Continue to drive down the tunnel and you should reach
another road block of crashed cars. Here, however, the tunnel is populated
by zombies (normal and fast varieties), so try and run over as many as you
can before your way is blocked. It's much easier now to just get out of
the car and shoot the rest that come at you (I recommend using the SMG or
the Gravity Gun, thanks to the ammo crate on the back of the buggy and the
assortment of large heavy objects in the vicinity).
Once you've disposed of them all, you'll notice a small room in the right hand wall. The door is blocked, so go around to the right and through a vent on the side. Dispose of the few headcrabs in here and pick up the supplies. You can now get rid of the shelves blocking the door and go back out into the tunnel (watch out for newly spawned zombies). Now simply clear the car wreckage with your gravity gun like before, and drive on through to the end of the tunnel.
Keep going down the road until you hit another small blockage, which you can easily drive right through without much hassle (although it's also a lot of fun to clear things with the gravity gun, so go ahead if you feel so inclined). Eventually you should see a white house surrounded by a fence off the road; you don't have to go in here, so if you can't be bothered, feel free to skip the next two paragraphs.
As you approach the house be careful, as there are a couple of combine soldiers burning some bodies on the other side of the fence. if you want, you could smash through the fence and try to run them over, but there's also the more traditional method. Again, try using the SMG for this as you have a nice supply of ammo on the back of your buggy. Once disposed of, you can enter the house from the back through a hole in the wall (the front door is blocked).
Once inside, traverse the stairs to the top floor where you'll see a dead citizen with some ammo and health supplies. Be careful once you pick it up though, as rollermines will start to invade the house through the windows. Quickly pick them up and fire them out of the windows into the sea; do NOT run away, as more will simply appear as you go down each flight of stairs. Try to take care of each rollermine one at a time. Once they are all disposed of, get back to your buggy and keep heading down the road.
Further down the road, more rollermines will pop up just before hitting a combine checkpoint. Be careful when driving into the checkpoint, two wheel stoppers will pop up out of the road and could cause your buggy to flip over. Quickly take out the combine soldier on the upper platform, then be prepared for a few combine to appear from the building to the left. A few goodies can be found in this area, so have a little look around for rechargers and pickups. Once finished, get back in the buggy and shoot through the checkpoint. Another set of stoppers will pop up here, so be careful. Continue down the road, making sure to avoid the gap in the road around the bend.
You will now reach yet another blockade, the way blocked by yet another overturned tanker. You can easily drive around the right of it over a small hill, but be careful not to drive into the ocean. Once inside the perimeter, a couple of dropships will appear and drop some soldiers on the other side of the blockade, so take cover from their energy guns. The combine will shoot their way through the fence, so be alert when fighting them and taking cover. Again, plenty of heavy objects to use, but because there are so many combine, it's best if you use a more conventional weapon.
Once they are taken care of, you need to raise the gate so you can drive through. To do this, you must find batteries and attach them to a generator inside the nearby house with the gravity gun. One battery is already in place, and two more need to be found. You can find one inside the house on the bed, under a bathtub right outside the house, in a blue car outside, or on a platform above the house (use the gravity gun to pull it down). Simply pick one up with the gravity gun and place it one of the empty slots (it automatically slots in, like the plugs used in previous chapters). After you've done this, the gate will slowly raise open and you can drive through.
Pass through the tunnel to the other side, and you will finally arrive at Lighthouse Point. Here one of the rebels tells you to stick your buggy in the garage, as the combine are following it. Do as he says then go out of the side door. Combine dropships are heading for that outpost, and they could use your help. The first one will now appear, and the rest of the rebels will go to hide from it; it's best you do this as well, to avoid the dropship's guns. The rebels will attack once the combine have dropped out, so you do the same.
During this battle, a number of other dropships will appear as the current combine soldiers are killed, so take this into consideration when keeping an eye on your health and ammo. As well as this, the rebels will be able to help you out by handing over ammo and health from time to time. Take advantage of the numerous buildings by out-flanking the combine. There isn't much to throw at them, and since there's so many, the gravity gun will have to sit this one out.
