Chapter 1: Point Insertion

"Rise and shine Mr. Freeman,” although most men would prefer to wake out of a deep sleep to the sight of a gorgeous woman lying next to them, it seems like Gordon blacked out last night and has arisen to the sight of the homely G-man. After your new "boss” gives you a cryptic introduction—apparently, he must have taken a leaf from the management handbook of the PHL staff—he drops you inside of a train car bound to the lovely City 17 1.

After you become accustomed to the controls and listen to the moans and groans of the onboard passengers, your train will come to a halt at its destination. Exit the tram along with the other passengers then proceed to your left through the turnstile. Proceed through the corridors of the station until you reach the next checkpoint. As you attempt to pass through the chain link fence to a location known as Nova Prospeckt, an alarm will be raised 2 and will signal for a security member to escort you to the interrogation chambers. Obey his orders and follow him to the chambers.

Luckily for you, it’s not really a Combine guard but good old Barney Calhoun. After he and your meek scientist buddy Walter exchange a few words with you 3, proceed out the doorway to the storage area. In here, there should be a ladder to your right. Climb up and stack a crate in front of the opening 4. Jump up onto the crate you just placed and drop out of the opening onto another crate below. Once you’ve congratulated yourself for actually finding a common use for physics, head through the door to your right and up the stairwell inside.

From here, go down the hall and bang a right towards the mammoth central station. Before you can proceed, however, a guard will pester you about placing a can in the trash 5. Feel free to throw it at his head or place it in the waste; just remember to run backwards if you annoy him. Once you’re inside this spacious room, head left down the hallway and exit through the double doors to get outside.

From this street corner, you’re free to move about and see just what the city looks like. Unfortunately, the presence of the guards has many citizens ignoring you—so much for City 17 being the city for singles. In any case, head down the street to the right of the train station 6. You’ll pass by another group of guards harassing the local citizens. Keep heading forward till you see a narrow alley to your right. To get over the chain link fence, simply jump on the dumpster, climb up the ladder, and climb down the other ladder on the opposite side of the fence 7. After you walk down this passage, head to your right and enter into a small playground in the center of several apartment complexes. Walk to the opposite end of the lot and go through the open door to your left.

Navigating the apartments is a pretty straightforward process. All you’ll need to do is climb up the stairs and enter into any open rooms you find. Keep heading upwards in all the staircases. Eventually, the guards will begin their hot pursuit of you while you climbing up the second stairwell. Merely follow the citizen’s directions to take cover in his side room and run down the attached hallway 8. While he’s busy buying you some time, you’ll wander into an attic of the apartments. Here, all you need to do is run toward the giant opening dead ahead of you.

Once you’re outside the building and on the roof tops, take a second to save your game. You’re going to have to navigate along the rafters of the rooftops there. Below you combine guards will be calling in reinforcements while attempting to pick you off with their handguns 9. Thankfully, the basic grunts are lousy shots and there are ample items you can use as cover. A note of warning is necessary as this is the only part of the opening chapter where you’re at risk of dying. Both combine attacks and a fall from the rafters can kill you, so proceed with caution. To finish your stint as a pigeon, keep moving to the right, you’ll soon come to a pair of open windows. Should you remain confused, refer to these guided images. Jump inside the building, suck the blood out of your wounds, and head down the stairs. After the stairs collapse behind you, a Combine patrol will attack. Let them beat you into submission.

You apparently have as many lives as a cat, since the Combine’s attempt on your life will be halted by Alyx. After she gives you the awakening you should have received, merely follow her lead into the next chapter.

Please click here to download the optional screenshots .zip that goes along with this walkthrough chapter.

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