you'll get for it is a room where you can bash some large wooden crates to find a first aid station. That isn't worth it even if you need health, so just skip it.

Around the next corner is an electrical hazard. Before you try to get past it, turn the flashlight on and look for a headcrab on the hazard's other side. It should see you and start walking over toward you. See if you can maneuver it into getting killed by the hazard. If not, dodge its leap and quickly shoot it with the pistol. (Or just shoot it to begin with if you prefer.)

To cross the hazard unzapped, crouch-walk along its very right edge until you come up against a piece of rubble, then turn and watch the electrical bolt as it zaps along. Right after it passes by you, get up and run past the rest of the hazard, keeping right to avoid the dangling electrical wire.

As soon as you're across, turn the flashlight on and shine it down the dark tunnel to the left so you can see and shoot a headcrab before it can reach you. Switch to the shotgun and crouch-walk down the dark tunnel on its right side until section ba_yard3b loads.

Section ba_yard3b: WAREHOUSE BASEMENT, PART 2

There's a vortigaunt just around the corner ahead, so quicksave before charging it with the shotgun and double-barreling it. After it's down, strafe over to the left side of the tunnel and crouch-walk forward until you can see an explosive barrel ahead and a bit to the left. Shoot it with the shotgun to blow it and one vort up, then quickly double-barrel the vort that teleports in near where the barrel was.

You need to get into the vent shaft segment that's leaning down near where the vorts were, but you can't without a boost. Look on the other side of the area to find several small boxes. Bash all of the wooden ones, then push and/or pull the larger unbreakable box over to where it's as close to the shaft opening as it'll go. Jump-crouch onto the box, then crouch-jump into the shaft.

Go up the slanting shaft part to reach an undamaged shaft, then turn left and go up the little shaft ramp. Approach the top of the ramp slowly and with the flashlight on, since there's a headcrab to the left that you'll want to sneak-shoot with the pistol. After it's dead, turn right and look for a bashable vent covering on the left wall.

Before you bash it, move to where you can see and shoot a headcrab through it. Turn right past that crab and go up to the next corner slowly, ready to sneak-shoot another crab that's a ways to the right. Past it is a vertical drop-down point in the shaft with another headcrab at the bottom. Walk very slowly up to the drop-off so you can sneak-shoot the crab, then drop down to reach section ba_yard3.

Section ba_yard3: THREE MARINES AND A DYING SCIENTIST

Bash the grate covering at the end of the vent shaft, then drop down to the floor past it. Pull the barrel out of the room's doorway so you can go through it, then go left and down some stairs to find a dead security guard with a vest, helmet, pistol, and two bullet clips lying next to him. Get what you need, then go back up the stairs and crouch-walk over to the bottom of the stairs that lead up to the room with two marines in it.

Crouch-walk up the left side of the stairs, then crouch-walk over to where you're next to a green crate. Toss a C4 satchel bomb so that it lands near the marines, then crouch-walk back down the stairs before detonating it. Run up and grab their dropped guns, which include an Mp5 assault rifle, then push the green crate so that it's directly in front of the nearby door. (Note that you may need to pull the crate away from the wall before you can push it over to the door.)

Go through the other door to find a wounded scientist. While listening to what he tells you about Dr. Rosenberg and the escape plan, check the shelf on the left for two health packs (one of which is inside a bashable box), then push up against the lockers on the other side of the room to open the middle one and reveal a box of .357 ammo. To pick it up, you may have to crouch-walk into the locker and move around.

After the scientist dies (whack him with the crowbar if you want to speed this up), move toward the door that you pushed the green crate in front of to get a marine to open it partway. Let him see you, then quickly strafe left for cover. Get out the pistol and very carefully crouch-walk to where you can shoot him without him being able to shoot you. You might want to quicksave first, since he sometimes runs left and right, and may get a shot at you if you don't strafe out of the way fast enough.

After he's dead, pull the green crate back so the door can fully open, then go through it and pick up the marine's dropped rifle. Go down the hallway and turn right, then use the crowbar to bash the boards that are covering the large hole in the right wall. Go through the hole and bash some boards with a sign on them, then enter the elevator and use its button panel to descend to section ba_teleport1.

Section ba_teleport1: EARLY VISIT TO THE TELEPORTER LAB AREA

You can't actually enter the teleporter lab without Dr. Rosenberg, but you can do two things now. One thing is to jump onto the large leaning chunk of vent shaft that's near the elevator and crouch-walk up it with the flashlight on to where you can see another picture of that freaky horrid-head guy. Weird!

The other thing is to push through the left door that's past the shaft piece, then turn right and go through the security door to find a room with two full sets of armor and lots of ammo for the .357 and shotgun.

Try the handprint recognition device to the left of the lab door if you like, but it won't let you in. Return to the elevator and use its button panel to ride back up to section ba_yard3.

Section ba_yard3 (again): GOING DOWN THE HALLWAY

After you exit the elevator, go back through the wall hole, then turn right and go down the hallway until section ba_yard4 loads.

Section ba_yard4: ASCENDING TO THE SECOND FLOOR

Go through the door that leads to the stairs, then run up them until you reach the first floor. Go through the storage room door and search the shelves for four health packs, some of which are in bashable boxes. Go through the next door to find a room with several worthless boxes, two red gas cans, and a barrel. Ignore those items and go push open the EXIT door.

Get out the .357 and crouch-strafe into the doorway very slowly while looking left. There are three marines standing near the parked cars out there that you'll want to sneak-shoot. Move to where you can only see the rightmost marine, then quicksave. Shoot him in the head with the .357, then quickrestore and try again if you don't get a one-shot kill. Once you do, quicksave again.

Crouch-strafe slowly to the right until you can see the next marine. If he's still turned away from you, you can repeat the sneak-shooting to the head process with him, though note that it's harder to get a one-shot kill, so you may need to retry several times. If he's facing you and sees you, quickrestore, then sneak to where you can see part of him, but he can't see you. Shoot him to get him running, then quickly shoot him again to kill him before he can stop and turn to see you.

Now take down the third marine near the cars, using the exact same process you used on the second marine. There are two more marines way over at the far left end of the area, near some large semicircular doors. Don't bother trying to sneak-shoot them, but strafe slowly out to where the first one will see you, then take him down with the .357 as he runs toward you. Repeat with the second one, then quicksave again.

Crouch-walk through the doorway, then turn left and crouch-walk over to a nearby corner. Turn left at the corner and crouch-walk toward a dumpster until a marine breaks through the window that's up above it. Crouch-walk forward a little more to make sure you're in the marine's blind spot, then get out the pistol and shoot him in the head until dead.

Go collect all the weapons and AR grenades that the other marines dropped, then jump-crouch onto the top of the dumpster. Turn and jump to the nearest tire stack, then to the next one, and then to the ledge. Crouch-walk along the ledge until you're to where you can crouch-walk through the window. Turn left past the window and go through a door to enter a room, then go through its other door to enter another hallway. Go along it until section ba_yard4a loads.