After you take out the combine dropped off at the lighthouse itself, a gunship will appear. Head into the lighthouse and up the stairs for some RPG ammo, but be careful as the gunship will follow you up, shooting through the windows. Once at the top, try to shoot it down using the same tactics as before; guide the rocket around the back of the gunship using the laser sight, and hit it from the behind. if you need more ammo, remember that there are ammo crates on the floor below you. Also, make sure that you don't accidentally steer the rocket into the small walls next to you; this is easily done due to the windows, so keep this in mind as well. It's not that hard to shoot it down, as long as you take cover on the floor below when needed.
Once it's been disposed of, go back downstairs and one of the rebels will meet you half way down. He will lead you to the secret path that will take you further down the coast, which is in the basement. Once down the path, you will hear another dropship land and more combine fighting; you can't go back to help the rebels out, so don't bother trying. Watch out for the combine soldier that spots you and tries to shoot you from the cliff edge. Carefully make your way across the gaps, and into the cave.
By this time you might be wondering why this chapter is called Sandtraps. Well, now you'll know. Keep going down the coast and you will come across a couple of rebels who will get attacked by ant lions. Now, this entire next section is ant lion territory, and they're very edgy, so don't step on the sand unless you want a whole legion of them attacking you. Continue on by jumping the rocks, avoiding the sand.
Now, here is where the gravity gun really shines; using nearby wreckage, you will be able to get across the larger gaps more easily by using them as stepping stones. Drag something large enough to stand on, and lightly throw it out in front of you (by simply letting it go while swinging it). Continue around the rocks and you will then get to a see-saw; use the wreckage around you and place it on the front part, causing it to tip over so that you can use it as a ramp without you weighing it down on the other end.
From here, you may notice some supplies dotted around the beach, as well as a shack to the right with supplies in them. You can drag some of these to you, but some are too far away for you to reach. You can decide for yourself whether they are worth the risk, although I wouldn't recommend you go for them. It's too hard to get back up to where you are if you do, and you just attract more ant lions in doing so.
You should spot a house to your left. The gap is too big to jump, but there is a large wooden plank nearby which you can use as a bridge. Once across, take this with you. Pick up the supplies in the house, then bridge another gap with the plank towards the next building. For the next bit, go down on the ramp and use bridge here; be careful, as you're very close to the sand. The next building has more supplies, as well as a generator. This turns a pounding machine like on, the ones you encountered in Highway 17, so press the switch. Be careful in here though, as some of the ground is sand and ant lions will pop up.
Now from here, you have too options; you can either brave a run to the pounding machine, or you can use objects to create stepping stones. Either way is up to you. From the pounding machine, you need to go up a ledge on the wall ahead of you. Once up here, you'll see a long stretch of sand with little standing support in sight. You don't have another sprint on your hands this time though, as this time you'll be going toe-to-toe with the ant lion guard.
Once you drop down, the guard will come up through the sand and summon a few of his smaller ant lion buddies. Once you take care of the ant lions, another set will respawn, so concentrate your attacks on the guard. The trick here is to try and let him gorge you, and side-step out of the way. Doing this, you can run further up the canyon where a rebel with a mounted gun is there to help. Continue to dodge the guard, while unloading everything you have at it (don't worry, the next section you won't need your current weapons as much). Some explosive barrels will be dotted around, so take advantage of them. It shouldn't take long to die.
Once it's dead, a vortigaunt will come out of the camp and extract "pheropods" for you. Make sure you pick these up (move towards the "spores" that appear above the guard), then follow the vortigaunt into the camp. In here there will be a few people to talk to and some supply crates, but make sure to keep following the vortigaunt. Eventually you reach an area where he will teach you to control the ant lions using the "bug bait" you just acquired. Follow his instructions, then go through the large passageway he opens up for you. Go through the cave and out onto the beach; the final stretch before Nova Prospekt.
A few ant lions might appear from the sand when you get outside; don't worry, they won't hurt you, but they will follow you. However, there is a pounding machine that stops them from doing that, so go up the ladder and switch it off. Do the same for the next one. Some combine will now appear, test out your bug bait and take cover while you enjoy the show. Don't worry if the ant lions die, more will appear. Once they are dead, head for the outpost at the back of the beach for some supplies. Continue along the beach.
