Half Life Text Speedrun

Map directions and walkthrough for the fastest way through the game.
Massive content spoilers, so be sure you've already played the game! =P

This is a huge guide. USE THE SIDEBAR TO FIND WHAT YOU NEED!
Please don't ask for video walkthroughs - I/we will do them on our own time, if and when possible. ;)

Half-Life Series Anthology by my buddy, Vlad. =D

Introduction

Gordon Freeman. MIT graduate - Theoretical Physics. Black Mesa, NM facility researcher.
You arrive on a high-security tram and are told to put on your HEV (pretty much a Hazmat cleanup) suit and head over to the Anomalous Materials Lab.
The biggest day of your life unfolds and you soon realize you must fend for yourself and yet, you are hardly alone in this world.

Chapter 1 - Anomalous Materials

Choose your difficulty level, or tutorial mode (training room).

Inside, follow the lines on the wall and head toward Personal Facilities. Pass the break room (vending machines, explosive microwave.) There will be a locker room on your right. Grab your HEV suit. Head for the locker labeled "Freeman" for a suit power up.
Now, follow the blue line to the Control Room/Test Chamber. Go up to the doors, they will open. There is a retinal scanner for a scientist to activate.
Head to the Test Chamber on your right.
Once the scientists open the doors, head toward the back wall. You will need climb (face ladder, press forward) to press a button up there (press E). Come back down near the door. You will see a cage. After some monologue, it will open. Push that cart all the way forward. ~End Chapter 1~

Chapter 2 - Unforseen Consequences

Head out the broken door. Poke the broken retinal scanner. Kill the 1st security guard you can to get a pistol early.
Stay to your left to avoid exploding machinery. Find the skeptical scientists. You now have a goal: Get to the Surface. Get the standing one to follow you, then press E at the next retinal scanner. OR punch out the door, if you have the tools.
Watch out for lightning. Wait for it to ruin the door.
Near the next door, there's a crowbar on the floor. Stand over it, and the game will automatically pick it up. Punch out the lower panes (use crouch or CTRL) and crawl through.

Go all the way up and jump over onto the platform. Right inside are some "zombies." Run inside. You can just run past these ones, they don't drop anything either.
Walk to the right, up to the Security Guard to pick up his sidearm. Keep going 'til you get to the door. The game will be auto saved. You may recognize this area from before.

Go around the corner. Don't move. First, fire some shots at the scientist's head. There's a headcrab there. Now, do as you please with the others. You have 2 weapons after all. 3 if you include running. Go back to your locker (+30% suit power), and Guthrie's locker (34 sidearm ammo). By the main desk, there's a security room. Crouch, shoot the headcrab, then crawl in.
Be careful, 'cause there's another one inside..And exploding, falling machinery. Crawl in the airshaft near the far wall (use crouch jump to get up there easily). Jump down. Nearby airshafts will contain headcrabs from now on. Onto sector B! Push the button inside the security doors. Watch out for nearby Houndeyes. Or just run. Sometimes you will need to crouch to get the hitbox...

You will hear the nearby chatter of Alien Slaves..down the hall. Save your ammo for these guys. They have ranged attack, but like to hide, also.

Go towards the hole in the floor and wait. A zombie will pop out on the surface on the other side. Shoot it. Shoot the headcrab right inside the hole. Fall into the water. Find the valve, turn it. Swim up to the place where you saw the zombie.
~Autosave~
Pull the lever to make the lift go down. There is a landing to your left before the main floor landing. Toss a grenade to your right, before you land! Keep to your right, if you missed that platform, and shoot any remaining...Unbox crates for more ammo and medkits. Down the hall, the walkway will collapse. Jump to you right, and traverse the pipes to access a vent near the other side. Open the vent with your crowbar, and turn on your Flashlight using the F key.

Enter the lower canal by jumping into the water (no falling damage). Push things in the canal so you can cross. There's a sidecanal room you can go through on the right, if you get stuck.
The next room will require you to jump on top of crates. Aim for the steel cord, it'll stop you from falling over the other side. Go to the elevator. ~End Chapter 2~

Chapter 3 - Office Complex

The part involving Cold Storage can be skipped. Please see the section on Skipping Chapters to proceed.
Right inside headcrabs are the most common enemies in the Office Complex. Most of your travelling will be done through vents and glass windows you break. Go to the right in your first vent. You will find a giant fan. Dispatch 2 headcrabs and crouch to the side of the fan to grab some extra ammo. Watch out for barnacles, and turn the power off in the side room!
Moving on, there is a storage room with zombie and ammo, and another with many breakable boxes. Beyond that, you will find the shotgun. Use it to kill the zombie that's after the security guard. You need him alive so he can open the door. This one won't open with the crowbar. There's one headcrab, but by now, you should know what to do to them ;)
Pick up a medkit, ammo, and suit power up (that one's down the ladder).
Now backtrack to the room full of water. Dispatch the headcrab, then long jump to that table. Turn off the switch on the wall. Now you may access the vent. There are 3 Headcrabs right inside. Eventually, you will end up behind the red doors that were locked. (You can open them now.) Stack the boxes so you can crouch-jump and access the ladder. There is a turret up ahead. You will need a grenade to disable it. OR Flip the switch below that platform. You can stand right behind a box and throw a grenade UP and over to the platform. That's about as good as it gets. If you're crafty, when you first enter this room, use the boxes to get to the 1st aid kit on that platform. Either way, you need to disable the turret though, or you'll get shot up pretty badly..