Section ba_yard4a: WAREHOUSE STORAGE AREA

In the room past the next door, jump onto the desk to get the .357 and ammo box, then bash the crates in the corner to the left of the desk to find a health pack. Bash the padlock that's on the nearby fence door so you can go through it and get an armor vest, a bunch of shotgun shells, some bullets, and another box of .357 ammo.

Go down the short hall that leads to another door, then quicksave. Push the door open and move a short way through it to make sure you're seen by the marines in the big warehouse storage area to the left. Quickly back up through the door, then turn and run back to where the previous section will load up again. As soon as it does, turn around and return to this section.

Doing that will "freeze" the pursuing marines where they are and make them forget about you. (As long as you didn't let any of them pursue you too closely, that is.) Get out the .357 and slowly crouch-walk your way back to the storage area door, sneak-shooting any marines you come across on the way. Note that if you're very careful, you can edge to where you can see part of a marine's head without him seeing you, then kill him with one quick head shot.

Crouch-walk through the door and see if you can sneak-shoot any more marines. If not, run around near the door to get their attention, then repeat the run-back-to-the-previous-section routine on them. Do this until all the marines are dead, then return to the storage area and go through the door marked "PARCEL RECEIVING."

ALTERNATIVE: Instead of doing the above "freeze and sneak-shoot" routine, you could instead run straight across to the "PARCEL RECEIVING" door and push it open. Quickly move around behind the door for cover, then wait to see if the marines start coming after you. If not, peek out to let them see you, then return to your spot behind the door. It's possible for marines to run around the door to where they can shoot you, so be ready to double-barrel them in the head as they appear. They'll sometimes blow themselves up with grenades, though you'll probably need to peek out frequently and blast them with the shotgun when you can. (Note that you can also toss hand grenades so that they bounce over to the left, which shouldn't hurt you if you're up against the door.)

Use the light switch on the left wall a bit past the door, then bash all the boxes in the room to find three health packs. Leave the parcel receiving area and search the storage area's nearby upper walkway for crates to bash for supplies, including a C4 satchel bomb that you'll need later.

Go down the ramp that leads to the main storage area, then go over to the large red storage car. Push up against its nearest end, then back up so its door can open without pushing you around. Walk up to the live scientist inside the storage car and wait for him to admit that he's not Dr. Rosenberg (then crowbar-whack him for being useless if you want to).

After you leave the storage car, turn left and crouch-walk your way along the black-and-yellow striped line until you get near the door with the "STORAGE ROOM" sign next to it. Turn and crouch-walk slowly toward the door until a marine opens it from the other side. Quicksave, then move over to where you can sneak-shoot him with the pistol. If you can't do that without being seen and fired on, quickrestore and use the .357 to sneakily head-shot him.

Do another quicksave, then repeat the .357 head-shot process with the other marine. Bash the boxes in the storage room for health packs and assault rifle clips, then go through the "FREIGHT YARD" door. Use the flashlight to see a large wooden crate ahead that you can bash for another assault rifle clip, then go down the hallway until section ba_yard5 loads.

Section ba_yard5: FREIGHT YARD AND ENEMY TANK

Push open the door that leads to the freight yard, then get out the .357 and quicksave. Very carefully crouch-walk along next to the open door while looking to the right until you get to where you can sneak-shoot a marine who's standing a ways to the right of a large blue storage car. The instant you shoot him, strafe right and back up all the way to the wall that's opposite the doorway to keep from being seen.

Quicksave, then crouch-walk up to the doorway again and see if you can get to where you can sneak-shoot another marine. If you're seen, quickrestore and try again, remembering where the marine who saw you is. If you can't help being seen, let them see you and then "freeze" them into new positions by returning to the previous chapter section briefly.

That can be a very lengthy and tedious process, and you may want to use a more direct approach if you don't mind taking a bit of damage. For instance, let them see you, then step back from the doorway and quickly shoot any marines who appear in it with the shotgun or assault rifle.

After you get them all, bash the crates on the upper walkway near the door to find lots of health packs and assault rifle clips, and check near the dead security guard to find a full set of armor. There are some more crates to bash along the left wall of the area (left as you face into it from the door) that have health packs and hand grenades in them.

Look for some steps near those last crates that lead up onto the large concrete platform that's next to the big red storage car. Look to the right of the car to see two huge, round spool-like things that are being held in place by small wooden chocks. Shoot each chock with the pistol until it breaks, then wait for the spools to roll out of the way.

There are two more chocks next to the red storage car's door, but they'll be broken by the door swinging open, which will happen after you push up against it. Inside is another scientist who isn't Dr. Rosenberg, and therefore deserves a sound crowbar thrashing for wasting your time.

Quicksave, then exit the storage car and turn right. You see that big door on the far wall with the "FREIGHT CAR STORAGE YARD ACCESS" sign to the right of it? As you run toward it, four marines will open it and run through. You can avoid their notice by running up to a spot under the sign and waiting for them to go past you, then entering the tunnel through the door they opened.

When you reach the turn in the tunnel and can see into the area past it, get out the .357 and quicksave. Move to where you can see a marine standing a ways past the left side of a truck, then crouch-walk toward him. Stop when you can see the right arm of the marine who's standing to the right of the truck, then quicksave and try to kill the marine to the left of the truck with one shot to the head. Keep quickrestoring and trying again until you manage it, then quicksave. (Oh, what I wouldn't give for a sniper rifle or crossbow right about now!)

Your next target is the marine to the right of the truck. While keeping his right arm in view, slowly crouch-walk toward him, keeping an eye on the tank that's to the left. When you're almost to where the tank's turret can see you, stop moving forward and strafe very slowly to the left until you can head-shot the marine. This is tricky to do without the marine or the tank seeing you, but keep trying until you do it.

Quicksave again, then run along the left side of the tunnel until you exit it briefly, which allows a marine to the left of the truck to see you. If you can run backwards all the way to the turn in the tunnel before the marine runs into view near the truck, he should find himself unable to shoot you. When this happens, shoot him down with the pistol. (If he doesn't run into view near the truck, you may have to go let him see you again, or quickrestore and try again until it works.)

One of the last two marines is over on the left side of the area, on the other side of the flatbed car with a bunch of crates on it that's in front of the tank's flatbed. After quicksaving, run out of the tunnel, turn left, and quickly run over to the crate flatbed and crouch-walk under it. You should be able to easily see the marine you're after ahead.

Don't move to where you can see his head, but get as close as you can without that and double-barrel him with the shotgun. He'll run around the back of the tank and stop in a spot a bit to the right of it, where you can easily finish him off with the pistol.

After that, it's time to destroy the tank. Doing that will also kill the final marine, who's standing directly behind the tank on its flatbed. The safest and easiest way to do this is to crouch-walk up next to the left side of the tank (its left) and stay crouched while looking up and shooting its turret with the assault rifle until it explodes. To save on ammo, you could jump up and bang on the turret with the crowbar a bunch of times before shooting it, but you could get damaged if the turret explodes from a crowbar hit, so be careful. (Also, remember that assault rifle ammo is very plentiful around here.)