The next outpost will have a gun emplacement, so take cover as you order your ant lions up the hill. While the guns are distracted, turn off the nearby pounding machine so you can continue. For the next outpost, move your way across the beach using the rocks as cover and ant lions as a distraction. Some combine will appear, so take care of them before moving on. You should now be able to get up to the outpost from here; don’t bother going any further down the beach, it's just a dead end.
Once the combine inside the outpost have been taken care of, turn around and head for the ruins behind you. There should be a door leading into a building, so head through there. Some manhacks will be there to greet you, but the ant lions can take care of them very quickly. Still, you can use the gravity gun yourself to take them out by grabbing them and throwing them at a wall, if you want to. Go a bit further inwards, and the combine will launch some flares. This bit is fun.
The combine will be coming at you from a couple of different directions, so take advantage of the explosive barrels dotted about the place. You can use the ant lions as a distraction while you take down a few combine of your own. There are a lot more of them in here than it might seem, so be careful. Keep heading through and you will appear back outside. There will be yet another outpost here that you can raid from behind, so do so. Watch out for the combine with the gun emplacement at the next outpost (snipe him down with the pistol, magnum or crossbow). Keep heading along the path, killing combine as you go, until you get to another outpost.
For the next bit, do not go down the main path; you will be cut up by the guns. Instead, order the ant lions to go down there in your place as a distraction, and then go around the left hand side behind the rocks. With the ant lions keeping the combine busy, you should be able to take down the ones in the outpost fairly easy. Be careful of combine being dropped by a dropship nearby. Once the area is clear, keep going down the path and you'll reach some pipes running up the side of the mountain. You're almost there.
Take the path around the cliff on the right, jumping over the gap. You will reach a small campfire with a couple of zombies. Don't rely on your ant lions, as the zombie can kill them very easily (for some reason). Just grab a nearby object and throw it at them with the gravity gun, or use the shotgun. Quick and painless. Now, see the bridge above where the zombies were? Take away the wooden planks supporting it, so it turns into a handy ramp. Follow the path around and you'll be back at the pipes running up the cliff. Some combine will be up there taking pot shots at you, so throw some bug bait at them in return. Go to the far side of the pipes and climb the ladder up, and watch out for even more combine above you.
You should see some supply crates and a dead body on the other side of the pipes; jump over the banister towards it, and go around the path. You will eventually come to a cliff edge that you can climb up yourself. you will then reach an open pipe that goes into the mountainside, but make sure you dodge the fast zombie that jumps out at you (and watch it go flying into the ocean). Follow the pipe into the mountain.
The next bit is simultaneously one of the coolest and hardest bits in the game, so be prepared. Follow the pipes around until you reach a pool of water; you're now in the outer courtyard of Nova Prospekt. Climb up the ladder and keep your distance from the watchtowers. If you look to the right you'll see one around the corner; quickly throw a few bugbait at it before the combine start tearing you apart, and watch the legions of ant lions jump over the wall and massacre them. Repeat the same thing for the watchtower to your left, while taking cover behind a nearby rock. There is one more in this area, so use the other towers as cover while you take care of it.
Head for the furthest tower and you should see some steps that lead upwards; throw some bugbait up there before going yourself. Notice that one of the combine fires a flare before being killed; guess what this means? Yup, more gunships are coming! Take out the combine in this small area, then get under the little piece of roof for cover, as the gunship will arrive almost immediately. Send some ant lions out into the open while you sprint around the corner pass some windows, where some combine will shoot at you. Take them down using a grenade or two, then go around the corner and inside the room. in here you'll find some rechargers.
There are some more combine outside, so take care of them with the ant lions before going too far. There's a turned-over blue container you can use as cover against the gunship, so use it. Another gunship will appear, so you now have two to contend with. You should find some rpg ammo crates in the area, so get some ammo if needed and shoot down the gunships. Use the cover provided, and concentrate on one gunship at a time. After they're gone (and any other remaining combine), a hole will explode in the side of one of the walls, letting you inside. You're finally inside the prison. Quickly get in and turn off the valve, getting rid of the jet of fire. go around the corner, and under the pipe, where you'll have to do the same thing again. Go through the door here and around the fence. The roof will collapse behind you, blocking your way out. Head towards the door to load the next chapter.