The sideroom with the caution tape has some ammo. Head toward the other room and toss a grenade around the corner. There's 4-5 headcrabs waiting for you.
~Sector D~
Upstairs, a security guard will hunt enemies coming towards him. Don't get caught in the ight though, he can hurt you. You can have him follow you onward and help with the fight. The first room on the left had a suit power-up (15%) and a medkit. In the hall are 4+ alien slaves, including one behind the vending machines. Use rapidfire sidearm or the shotgun. When the security guard dies, you get some sidearm ammo. One side room to the right of the main hall contains ammo, another, a 1st aid kit. Head past the vending machines. The scientist in that hall mentions soldiers coming. There's a 1st aid kit right next to him. Head upstairs. Throw a grenade around the corner to kill the headcrabs. Then, just out of sight of the turret, throw a grenade up there on that ledge. You can shoot at orange and black striped crates to explode them and deal with enemies.
~Autosave~
There's a 1st aid kit behind the security guard. Have him follow you downstairs on the left. Kill the bullsquid and grab some ammo. EXTRA AMMO + 1st aid kit: Headback to the green exit sign and look to the left, there's a vent. Cross the fan when the broken side is up. Fire some shots before you open the next vent. Stay along the wall until you come to the next room. Cross the iron beams and use crouch to move slowly. Watch out for headcrabs on the right. Finally you will drop down in a room that was locked. Have the security guard follow you again. Throw a grenade in the main hall. -->Unlock the cold storage while the security guard kills off the zombies. You can get the security guard to follow you in and help you fight off headcrabs and stuff. Climb the ladder next to the entrance. In the room with the bullsquid, there is a red lever, pull it. Now, staying to the right, get back to the vent and hop on that inventory carrier. You can go ahead and shoot the boxes before you hop on. Either way, they contain 3 suit power ups (a total of 45%). Access the next vent. To the left, a headcrab. Turn right for a 15% power up and ammo. Turn left, you'll find a room full of barnacles. Another power up right underneath one. Climb the ladder. One-shot that barnacle with the shotgun. Crouch jump into the vent. Watch for headcrabs. Just outside the vent is a security guard. Recruit him.
~Sector D Admin 3~
Head upstairs. Siderooms have ammo and medkits. Long-jump to the ladder. Along the sidewall are some small ledges. Crouch to avoid running off the edge. Long-jump to the elevator. Break its ceiling vent. Go up to the door. ~End Chapter 3~

Chapter 4 - We've got Hostiles

This entire chapter can be skipped. Please see the section on Skipping Chapters to proceed.
Charge up your suit on the left and run down the hall. Most doors on the way down will be locked. As the scientist will note, the Silo door needs to be unlocked. But there's trouble where he headed.
Shoot the tripwire from a distance to disable it. Throw a grenade over the fence to disable the turret. Headcrabs will spawn frequently. Crates contain suit power-ups, ammo, and medkits. The deceased soldier on your right has an MP5. Take it. It has a grenade launcher. This'll come in handy. Also, lots of ammo. If you're fast, enemies will spawn behind you when you're going to the next fire door. Close the fire doors if you don't want to be bothered.... Down the hall, jump over boxes to avoid tripwires. Alien slaves will start spawning. There's a 1st aid kit in the room behind them. Throw a grenade before you trip the red wire to avoid setting off the turret. There's another turret behind the boxes. Toss a grenade over when you're near the top. There's another turret near the next door. You can also disable it from on top of the boxes. It's hard to avoid tripping the wires in this next room. Toss a grenade around the corner to disable 2 turrets. Might take a few tosses. If the fire door closes on you, don't worry, just press the button again.
Now crush the 1st box away from the tripwires to avoid getting blown up. DON'T have the scientists follow you. They will only cause you problems. There's a 1st aid kit right there if you need it.

Climb up the ladder, then shoot at the tripwires if you need more ammo. The crates above have ammo and a suit power up, too. Over the walkway, you'll see a soldier... You've got a good view, so use that to your advantage! Take the soldier's ammo and get on the elevator. Leave the scientist behind. This place is crawling with militia, so hide behind boxes as needed. Actually, the best place to hide is to your left, right off the elevator. Don't shoot at the explosive barrels unless you've got a good target. Otherwise, you'll blow your cover. Open up crates later, you've got other things to worry about. Against the far wall is a 1st aid kit & HEV charger if you need them.
Downed soldiers will have ammo. Up above is a fire door if you choose to run like mad. Stay to your far left on the bridge to avoid barnacles without firing a single round. Go to the right and WALK - not crouch - on the conveyor belt to reach another room with HEV charger and 1st aid kit. Jump up on the boxes and jump down to your right to get closer to the turrets than if you'd turned right downstairs. Watch out for the soldier though, he can throw grenades. Toss a grenade to the floor and use your pistol against the tripwires ahead.

The fire door will probably be triggered by either blast. There's many soldiers in this next room, but they will be distracted by scientists. You can completely run through here, but you must avoid the barnacle in the middle of the stairs and the exploding barrel at the top of the 1st flight of stairs. You can trigger it yourself from a distance, or let the military do it for you. The barnacles on the walkway are easy to avoid, requiring no conflict. The next stage you'll need to be downstairs to your right. Beware of imminent soldiers. Drop some grenades if you have time. You can drop down to a crate to the right to avoid falling damage. Press a button for the elevator. Bon voyage! ~Autosave~ There is a helicopter outside. Not a friendly one. Go diagonally to the left - to the middle of the court. You'll avoid the airstrike and get down below, safely. Once you're down, go left. Get to the ventilation shaft and jump from ladder to ladder, the militia is following you. Enter the lower shaft in by the next fan. (Jump to the ladder and hug the corner wall). Go full speed ahead. Enter the shaft just above you in the next room. Go around the corner and press the button in the next room. Good luck!
~End chapter 4~