My favorite way to destroy the tank is to make it blow its own turret up, though this is a slightly more dangerous way than the one described above. Crouch-walk over to the tank's right side (its right), and make sure it sees you there and starts rotating its turret that way. Crouch-walk under the tank, then move to where it'll aim its cannon a tiny bit to the right of the "MAINTENANCE ACCESS" sign that's on the wall near a door. If it's not firing, very slowly crouch-walk forward until it starts, then wait for it to blow itself up.

ALTERNATIVE: If you find the above method for clearing the area to be too tedious, you could instead start by moving slowly along the right wall of the tunnel until you see marines running around to the left of the truck. Quickly retreat to the turn in the tunnel and use the pistol to shoot down all the marines who appear at the tunnel exit, plus any you see running around in the distance. After they stop appearing, quicksave and then quickrestore to see if that'll get any more to appear. Once that stops helping, move slowly along the right wall until you can sneak-shoot the tank's turret. After it blows up, quicksave again, then move down the tunnel slowly to see if you can stir up any leftover marines. There may be some hiding to the left or right of the tunnel exit. If you can't sneak-shoot them, retreat quickly to the tunnel turn area and shoot them from there.

After the tank is destroyed, look on the ground between its flatbed and another one to find some health packs and ammo, then go jump into the back of the truck to get some more health packs, an RPG, and a full load of rockets. Jump-crouch onto the metal connector between the tank's flatbed and the one with the crates, then bash all the crates to find more health packs and ammo. Drop down and bash the crates on the ground near the crate flatbed to find another rocket and more health packs.

Jump-crouch onto the connector thingy on the back of the flatbed car that's near the truck, then bash your way through the big wooden crates until you can enter a blue storage car through a hole. Bash the crates inside it to find even more health packs and some much-needed .357 ammo. When you're ready to leave, go through the maintenance access door near the tank and down the dark hallway until section ba_yard5a loads.

Section ba_yard5a: RAILROAD YARD

Quicksave when you come to an open door. There's a turret over to the right, but you don't have to attack it. If you run out the door and down the tunnel to the left fast enough, you can make it to the flatbed car around the corner without getting shot. Quickrestore and try again if you need to.

Use the tiny ladder on the back of the flatbed to get up onto it, then bash all of the wooden crates with the crowbar. When you reach the four-canister set, return to the back of the flatbed and shoot the tip of each canister once with the pistol. That'll cause them to make a new hole in the wall ahead. As soon as that's done, make a regular save.

Move up near the hole to make sure the four marines in the railroad yard see you, then quickly run back to the very back of the flatbed. Stay there and shoot at marines with the pistol whenever you can see them through the hole. They won't be able to shoot back unless you move up closer to the hole. (You may have to do that every now and then to keep them running into view, so be careful and quicksave after every kill.)

NOTE: Even though they can't fire their guns at you, there are two of them that may get close enough to the hole to lob AR grenades at you. If that starts happening, quickrestore and see if you can get them with the .357 before they start doing that. If not, get off the flatbed and run over next to the hole and see if you can kill them by firing your own AR grenades through the hole without getting hit. If things get too bad, restore your regular save so you can start over and use RPG rockets to quickly kill all of the marines when they first run into view. (Those who appear on the ground near the hole, anyway.)

After you've gotten all four of them, go through the hole and pick up their dropped weapons. Find the little turntable control room near the large, round turntable track thing, and pick up some armor from near the dead guard if you need it. Use both of the controls on the room's panel to rotate the turntable the way you need it and to open up the door that's next to the "RAILROAD YARD TOW ENGINE BAY 5" sign.

Before you see what's past that door, get up on the raised concrete walkway and bash all the wooden crates you can find (using the flashlight to help you see) for ammo and health packs. Go through the bay 5 door and past the storage car to find that it's attached to a small tow engine. Climb onto the tow engine on its right side, then use its control panel to back the storage car out of bay 5. (If the panel doesn't seem to work, try moving a bit and using it again.)

After the engine stops, get off it and go over to the back of the storage car. Get out your C4 satchel bombs and toss one so that it lands on the concrete close to the car's door, near its center. You may want to quicksave first in case you mess up and have to re-toss. Once that satchel is in place, run over to the "FREIGHT WAREHOUSE" door that's near the other end of the raised concrete walkway and use the altfire key to toss your other satchel into the corner between the door and its sign.

Go back and press up against the storage car's door to open it, then go inside and over to where Dr. Rosenberg is sitting. After he finishes talking and gets his hands in a position to boost you up, detonate your satchels. Hop onto his hands and up to open the ceiling vent, then carefully jump up to where you just barely catch hold of the vent's grating.

Turn around and move carefully up until you can see whether or not both of the marines near the storage car's door were killed by the satchel you placed there. If not, fire RPG rockets back there until they're both dead. The third marine over near the "FREIGHT WAREHOUSE" door undoubtedly got killed by your other satchel, so there's no need to worry about him.

Drop carefully down to the ground, then go to the back of the storage car and open it up again. Approach Dr. Rosenberg and wait for him to stop talking, then get him to follow you. You're going to have to escort him all the way back to that elevator you took down to the old lab earlier.

You'll need to watch him carefully and make sure he keeps up every step of the way. Lead him through the now-open door with the "FREIGHT WAREHOUSE" sign next to it (the one you dropped your second satchel bomb next to), then around to where section ba_yard4 loads up again.

Section ba_yard4 (again): BACK TO THE BASEMENT

Follow Rosenberg up the stairs to a room where he'll stop following you. Push open the door that leads to a hallway, then quicksave. Use the pistol to shoot out the window that's on the wall to the right. Crouch-strafe slowly left while facing that window until you get to where you can stand up and see a marine's right arm without any bits of indestructible glass between you and it.

Shoot the arm with the pistol to get the marine to move up to where he could see you but won't because he's facing the wrong way. Crouch-walk up closer, then stand up and double-barrel him with the shotgun to finish him off. If that doesn't work after several attempts, try slowly strafing left while standing until the marine sees you and starts shooting. Shoot out the window with the pistol, then quickly shoot the marine down (using the .357 if the pistol isn't fast enough).

From there, run quickly to the nearest little stick-out part in the hallway's left wall. If you're fast enough, the marine who runs into the doorway at the other end of the hall won't see you. After quicksaving, crouch-walk very slowly and carefully to where you can sneak-shoot the marine with the pistol. He'll probably move and see you, so try to quickly finish him off before he can shoot you. Quickrestore and try again if you need to, and use the .357 if you can't kill him fast enough with the pistol.

Bash the box on a table in the first marine's side room to find a health pack, then get Dr. Rosenberg to follow you again. In the room at the other end of the hall, check near a dead guard for a helmet and a bullet clip, then go down a short hall to reach the freight records office. Leave Dr. Rosenberg there, then go through another door and approach the door that leads to the stairwell.

Go up to the stairwell door by crouch-walking along the left wall. As soon as the door opens, get out the .357 and quicksave. Edge carefully over to where you can see part of a marine's head without being seen, then kill him with a head shot. (Note that banging on the wall with the crowbar may help by making the marine turn in place.) There are two more marines on the stairs to the left that you can do the same thing with, though you could save one .357 slug by using the pistol on the first of those two.