Once you've disposed of them all, you'll notice a small room in the right hand wall. The door is blocked, so go around to the right and through a vent on the side. Dispose of the few headcrabs in here and pick up the supplies. You can now get rid of the shelves blocking the door and go back out into the tunnel (watch out for newly spawned zombies). Now simply clear the car wreckage with your gravity gun like before, and drive on through to the end of the tunnel.
Keep going down the road until you hit another small blockage, which you can easily drive right through without much hassle (although it's also a lot of fun to clear things with the gravity gun, so go ahead if you feel so inclined). Eventually you should see a white house surrounded by a fence off the road; you don't have to go in here, so if you can't be bothered, feel free to skip the next two paragraphs.
As you approach the house be careful, as there are a couple of combine soldiers burning some bodies on the other side of the fence. if you want, you could smash through the fence and try to run them over, but there's also the more traditional method. Again, try using the SMG for this as you have a nice supply of ammo on the back of your buggy. Once disposed of, you can enter the house from the back through a hole in the wall (the front door is blocked).
Once inside, traverse the stairs to the top floor where you'll see a dead citizen with some ammo and health supplies. Be careful once you pick it up though, as rollermines will start to invade the house through the windows. Quickly pick them up and fire them out of the windows into the sea; do NOT run away, as more will simply appear as you go down each flight of stairs. Try to take care of each rollermine one at a time. Once they are all disposed of, get back to your buggy and keep heading down the road.
Further down the road, more rollermines will pop up just before hitting a combine checkpoint. Be careful when driving into the checkpoint, two wheel stoppers will pop up out of the road and could cause your buggy to flip over. Quickly take out the combine soldier on the upper platform, then be prepared for a few combine to appear from the building to the left. A few goodies can be found in this area, so have a little look around for rechargers and pickups. Once finished, get back in the buggy and shoot through the checkpoint. Another set of stoppers will pop up here, so be careful. Continue down the road, making sure to avoid the gap in the road around the bend.
You will now reach yet another blockade, the way blocked by yet another overturned tanker. You can easily drive around the right of it over a small hill, but be careful not to drive into the ocean. Once inside the perimeter, a couple of dropships will appear and drop some soldiers on the other side of the blockade, so take cover from their energy guns. The combine will shoot their way through the fence, so be alert when fighting them and taking cover. Again, plenty of heavy objects to use, but because there are so many combine, it's best if you use a more conventional weapon.
Once they are taken care of, you need to raise the gate so you can drive through. To do this, you must find batteries and attach them to a generator inside the nearby house with the gravity gun. One battery is already in place, and two more need to be found. You can find one inside the house on the bed, under a bathtub right outside the house, in a blue car outside, or on a platform above the house (use the gravity gun to pull it down). Simply pick one up with the gravity gun and place it one of the empty slots (it automatically slots in, like the plugs used in previous chapters). After you've done this, the gate will slowly raise open and you can drive through.
Pass through the tunnel to the other side, and you will finally arrive at Lighthouse Point. Here one of the rebels tells you to stick your buggy in the garage, as the combine are following it. Do as he says then go out of the side door. Combine dropships are heading for that outpost, and they could use your help. The first one will now appear, and the rest of the rebels will go to hide from it; it's best you do this as well, to avoid the dropship's guns. The rebels will attack once the combine have dropped out, so you do the same.
During this battle, a number of other dropships will appear as the current combine soldiers are killed, so take this into consideration when keeping an eye on your health and ammo. As well as this, the rebels will be able to help you out by handing over ammo and health from time to time. Take advantage of the numerous buildings by out-flanking the combine. There isn't much to throw at them, and since there's so many, the gravity gun will have to sit this one out.
