Point Insertion

From Combine OverWiki, the English Half-Life Wikia

Point Insertion is the first chapter in Half Life 2. It serves as both an introduction to City 17 and the game itself. Here, the player learns (roughly) the events that took place between Half Life and Half Life 2, and what the Earth has become in the intervening time period.

[edit] Walkthrough

After the G-Man introduction sequence, you will find yourself on a train on its way into a train station. Once the train has stopped, exit with the two other passengers and turn left on the platform. Welcome to City 17. You will encounter many citizens between here and pretty much through to the end of the level. Press your use key (default 'e') to interact with them and they will reveal some interesting background information. Make your way through the train station. Eventually you will come to a fenced off area in the large room displaying the train arrival times. Wait your turn and move on through. You will be directed through the security checkpoint where you're stopped by the guards. Follow the Civil Protection officer as ordered to the interrogation room.

Once he's alone with you, the officer reveals that he is Barney Calhoun, your old security guard friend from Black Mesa. After a short conversation with Dr.Kleiner, Barney shows you out the back way. Climb the ladder and place a box under the open window to climb out. There is only one door leading out of the courtyard, use it and head up the stairs back into the station.

The "Civil Protection" are anything but your friendly neighborhood law enforcement.

Keep going through the station. You will soon encounter an officer who will knock an empty can onto the floor and order you to put it in the trash can. Press your use key while aiming at the can at a close enough distance to pick it up. Then, bring it over the can and press your use key again to drop it. The cop will then let you through. (Alternatively, throw it at him and squeeze past him when he chases after you) Make your way through the arrivals lounge and out the front door. You now find yourself in the plaza.

After exiting the station, head down the street to the right. You will reach a security checkpoint guarded by two Civil Protection officers, you can't pass through the barrier. Instead, turn right into the small alley. Climb the ladder to get over the fence. Take another right out of the alley and continue through the playground. Head into the open door on the left at the other end of the playground.

Go through the corridor and climb the stairs. You will then see a squad of Civil Protection officers carrying out a raid on an apartment down the hall, head through the doorway to your right. Keep moving through the apartment and return to the hallway, passing the raided apartment to reach the stairwell at the other end of the building. Move up to the next floor.

A citizen will be beckon you into an apartment just as the Civil Protection follow you up the stairs. Move through the apartments quickly to the next stairwell. Head upstairs into the attic and a citizen will block the door, allowing you time to escape. He doesn't manage to hold them off long, though, as they will soon burst through the door and kill him before coming after you. Keep moving along the rooftops. Several officers on the ground below will start firing. Don't panic, just keep moving, and watch your step. Jump through the damaged roof on your right, and head down the stairs. These stairs will break the moment you get to the bottom, blocking your way back out. Soon, the CPs catch up with you and knock you down with their stunsticks. As you lay on the floor, dazed, a woman comes to your rescue and dispatches your pursuers. As you recover, she introduces herself as Alyx Vance.

Alyx will lead you through a number of secret passages, which lead to the next chapter.

(Note:- If you were to cheat & start the game with HEV suit and all weapons, most Combine Guards do not react to being shot at. They appear to have little to no AI routines at all. Even if you kill all Combine Guards Barney will still appear and help you to escape. You would be able to kill the 2 Combine in the attic but killing the Combine who stun you just before you meet Alyx will mean the trigger to meet Alyx will not happen, effectively ending your game unless you load the next level manually)

[edit] See also

• City 17 - the place you arrive at
• Citizens - the people you see in the city
• Civil Protection Officers - the officers you see patrolling the city
• Combine APC - you see these parked around in the city
• Strider - you encounter only one, walking across a section that is blocked off

Characters (order of appearance)

• G-Man (First appearance) - the mysterious figure who you see at the very beginning of the game.
• Wallace Breen (First appearance) - the man on the large broadcasting screens.
• Barney Calhoun (First appearance) - the officer that sends you on your way to Kleiner's Lab.
• Isaac Kleiner (First appearance) - the professor you see on the screen in the room Barney sends you to see.
• Alyx Vance (First appearance) - the person that saves you from being taken in by Civil Protection officers at the end of the chapter.