If Dr. Rosenberg doesn't start running down the stairs on his own after you kill the last marine, go get him to follow you, then go down the stairs. After you go through the door that leads to the basement, he'll say something and then stop following you. Get him to follow again, then go down the hallway until section ba_yard3 loads up again.

Section ba_yard3 (yet again): BACK TO THE TELEPORTER LAB

Run into the elevator past the big wall hole and use its button panel to get it going as soon as Dr. Rosenberg is inside. After the elevator stops, you'll be back in the ba_teleport1 section.

Section ba_teleport1 (again): FOLLOWING ROSENBERG AROUND

Get Rosenberg following you again, then go back to the door with the handprint scanner next to it. While he's opening that door, check the nearby security room to see if you left anything there before that you can use now. As you follow Rosenberg through the handprint door, check the wall on the right for a first aid station.

Catch up to Rosenberg and follow him around, listening to his explanation of the situation. Wait until he opens a teleporter orb on a large platform, then run into the orb to get taken to the border world, where the "Focal Point" chapter begins.

FOCAL POINT

Section ba_xen1: FINDING THE TUNNEL MAZE

Get the shotgun out as soon as this section starts, and wait for three houndeyes to run up to you. After you blast all of them, you could go for a nearby healing pool, but you probably won't need to. Look near where you appeared to find three large rocks of different sizes that are right next to each other. Jump onto the shortest rock, then onto the middle one, and then onto the highest one.

From there, you can jump onto the large circular path that's nearby. Wait for two more houndeyes to run up to you so you can easily blast them with the shotgun, then run along the path to the other side of the area. You'll find a small cave with a lone houndeye (crowbar it) and a big spiky plant next to a small vine-covered tunnel.

After quicksaving, crouch-walk along the wall to the right of the tunnel entrance to hopefully reach it without getting hit by the plant. If you do get spiked, quickrestore and try again. When you make it, bash the vines with the crowbar, then enter the tunnel.

Section ba_xen2: NAVIGATING THE TUNNEL MAZE

Move along the tunnel until you come to another small cave. Bash the vines out of your way, then find the two vine-covered entrances to other tunnels. The one you'll be taking has a spiky plant near it, so quicksave. Crouch-walk over to the wall at a point that's about halfway between the two spiky plants, then turn left and crouch-walk over to the tunnel entrance.

Bash its vine covering off, then move forward slowly with the flashlight on and the pistol out. There are two headcrabs just past the spot where the tunnel curves right, and you'll want to sneak-shoot them. If they see you, you're probably still okay, since they'll have a very hard time leaping at you in the narrow confines of the tunnel.

Move on past them to reach a two-way tunnel split with another headcrab just to the right of it. Take the left branch of the split first and sneak-shoot a crab that's past the point where the tunnel bends right. Just past the crab is a dead HEV guy with an ammo canister next to him, so grab it before returning to the tunnel split and going the other way (which is straight ahead as you approach the split).

There's another headcrab past the spot where the tunnel turns left. After you shoot it down, go past it to reach some bashable vines that lead to another small cave. Crouch-walk slowly into the cave while looking to the right until you can see and shoot a headcrab that's on a rock.

Quicksave after it's dead, then go over to its rock and move to where the bullsquid in the small tunnel on the opposite side of the cave sees you. Quickly turn left and run over to the spiky plant that's against the left wall (near where you entered the cave). Crouch down and hide behind the plant so that it's between you and the squid, then wait to see what the squid does.

It should kill the other headcrab in the area, then run up next to your plant so that it's on the opposite side of it as you are. If it ignores the crab and/or runs around to your side of the plant, quickrestore and try again. Once it's next to the plant's other side, hit the plant with the crowbar until it kills the squid for you.

Jump onto the rock that you shot the first headcrab on, then crouch down and enter the tunnel after bashing its vine covering. As you move along, you'll see a headcrab ahead of you with its back turned. Shoot it down, then move past it to find another turned-around headcrab to shoot in a small cave.

Go around the cave's central pillar and on to a path split at a large yellow crystal. Go straight at the split, then shoot the headcrab that's past the next tunnel turn. There's a cave at the end of the tunnel that has two more crabs in it (one of which is to the right) and a dead HEV guy with an ammo canister. Kill the crabs and grab the canister, then go all the way back to the cave room where you found the bullsquid.

There are entrances to two more tunnels in that room that you haven't explored yet. They both lead to the same area, but I advise using the left tunnel (the one that's at the top of a short rocky ramp). Soon after you enter it, you'll see a headcrab in a small cave ahead, so shoot it with the pistol. Get the crowbar out and quicksave, then run into the cave to get another headcrab to drop down. It's possible to whack it to death without it hitting you, so keep quickrestoring and trying again until you manage it. (As an alternative, move slowly forward after shooting the first headcrab until you can shoot out the vine "grating" in the ceiling. That'll make the second headcrab drop down early, and you can quickly shoot it before it can leap at you.)

Move along the tunnel until it splits, then turn right and keep going until you reach some vines. Right after you bash them, get out the pistol and shoot the headcrab that's on the other side of the large pool. Use the flashlight to help you see it, and note that it may have seen you and started walking to the left. After it's dead, crouch-strafe to where you can sneak-shoot another crab that's just to the right of the tunnel exit.

Exit the tunnel and go stand in the healing pool, then dive into the big water pool and swim down to a rocky ledge that's over on the right and not too far down. It's pretty easy to see since it has a "plant light" and a dead HEV guy on it. Grab the ammo canister from near the HEV guy, then lean on the "Swim up" key to return to the surface. To get back up onto the pathway that goes around the pool, jump onto it from a spot just to the right of the healing pool. If a barnacle catches you, kill it with the crowbar.

And now it's time to go for the Half-Life series' most peculiar secret area: the Chumtoad's Lair. All it has that you can take are snarks, which I rarely advise using because they're so random and imprecise, so you might want to just skip the whole thing. If you'd rather go for it, get back in the healing pool, get out the crowbar, and quicksave. Run forward from the healing pool into the big water pool, then look down and lean on the "Swim down" key.

Turn the flashlight on soon after you start descending so that you'll be able to tell when you're nearing the bottom of this very deep pool. When you reach the bottom, turn left and swim toward the large rock that you see nearby. Just to the right of that rock is a large crack in the wall that's leaking air bubbles.

Bang on the wall near the crack with the crowbar until it breaks open, then quickly swim into the tunnel, bash the vines, and surface for air. Made it! Jump out of the water and move forward to get the three chirpy chumtoads to teleport out. Check near the middle toad's rock "stool" to find two snark packs that you can take.

After quicksaving again, dive back into the water and swim along the tunnel that leads to the deep pool. As soon as you exit the tunnel, lean on the "Swim up" key until you surface, then get back onto the pool's surrounding path. Enter the tunnel that's on the opposite side of the cave from the healing pool and go along it until section ba_xen3 loads.

