Raiding Nova Prospekt - Half-Life 2 Walkthrough: Chapter 9
Breaking Into Jail
Go into the prison and run down the stairs. Look for the bright prison cell. It has a hole in the wall. Jump into this hole and quickly kill the headcrab inside. Go through the tunnel and drop down into the room with the dead guards. Look around and find the stairs. Knock over the turret firing on your antlions if you can. A good hit with your crowbar or the gravity gun should knock it over. Then go up the stairs and cross over the bent section of fence. Knock down the two turrets with your gravity gun and move up to the office. Recharge your health and energy on the wall chargers. Then just keep moving down the path and go up the stairs.
Once you get to the top, you should see two turrets in front of you. They’re aren’t facing you though, so don’t worry. Go ahead and knock them over now. Go through the door past them. The room ahead is flooded, but there isn’t much to worry about. There are three barnacles ahead. One is easy to avoid, but two hang right over top of the catwalk. Go ahead and kill them with whatever gun you want. Be especially careful of the barnacle hanging over the stairs as you exit the water. It’s hard to spot. Walk out of the room and into the next. The glass will shatter above you and four fast headcrabs drop down on top of you. Just use the crowbar or the shotgun to wipe them out. Go through the double doors ahead.
You should be able to see a bunch of dead soldiers in the shower area. Move forward and jump over the fence into the shower room as soon as you can. An angry antlion guard will break through the double doors and start attacking. Just start shooting it with whatever weapons you have. Duck through the hole in the wall to the left. The shower area has a lot of bulges and walls that will interfere with its attack. Use the shotgun, the crossbow, the grenades in the SMG, or the magnum to drain its health. Once it dies, you can break down the soldiers’ blockade on the door and exit the room. Just use the gravity gun to pull the tables away from the door. You will now get some reinforcements in the form of fresh antlions.
Breaching Nova Prospekt
Send your antlions ahead into the next room. There are about six soldiers, two turrets, and a few manhacks in the room. Help your antlions gain the upper hand by knocking down the two turrets at the back of the room. A well placed grenade or barrel will do the trick. Don’t approach the back gate though, there are two turrets behind it that can fire at you, and there isn’t a good way to kill them yet. Once the last soldier falls, the gate on the side of the room will open. Send your antlions in again.
Just hang back and let them handle the man hacks and soldiers. Charge in and clear the last three combine holed up in the office. You need to pull the plug out of the wall to kill the force field though. Be ready with your shotgun as they run out. If you catch them right as they come out, you shouldn’t take much damage. Go inside and flip the switch to open the next gate. Go through the door and head up the stairs.
There’s a laser mine ahead. Either shoot the mine or send an antlion through the laser to take it out. Then send your antlions into the control room to kill the few soldiers inside. Press the button to open the previously locked gate below. A group of soldiers will rush toward you, but you should have a group of antlions massed at the door. They’ll take care of the soldiers. Go through the green door and grab the health and ammo from the supply crates. Then drop down and go through the gate you just opened in the first room.
Nova Prospekt Control Rooms
Grab a barrel with the gravity gun and use it for a shield. Advance until you have a clear shot at the turret. Launch the barrel forward to knock it over. There are more turrets around the corner along with soldiers. Run and gun your way to the little grate in the wall and crouch through it. Stop before the fan and grab one of the objects with your gravity gun. Feed it into the fan and hope it catches. The board usually works well. Crawl through the damaged fan and have your shotgun in hand. Kill the soldier on the other side of the vent and then pull the plug on the wall. Knock over the turrets to reunite with your antlions.
Grab the supplies and go through the open cell door. Once the loading screen passes, you will need to run up the stairs. Take cover behind one of the reinforced glass panels and send your antlions into the room. Once the first part is clear, throw the pheropod further and advance to the first alcove. This should clear most of the room and take care of the machine gunner who runs down. Go through the open door to the right and head upstairs.
Charge up and start clearing the balcony. More soldiers will start taking up defensive positions. Use the cells for cover and take them out with the AR2. Keep your enemies in front of you and take your time to clear them out. Go up the stairs behind the machine gun position to get onto the third floor.
You need to make it to the next control room up ahead. The path has soldiers sprinkled throughout and more will take up positions on the ground floor. There isn’t any perfect strategy for this one. Your antlions will thoroughly attack the soldiers. You just need to take out a few stray ones and clear a path along the zig zag route to the main control room.
The room itself is fairly easy to take. There are only three soldiers left in it by the time you get to it. Throw a pheropod inside and take cover behind the bulletproof window at the entrance. The only real danger is the turret in the closet cover the small entrance. If your antlions can’t take it out, then you’ll have to use a grenade or a barrel. Once it’s down, flip the switch to open the two sealed cell doors. Backtrack straight out of the door and go through the new cell doors and into the next room.
Cleaning Up The Nova Prospekt Laundry Room
This is just hard to describe. The entire area is just one chaotic battlefield. Run forward and have your antlions charge ahead. They can kill the first group around the corner. You have to move past them. Punch through this little blockade to the laundry room itself.
There is one turret across from the entrance and a number of soldiers in various positions. Throw your pheropod into the center of the room and drop down to the trenches. You have two options for the fight.
It’s possible and more fun to work through the little trenches, use your shotgun to kill the soldiers, and knock over the turret. If you don’t have enough health for this much fighting, then look to the right wall as you enter the room. There’s a little fence blocking a side route. Jump inside and go to the room in the center. There is just one poison headcrab carrier inside. Blow it away and recharge your health at the charger on the wall. Grab some ammo and peak around the next corner. Knock over the turret and finish off the survivors. Then walk ahead to the kitchen.
There are two turrets on the right side, so run past the first side path you see. Turn the corner and kill the few soldiers in your way. Approach the kitchen area. Crouch under the glass window and toss a grenade inside to hopefully knock over a turret in the back. Shoot the gas stream to start another explosion and then duck through the little hole in the wall.
Stay below the counter and behind the bulletproof glass. There are three soldiers coming down the stairs ahead and they are supported by two turrets. Kill the three soldiers as they come around the corner. Then have an antlion round the corner and knock over the turrets. Go up the stairs and enter the little control room. Kill the two soldiers up here with a quick shotgun blast and charge up your health and energy. Jump through the hole in the window when you’re ready for a big fight.
Final Antlion Guard Battle
As you drop down, six soldiers will run out of the door. You’ll see why in a second. Don’t just watch the battle. Grab an explosive barrel and hit the antlion guard while it’s killing the soldiers. Once the antlion guard turns its attention on you, hide behind pillars in the room. They will disintegrate if the antlion guard charges into them them, but the guard will be stunned in the process. Use these basics tactics to survive. Use the pillars for cover and keep shooting the guard. It’ll go down fast.
Once it’s dead, you need to go to the back of the battle room. Look for the metallic walls. Go through the damaged gate and get onto the catwalk. Go down the steps. Kill the lone zombie and start walking down the little aisle between the walls. They will eventually crush you, so don’t take too long. Grab a table with the gravity gun and lean it against the hole in the wall near the end. Climb up and kill the headcrab. Drop down into the next room to end the first part of the chapter.
This post is part of the series: Half-Life 2 Walkthrough - Chapter 9: Nova Prospekt
This series covers both parts of chapter 9. This includes chapter 9 and chapter 9a. If you need any help killing the Combine guarding Nova Prospekt, defeating the antlion guards inside, or winning the turret battles, then just look inside this walkthrough series for tips and tricks you need.
