Half-Life 2: “We Don’t Go To Ravenholm…”

29th March 2013

Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3

This is the sixth chapter of Half-Life 2. It details Gordon Freeman’s journey through the ghost town of Ravenholm.

Originally a hidden village that lived free from the rule of the Combine, it was discovered and attacked by hundreds of Headcrab Shells, transforming almost the entire population into deadly Zombies.

This chapter also introduces two new headcrab variants – the Poison Headcrab and the Fast Headcrab – and their zombie counterparts.

The title is a reference to a comment made by Alyx Vance in the preceding chapter while showing Freeman around the base: “That’s the old passage to Ravenholm. We don´t go there anymore.”

Freeman kills zombies and avoids bizarre deathtraps, meeting the man who set them, Father Grigori, who gives Gordon a shotgun. Freeman and Grigori make their way to an old mine which has a path that leads back to City 17, but Grigori stays behind to fight zombies, and he continues to do so until the crypt behind him bursts open, leaving more zombies to come out from it.

He continues to shoot the zombies for a while until he runs through a blazing fire into the crypt.

Trivia
  • The Ravenholm tunnels entrance through Black Mesa East sports a sign, which says WARNING: CONTAMINATED AREA. Many similar Notices are present in Ravenholm.
  • If the player is to run to the entrance to the mine and then goes back, Grigori is still there, forever battling the hordes of zombies.
Achievements

Zombie Chopper (25G): Play through Ravenholm using only the Gravity Gun.  Hallowed Ground (5G): Escort Grigori safely through the church cemetery.

Screenshots

Click on the thumbnails below to open a 1024 pixel wide image.
WARNING: The screenshots contain spoilers.

Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
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The Replay Experience Experiment

This post is part of the The Replay Experience Experiment event. This is a chance to replay all the Half-Life games and discuss them based on our experiences since we first played them.

Hat Tip

The intro and trivia text are taken from the CombineOverWiki, a fan-supported, editable wiki covering the Half-Life series of games.

Walkthrough
A Complete Half-Life 2 Walkthrough

On the left is a complete text walkthrough for Half-Life 2.

It has been written by Stanley E. Dunigan and updated with all the tricks and tips from PlanetPhillip.Com readers.

It is in PDF format, meaning you can open it directly in modern browsers or download it and print it.

(Left-click to open and right-click to save)

Do Not Own This Game?

You can purchase Half-Life 2 directly through Steam and could be playing in within moments, depending on your internet connection.

21 Comments

  1. You know what? I wish I hadn’t gone to Ravenholm too! Not only was it millimetres away from “Stuttering Hell” but it was as frustrating as hell not using anything except the gravity gun.

    Still, just like taking your medicine, it’s all over now.

    I recognize the creativity that went into this level and in many ways it represents the best of what Valve can do, but I’ve never been a big fan of dark maps, not that these were that dark.

    I found myself running past zombies and closing doors behind me in the hope of avoiding the fast zombies. I never really enjoyed being here. Yes, turning on the motors and watching the zombies get sliced in half is fun, same goes for dropping cars on them, but it’s almost like shooting fish in a barrel – there’s little challenge.

    Got me wondering if it is possible to pass this chapter without killing anything. Anybody done that?

    Well, one thing is that the stuttering got so bad I had to stop and clean up my PC a bit, defrag the HL2 files, as well as the whole C drive – things are now much smoother. Every zombie-infested cloud has a silver lining!

    I’m pretty sure I missed some caches, but there you go.

    Playtime: 1 hour 21 minutes (3 sittings)

    1. Yes, it’s possible to not kill anything, but it requires you to fly with an object all over the cemetary in order to go past the gate without gregory getting killed (if you don’t kill anything, he will get killed)
      It is extremely hard, and even myself can’t do it without segmenting the run.

      1. I have absolutely no idea how to “fly on an object.” I don’t even know quite what you mean by it?

        I did try to run this map without killing anything, but only got as far as the rooftop section where you’re waiting for Grigori to send the cable car thing up to you, and got swamped by at least 20 fast zombies. There was nowhere to go, and no more health to pick up if you accidentally fell & survived.

        It might be possible, but this is my first time doing the whole thing on “Hard” and it’s beyond me!

        1. check out my “we don’t go to ravenholm” video, I fly a lot on objects troughout the level. It’s actually way easier to do against a wall, I fail 9/10 times when attempting it without a wall.

