Whack through the barrier and continue on. Press the button in the
control room to summon the elevator, then climb down and press the button
to ride the elevator back down into the bowels of Black Mesa.
Fun with fire: the side room next to the controls have lots of high
explosives. See what happens for yourself.
Hop on the little train that you find and press the use button to
activate the controls. When you see big big yellow arrows, press forward
to go forward and backward to go back. Not too complicated.
Zoom down the track but be careful when you reach the end.
Olympic hopefuls: practice your Greg Louganis impression by seeing how far
you can launch into the slime pit.
Hop up on top of the now-stopped train to reach the ledge which circles
around the slime pit. Climb up the ladder on the other side and drop down
into the big open pipe up there.
Jump out of the pipe again, and go to the left to climb up a ladder.
Run on top of the pipes around and to the right, then jump off, over the
rail, back onto solid ground. Go down and to the left, then jump off into
the slime. Run quickly over the the slanted pipe, run up it onto the big
lift, then press the button to start the long journey upwards.
Travel around the outside edge of the big deep pit, killing monsters
along the way. Those small canisters you see lying around can put some
hurt into an alien if you shoot them, but they can put some hurt into a
walkway too, so be careful.
Use the switch to open the airlock, then step inside. Use the switch
inside to travel through to the other side.
What's all this banging you hear? Listen to what this poor dying
scientist has to say, then keep going.
HOLY CRAP!
Trying test-firing the rocket. Damn.
These three tentacle things don't seem to have any eyes, but they have
some very acute hearing, as the scientist up a ladder on the other side of
the control room will tell you. They will hear your footsteps you if move
too fast, they will hear your landings if you jump, they will hear you fire
your gun or bang your crowbar. And then they will squish you.
I hope you have some grenades left... since the tentacles are attracted
to sound, make some big booms to throw them off by tossing a grenade away
from you. The tentacles will go after that noise, giving you some time to
haul ass.
Make your way down to the second level of the test chamber and whack
your way through the boarded door while the tentacles are distracted.
Go through the airlocks, and then across the catwalk. If it's been
destroyed, you'll have to walk the balance beam on the pipes to the right.
Go down the hallways, then down the ladder you'll find. Smash the
grating in the floor and crawl down the long ladder.
Thrill seekers: see how far down the shaft you can fall before grabbing
the ladder. I've gotten to about three feet from the ground before.
Run along the pipe and go to the left. Climb up the ladder you'll find.
Smash the grating above you and go through the doorway to a room with a
ginatic fan. Climb down the ladders to the switch below the fan blades.
More ladder fun: test your mettle and try leaping from the top walkway all
the way down to the ladder underneath the fan. How Gordon Freeman manages
from having his arms torn off escapes my understanding.
Here's a nice test of agility. You have to turn on the fan and then
get above it before the blades start spinning too fast, otherwise you'll be
knocked down into the chasm (one wonders who designed this.) Press the
switch then run back to the ladder, and try to time it just right so you
miss the fan blades as you climb up.
Now that the fan is on, take advantage of all the moving air and jump
above the fan. You can fly! Smash the wood with the crowbar and maneuver
your way down into another ventilation shaft.
(One notices that the wood, which must be exceptionally heavy, falls
straight down.)
Crawl through the shafts, whacking where necessary, until you fall out
and make your way to the Oxygen/Fuel control room. Turn on the oxygen and
the fuel by pressing the respective buttons. You'll notice that little air
bubbles start moving through the pipes, indicating the flow has been restored.
Follow the bubbles back to where you came from.
Back at the tentacles, move down to ground level and smash your way out
another doorway. I hope you have grenades to spare, since you still have
the long trek back up.
You'll have to make a few big leaps here, so be careful. Go through
the airlock and across the catwalk, then turn the corner to the right.
Walk out onto the catwalk and press the elevator button. Down comes
the elevator. Hop in, and press the button to descend. On the way down
the elevator will experience technical difficulties. You'll have to jump
out and latch onto the ladder to the left, again showing off Freeman's arms
of steel.
Climb down the ladder and go over to the scientist, who is too scared
to go turn on the power himself. Luckily you're more courageous.
Go over to the big power room. Press the button to summon the
spinning-platform thing, then ride it to the other side and climb the
ladder. Be careful not to let the spinning-platform things knock you off
and into the pit; that would be bad.
Once you make it up to the top, press the switch to start up the
generator, then jump on top of it and down the other side to press the
other switch. The generator will start sparking and shooting beams of
electricity, which is a good thing. Make your way back down, and then go
climb back up the long ladder.
That water puddle you crossed earlier is now electrified. You'll have
to drag some boxes which are lying around over to the water, and shove them
across. Make a bridge as far as you can, then jump up on then and leap
across. Make your way back to the tentacles, hopping gaps in the floor
where needed.
Use your grenades and your stealth to climb back up to the top of the
test chamber, then go down to the control room. If everything is turned on
like it should be, go ahead and press the "Test Fire" button. It's like
burning up ants with a magnifying glass, only about a thousand times bigger.
Reenter the now-empty test chamber and climb down into the pit
previously occupied by the tentacles. You'll continue down a bit and then
end up in a big pool of water.
Take a deep breath and swim down, then over to the side of the pool.
You'll see that you can swim up and out.
You could try hitching a ride on top of one of those floating barrels
if you really wanted, or you could just hop on top of the pipes instead.
Follow them along, jumping from pipe to pipe, until you come to a wheel
that you have to turn to extend a section that's missing. Jump down inside
one of the big pipes and run along it.
Watch out for the big fall here. You can go down the the breaking pipe
and take damage, or try and set it off carefully without falling down, and
then getting down along the side route. Either way, there are a lot of
health packs at the bottom (along with some new toys).
Episodes