Chapter 5 - Blast Pit

Go ahead and toss a grenade or use crowbar on only the upper boards (the blockades are sturdier and take longer to break down). Go to the control room and pull the lever. If you need supplies, engage the zombie to your right. Oddly, there's a crowbar in there. But it's impossible to need it now. You've broken so many windows, you'll be in juvie for vandalism! The grenades will come in handy. Hop on that elevator and it going FULL speed, not just going. You can ignore all enemies on the track, they can't stop the train. Remember, the default speed for Gordon Freeman is running, so you can go pretty fast on foot if needed. You can duck while on the train to avoid projectiles. Keep the train going at full speed and you will still come out alive. In fact, the train will automatically speed up at the part of the track where there are gates. The train will just chuck you off and launch you into a crate that breaks. Crates take damage from enemy projectiles as well. Swim up to a crate quickly, look up, and use long jumps. You will take minor damage, assuming your HEV suit is charged. Head into the pipe system. Travel on top of the pipes. Walk close to the table with power-ups and stuff. Again, use pipes..hop on the elevator. You will see a walkway blocked. Walk along the edge or shoot the canisters and long jump. You can ignore the dialogue and run straight past the scientist that gets eaten by the tentacle monster @u@ Watch out for the barnacle, but get to the ladder. You can always shoot it.

Just progress downward through all the rooms and then come all the way back up to the Test Fire Room. You can use grenades to distract the tentacle monster. Also, crouch to avoid being heard, even on ladders. Toss a grenade near the ladder with boxes. And near the doors with boards over them. The monster will settle down quickly, so no need to worry. You CAN run in the outer halls. Now on the walkway, you may kill the zombie or not. It's your choice - you can just walk along the edge, the left side preferrably. If the zombie decides to attack, and it hits the explosives, only the left side rail will remain. You can't access the fuel room on the left just yet, so power up some other things around. Toss a grenade down the 1st ladder. Use the MP5 to open the grate above the ladder. Or jump over the rail and deal with the zombies later. FALL and then grab onto the 2nd ladder to get down faster. At the fork in the road, go to the left and up the ladder. Don't fight the zombies. At the circular platform, jump to the next ladder down. This may take some practice, but it helps. Turn on the fan and head back up one floor, so the fan doesn't chop you up. Toss a grenade onto the fan, then hop on. Aim to be on the left of the orange walkway. Open the vent. Go around the corner and toss a grenade. Go inside the control room. Ignore the zombies. Push the buttons for fuel and oxygen.

Head back towards the tentacle monster room. Go to the lowest room. Go across the walkway on the edge. Beware, if this one goes out, the only thing left will be a pipe off to the right. Press a button for the elevator or jump to the ladder on the side wall (the elevator is set to stall partway down anyway). Head past the scientist, and toward the power/generator room. Watch out for radioactive waste on the floor. Get up to the dome and press the red buttons on either side. Crouch jump ontop of the dome to do this. Then get up on top and crawl down inside, by falling onto the pipe on the side at low speed. You can jump to a lower ladder from there. Get back to the Test Firing Room. Watch out for the water on the floor on your way back, it will be electrified. Long jump as needed. Stay to the right on the way back across the walkways, especially where you need to long jump. Toss grenades to distract the tentacle monster. There are extra grenades on the way back, where the security guard fought th tentacle monster. Fire the rocket and back up from the window to avoid damage. Go down into the pit where the monster was living. (There's a ladder). Aim for the middle of the pool of water. Swim up to grab the magnum from the security guard. Go down to the vents and swim up on the side. There's an HEV charger and 1st aid kit down below. DON'T hop on a barrel of radioactive waste. Just traverse the pipes up above. Keep going until you reach a tunnel, then drop down to your right. You won't need to crouch the whole way, just stand on the edge of the pipe and walk it. When you get to the waterfall, just jump to the tube with the caution tape. No need to extend the pipes. When the pipe starts to fall, throw a grenade down to break some crates, and start crouching to avoid SOME falling damage. Break any crate in this new area to gain access to the tripwire. Go around the bend.
~End Chapter 5~

Chapter 6 - Power Up (Boss 1 + level Walkthrough)

This chapter can be skipped. Please see the section on Skipping Chapters to proceed.
You will see the military facing off against a Gargantua. You can deal with it later (although tripwires that YOU trigger may work, but still - this is about time). Go diagonally ahead into the corridor. Set off some explosive barrels to deal with the alien slaves. There are 2 paths. Track Control and Power Generator. You will need to interact with both areas. HOWEVER the Power Generator will be blocked off. Aim for the left corridor and then activate the generator.
Power Generator: toss a grenade over the railing on the way there, the railing will collapse and there will be tons of headcrabs to get rid of. Toss a grenade over to the blocked door, but don't go inside yet. Go the other direction downstairs toward the Power Generator room. Watch out for falling rocks. Up ahead there's some alien slaves. And explosives near them. You know what to do.
Open the valve. Climb to the top flight of stairs. Watch out for soldiers. Use your magnum/revolver as needed. You can one-shot the turret & soldiers with your revolver, too.
~Autosave~
Use explosives to your advantage. But head straight for the railing on the left and hop onto the fan to negate fall damage. Get down to the maintenance area. Keep moving along, the hagfish will nibble you. Toss a grenade at the boxes.

Head towards the military camp. Hop on the elevator ASAP. Downstairs, walk off to the side (not the main path) and wait for the elevator to go back up. Drop into the water. Go down to the maintenance area and free the generator like you did before. Make sure to go to the maintenance room and turn ON the generators to provide power to the tracks. Hop on a fan to make things a little quicker. On your way up and out, bait the soldiers to trigger those explosives. There are reinforcements upstairs, but you can avoid most of them.