Section ba_xen3: TWO FLOATING PLATFORM JUMP-A-THONS

Bash through the vines at the end of the tunnel and drop down, then turn left and go forward to reach a large outdoor area with a floating platform jump-a-thon. After quicksaving in case you fall, jump to the leftmost of the three nearest rocky platforms, then jump from it to the next one, and then to the third one.

It moves slowly up and down, so wait until it's as "up" as it'll go before trying to jump to the next platform. When you reach the sixth platform in the series, get out the .357 and quicksave before jumping to the next one. As soon as you land on it, turn left and crouch-walk quickly to the edge. Once you're there, turn left to face the platform you just jumped over from, and watch for a vortigaunt to teleport onto it.

As soon as it finishes materializing, it'll run over to the left end of its platform and try to zap you. If you aim toward the platform's left end before the vort gets there, you should be able to kill it without getting zapped. The other two vorts that teleport in will be a bit too far away to zap you, so switch to the pistol and take your time shooting them down.

After all three vorts have been disposed of, quicksave and jump the rest of the way across the platforms. After you jump from the last platform to the big cave tunnel, get out the shotgun and move forward. When some houndeyes see you, stop and wait for them to run up to you so you can easily blow them away. There are more houndeyes outside, so blast them all before entering the next big cave tunnel.

Past that tunnel's other end, jump to the nearest floating rock platform, then to the second one, and then onto the big "donut ring" rock. Once you're on it, turn left and face the small healing pool, then notice that there are two floating rock platforms past it. Those platforms can be used to get across to a secret side cave, but it's tough to make it there, since the second platform will be blown up soon after you start.

While standing on the donut rock and facing the first rocky platform past the healing pool, quicksave. Run over to the little ledge of rock that's just to the left of the healing pool, then jump from it to the left side of the first rocky platform. Immediately turn right, run to the edge of the first platform, and jump over to the second platform. This is a very hard jump to make, and you'll probably fall many times before you get it right. As soon as you do, turn and jump to the cave entrance and run inside so you won't get damaged by the second platform's destruction.

Once you make it to the cave, get the ammo canister from near the dead HEV guy, then go back to the cave entrance and look over at the donut-shaped rock. Wait until an alien flyer destroys part of the rock, then shoot down the remaining vortigaunts with the pistol before using the cave's teleporter orb to return to the small healing pool. Crouch-walk out of the healing pool onto the ledge next to it, then jump the smaller gap to reach the main part of what's left of the donut rock.

Go over to where a large rocky spire has fallen over. Crouch-jump onto its base, then crouch-jump onto its main part. Crouch-walk along the fallen spire until you reach the ground at its other end, then go around behind some big rocks to find some vines covering a hole in the ground. Crouch-walk onto the vines and bash them in order to fall into section ba_xen4.

Section ba_xen4: WATERFALL AREAS

Get out the pistol, then go along the tunnel, keeping your head above water as long as you can. After you go underwater and reach the bottom of a vertical shaft, lean on the "Swim up" key to surface as quickly as possible. When you do, a bullsquid will see you, so move to where the nearby rock and crystal are between you and it.

Watch for it to change position, after which you might need to, also. Once you get to where you can see the squid while bobbing on the surface of the water without it being able to spit at you, shoot it with the pistol until it dies. (Or hop out of the water and crouch behind the rock, then slowly strafe left until you can sneak-shoot the squid.) Jump out of the water, then drop into the large stream nearby that leads to a waterfall.

After quicksaving, go up to the edge of the waterfall and look down without falling down. Use the .357 to kill the bullsquid that you see on a small island below while strafing to dodge its spit. After it's dead, go over the waterfall and make sure you land in the water. Get up on the bullsquid's little island, then scan the back wall of the area to find another waterfall.

That's your next destination, and you're going to use the island's big, round whoosh-thing to get up there. Stand on the side of the whoosh-thing that's directly opposite the waterfall, then look up at the top of the waterfall. Run forward onto the whoosh-thing and jump, then lean on the "Move forward" key until you land. If you fall back down into the water, try again.

Move down the tunnel past the waterfall, whacking barnacles as you go, until you come to a healing pool with a dead HEV guy and an ammo canister next to it. Grab the canister, then go down the tunnel that's to the left of the healing pool. When you get near the tunnel's end, get out the pistol and quicksave.

Turn on your flashlight and crouch-walk slowly up to the end of the tunnel along its left edge. If you're careful, you'll be able to sneak-shoot the bullsquid that's on the pathway across the water and to the left without it seeing you. If a houndeye starts running around over there, you might as well shoot it down, too.

Drop out of the tunnel and into the water, then swim across and jump onto the ledge that the bullsquid was on. Shoot down the houndeye that's also on that ledge if you haven't already, then run along the ledge until you come to the bottom of a very small waterfall. A bullsquid up on the higher ground will have already seen you, so jump up and down while shooting it with the pistol.

After it's dead, get up to its higher ledge by using the rocks to the left of the mini-waterfall as jumping stones. Jump across the water to the ledge on the other side, then shoot the houndeye that's at the top of the next set of jumping stones. Jump up there, then shoot the headcrab that you can see on a rock a ways ahead.

Look around in the water near the headcrab rock to find a dead HEV guy with an ammo canister next to him. Get the canister, then use the nearby whoosh-thing to get up to the higher ledge ahead, being careful not to land too close to the spiky plant. Go down the tunnel past that ledge to reach section ba_xen5.

Section ba_xen5: FOCUS MACHINE AND HEADCRAB TUNNEL

Leave the tunnel, then turn left and drop down to the ground using the rocky ledges. Look for a spiky plant nearby that has a dead HEV guy and an ammo canister right in front of it. After quicksaving, crouch-walk up to where you can get the ammo canister, then back up quickly. Turn right from that to see another spiky plant next to two tall rocky spires. Go behind the spires to find another dead HEV guy with an ammo canister and a health pack.

In the center of this area is the focus gadget you were sent to reactivate. Notice that there are two smaller gadgets connected to it by cables. Go over to the one that's nearer the ground-level cave tunnel and use its power button to turn the other two gadgets' power on.

Go over to the other small gadget and wait for it to open up. After it does, you'll need to use its two knobs (one at a time) to rotate the two parts of the main gadget into the correct configuration. While holding down the "Use item" key to turn a knob, look at the display above it to see that a yellow triangle is moving around.

You need to get both yellow triangles into their displays' red zones. When you do it right, the indicator lights next to the knobs will go from red to green. Get that done with the left knob, then get out the shotgun and quicksave. As soon as you finish with the right knob, turn and run to a spot just to the right of the power gadget, facing the nearby cave tunnel.

When you see a vort teleport in ahead of you, charge it and double-barrel it up close, but don't press up against it or you might get splattified for no good reason. Quickly run into the cave tunnel and get behind the small crate. Look back the way you came until another vort comes running toward you and starts charging up. Duck down behind the crate and stay crouched until the vort runs up next to you, then double-barrel it. (Note that you may need to repeat that process on another vort.)

Go to the back part of the cave tunnel to find that there's been a cave-in. Look to the left of the cave-in for a health pack, and to the right of it for another health pack and a metal chest that you can open with the "Use item" key. Crouch-walk into the open chest to get yet another health pack and an ammo canister.