          If you check my video, you can see how to avoid most of that battle, and if you go a little life to spare you don’t need to blow up 4-5 zombies like I did. You can also skip the cart wait by flying 😛

          but yeah, 99.9% of people (including me) won’t be able to play this chapter without killing anything.

        2. thomas

          Topic: To complete Ravenholm without killing anyone:

          When waiting for the cable car, don’t wait on the roof. Once you’ve caught Grigori’s attention, return to the room below via which you accessed the roof. You can’t go back through the trapdoor: do it by entering the door from the walkway by which you originally entered. Don’t let any monsters follow you in if you can help it. Wait in that room for a minute or two until you hear him say ‘Now, Brother, enter the cart!’ (or similar). Then head back up the ladder and into the cart.

          Hope this helps

  2. Blue Lightning

    Ah, the legendary horror level of HL2. Ravenholm has been recognized by many as one of the best horror levels in video gaming. However, the creepy level seems to be a love it or hate it level…not much in-between with fans.

    The level introduces us to the venom headcrab, the most deadly variety of headcrab complete with a rattlesnake warning sound if your too close, and bright red strips to warn off anything thinking of getting close. It’s also the level that gives us the fast headcrab, and of course the fast zombie. I think it also give’s us the posion headcrab zombie. These along with the spooky atmosphere make Ravenholm a hit, espcially when played at night with lights off.

    But by far the most epic part of the level, is the keeper of the town. Father Grigory makes many apprearences out of reach, telling you things about Ravenholm. He not only fills in a good side-story, he keeps us in the dark about his status in regards to us…although a sharp player realizes early on that he is indeed a freind.

    At the end of the level, Grigory leaves HL2 forever, in a a truley epic way…through flames fighting his “unruley flock”. This leaves us wondering if he ever survived? It’s the only true way for a legendary NPC to exit.

    All in all, a fun level that acheives what we were after…a link to the coast…

    🙂 And a valuable souvenir from the holy father…a shotgun.

  3. That chapter is supposed to be the scary chapter of Half-Life 2. The horror chapter. I personally always liked this chapter a lot, because it mixes puzzles with combat perfectly, as well as giving us plenty of opportunity to test our newly acquired gravity gun.
    I must say that I never tought of this level as “frightening”, it’s just a chapter like any other. A little stress when you first hear the fast zombies climbing, and some decent stress when you must find a way out while battling infinite zombies, but that’s all. Very cool chapter indeed ^^

    What else to say….
    How are there that many headcrabs if we killed the Gonarch in half-life 1? here are a few popular theories
    – There are more than one gonarch, as seen in many sp mods
    – The combine hatches them in laboratories to use them
    – They can also reproduce like any other being.

    Natural selection (evolution) is probably the cause of the new species, or the combine altered them. either way, they’re dangerous.

    I love the mecanics that allow you to slice zombies in half, but it would have been better if there were more than one way to do so. it would also have been cool to slice some headcrabs to see the inside (we’re a scientist right?), but hey, it’s only 2004 😛

    Challenges:
    – Reach father grigori in the early maps
    It’s pretty easy when you know how to fly on objects, but time consuming.
    – Kill father grigory without losing the game
    There are several maps where the engine won’t mind grigory’s death, but he will still be alive in the next one.
    – Kill every sniper
    I think there are 3, but I didn’t kill any.

    I made those challenges myself and I didn’t complete one ._.

    Five words or less review:
    Awesome! Killing the horde!

    Deaths:
    None, and that’s cool 😀

    Playtime:
    13 minutes 20 seconds 917 milliseconds

  4. General

    I remember the first time I play this chapter. It was horrific but it was impossible to stop.

    This kind of chapter is not my cup of tea because I never enjoyed horror and survival playing. However I think it’s well made and very efficient. Except in the mod Get a Life, I never had a so high apprehension while walking.
    The idea of a zombie/horror chapter is pretty simple but very well made here with an excellent atmosphere. Zombie and corpses everywhere in an old abandoned town, and a survivor who turns crazy.

    Of course it was the perfect place to introduce the new crabs and zombies. They are for a great part in chapter feeling, if it was only classical zombies it can’t be so good. Meanwhile it show that headcrabs evolute on Earth, but I ask myself if the Poison Crab is the result of nature or Combine.

    The survivor, Father Grigori is a strange character. Why does he still in that damned town? Probably he think it’s his duty to save all those poor peoples, even in their death. But the man is no longer sane and can be as terrific as the zombies he slaughter.

