Half-Life 2 Walkthrough for Chapter 7 - Narrow Girders and a Gunship, What Could Go Wrong?
The Railroad Bridge
You have to get all the way to the end of the bridge to turn off the force field ahead, so get ready for a lot of careful walking. Go across the bridge and up the stairs into the first guard post. Head out onto the broken catwalk and get on the one to the right. Jump out and land on the section of catwalk hanging on the bridge below. Then walk up the catwalk to get to the little white house. Go inside and kill the headcrab. Then start working your way down the girders slowly. Just walk on them like you would any other path. Drop off onto the lower platform and climb up to the platform with all the rockets. Two soldiers run out on the platform ahead of you. Use the crossbow to kill them and pick up the extra bolts lying next to the dead rebel.
The walk up the string of broken catwalks to get to the next white house. Run along the almost broken catwalk to get across the last section. Keep moving and kill the two combine on the catwalks attached to the guard station. Then go inside and clear out the three soldiers inside. A shotgun works well in these close quarters. If you are low on ammo, then switch to the magnum or AR2. Go out to the catwalk and head up the ladder. Wipe out the four soldiers that run out of the upper level, then go inside. Walk through the inner part of the guard house and go to the area with two guards behind a force field. Shoot them both and then use the gravity gun to pull the plug on the force field. Use both chargers to restore your health, then press the button.
Gunship Battles
You now need to kill the gunship. Go ahead and take three shots at it from inside the guardhouse after you break the windows. Then run out and start backtracking. Run out to the section before the catwalks and jump down. Kill the two soldiers that run inside and keep backtracking. Climb up to the highest level before the bridge and run back across the same catwalk to get to the first white house. Save now. Run down the broken catwalks to get to the platform. Then climb the ladder to get into the house next to the box of rockets.
Use the house for cover and finish off the gunship. Then just backtrack all the way to the first part of the bridge. The only hard part is that you will probably take some damage jumping off the bridge onto the platform at the foot of the bridge.
Leaving Town
Go outside and watch the antlion and the zombie fight. Finish off the survivors in their little battle and run along the ridge until it slopes back to town. Four more combine are positioned at the four corners. Use the AR2 to survive the ambush and get to your car. Take the little side path up to the railroad bridge.
Drive along the tracks until you hear a train whistle. It’s possible to hit the turbo and beat the oncoming train (I’ve done it) but you might just want to slam the handbrake and go in reverse to get out of its way. Whichever method you chose, go along the bridge and swing off to the side. Look for a broken highway ramp leading up to a tunnel. Go inside and wait for the loading screen. The chapter officially ends here.
This post is part of the series: Half-Life 2 Walkthrough - Chapter 7 - Highway 17
This walkthrough covers all of the driving and fighting that takes place as you fight your way down Highway 17 on your way to Nova Prospekt. If you are having trouble killing any of the gunships or the Combine, then just look inside for a little help.
