Half-Life Walkthrough

Surface Tension

After some soldier firefights you'll come to a nice big dam area. You can bypass all of this and just jump into the water if you want, but it's more fun to blow up the artillery gun and the helicopter and see some nice explosions.

In the water you'll have to watch out for another of those big fishes. Make your way to the tower in the middle of the lake and press the switch inside it to open up the passageway through the dam.

Swim down near the bottom of the dam and spin the red wheel to open up the gates so you can pass through. (I still don't understand how Gordon slides through the dam, but otherwise it doesn't spill a drop.)

Run along the canyon and climb up the ladder and through the pipes. Then climb up the ladder to the top of the building. Be careful, though, since there's another Apache circling around waiting for you.

There's another tentacle monster in the next area but you can ignore it if you stay out of range. In fact, you don't even need to go there -- find the other passageway between the rocks. Watch out for sand-burrowing headcrabs and, more importantly, buried landmines, which will end your adventure very quickly.

Creep around the perimeter of the minefield and find the red wheel. Spin it and then drop down the newly opened storm drain.

At the end of the pipe you'll notice that there isn't much ground to work with. Be careful where you step, and watch out for soldiers and sentry guns that can pick you off quite efficiently. Long-range crossbow sniping does wonders here.

Slide down the big pipes to get down part of the cliff, and work your way right until you come to a cave. Inside you'll find a new rocket launcher, which you can test out on another Apache helicopter which is hovering outside.

After climbing up all the ladders and navigating the pipes you'll come out in another great soldier firefight. Use whatever tactics work for you.

Around the corner is a stationary tank which doesn't provide much of a threat unless you stand still for too long in its line of fire.

After opening the gate, you'll encounter another tank-type thing which you'll have to dodge using the boxes and ledges.

Through the next gate is a large building which you'll have to circle around to the right. Watch out for snipers hiding above. When you get to a minefield, throw grenades or shoot your MP5 to clear your path.

Blow up the barrels to turn off the power, then climb up the tipped tower onto the roof. Turn left and find the big gaping hole in the roof, and jump down.

Follow the scientist's advice: be very careful! You can't touch any of the tripmines in this area or you'll nuke the whole place. You'll have to jump and duck under a bunch, then in the large room, find the elevator platform against the far wall and break the box on it so it won't trip a laser when the elevator is raised.

Make your way into the control room and use the switch to raise the elevator, then get on the elevator and jump onto the center platform. Press the button to go down.

This next section will be familiar to anyone who has played the Team Fortress Classic map "Hunted," but the way through it is a bit different. Make your way past the tank and turn right around the bend. Enter the building to the right and go up the stairs, where a helpful security guard will show you into a veritable armory.

Next, go out the window and tiptoe along the ledge until you can jump across the alley onto a big box. Climb up the ladder and traverse your way through the bombed-out building into the open courtyard. There's a big helicopter above that has a great death scene, if you can spare the ammo to blow it up. Find the big gun to the right and aim it at the double doors to blow them up.

After going through the big doors, watch out for loads of baddies. Around another corner you'll find a mounted machine gun which is useful for dispatching the many aliens which will come after you down the slanted hallway. When they're all gone, continue up and walk onto that weird-looking crater (these will be all throughout the rest of the game).

On the roof, wait for the fighting down below to stop and then drop down and kill the survivors. On the right will be another grating for you to smash, and then you'll encounter some snarks. The best strategy is to run away until they explode (one wonders how they managed to survive all these years).

Keep going along the tunnel until the soldiers get trigger-happy and blow open the shaft you're in.

After killing all the soldiers below you, use the switch hanging from the ceiling to lower one of the car platforms, then ride it up and jump out the hole in the wall.

Once outside, use the mounted gun to blow open the sealed door, and then blow apart all the monsters that come out.

Go down the hallways and witness another big soldier/alien fight. However, you'll need to jump across the hole in the catwalk to continue on.

Outside, launch via the crater thing onto the roof of the building and go down the pipe. Be careful crawling through, however, as a soldier has the right idea and tosses in a detpack. Quickly crawl back and hide underwater to survive.

Once out of the pipe, find the guard at the top of the stairs, who you'll need to bring down in order to have him open the door for you, i.e. don't kill him.

Once outside again, go over and have the guard open the other closed door inside the little booth. After passing through a hallway you'll come upon an irritated Big Blue.

Don't bother fighting him! Run away as fast as you can, and launch over the wall using the bouncy thing into the pool of water. Climb up the pipe and look at the controls on top of the tower. It's a miniature map of the large open area you're in now. One button moves the vertical line and the another moves the horizontal line, while the middle button calls in an airstrike. Position the intersection of the two lines to approximately where Big Blue will now be trying to beat down the gate, and then call in an airstrike to eradicate him.

After he's gone, take your time in repositioning the airstrike to blow up the three other things you'll need to move on: the big slanted wall on the opposite corner of the open area, the walls around that slanty wall, and the big electrical tower in front of you.

After these three have been demolished, walk across the fallen tower, over the crumbled wall, and through the blasted doors.