    Caught my eyes

    Why the mine is in the graveyard? Only because it’s zombie’s nest?!

    G-man Sighting

    Right before the rebel base, if you continue on the railway.

    Death

    None

    Playtime

    44 minutes, what’s happen if we last 666 minutes?

    My French Let’s Play

  5. I never really found Ravenholm “scary” before. Sure there is a great atmosphere and tension, and the subtle story of what happened there before is great. But trying to get the Gravity-Gun-only achievement can make it a pretty frightening level! What was worst was being surrounded by fast zombies, the sequence with the slow indoor elevator being the most challenging. I did find an easy way to beat the “cable car” battle, just jump back off the ledge and wait in the room underneath until you hear the car arrive! I have to say that I was very grateful for the ability to kill headcrabs with the GGun pulse. In the end there was no option but to sprint through the mines and get out as fast as possible. Which by the way, seems like a good time to mention how annoying it is that the flashlight and the sprint use the same energy! I’m so glad they changed that by Episode 2.

    On the bright side, getting the achievement gave me plenty of ammo spare for the long journey up the Coast, which is probably my favourite part of the game.

    Challenges

    Getting Zombie Chopper was challenging enough for me!

    Deaths

    Getting corned by fast zombies with no props available wasn’t very nice…

    Playtime: I’m really not counting, but all the running away I did made it faster than usual.

    1. Without dropping all the way to the ground, and consequently losing all your health, how can you back into the room you came out of? The trapdoor (deliberately as far as I can see) shuts behind you….

      (I’m still trying to master “object flying” but with little success…!)

      ?

      1. I would suggest using a script to master object flying, spamming USE and JUMP quickly enough to fly is extremely hard to by manually.
        I am able to fly very short distances manually, but I often end up failing it.
        I use a script in my videos.

      2. If you drop off the roof to the left, you can land back on the metal walkway and go through the door you entered through. Once the cart arrives you can go back up through the trapdoor.

  6. Unq

    Ravenholm has always kind of straddled the fence for me. I always dread going there because I guess I get creeped out easily, but on the other hand I love headcrabs (except the poison ones of course) and love playing with the gravity gun.

    I always make sure to grab Dog’s ball from Black Mesa East and keep it with me as long as I can (it can’t go past the cart ride when you meet up with Father Gregori). It’s great in that it will go off and kill headcrabs by itself and it serves as a great distraction since the zombies hate the ball, they’ll often ignore you totally in favor of chasing the ball. In the “standoff” right before that cart ride, I had no zombies even look in my direction as I waited for Gregori as he took his sweet time. Be careful, though – fire will make it blow up, and Gregori will try to shoot the thing if he sees it. It’s a nice companion in the creepy town of Ravenholm.

    Originally Ravenholm was to take place before the player got the gravity gun. I think that would have been a huge missed opportunity – as it stands, it’s the perfect chapter to practice with since most of the enemies are slow-moving and a relatively low threat, and of course you’re given tons of things to toss around like random saw blades and wall radiators. I’m glad Valve had the sense to not only move Ravenholm to after getting the gravity gun, but to ensure that the player had a ton of time to get familiar with it before he/she comes across the more difficult enemies in later chapters.

    I don’t really think of this chapter as scary per se, but it’s certainly creepy. The dark areas and corners are one thing, but what really makes the atmosphere is the sound. Keep an ear out next time you play for the really odd creepy sounds you hear from time to time.

    Playtime: 1 hour, 10 minutes

    1. Stanley Dunigan

      You’re right about how useful Dog’s rollermine “ball” is in Ravenholm. I’ve been taking it along and using it to kill zombies and headcrabs ever since I first heard about that years ago. There are some things worth noting for those who aren’t familiar with using the rollermine in Ravenholm yet.

      1) It’s endlessly reusable as gravity gun ammo as long as you don’t let it get too close to fire, explosions, or deep water.

      2) Throwing it with the gravity gun can kill regular and fast zombies in one hit, and poison zombies in two or three hits. (And any type of headcrab in one hit.)

      3) Killing a zombie with it never lets the controlling headcrab survive, no matter where it hits the zombie. I’m also pretty sure it never creates a zombie torso.

      4) You can take it past the squeaky cart ride if you fire it over the fence while looking almost straight up right before doing the cart ride. Grigori will be shooting it as you ride across, but hopefully it won’t be knocked off to where you can’t retrieve it. At least Grigori won’t shoot at it when you’re holding it with the gravity gun, which makes it pretty useful in the cemetery.

