You've already bloodied and killed your way through the Nova Mines before. And now it's time to get out of this hellhole. This session will serve up some of the most brutal bloodbaths in the game (so feel free to get ready for battle), and it's guaranteed to keep your heart in strenuous motion like never before from start to finish.
Jump through the hole in the floor and head towards the railroad tracks. Jump off the tracks and continue on until you meet up with Alyx. She will join you and help you through most of the levels.
Alyx! Now that's one for the aesthetically tired eyes
When the elevators open, keep your hand on the trigger
Now follow Alyx and go with her on her quest to find her father. Luckily, Alyx is equipped with a decryption device that allows her to pass through the Combine barrier and navigate through the security area without any problems. Follow Alyx into the elevator and head for the upper floors.
After reaching the top, you'll be attacked by three Nova Mining guards, and Alyx will fight alongside you as she leads you into the pod control center.
Alyx will soon find Eli, and now all you have to do is get out of here as fast as you can with all of your people
After Alyx has found Eli, follow her out of the control center and meet up with her father. In the meantime, the Combine will show up again in time, like flies, but they're small and unimpressive. Even so, you'll have to keep an eye on Alyx, knowing that if she's killed, the game will be over. After dealing with the Combine, you can find some supplies from a side room.
After you've swatted the flies and cleared the world, look for supplies in the room around the right corner.
Yeah, it's Eli, isn't it?
Follow Alyx into the pod receiving area and you'll find Eli waiting for you. After a short conversation Alyx sends Eli to the entrance of the Combine teleporter, after which you will meet again. He really isn't much help under the constraints of the pod.
Follow Alyx out the door and she will open a gate for you. You'll be on your own for a while from now on, and Alyx will show you a path through the Nova Mines.
Alyx courteously opens the door for you, which means it's time for you to fend for yourself.
Passing through the door Alyx opens for you, you'll find a slightly open side door on your left. Step inside to find some supply crates and a couple of headhunting crabs guarding the area. Continue down the corridor and you reach the next room.
Not only are there supplies here, but there are tons of headhunter crabs! Always keep the crowbar in your hand!
The door appears to be locked. But luckily, Alyx has cracked the Combine's security system and opened the door. Note the monitor on the wall, it's an important tool for Alyx to keep in touch.
Keep an eye on the monitors here, Alyx will use them to give you some crucial instructions.
Hidden behind this bookshelf is a vent...
It's right here!
Scouring the room and the next section of the corridor, you'll find yourself trapped inside once again, unable to find an exit. Even more unfortunate is the fact that all those doors are malfunctioning and cannot be opened. But Alyx, after studying the prison's design plans, finds a way for you to get out: through a vent hidden behind a pile of boards. Use the main function of your gravity gun to pivot away from the obstacle and creep into the ventilation duct.
The ventilation duct is crawling with headhunting crabs.
Aha! That's a lot of monsters! By hiding in the ducts the enemies won't be able to reach you, and you can easily shoot them.
Use the crowbar in your hand to clear out the headcrab monsters hiding in the ducts, and eventually you come to the end of the vent pipe. It's also overrun by these fearsome monsters, and they're of the fast-moving variety that aren't easy to hit. But you can attack them in the ducts by sucking up nearby crates and barrels with your gravity gun.
Do you need two machine guns to guard a supply crate? There must be a lot of supplies in the crate with all this hustle and bustle!
Ah, Alyx is great! Your lock picking skills do seem to have been passed down from your father.
After clearing out the enemies, enter the room and pick up the supplies. At this point, notice that there are two sentry machine guns guarding the other side of the glass. Go and see what's really there! Turn around and walk towards the steel door that Alyx opened for you and enter a room that looks like a boiler room.
Here, look for the supplies you need, when Alyx tells you that a group of Union soldiers are on their way. You can fight the enemies at the broken window glass, using the bullet holes in the glass and the grenade supply crates in the room (unlimited ammo). After killing all the enemies, go through the door they are pouring through.
There is an inexhaustible supply of ammo and grenades here.
The monitor shows many Union soldiers coming your way, it's either fish or fowl, depending on how well you do!
The office is fitted with bulletproof glass, make good use of that
Pass through that door and there are two machine guns guarding the end of the hall. There are two ways to get past them: either use a grenade to blow them up, or use the nearby filing cabinets as cover and approach slowly to take them out. Once you've eliminated them, turn back to the main door and follow the path down the right side of the hall.
You have two options for dealing with the machine gun here: use the filing cabinets for cover, or simply grenade the machine gun there.
Take out the soldiers here, and as you exit through the door there, watch out for the right...