Go to the Track Control Room. Skip the dialogue with the security guard, but take his ammo (you jerk!). Drop down from Track Control to the main train area (fastest way to go, from your previous mission). Lure the Gargantua to the area that was gated off. Turn on the track power and the Gargantua will explode. Thanks to Strategy wiki for that suggestion: http://strategywiki.org/wiki/Half-Life/Power_Up
Go bring the train to the turntable, then head to the Track Control to pick up the Grenade Launcher and switch the track. "Full speed ahead!"
~End Chapter 6~

Chapter 7 - On a Rail

Hop off the train while the security guard's talking. You can pull the lever and keep that train going. Keep to your right while on the train turntable and watch out for barnacles. Get it going at full speed again, and stay out of the water, it's electrified. NEW WEAPON: If you see a side room with a dead soldier and live bullsquid out front, go further in to obtain the backpack. In the far storage room, you obtain the backpack - a highly damaging explosive.
Shortcut: When the train gets to the area with the crane, long jump to the track behind it (will take some damage). At the end, there's a ladder. More damage from soldiers, but still.
As you go up, you CAN jump onto the other moving platform
By the bunkers on the wall, there's a lever for the crossing gate. Get to that as soon as possible. You DON'T have to manually stop the train while you're at it. STOP the train right after the autosave. You need to disable tripwires. At the corner, use your pistol on just ONE tripwire. It'll set both off. Alien slaves are everywhere...You can use your revolver, but just get out of there! Keep the train going at full speed! Get off where the track stops. There is a security guard in the boarded up room, if you want help. Crouch to the right or left of the machine gun to take care of the gunner, IF you want. stand near the blast door to open it. Stand back and activate the tripwires. Head for the next blast door and hop on a new train.

Crouch to avoid triggering red tripwires. Keep going full speed forward on the train. A soldier will be shooting missiles. Crouch. They are in a fixed direction, so after you pass him, there's no more missiles. Watch out for blue tripwires ahead though. Go upstairs past the bunker to the control room, and open the crossing gates. Jump over the ledge or go back to the other train. Either way, you need to hop on the NEW train on the left (how many are there? lol). Stop at the crossing gate. You need to pull the lever next to the bunker on the right wall. Hop back on the train and get going! Don't hop off the train lift at all. Crouch under the live wires. Stop the train to deal with tripwires.
~Autosave~
Crouch under boxes. Get off the train before you get to the wooden crates. Use your grenade launcher or something. Pull the lever and get back on the train. When you see a track switch, shoot it. Later, crouch when the missiles are being launched and again, through the electricity. The soldier is programmed to ONLY use the missile launcher, so don't waste your ammo on him. The next train lift is broken, so use the ladder to get stuff done. Before you get to the bottom, notice the blue tripwires. set one off. It will disable a turret, as you can hear one shutting down after the explosion. The rest shouldn't bother you, since you can jump over the red tripwire aswell. Watch out for the bunker ahead, you can slide by between series of bullets. Stand behind the crate that's one box high, and you'll be just outside the line of sight of the machine gun. Aim carefully over with your grenade launcher and you can disable it. Head outside across to the blast doors. Toss some grenades over the ledges to your right. OR grab the machine gun to your left. Pull the small tin crate out. Move the large tin crate between the next door and the first 2 red wires. Put the small crate back. Crouch under the first 2 wires, then hop on the boxes, crouch, and long jump back to the stairs. Head for the left room and launch the satellite rocket. Head past all the blast doors and go to the left side down the ladder.
Hop on the red train provided for you.
~End Chapter 7 - On a Rail~

Chapter 8 - Apprehension

Part of this chapter can be skipped. Please see the section on Skipping Chapters.
Hop off the train before the explosion. To your right will be a staircase. In the red hallway to the right, near the entrance there's a 1st aid kit. Use it. Down below, there's 2 launchable grenade refills. There's nothing else of inteest this side of downstairs. If you jump down to the area that's got a collapsed tower, there's a water-logged passage. Watch out for small hagfish. They can still block your path, which is weird but annoying. Don't enter the iron door in that area, it's a dead end. Crouch near the debris blockages and aim towards your left. However, there's a small airspace in this corridor right after the first 2 debris blockages, you should use this to avoid taking damage. Go through the corridor on your left, turn right and you will come up above water. Take the path along the left. Watch out for slick floors and barnacles on the ceiling. HEV charger..1st aid kit...Walk along the top of the cage and grab that crossbow! Drop to the bottom of the cage and it will drop into the water. The monster will go bonkers swimming in the same vulnerable direction, because it can't reach you. The crossbow will work underwater. There's an escape space in the top of the cage if you need air... You need to open a valve nearby underwater. I recommend turning it 3/4 and crouching under the door.

Jump onto the large box in the next room. It will provide you with some protection. Continue...Run down the middle of the walkways, and make use of longjumps. Again, look up when longjumping, and aim for the middle. Aim for right-side hole in the fence. Aim straight for the generator control room. Start them up. Long jump all the way over to the other side. Charge your suit and enter the cold storage on the left. Take the scientist to distract enemies. GO FAST!!! IGNORE ALL ENEMIES!!! Aim for the ladder down in the 2nd room. Get on the lift. This floor is full of high-damage assassins... Use the crossbow. There's a total of 3 assassins on the 1st floor. One right ahead and 2 in side corridors. Head upstairs. There's revolver ammo in the crates. For surface access, you only need to turn the valve part-way, and crouch under the doors. The door ahead is an unavoidable trap. Just go in...
~Autosave~
When you wake up, IMMEDIATELY find the smallest box in the middle. Keep crouch jumping until you reach the top. You can walk across the moving garbage compactor toward the vent. You find your crowbar right away, go down the ladder and find the vent nearby. Head out the vent.
~End Chapter 8~