After you take out the combine dropped off at the lighthouse itself, a gunship will appear. Head into the lighthouse and up the stairs for some RPG ammo, but be careful as the gunship will follow you up, shooting through the windows. Once at the top, try to shoot it down using the same tactics as before; guide the rocket around the back of the gunship using the laser sight, and hit it from the behind. if you need more ammo, remember that there are ammo crates on the floor below you. Also, make sure that you don't accidentally steer the rocket into the small walls next to you; this is easily done due to the windows, so keep this in mind as well. It's not that hard to shoot it down, as long as you take cover on the floor below when needed.
Once it's been disposed of, go back downstairs and one of the rebels will meet you half way down. He will lead you to the secret path that will take you further down the coast, which is in the basement. Once down the path, you will hear another dropship land and more combine fighting; you can't go back to help the rebels out, so don't bother trying. Watch out for the combine soldier that spots you and tries to shoot you from the cliff edge. Carefully make your way across the gaps, and into the cave.
By this time you might be wondering why this chapter is called Sandtraps. Well, now you'll know. Keep going down the coast and you will come across a couple of rebels who will get attacked by ant lions. Now, this entire next section is ant lion territory, and they're very edgy, so don't step on the sand unless you want a whole legion of them attacking you. Continue on by jumping the rocks, avoiding the sand.
Now, here is where the gravity gun really shines; using nearby wreckage, you will be able to get across the larger gaps more easily by using them as stepping stones. Drag something large enough to stand on, and lightly throw it out in front of you (by simply letting it go while swinging it). Continue around the rocks and you will then get to a see-saw; use the wreckage around you and place it on the front part, causing it to tip over so that you can use it as a ramp without you weighing it down on the other end.
From here, you may notice some supplies dotted around the beach, as well as a shack to the right with supplies in them. You can drag some of these to you, but some are too far away for you to reach. You can decide for yourself whether they are worth the risk, although I wouldn't recommend you go for them. It's too hard to get back up to where you are if you do, and you just attract more ant lions in doing so.
You should spot a house to your left. The gap is too big to jump, but there is a large wooden plank nearby which you can use as a bridge. Once across, take this with you. Pick up the supplies in the house, then bridge another gap with the plank towards the next building. For the next bit, go down on the ramp and use bridge here; be careful, as you're very close to the sand. The next building has more supplies, as well as a generator. This turns a pounding machine like on, the ones you encountered in Highway 17, so press the switch. Be careful in here though, as some of the ground is sand and ant lions will pop up.
Now from here, you have too options; you can either brave a run to the pounding machine, or you can use objects to create stepping stones. Either way is up to you. From the pounding machine, you need to go up a ledge on the wall ahead of you. Once up here, you'll see a long stretch of sand with little standing support in sight. You don't have another sprint on your hands this time though, as this time you'll be going toe-to-toe with the ant lion guard.
Once you drop down, the guard will come up through the sand and summon a few of his smaller ant lion buddies. Once you take care of the ant lions, another set will respawn, so concentrate your attacks on the guard. The trick here is to try and let him gorge you, and side-step out of the way. Doing this, you can run further up the canyon where a rebel with a mounted gun is there to help. Continue to dodge the guard, while unloading everything you have at it (don't worry, the next section you won't need your current weapons as much). Some explosive barrels will be dotted around, so take advantage of them. It shouldn't take long to die.
Once it's dead, a vortigaunt will come out of the camp and extract "pheropods" for you. Make sure you pick these up (move towards the "spores" that appear above the guard), then follow the vortigaunt into the camp. In here there will be a few people to talk to and some supply crates, but make sure to keep following the vortigaunt. Eventually you reach an area where he will teach you to control the ant lions using the "bug bait" you just acquired. Follow his instructions, then go through the large passageway he opens up for you. Go through the cave and out onto the beach; the final stretch before Nova Prospekt.
A few ant lions might appear from the sand when you get outside; don't worry, they won't hurt you, but they will follow you. However, there is a pounding machine that stops them from doing that, so go up the ladder and switch it off. Do the same for the next one. Some combine will now appear, test out your bug bait and take cover while you enjoy the show. Don't worry if the ant lions die, more will appear. Once they are dead, head for the outpost at the back of the beach for some supplies. Continue along the beach.