... Turns out there's another ambush here ready to sneak up on you.
Along the way, there will be some Union soldiers ambushed in a small office. After taking out these enemies hiding behind cover, pull out your shotgun just in time, because at the moment a soldier in the right corner of the door is preparing to attack when you're not looking. Don't go easy on him, who made him attack you with such despicable means! Remember to pick up the grenade on the table and head to the far end of the room.
Next you come to yet another guarded area, and this time Alyx won't be around to help you open the mechanisms here, you'll have to do it yourself. Watch out for the hut that the cables lead to here, and use the grenade to unlock its door to find medical and ammo supplies from inside.
This is the switch that powers the surveillance system.
Throw a grenade inside to destroy the enemy's surveillance system.
In an inconspicuous corner of the house is a machine gun. You can use the gravity gun to grab items and smash it, or blow it up with a grenade. There is a good supply of grenades in the house, so you can take them over and over again if you need them.
Machine guns aren't the hard part here, and both gravity guns and grenades are up to the task of clearing them out.
Before moving on, notice that there are two machine guns in the corner of the room waiting for you. Run quickly through this section of the path, taking care to crouch down and use the gravity gun to suck up the barrels around you for cover. Once you're close enough to them, shoot and smash them!
Suck up the barrels around you with the gravity gun to use as your cover and undercut the machine gun attacks.
The Combine's security checkpoint, with another soldier hiding in the left corner.
"Unmanned" machine guns, which you can get to help you out.
Break the crates there for supplies, then head for the next door. Through that door, you come to yet another control station for Union soldiers. Inside are two enemies, a medical supply station, and a HEV supply station, as well as some ammo and two uncontrolled machine guns. At this point, Alyx will program these machine guns to fire at the soldiers, which will help you guard this control station. You can turn them on in front of the screen and they will guard the stairs for you.
Set up these machine guns so that their network of fire can cover the neighborhood of the stairs.
If you're unlucky enough to have your machine gun trapped, you'll have to have your gravity gun ready to deal with the onrushing enemies yourself.
With the help of your machine gun, you'll be able to creep around the house without being attacked by enemies. Of course, you'll also have to hold on to your gravity gun for those soldiers who break through the machine gun's range of fire and rush in. In fact, here, as long as you position your machine gun properly, the enemy won't have a chance to rush in, and all you have to do is slowly wait for the enemies outside to be wiped out.
A little while later, the Combine forces bring in some flying saws to surround you. Use your crowbar to destroy them until no more enemies arrive to support you.
Beware of those soldiers aiming at you from a distant balcony.
After the enemies are eliminated, Alyx will come down from the roof and enter the control station to find Dr. Mossman. But the reason she's doing this isn't out of the goodness of her heart, like Eli, but has an ulterior motive.
Is it Dr. Mossman? What was she doing? And how did it get here?
Alyx disabled the surveillance system here, so you can move on. Walk down the stairs and towards a small white door on the right. There is a lot of clutter piled up there, blocking the doorway. Clear that clutter and enter the room.
Clear the clutter here with the gravity gun and walk towards the stairs.
The room has been infested with headhunting crabs, and these undersized monsters are everywhere.
Walking down the stairs there, you come to another room with headhunter monsters. Once you've taken care of them, look for supplies in the room and in the boiler room before walking towards the next door.
The utility room behind the door is full of water and there is electricity in the water, and with the panel that controls it in the hands of the Combine, you can't destroy or turn off those switches, so you'll have to jump through here. Start by jumping onto those pipes, (they're just to the left of the path you just took), and then roll between the platforms with the help of those blue barrels. While you're jumping, some barnacle monsters will take the opportunity to attack you. Use your gravity gun to suck up nearby barrels and crates to kill those pesky monsters. You also have to beware of the headhunter monsters that are hosted here, and be careful walking down the ladder. You can't pass through the water and reach the other side, so you'll need to build a bridge. For materials, you can use the blue barrels nearby and carefully place them in the water to build a pontoon bridge. This requires a bit of skill, as those barrels can easily tip over, and once you've stacked up two barrels, you can jump on top of them to get to the other side.
Jump up to the pipe on the left and use the barrels around you to kill the nearby barnacle monsters. Afterwards, jump up to those platforms with the white railing.
Suck up those blue barrels with the gravity gun to make a makeshift bridge to avoid all that electrified water.
Just as where there's smoke there must be fire, where there are headhunters there are always zombies. After passing through this door, you'll encounter more zombies, and while they're all asleep at first, they rise up and pounce on you as soon as you get close. Don't show any mercy, the crowbar in your hand isn't jealous either! Once you've cleared the obstacles, you can find the supplies you need near the transformer box in the house.