Chapter 9 - Residue Processing

Turn the valve to the waste silo and hop in quick. The sooner you climb, the less falling damage you will take. Get the security guard's gun (fortunately he's distracted shooting headcrabs ;) , then backtrack to the waste vat. Jump over rocks into the vent. From there, hop onto the makeshift platforms to the opposite end of the room. Stay on top of the pipes to the left until you can't anymore. Jump to the right. The next vat you can try sliding around the rim, but it will be tricky. IT IS POSSIBLE THOUGH! Or jump onto the mixer pivot and wait until it makes a bridge. Hop into the next vent and onto the conveyor belt. Go into the canal labeled, "dangerous confined space." Swim up, to the side - not into the grinder. Go past the flames and crouch UNDER the next grinder. Don't stop until you reach the set of conveyor belts. Make sure you pick up the backpacks on the table, and the revolver off to the side. The suit power ups are on the shelves. So convenient!

A) Without stopping the pistons with the control room button, switch the middle conveyor belt lever. (don't go back to the control room). Crouch as the pistons lift upward. Don't just stand and let the conveyor belt move you because the diagonal piston edge will lift and crush you.
B) Same as A. Just push the button and stop the pistons.
----------
Stay at the edge of the pistons when they pull back and you'll be safe along the conveyor belt line.

Drop off this very 1st conveyor belt to the one below. Walk against the direction of the belt, past the locked maintenance room door. Switch belts and go toward the left. Shoot the blue tripwire from a distance. Just inside, around the corner is another. Use a backpack from a distance so it won't slow down your stride! Jump between conveyor belts to avoid the grinders. Either one will eventually drop you onto another belt with a compactor. Slide through and jump straight off onto the ladder.
----------------
End Chapter 9 - Residue Processing

Chapter 10 - Questionable Ethics

Part of this section can be skipped. Please see the section on Skipping Chapters.
Have your Magnum ready because just above that ladder is a pen full of Houndeyes and you come right up into it! You'll need to crouch jump onto the kennel near the fence. You can jump halfway on, then jump again to get all the way up, due to the design of the kennel entity. Crouch jump to get over the fence.

A) Break the glass around the red button first and the next door will open while obliterating the capsule containing the alien grunt AND turning out the lights. You can run from the alien grunt, but he's somewhat fast and the hive hand will target you from a distance. Shoot him in the middle or land a few swings with the crowbar.

B) Same as A, but use your backpack explosive to trap the alien grunt.

If you push the button in the next room, the military will come after you. Ignore this room.

Bring the security guard to help you, he can help you take out the soldiers up ahead. He'll aid you long enough to recharge your HEV suit and get the shotgun and MP5.
Turn at the stairway and open the test chambers. You gain access to the Crossbow and Snarks (one in either chamber).

Ideally, you want to open the cages and grab the Snarks, and Crossbow.
Keep in mind, pressing the emergency button will only kill off any headcrabs that wandered into the center of the room.
Continue past the remaining headcrabs and head to the right. There's soldiers right ahead. Keep your MP5 handy. They are guarding a lab. Enter and go to the room on the left. You'll obtain tripwires. Keep going upstairs. Shoot the tripwires using your pistol (accuracy *cough*).

A) You can make a mad dash for the next room while soldiers and alien grunts duke it out.
B) I'd say stick around but you're wasting time. You have enough weapons and ammo. Just keep going! The soldiers and aliens will keep each other occupied. There are explosive crates on the inside of the door. Make a scenic exit! Head to your right.

Keep right until you see a stairway on the left. head to the room on the right and turn on the laser. Lure the soldiers in and they will be damaged. Or they will keep fighting with the bullsquid. Either way, keep doing this with the other rooms until you've activated all the lasers.

Go partway down the hall on the left. This will activate the event that opens a laser room and also gives you the Tau Cannon. Go back to the main hall and come back later. Remember. All you need to do is press the buttons to all the lasers. You can avoid all enemies. Then, push a box toward the platform in front of the laser shield. It won't deploy and the laser will destroy the wall. You can find ammo for the Tau Cannon on the shelves in the last laser room. Jump carefully down to the lower door. The power button to the death machine will be on your right, so aim accordingly! Stop the machine so it makes a clear path for all 3 scientists before you go back to collect them. Push a button to open the other side. Go left. Then right, and straight down the hall. Activate the retinal scanner in the main hall. Relax, even if the scientists pain, they will still open a door you indicate. Out you go! Watch out for the turrets on the roof. And the explosives up ahead.
-End Ch. 10 Questionable Ethics-

Chapter 11 - Surface Tension (part 1)

Part of this chapter can be skipped. Please see the section on Skipping Chapters.
Open the garage door and start shooting the explosive barrels. Rapidfire pistol works well (Alt. fire)
Remember, downed soldiers will drop ammo and health kits.
Don't go across the bridge. Jump off into the water on your righthand side, but be sure to deal with the icthyosaur. There's a tower that handles the turbines. Push the button in there. Open the floodgates about 3/4 and swim down...and out to the other side of the canyon. Stay down to avoid the Apache's bullets. Go straight ahead and climb up the side of that concrete wall! Go left and between the second space in the rocks.
You will need to open the storm drain hatch to your right of this area. Then, crouch near the rock at the yellow storm drain sign. Go along the side to your right. Just before you get to the storm drain, fire your weapon. There should be 2 explosions. Then climb on the rock and hop over the fence into the drain. Or you go on a side trip and pick up some Snarks (if you didn't already).
---Storm drain---
Switch to your crossbow or magnum to deal with the canyon area (which includes soldiers and sentry guns). Remember, you can fire WHILE zoomed in. There's a soldier below. Slide down the pipe to the next area. Head to the right. Take out the soldier, go inside and get the RPG. Then, take out the helicopter (you only need to land one grenade) and climb the stairs back out to the right. When you get near the next drain, go a little further past the entrance than you need to. That way, the headcrab will fly over the cliff when it lunges at you.