Jump onto the lowest rock in the cave-in, then on up to the fourth rock. Turn to face the tunnel that's a bit higher than you are (it has a glowing yellow crystal a ways down it) and quicksave. Jump over to a spot behind the rock that's on the right side of the tunnel, then crouch there with the pistol out, ready to quickly shoot a headcrab as soon as it walks into view. If it gets you, quickrestore and try again.

After it's dead, crouch-walk around the rock and over to the edge of the drop-off that has a healing pool below it. Don't drop down yet, but turn on the flashlight and look for a headcrab on the ground a ways down the tunnel past the pool. It's probably already seen you and started walking toward the pool. If not, try crouch-walking along the edge of the drop-off to get its attention.

After it's shot, drop into the healing pool and quicksave before you start down the tunnel. There are two more headcrabs in the tunnel, and they're hard to spot before you get within their leaping range. Keep quickrestoring and trying again until you can shoot both of them down without getting hurt.

Not far past the second crab is an outdoor area with a bullsquid in it. Crouch-walk along the left side of the tunnel until you're behind some large rocks, then stand up and shoot the bullsquid to death with the pistol, crouching as needed to avoid its spit. Go out to where the squid's body is to get two vorts and two alien controllers to start teleporting in, then quickly run back into the tunnel.

Move to where you can see the vort that appeared on the rocky platform with a spiky plant on it, then shoot it down with the pistol. Crouch-walk slowly toward the tunnel exit along the left wall while looking over to the right for an alien controller. As soon as you see one, start shooting it with the pistol. You should be able to take it down without it firing any of its zappy orbs at you. The same goes for the other controller, which starts out over to the left. (So crouch-walk along the right side of the tunnel until you can see and shoot it.)

After they're all down, go out to where you can see the vort that's up on the rocky platform over on the right. Look for it just to the left of the platform's yellow crystal. Quicksave after you kill it, then use the whoosh-thing near the tunnel exit to jump across to the platform that the spiky plant is on. It's possible to land on the platform without taking any damage, so keep trying until you do.

Crouch-walk carefully up to the ammo canister that's near the spiky plant. After you get it, go over to the rock with the crystals next to it and jump back across to the ground that's left of the whoosh-thing (being careful not to land on it). Get out the shotgun and run up the curving pathway, ready to double-barrel a vort when it teleports in ahead of you.

Get the health pack and ammo canister from near the dead HEV guy, then quicksave and move into the second part of the headcrab tunnel. Proceed carefully and with the pistol (or assault rifle) out and ready to shoot crabs with. After you encounter one crab, section ba_xen6 will load.

Section ba_xen6: TELEPORTING BACK OUT

Continuing cautiously down the tunnel, you'll encounter three more crabs before you come to a drop-down point. Get out the shotgun and turn the flashlight on before you quicksave, then drop down and turn right to find a large rock to hide behind as two vorts teleport in ahead. Wait until the first vort comes within shotgun range, then blast it and let the other vort see you.

After you blast it, quicksave and run outside. Double-barrel the vort that teleports in on the walkway near you, then immediately turn and jump into the teleporter orb that Dr. Rosenberg's voice is coming out of. If you're fast enough, you'll make it before a nearby alien grunt can hit you with any of its hornets. You'll end up back in the lab in section ba_teleport2.

Section ba_teleport2: A NEW PROBLEM

After you appear in the teleporter lab, listen to Dr. Rosenberg and follow him as he leads you to a lift. After you get on the lift, quicksave before you use its button panel. There's a small chance that the game will glitch and not load up the "Power Struggle" chapter as you descend. If that happens, quickrestore and try again.

POWER STRUGGLE

Section ba_power1: CUT-OPEN DOOR AND LEVEL 2 ACCESS LIFT

After the lift stops, use the button panel to the right of the large door to open it, then stay near the button panel while using the pistol to sneak-shoot the bullsquid that's just past the door. Check near the dead guard for some bullet ammo and armor items, then get on the lift past him and use its button panel to go up to a higher floor.

Go down the hall past the lift to where you can look through a fence to see a guard and a scientist who are talking about the power cell the lab needs. After they get killed by a vortigaunt, go back down the lift (or just drop down) and get out the .357. Marines will soon start cutting through the "RESERVE COOLANT BASIN" door.

Stand in the big doorway near the lab's lift so that you can only see the right half or so of the door they're cutting. Quicksave when the door is almost cut open, then wait until it falls. As soon as it does, shoot one of the explosive containers that are just past the right edge of the doorway. If you do it fast enough, both marines will be killed. If one isn't, either sneak-shoot him or quickrestore and try again.

There are some supplies in the room past the cut-open door, but don't pay any attention to those yet. In the area past the big doorway on the right are three marines who are impossible to sneak up on or sneak-shoot. After quicksaving, let them see you, then run back to the lab lift's big doorway and stand so you can see part of the cut-open doorway. (In other words, stand where you did while waiting for the marines to cut open that door.) Have the assault rifle out and use AR grenades to kill marines as soon they appear in the cut-open doorway.

If that doesn't work well enough for you, you can let them see you, then run straight back to the lab's lift and use it to return to the previous section. Yes, this is another "freeze 'em where they stand" routine. After you reach the lab, use the lift's panel to go back down. If any of the marines see you as you descend in the lift, quickrestore and try again. Quicksave once you make it back down unseen, then crouch-walk slowly around to see where the marines are. You should be able to sneak-shoot at least some of them. (Try to get them in the head with .357 slugs for one-shot kills.) If you can't get them all without being seen, use the lab's lift again.

If you got the snarks from Chumtoad's Lair earlier, you could try using them. Go up near the doorway that leads to the marines' area without letting them see you, then toss three or so snarks toward the doorway. Immediately run back for the lift room and wait there for the snarks to all explode. After that, run up into the doorway and toss a couple more snarks toward the surviving marines. They'll see you, so quickly retreat to the lift room. If your snarks don't finish them off, toss some more from the lift room's doorway, or ride the lift up and back down before doing more snarking (or sneak-shooting, if that works).

When you get all three of them, go to the room past the cut-open door and look for health packs and ammo, including two RPG rockets and a C4 satchel bomb. Past that, go through a fence doorway to a room with a power meter, then go through its other doorway. Turn right and go through another doorway, then crouch-walk up to the big window that's on the right.

Get to where you can see part of a marine through the right side of the window, then do the routine where you carefully sneak to where you can take him down with one head shot from the .357. After he's down, bash the small boxes nearby to find two health packs.

A nearby marine will shout "Movement!" when you go through the doorway to the blue-lit room, but don't worry -- he hasn't really seen you. Bash the boxes in that room for another health pack, then crouch-walk up to the right side of its other doorway. The marine is over to the left, so edge carefully to where you can use the .357 to do the sneaky head-shot routine with him.

Crouch-walk through the doorway you just shot through and move straight ahead to a big doorway. Another marine is hiding just to the right of that doorway, so do the sneaky head-shot routine on him. Check the walls in his room to find a first aid station (and a useless HEV station), then quicksave before venturing out onto the large level 2 access lift.