When those zombies get up and pounce on you, retreat back inside the door so they can only come in one at a time and you'll have a much easier time dealing with them.
Use your gravity gun to open this door and move on.
Don't forget to search the room upstairs, where you'll find some of your essential ammo and recharge packs.
Walk upstairs to a prison labeled "D8". Take the stairs and enter the room to find some ammo and grenades. Outside on the balcony are a large number of Combine soldiers, which should be easy prey for you. Afterwards, jump down from the balcony to a small office near the main door.
Destroy these Combine soldiers, then jump off the balcony.
The office has some medical and HEV supplies and is guarded by a 3-seater machine gun. The next battle is a bit tougher, so remember to save your disk here in time. Turn on those machine guns and let them do the guarding for you, they're a great help when facing some of the fiercest battles you've ever experienced.
There are more machine guns here to give you a hand.
Place this machine gun on the opposite side of the control panel in the room so that its firepower can be concentrated into a relatively small area
Place these two machine guns on the outside of the room so that their range of fire can cover the staircase and the passageway on the right.
Due to the close proximity of the engagement, the Combine soldiers will destroy your machine guns with shotguns, grenades, and intense charges, so don't expect to be able to hold here with your machine guns alone as you did earlier. Remember to use your gravity gun to pick up grenades thrown at you by the enemy, and return the favor. Flying saws will also join the fight in waves, so you have to keep your eyes and ears peeled and look around for their sneak attacks. When those soldiers try to get close to your machine gun, promptly shoot them off with your shotgun.
Alyx has been helping me get through this, ah! There's really no way to repay it.
Don't forget to find some supplies to take with you!
Alyx shows up after the battle. She tells you that she won't leave you halfway and will always fight alongside you. She's really hot for you. Search the rooms off to the side of the hall and follow her down the stairs, and of course, don't forget to refill your life and recharge at the supply station at the top of the stairs.
Remember to replenish your stamina and HEV battery power before heading down the stairs.
After you reach the stairs, all the lights go out and the Combine take the opportunity to launch another attack. Eliminate the enemies as quickly as possible, because Alyx can't take too many hits, and you have to be careful to protect her at all times. Here's a tip: if the enemies happen to be bunched up in a certain corner, throw a grenade over them right away! Boom! The enemies all fly up into the air!
Ah! There was a lot of fire, and it was a great battle! What a fascinating scene this would have been if not for the stray bullets flying around!
Throw a grenade inside when they gather in a group
Walk up the stairs, where Alyx is waiting for you, and she'll take you to the next security checkpoint, where she's locked Dr. Mossman in her office. Follow Alyx to the room where Dr. Mossman is locked up and the two of them will have a big fight. (What a couple of jealous women over Gordon!)
Alyx will open more doors for you, remember to lock this one so the enemy pursuers don't follow.
Alyx will force Dr. Mossman to have a teleporter interface ready to send the four of you back to Dr. Kleiner's lab. However, when Alyx wasn't looking, Dr. Mossman and Eli took the opportunity to jump on the teleporter and change the destination to a nameless place. Now, Alyx has to reset the destination and restart the machine to do it again. At this point, your job is to block the soldiers who have arrived to cause trouble from getting in your way.
Having a good time here, Dr. Mossman?
The Combine's teleporters. I'll vouch for the fact that they stole the patent on Dr. Kleiner's invention.
Hey! Dr. Mossman almost ran away again.
Turn back towards the door you came to be through, there are 3 machine guns there, position them on the nearby platforms and keep them at a distance so that their firepower covers one door each.
Medical and HEV battery supply station. And a couple machine gun mounts. The brutal battle that follows is less likely to require these supply's to refuel you.
Place these machine guns on the platforms behind the railing to cover each exit just right.
Alyx joins the fray. You'll have to strike a good balance between fighting the enemy and protecting Alyx; just killing the enemy without regard for her well-being won't accomplish the mission here.
Don't miss this unassuming backdoor
Use your pistol to eliminate those that slip through
A little while later, the teleporter starts working. Jump on top of it with Alyx and get ready to start teleporting. Before you begin, you notice some strange Union soldiers appearing, dressed in white - these are Union Praetorians, who, if paying attention, have appeared in the monitors on your way through the Nova Mines. Pay no attention to them, now you can relax and get ready to return to Dr. Kleiner!
Jump on the teleporter as soon as it opens!
Dr. Kleiner gives you a warm welcome back, as always.
After returning to Dr. Kleiner's lab via the teleporter, he'll present you with a shotgun and inform you that you've been appointed as the leader of the Resistance.