“Let us not slide backward into oblivion, just as we have finally begun to see the light. “We have scarcely begun to climb from the dark pit of our species’ evolution,” Breen continued, his voice echoing weirdly around the space. Breen was clearly taunting me, telling me that their blood was on my hands. Now the civilians that I came across on my way downriver were turning up murdered. I wasn’t even sure by that point in the narrative - way back in 2003 - what the hell was actually going on. I didn’t start playing Half-Life 2 to be anyone’s savior. I remember trying to bash in the computer terminal with a crowbar. Some of the worst excesses of the Black Mesa incident have been laid directly at his feet.” He is a figure synonymous with the darkest urges of instinct, ignorance, and decay. “We now have direct confirmation of a disruptor in our midst,” Breen says, “one who has acquired an almost messianic reputation in the minds of certain citizens. Breen, but he wasn’t really talking to me. Perusing the aluminum shelving in the middle of the room for loot, that’s when the video started behind me. I was probably searching for ammunition, or a wall-mounted power station to recharge my HEV suit. I remember opening the door at the top of the ladder, then poking my head inside. When I first arrived at the hydroelectric plant, I remember moving very slowly and tentatively. But if you go slow, the whole experience opens up. Some playthroughs that I watched on YouTube rush through the sequence, anticipating what’s to come. That’s where you find a ladder up into what appears to be a hydroelectric power plant.įrom here, it’s the timing of the game’s triggers that is most important to the experience. The locks also block the airboat, leaving the player to backtrack.

Eventually, the player is confronted with a massive set of locks - 20-foot tall gates designed to block the flow of water downstream. That means there’s always a health pack to be found, and - if you’re lucky - a word of encouragement from a non-player character. These are often little more than dimly lit alcoves in the sewers, or water-logged apartments filled with ruined furniture.Įvery time you show up at one of these safehouses, there’s an orange lambda painted on the wall or a blue jumpsuited refugee to greet you. (The video above also shows how you can replay the sequence for yourself - just use the tilde key to open up the debug menu and select the save point as shown.)Īfter fleeing City 17, the player, as Gordon Freeman, makes their way from safehouse to safehouse.

Half life 2 airboat