Move slowly along it while looking at the ledge that's up high and to the left. As soon as a marine runs into view on that ledge, run backwards until you're off the lift, then shoot the marine down with the pistol. Get out the RPG and quicksave, then start running across the lift. When you're about halfway across, two marines will run into view ahead of you, and you'll want to kill them both with one rocket. Keep quickrestoring and trying again until you do it. If using a rocket doesn't work for you, try it with an AR grenade.

If neither the rocket nor the grenade work, you could try firing a rocket as you run forward so that it hits the back wall before the two marines turn toward the lift and see you. To do that, you'll need to fire the rocket right before the marines run into view. If you do it right, the rocket will kill one marine, and the other one will stop with his back turned to you. You can then finish him off with a .357 shot to the head or an AR grenade. (You may even be able to crouch-walk up to him and crowbar-whack him before he can shoot you.)

If you used a rocket and didn't already pick up both rockets in the room past the cut-open door, run back there and grab one, then return to the access lift. Just past it, turn left and crouch-walk up to the left side of the doorway that's past the vending machines. There's a marine past the doorway that you should use the sneaky head-shot routine on.

Go through the doorway and crouch-walk up to the corner on the right slowly. There are two marines in the room to the right that you can use the sneaky head-shot routine on. After they're dead, check their room for supplies (including a health pack in a bashable box), then go over to the ladder. Start climbing it, then turn around and look up so that as you climb slowly upward (using the "Move backward" key), you'll be able to see the marine who's at the radio on the floor above.

Quicksave when you get to where you can clearly see his head, then keep trying to kill him with a single .357 head shot until you do it. Climb up to his floor and look around to find some health packs. If you're short on AR grenades, go along the passage that's to the left of the radio. You'll soon come to the ledge you shot a marine down on earlier. He had AR grenades, and you'll be able to find them somewhere on the ledge's floor.

Return to the radio room and look for a large open ceiling grate to the left of the ladder you climbed up. Crouch-jump onto the railing, then jump to the grate to grab hold of it. Climb up it, then edge around until you're next to a large wall grate. Bash it and jump into the shaft past it, then run along until you can bash another grate and drop into a room with a dead marine. Look near him to find some snarks, an ammo canister, an assault rifle, and a health pack. Go back the way you came, then get on the large open grate and crouch-jump to the railing (after quicksaving in case you fall painfully).

It might be best to wait until you return to this area after restoring power to get the above-mentioned secret area's ammo canister, since you'll probably need its ammo much more by then. In any case, go through the "AUXILIARY GENERATOR ACCESS" doorway to the right of the radio and down the dark hall until section ba_power2 loads.

Section ba_power2: COOLANT BASIN AND CONTROL ROOM

When you round the corner, you'll come across a plunger that's been set up to blow the charges on the "COOLANT PUMP" door to the left. However, there's a break in the fuse, so ignore the plunger for now and check near the dead marine for ammo and hand grenades. Get the assault rifle out and quicksave before going down the hallway and over to the big doorway with the red light over it.

There are several houndeyes in the area just past the doorway, and it can be tough to shoot them all down without any of them getting off a sonic blast. Try letting them see you in the doorway, then quickly backing up to the plunger and shooting them down as they come after you. Or you can carefully sneak-shoot the one that's to the right of the doorway with the pistol, then quickly switch to the assault rifle and finish off the rest. When they're all dead, use the flashlight to find the metal barrel that's in one corner of the hallway.

Bash the wooden crates that are around the barrel, then push it down to the area with the plunger and fuse. Push it onto the fuse gap, then go use the plunger and quickly back away from it. If the explosives don't go off, adjust the barrel's position and try again. After the explosion, get out the shotgun and quicksave before going through the new door hole.

Past the hole, move around the door debris and slowly forward until a vort teleports in near you. Quickly charge it and double-barrel it, then turn and do the same to the second vort to teleport in. You should be able to get them both without getting zapped. If not, try tossing a satchel bomb so that it stops in a spot near where they'll teleport in, then quickly back up and detonate it as soon as the second one appears. After they're down, toss a hand grenade onto the upper floor nearby to blow up some of the headcrabs up there.

Get out the pistol, then jump up and down to see if there are any crabs left on that floor. If so, shoot them before you climb the ladder to get up there. Go down the short hall and turn right to find another doorway with a red light over it. Turn the flashlight on and crouch-strafe slowly left while facing that doorway until you can sneak-shoot a headcrab.

After it's dead, crouch-walk up to the doorway while looking left until you can sneak-shoot the other crab that's in there. Go in and use the wheel on the panel to the right of the window to drain the coolant basin, then crouch-walk down the short corridor that leads to a room with a bullsquid in it. Carefully sneak-shoot the squid with the pistol, then look near the dead guard to find armor items and .357 ammo.

Enter the room's small lift and use its button panel to go down a floor. Sneak-shoot the headcrab that's around the corner on the right, then heal up at the first aid station if you need to. Use the flashlight to help you find the short hallway that leads to the floor of the coolant basin, then find the ladder in the basin's back right corner.

Climb the ladder and carefully crouch-push the two coolant barrels off the side without falling down and getting hurt. Climb back down the ladder, then start pushing coolant barrels into place to form a bridge. Looking up, you'll see the two ends of the broken bridge that you'll need to get across soon. In between them on the floor is a large drainage grille.

Push two barrels onto the grille, then push the other two over next to it, one on each side. What you want to do is make a line of barrels that will bridge the gap once the coolant basin is refilled. You don't have to make them into a perfectly straight line -- you'll just have to be able to use them to jump across from one bridge end to the other.

Once you have the barrels set in positions you think will work, go back the way you came. Ride up the little lift, then go down the hall to the room with the wheel you turned earlier to drain the basin. Turn it again to refill the basin, then look through the window to see if your barrel arrangement looks usable. If so, go back through the hole you made in the coolant room door and down the hall to where you killed some houndeyes earlier.

That's the upper floor of the coolant basin room, so go over to the broken bridge. When you set foot on it, two vorts and an alien grunt will teleport in on the other side. As soon as they start appearing, run back to the doorway. Get out the pistol and use the flashlight to help you see them and shoot them down from a safe distance.

Go back to the bridge and quicksave, then try jumping across using the coolant barrels you arranged earlier. Even if they're well-positioned, you can't just run across, and it's far too easy to fall into the coolant and die. If you can't ever make it, you'll need to go redo the whole thing, moving the barrels into better positions this time.

Once you make it across the bridge, turn left and go to where you can use the flashlight to see the top of a bullsquid through a window. Sneak-shoot it to death with the pistol, then get out the shotgun and look around for a door that's opened by a button panel to the right of it. As soon as that door opens, double-barrel the vort that's standing just past it. Go through the door and turn right, then move forward slowly along the left wall until a vort teleports in ahead of you.

Quickly charge and double-barrel it, then back up. If another vort runs into sight, blast it. If not, charge around the corner and blast it. Get out the assault rifle and quicksave, then go through the room's back door and forward to where you can see two marines over on the other side of the area shooting at some unseen foe. Even though they'll probably die or run off never to come back, it would still be safer to shoot them both down now.