  7. Aly Girrificzz

    I found out, looking into the facts and knowing this game so well, the facts are wrong! They say that the reason they do not go to Ravenholm anymore is because of the Zombie Infection. The thing is, the Zombie Infection did not occur to Ravenholm until after the Cmbine attack! The proof is when you are out in the Junkyard with Alyx and D0g, You will find that after your training is complete, the rockets that hold the Headcrab Zombies, are flying through the air and headin strait for Ravenholm!
    Also, once you get to Ravenholm, you will find the rockets throughout the map. So, with that being said, That Fact there is wrong!!

  8. Interesting point, but you are in error with your conclusion. That attack is a new wave sent to harass the recently discovered rebel bases near the vicinity, or just to make Gordon Freeman waste my ammo!
    Many of the traps you discover are quite old and there are a lot of new walkways built to keep you safer above the street levels. That cable ride must have taken more than Father Grigori to set up and a few people to guard them as it was erected!
    The real question is, “How long does it take the infected to become zombies in the first place?”
    Thanks for getting me thinking about this nasty level.

  9. I recently played this scary chapter using “SMOD Redux version 8” for fun, so I am waiting a bit before I go in as just plain old Gordo!
    Playing with cheats, for infinite ammo and the flamethrower was a hoot. 😀

    I will play Ravenholm with the infinite aux power cheat to keep my torch bright as it is the only way I know to keep it powered!

  10. Well I went to Ravenholm and managed to take Dog’s ball, which lasted 5 mins before it got blown up! I found the level still very disturbing, playing it in a darkened room with the surround sound turned up. The music in this level is fine, but the ambient sound effects are amazing, especially that moaning that warns of the poison headcrab zombie. The sound of the poison-headcrab’s rattle still gives me the shivers!
    I forgot what a help old Father Grigori is and he did not seem so crazy this time.
    I did underestimate the poison power of those black headcrabs toxin and died a couple of times, before I got my grove on.
    The new fast-zombies did not hamper my progress but did point out my terrible aim. I think I only hit two or three in the head!
    In the hamlet I had one useless weapon discovery, the magnum. I only managed to accurately hit things at a distance, except in the headcrab cavern where it would not let me kill the poisonous ones, except from the walkways; but the handgun could!
    Ravenholm is a milestone in Valve’s Half Life series in my opinion. It’s richly textured nighttime environment stands clear from the usual FPS of the time, and it’s own earlier maps. A true horror of a place, which results in a great feeling of achievement when finally ascend that long slopping tunnel into the daylight. Nice slaughter device there, but I thought that if you wanted to keep the monsters in, would not the top be a better place for the starting handle!
    Only downside to the map was the sudden appearance of bright daylight outside the tunnel; where dawn would have seemed more natural for the small passage of time through the caves.
    Boy was there a lot of zombies there!

    Deaths:
    5! Poison headcrabs and a couple of falls.

    Cheats:
    Sv_infinite_aux_power 1. [To keep my torch on].

    Playtime:
    1 hour and 49 minutes.

    Five words or less review:
    Zombies but zombies!

  11. Aly Girrificzz

    I see your point taken there. Although, it doesn’t take very long to have the infection spread. If you look back at the level of “Route Canal”, right before you get the air boat, it shows how the rockets that held the headcraps show that the headcraps can also spread pretty quickly and then turn other people into Zombies. For example, when your walking through the mush and all, there is a fenced off area that holds a man that is attacked by a headcrap then turned into a zombie quickly. So, I can see that in the matter of time, that the infection can then spread fairly easily.

    I love this game and am a huge fan of it. I know just about everything in all the games and have studied them far too well. I have just bout everything a fan should have for and about of this game…
    Sorry, I know that is out of topic but I do just have to point that out there. I just wished that they would already release the third Half-Life.
    (P.S. Yes I am a gamer girl… I basically have no life…)

  12. Ade

    Had another kind of fun with zombies:
    http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=156693375
    And the final map in this chapter is bright again, how to fix! I followed a guide that made my entire screen pink checkered 🙁

    Playtime: 55 mins

    1. Poor ol” zombie! What did he ever do to you? Well, apart from trying to claw your face off, of course.. Ok, fair enough – paint can to the head it is, then.

      Shame there’s only white available. I reckon that if you’ve earned all the achievements you should get a choice, maybe dayglo orange, zebra stripes – or tartan perhaps?

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