Take a left in the tunnel, and run along the edge until you get to the tank. Go past it and into the toll booth thingy with a button to open the gate.
OR Crouch near the tank, then run around to trick it while you open the garage. Use the explosive crates to your advantage. There's a nearby bunker with supplies of all shapes and sizes.
Don't bother attacking the next tank. There's a bunker past the hole in the wall with grenades and backpacks. Just follow the main road and into the garage.

Watch out for the aliens that drop down in the next area. Head to your right. The 1st tripwire is easily avoided. Jump, toss grenades, or use your launcher to avoid the next few. When you see the security guard, toss a grenade into the window with the camo inside. There's a sniper in there. If using the launcher, aim for the side of the building.
Equip your MP5 or pistol to take care of 3 mines in a row up ahead. There will be a fourth around the corner! And another near the start of the electric fence. turn to your right to deal with another sniper, and jump on top of the fence to get to the other side quick.
Shoot at the exploding barrels to disable the generators.
Climb the fallen tower to climb the roof. Immediately take a left and crouch jump over the vent. Enter the crack in the roof.
Move boxes or crates to jump over the first 2 tripwires. Then, enter the door and get a small, safe box in a safe position onto the lift. Crouch jump onto that box on the liftand jump into the elevator area while the button is still active. You can make it so the crates are partway on the elevator and make your jump easier.

Downstairs, pick up the hive hand - it's right on the floor! It's got decent damage and refills ammo for you. Save the security guard and have him cover you. Aim for the right hand corner of the map. Go inside the building. You'll want to take another right and go upstairs.

A) Have the security guard open the room at the end of the hall. Load up on ammo 'n' weapons. It's a huge, tempting cache of everything you could need but missed after the Apprehension finale.

B) Climb out the window and head to your right.

Watch out for snipers and the tank. Climb up to the adjacent building and head for the doorway on the opposite side on the second floor. Use a regular jump, not a long-jump. Out on the range, go through the doorway that has a hole blown in it. Head down the road until you see a pile of boxes on the right. Crouch jump up there and use the cannon to open up the gate with the Chevy-esque logo on it. Head over there, take out some alien slaves with the sentry gun, and hop on the jump booster.
You can crawl through the floor vent to progress. Watch out for Snarks in the vent! Best use your MP5 or Hive Hand. Pick up the leftovers for your inventory.

Soldiers will start bombing the vents around the bend to land a grenade down there to cover for you. Or...Snarks, Hive Hand. Just make sure you press the left hand button to go up the empty lift. The building will start to be bombed, leaving a big space to jump out.
Use the sentry cannon to blow the door open.
Blast a few alien grunts. Once inside a big fight will erupt on the garage floor. Ignore it, and use regular jumps to reach the upper-opposite side. Have your crossbow ready to pick off incoming enemies. Head left and use the jump booster to reach the other rooftop. Break through the vent.

Chapter 11 - (part 2)

Part of this chapter can be

Chapter 12 - Forget about Freeman!

Upon entering the Lambda Complex, you must use the fallen rocks and crouch into the next doorway. Head deeper in.
A) No need to activate sentry guns. Have the security guard follow you.
B) Activate sentry guns. The enemies that will be spawned will not last long and this will save you ammo.
C) Activate Snark mines and run like mad. (For the diabolical Freeman within)

Veer to your right though. That corridor will make you some progress! Take out the alien slaves with your crossbow. Activate the Snark mine. It will dissipate after awhile, aside from the fact they might jump in the water and get stuck. Go over there and open the hatch. go under the tripwire and take out the barnacle in the 2nd canal. Jump over the fence. head right then, after the platform, head left (unless you want an early shot of the sentry gun). There are various unavoidable traps ahead. Head back up to the surface. Go left, past the tank.
Down the elevator; go to your right, then left. Set up some tripwires by that first door. Use the tank cannon to bring down the door, then the sentry gun to take out monsters. Then head left and go through those doors!
--End Chapter 12 - Forget About Freeman--

Chapter 13 - Lambda Core

Part of this chapter can be skipped. Please see the section on Skipping Chapters.
Hop on the elevator and head downstairs. You need to climb the ladder and head to the next area. Walk close to the boxes on your left to pick up grenades and such.
Watch out for snipers...
Break the boxes (with grenades or whatever) and head upstairs and to the elevator room on your right.
Survive the onslaught of alien grunts and you will be granted access to the control room.
Skip the dialogue with the scientist. Have him open the door and grab some ammo from the left side of the room while waiting.
Grab the Gluon gun (shares ammo with the Tau Cannon) from the test fire room on your right, take some ammo from the shelves, then head for the elevator down to the reactor.
Stick to the Gluon gun for the next Chapter or so. It does a lot of damage, and saves you on clicking.
You will need to flood the reactor, meaning:

• The Maintenance Station is useless except for the map.
  
• Don't bother going to Auxuliary Reactor until you check both Coolant Stations (the lowest part of the map, unlike the Aux. Reactor).
  
• AND for that matter, BOTH coolant stations are accessible. You just need to crouch to access #2. But don't go to the Reactor until you're don at the Coolant Stations!!!
  
• HOWEVER, you can nab the security guard near the entrance to the Maintenance Station. He can save you some time, damage, and ammo.

You will need to long jump at #2.
When you're finished with #1 and #2, go to the reactor and turn the valves. Turn right every time you ascend a ladder. At the top, enter the door and turn right, then around the corner. Straight down the hall is some supplies. Then, go up the maintenance ladder for the elevator.
At Level B, turn left. Partner up with the security guard, then head down the hall on the right.
Ignore the rooms on the left, and the valve. Turn around the corner and turn right, toward the door that says, "Reactor Core Level B."