The next outpost will have a gun emplacement, so take cover as you order your ant lions up the hill. While the guns are distracted, turn off the nearby pounding machine so you can continue. For the next outpost, move your way across the beach using the rocks as cover and ant lions as a distraction. Some combine will appear, so take care of them before moving on. You should now be able to get up to the outpost from here; don’t bother going any further down the beach, it's just a dead end.
Once the combine inside the outpost have been taken care of, turn around and head for the ruins behind you. There should be a door leading into a building, so head through there. Some manhacks will be there to greet you, but the ant lions can take care of them very quickly. Still, you can use the gravity gun yourself to take them out by grabbing them and throwing them at a wall, if you want to. Go a bit further inwards, and the combine will launch some flares. This bit is fun.
The combine will be coming at you from a couple of different directions, so take advantage of the explosive barrels dotted about the place. You can use the ant lions as a distraction while you take down a few combine of your own. There are a lot more of them in here than it might seem, so be careful. Keep heading through and you will appear back outside. There will be yet another outpost here that you can raid from behind, so do so. Watch out for the combine with the gun emplacement at the next outpost (snipe him down with the pistol, magnum or crossbow). Keep heading along the path, killing combine as you go, until you get to another outpost.
For the next bit, do not go down the main path; you will be cut up by the guns. Instead, order the ant lions to go down there in your place as a distraction, and then go around the left hand side behind the rocks. With the ant lions keeping the combine busy, you should be able to take down the ones in the outpost fairly easy. Be careful of combine being dropped by a dropship nearby. Once the area is clear, keep going down the path and you'll reach some pipes running up the side of the mountain. You're almost there.
Take the path around the cliff on the right, jumping over the gap. You will reach a small campfire with a couple of zombies. Don't rely on your ant lions, as the zombie can kill them very easily (for some reason). Just grab a nearby object and throw it at them with the gravity gun, or use the shotgun. Quick and painless. Now, see the bridge above where the zombies were? Take away the wooden planks supporting it, so it turns into a handy ramp. Follow the path around and you'll be back at the pipes running up the cliff. Some combine will be up there taking pot shots at you, so throw some bug bait at them in return. Go to the far side of the pipes and climb the ladder up, and watch out for even more combine above you.
You should see some supply crates and a dead body on the other side of the pipes; jump over the banister towards it, and go around the path. You will eventually come to a cliff edge that you can climb up yourself. you will then reach an open pipe that goes into the mountainside, but make sure you dodge the fast zombie that jumps out at you (and watch it go flying into the ocean). Follow the pipe into the mountain.
The next bit is simultaneously one of the coolest and hardest bits in the game, so be prepared. Follow the pipes around until you reach a pool of water; you're now in the outer courtyard of Nova Prospekt. Climb up the ladder and keep your distance from the watchtowers. If you look to the right you'll see one around the corner; quickly throw a few bugbait at it before the combine start tearing you apart, and watch the legions of ant lions jump over the wall and massacre them. Repeat the same thing for the watchtower to your left, while taking cover behind a nearby rock. There is one more in this area, so use the other towers as cover while you take care of it.
Head for the furthest tower and you should see some steps that lead upwards; throw some bugbait up there before going yourself. Notice that one of the combine fires a flare before being killed; guess what this means? Yup, more gunships are coming! Take out the combine in this small area, then get under the little piece of roof for cover, as the gunship will arrive almost immediately. Send some ant lions out into the open while you sprint around the corner pass some windows, where some combine will shoot at you. Take them down using a grenade or two, then go around the corner and inside the room. in here you'll find some rechargers.
There are some more combine outside, so take care of them with the ant lions before going too far. There's a turned-over blue container you can use as cover against the gunship, so use it. Another gunship will appear, so you now have two to contend with. You should find some rpg ammo crates in the area, so get some ammo if needed and shoot down the gunships. Use the cover provided, and concentrate on one gunship at a time. After they're gone (and any other remaining combine), a hole will explode in the side of one of the walls, letting you inside. You're finally inside the prison. Quickly get in and turn off the valve, getting rid of the jet of fire. go around the corner, and under the pipe, where you'll have to do the same thing again. Go through the door here and around the fence. The roof will collapse behind you, blocking your way out. Head towards the door to load the next chapter.