After that's done, turn right and go to the back wall. There's a first aid station nearby, and this is a good spot to shoot a nearby alien grunt from. Get out the pistol and use the flashlight to help you see the grunt next to a railing on a higher floor at the other end of the area, past the crates and barrels.

After the grunt falls over, move forward and jump onto the overturned coolant barrel. Turn left and jump onto a crate, then turn right and jump onto another crate. You can then run forward and drop down near a door. Check the floor next to the dead marine for ammo and AR grenades, then get the pistol out and crouch-walk through the door.

Use the flashlight to help you see a headcrab on the floor ahead after you turn a corner. Shoot it, then crouch-walk up to the next corner and quickly shoot the crab that's at the top of the first set of stairs. Crouch-walk up those stairs to where you can sneak-shoot the crab at the top of the second set of stairs. Past the stairs, walk carefully by the flaming pipe on its right side, then go through the doorway and cross the room to find another doorway.

Get out the shotgun and quickly blow away the vort that's to the right of that doorway with a double-barrel blast. Move on past the vort until you reach the control room. Go through its door and drop down to its lower floor, where you'll find the body of the bullsquid you shot through the window earlier. Look next to the window to find a control console.

Use both of the large red levers on the console to restore power, then climb up the ladder and leave the control room. Turn right past the control room door to find a railing that you can crouch-jump over to shortcut your way back to the bridge. Quicksave and recross the bridge using the barrels as before, then go down the hall and back to where section ba_power1 reloads.

Section ba_power1 (again): GETTING A CHARGED POWER CELL TO THE LAB

Return to the radio room and go get its secret ceiling vent area's ammo canister if you didn't get it before. Then go down the passage to the left of the radio to get onto the access lift's upper platform. Now that power has been restored, you can use the platform's button panel to raise the lift to your level.

Cross the lift to the platform on the other side, then get out the shotgun and quicksave. Run down the dark hall to where you can turn a corner. When you do, two vorts will teleport in. You could retreat and shotgun them as they come to you, or you could move far enough in front of the nearby window to activate the turret that's past it, then quickly retreat while it shoots the vorts for you.

Lure both vorts into being killed by the turret, then run past the window quickly to avoid getting shot. (Or in the unlikely off-chance that the vorts zap the turret, you'll have to finish them off with your shotgun.) Past the turret window is a first aid station on a wall, next to a useless HEV station. A bit to the left of that is a door you can open by using a wall panel. It'll be used soon as a shortcut for getting back to the lab's lift.

After opening the door, head to the right to find the power cell charging area that you saw through a fence earlier. The guard that got vort-whacked is still alive, so go over to him and wait for him to get out of the way. Push open the fence door that he was blocking, then push and/or pull the nearby power cell through the door and into the charging station's large tray.

Press the big red button to the right of the tray, then wait for the cell to get charged and ejected. Push and pull it back through the fence door, then get it onto the delivery lift's tray. Use the button panel to the left of the tray to get the cell sent up to Dr. Rosenberg, then go through the door you opened near the first aid station.

Head right and drop down to the lower floor past the little lift to find that you're back next to the lab's lift. Before you take it up, you might want to check the areas past the cut-open door for supplies you left behind before. When you're done, return to the lab's lift and take it up to start on the "A Leap of Faith" chapter.

A LEAP OF FAITH

Section ba_teleport2 (again): TELEPORTING OUT

Run to the main teleporter room and make a regular save, then climb the ladder that's on the wall directly ahead of you as you enter the room. (You may need to use the flashlight to help you find it.) At the top of the ladder, turn left and run along the upper walkway until you can turn left and drop into the control room.

Find the main power switch on one wall and stand next to it until its glass covering rises out of the way. Use the switch to turn on main power, then climb the ladder that leads back up to the upper walkway. Go down the walkway until you see a system pressure monitor on the left. Stop next to it, get out the shotgun, and quicksave.

When the primary coolant line ruptures, press up against the wheel under the pressure monitor and lean on the "Use item" key to slowly turn it. When you hear a teleporting sound, immediately release the wheel and turn left. Blast the houndeye there, then turn around and blast the other one. As soon as it's dead, turn back to the wheel and start cranking it again.

When the alarm stops sounding, release the wheel and run back to the control room. Go over to the window and look down at the big red button that's to the right of a green sign. As soon as that button lights up, use it to open a teleporter field down below. Stay at the window and keep doing that until Dr. Rosenberg teleports out, then quicksave.

Climb up the control room's ladder and throw two C4 satchel bombs against the nearby "CONTROL ACCESS" door. Drop back into the control room and listen for the explosion-like sound of the door falling. Immediately detonate your satchels to hopefully kill both marines. Climb up the ladder to see if it worked, and quickrestore and try again if it didn't.

As an alternative to using the satchels, you could wait near the top of the ladder with the assault rifle out. Quicksave when the door is about to fall, then keep trying to kill both marines with one quick AR grenade until you succeed. (Or if you keep killing one but not the other, quickly shoot down the survivor.)

Drop back into the control room if you're not already there, then switch to the RPG and run for the window. When the red button lights up again, quicksave, then use it. Wait at the window for two marines to run into the area through the door that's on its other side (the one you came in through earlier). Quickly blast each one with an RPG rocket.

NOTE: If the RPG doesn't work for you, memorize where the two marines stop after they enter the room, then restore an earlier save and set two C4 satchels there. Use the AR grenade method for dealing with the marines who cut through the door, then blow up your satchels right after the two run-in marines stop next to them.

As soon as those two marines are dead, switch to the assault rifle and run for the control room's ladder. After quicksaving again, climb the ladder and run along the walkway to the ladder that leads down to the main floor. Stop near the top of that ladder and toss four or five AR grenades through the railing at the doorway that the marines are coming in through.

That should kill all of the new ones, so hurry down the ladder and run for the teleporter. It'll be a close thing, but you should make it out without getting damaged at all. (Not that it really matters by now, I suppose.)

DELIVERANCE

Section ba_outro: TELEPORTER SCREW-UP AND ESCAPE

You'll materialize outside, near a big exit gate. You'll be all screwed up, though, as Dr. Rosenberg will start explaining before you teleport again. You can move around once you're in the border world, but it won't do you any good.

After you teleport again, you'll end up in a small room next to the corridor that two marines are dragging an unconscious Gordon Freeman down. Once your Half-Life equivalency index has been established, you'll appear back in the outdoor area, free of the teleporter glitch that held you before. All you have to do now is stand and wait for the fade-out and the G-Man's case summary.

You're now done with the original Half-Life series! Good thing there's the Half-Life 2 series to play through next. I'm not going to write ultimate strategy guide walkthroughs for the Half-Life 2 games since my UHS hint files for those games are already ultimate, with complete details on all the best strategies, shortcuts, and secrets. Check them out atwww.uhs-hints.com when you're ready for an ultimate Half-Life 2 playthrough. (Note that I am going to write special Half-Life 2 walkthroughs for PlanetPhillip.Com's TREE event.)