With clever timing (as soon as that Port is on your screen, hop in), enter the orange-haloed teleport, then Port 02, Port 04, and Port 07.
Now, press the button at Door 2, then 1, and hop in the portal!.

You can get the Gluon gun, Tau Cannon, Hive Hand, RPG and other weapons and ammo in the supply depot. Skip the dialogue, grab the long jump module, and activate the retinal scanner!
Practice your long jumping, climb the ladder, and keep enemies at bay with the hive hand, Gluon gun and then crossbow if possible. As long as you keep the glass from breaking until the last phase of getting the teleporter ready, you should still succeed.
--End Chapter 13 - Lambda Core--

Chapter 14 - Xen

Moonwalking:
Many areas of this planet increase your long jumps even more. Which is crazy because, well you technically just got it end of last chapter.
Be careful about jumping to go forward, as it may actually SLOW YOU DOWN. For example, when trying to enter a doorway, you usually have to come back down to the surface!
Sometimes you take falling damage, sometimes, not. If I figure out the pattern, I will surely let you know! XD
1st area:
Jump/long jump from platform to platform. You can speed up your journey, but you will take major falling damage. Use your Hive Hand for most combat here.
A) Aim for a horizontal spike to break your fall onto the lower surface.
B) OR if you can jump onto a floating platform that goes by the healing pool, then do that.
Watch out for the purple lamps, they will shock you. Behind the healing pool to the right is a crevice. Enter. To the right is a cage. Fire a shot at the solidd part of the enclosure. Activate the mushroom-shaped catchers by pressing E. Don't wait for the spikes to elongate, just walk to the teleporter.
2nd area:
Next:
--BOSS Gonarch's Lair--

Chapter 15 - Gonarch (Boss 2) [TAKES PLACE ON XEN]

--> Switch weapons when you need to reload. Then reload while chasing Gonarch to each new stage of his Lair.
Pick up the supplies to the right of you. Fire an RPG, the MP5's grenade launcher or a bunch of crossbow shots at the Gonarch's...underbelly. Hitting it elsewhere will do absolutely zero damage.
When seriously injured, it will flee. Follow it and stay in the middle of the path so the plants won't stab you. Go through the trapdoor in the floor. You have a good view, so use it. Again, you seemingly deal life-threatening damage, yet it survives and runs to it's final hideout. When Gonarch is standing still, slide past it and under the web. There are suit power ups along the side, so refill when needed. Once you've dealt enough damage, the beast will fall and leave a tunnel in its wake. Drop down to teleport back to Xen, and onto the next Chapter.

Chapter 16 - Interloper [TAKES PLACE ON XEN]

1st area:
To your far right - on the rock you spawn - is a tower. Drop down to that level and there's a passage. Enter, and take out the alien slave. Behind him is a trapdoor web.
Traverse the passage. Don't run too much in the main hall because the passage will close on you. Head straight for the next hallway and get to the ledge on your left. Stand toward the wall on the on the column and look straight ahead. Be ready to jump while the tower is going up. You need to jump on the stationary enemy dropship.

2nd area:
Pick up some suit chargers! Get to the passage behind the tentacle monster. You can jump! This will save you on enemy encounters. Keep going straight ahead in that passage.
A) Toss some backpacks through the crevice near the first web past just past the rocks. You will encounter the Gargantua.
B) You can trick him by hiding and he will make a turn in the cave. Keep in mind he is still alive and can follow you!
C) Try and run past him [ACTUALLY EASY! For some reason his arms on the left don't block you in that seemingly small passage] YOU DON'T even need high health and suit power! You can get by him with no damage!

Go over where the Gargantua came from. Run past the Tentacle Monsters. Run to the teleporter!

3rd area:
This is a factory of sorts. Don't damage the barrel-type things as they will spawn alien grunts!!!
Most of the Alien slaves are too busy to be bothered with you, so don't worry about combat! Take the platform ALL the way up to the 3rd floor. You can do this by getting to the 2nd floor and riding the connecting ring up to the 3rd floor. Make sure you ride the conveyor belt going into the GREEN area. NOT the blue area.

After landing in a pool of water, you will need to get to the conveyor belt on your right. Go against the current and through the opening on the left.

A) Keep to the right and get on top of the moving column
B) Go left and onto THOSE two moving columns and not have to open an alien grunt egg.

Expect a doorway on the left.

• You will have to destroy 1 alien grunt egg at the end of the passageway.

Go through the red vent on the floor to your right. When you exit, turn left. Head to the 2nd floor and jump on the spinning, moving platform. Toss a grenade up to the 3rd floor landing. You need to stay in this area and just use the spinning platforms to reach the teleporter.
Congrats! You're on Xen's surface again. You can long jump past a platform or two. Get ready for the final boss!

Chapter 17 - Nihilanth (Boss 3 - Final Boss)

This is it!
Go ahead and break those crystals on the wall (aim midway along the crystal) using your crossbow or grenade launcher.
Hide behind a rock to avoid projectiles and teleports. Once you do enough damage, the fireballs around Nihilanth will disappear and he will stop trying to teleport you. HIs barrages of electricity orbs will be reduced to 1 and you can damage his brain (finally). Remove the crystals first, or Nihilanth will regenerate his strength.

Then using the darkest colored jump booster - to the right of your starting point (the only one that allows you to jump that high, shoot projectiles, grenades, etc, into Nihilanth's... brain...

If you aim your jump and landing well, you can actually land inside Nihilanth's cranium and hit it wil the crowbar (well, hopefully you still have decent powered weapons, but still).
I recommend using the grenade launcher on the MP5 because it has a quick reload time.

Chapter 18 - Endgame

Nothing to do here really. You beat the game. Whoo!

Skipping chapters and other shortcuts

This section was graciously compiled by Vladimir Zarzoff. =D
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When speedrunning, skipping parts can be useful to some people. Some chapters in their entirety are able to be skipped which makes for a faster playthrough (Obviously). These shortcuts are not present in every chapter, but the chapters and parts that can be skipped will be listed here.
If you have any other tips or ways to skip chapters, list them here and we'll add them in :)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• Hazard Course (Optional): No known shortcuts. Come on guys, do you really need to skip the training?
  
• Black Mesa Inbound: No known shortcuts.
  
• Anomalous Materials: Not really a shortcut, but if you use the cheat "impulse 101", get all the weapons and use either the hivehand or the snarks on the Anti-Mass Spectrometer then it will activate without the use of the sample. This is redundant for a few reasons. One being that using cheats defeats the feeling of survival for the first few levels, another being that using cheats you can skip several chapters using different means. But perhaps the most glaring point is that no-one really uses cheats, Right guys?
  
• Prepare For Unforseen Consequences: No known shorcuts here.
  
• Office Complex: The area with the freezer can be skipped by finding a Black Mesa security guard before you enter the freezer. If you take said guard to the door on the left of the freezer entrance and pushed into said door, then the door will jam for a while and the door will remain open for you to go through.
  
• We've Got Hostiles: Arguably one of the turning chapters in Half Life, We've Got Hostiles is the first chapter you can fully skip, however it is difficult to do and timing is important. When the chapter starts, a scientist is losing his calm and yelling about the silo doors. While he is waving his arm, talk to him to get him to follow you to the office door. Push him into it to make it open, and after it opens you have to kill the poor bugger to make the door detect an entity and open itself. By doing that, you are able to go through the door and press the button which opens the silo doors, thusly skipping the whole chapter.
  NOTE: If you don't like the idea of killing a scientist, don't worry. He dies later anyway, and in a pretty gruesome manner.
  
• Blast Pit: Better watch out for the giant tenticles, as this chapter is currently unskippable.
  
• Power Up: By going up to the barricade and placing tripmines to form stairs, you are able to climb over the barricade and skip the entire level. Be careful with your placements.
  
• On A Rail: No current shorcuts.
  
• Apprehension: The battle with the Ichthyosaur (Also known as the Giant Freakin' Fish) can be skipped entirely by allowing yourself to be caught by the barnacle which is closest to the exit. By moving fowards and killing the barnacle at the same time, this beastie can be skipped.
  
• Residue Processing: No known shorcuts.
  
• Questionable Ethics: The laser activating sequence can be skipped in the original version (But not the Source version) by pushing a button which opens a door to four scientists.
  
• Surface Tension: You can make one of the aircrafts destroy itself at the beginning of the chapter by letting it see you when you first see it. It will fire upon you and subsequently destroy itself on the rocks. In addition, a chuck of the chaptercan be skipped if you jump from the first set of fences before the dam passage to the rocks below. There will be a dead scientist as an indicator on a rock, and by slowly sliding on the edge of the canyon you can reach the rock, or close enough to it, and an area where movement is limited as you have to crouch to move.
  
• Forget About Freeman!: No known shortcuts here.
  
• Lambda Core: By climbing onto one of the curved structures and using the hivehand or snarks on the portal and then falling into it, the entire portal opening sequence can be skipped.
  
• Xen: From 'Xen' to 'Endgame' there are no known shortcuts.
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  If there are any shortcuts that I have missed, please let me know in the comments below. We will verify and publish your shortcut as well. Thank you.

Half Life Speedrun Tips and Half Life Anthology

If you'd like to read about some more speedrunning tips, or if you'd just like to know what chapters coincide with each other, click on the link below.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=167407206
Thank you for reading!

Mission Statement

Thank you for reading this guide. Feedback is important - please rate and comment!
If you want more, go to my guides section and “follow”!
I am one of the leading guidewriters on Steam, having written dozens of guides, from troubleshooting to achievement hunting.
I enjoy helping people play games, but I can’t do it alone!
Encourage your friends to write guides…for games!
-Catherine

[Justy4956]

so, for the shortcut on "We've got Hostiles," the scientist just repeatedly attempts walking through the office door and nothing happens. I got it to work once, but i don't know how i did it.

[SpaceGuy987]

Blast Pit shortcut: When you ride the slow elevator up, start bunnyhopping down the tunnel, past the Bullsquid and go down the right catwalk. When you reach the part with the barrels on the left, dodge them and the zombie, bunnyhop up onto the railing, and if you've gained enough speed, you can get over to the oxygen and water platform, saving you that much time.

[Missold]

Anomalous Materials shortcut: in the first elevator section, you can jump out of the elevator after activating it and take the maintenance ladder down instead, which is a couple of seconds faster

[the_wall_yo]

with the HD models enabled the MP5 is replaced with an M16.

[That Wun Wabbit]

@G-Ball, it's been so long since I've played this I can't help you. My coauthir might have something to add, or you could check around on the interwebs

[Babyraper]

where to find MP5 i only find M16 w grenade launcher

[That Wun Wabbit]

oh man, that chapter was all downhill. LOL! The worst thing for me was this stupid little crane puzzle early in the game. I just remember the pushing of objects is super sensitive

[32 Chunk]

I think it's just fine, there's enough details to get through the entire game!
(I keep dying on Xen 'cause I'm a dumbass that can't make long-jumps.)

[That Wun Wabbit]

@DietDoritoes, thanks! I still think it's a bit long though, lol

[32 Chunk]

Just the right amount of descriptiveness for me, thanks!