Chapter 17: Interloper - Part Four
After a lengthy journey through the alien factory, Freeman arrives at the base of an enormous elevator that feeds directly into the top of the tower. With no other alternative, Gordon steps onto the lift and begins his slow and perilous ascent, as the Alien Controllers that have been hounding him since the start of his foray into the factory begin an all out, last-ditch assault. This close to the Nihilanth, the Xenians won't give up without a fight - in order to survive, our hero must overcome the odds stacked against him and emerge victorious.
Playlist with all completed chapters:
• Black Mesa: Definitive...
Notes:
- The Nihilanth's voiceline that opens the video is a cut line that is not in the base game - I added it back in using the workshop mod "Restored Nihilanth Quotes" as suggested by user UGLIES_
- The panels that guard the Controller's shield cores will damage Freeman if he runs through them, but only if the shield core is still active; if the core is destroyed, the panels will no longer damage Gordon if he bumps into them (0:47)
- The locations that Alien Controllers spawn into can be predicted by watching the elevator walls - the Controllers always appear outside of the gaps in the wall (1:35)
- Killing all the enemies in the section of the elevator battle at 2:56 is not necessary - Freeman simply needs to kill the Controller holding the elevator shutter closed to proceed onwards
- During the final Controller assault at 6:38, Freeman only needs to kill the Controllers holding down the elevator in order to release their control on it (6:53)
Trivia:
- The final sequence of HL1's Interloper also involved Freeman climbing and jumping his way up a series of elevators and platforms to reach Nihilanth's portal
- The elevators that move up the shaft clip through the closed shutters that the Alien Controllers are holding (0:31)
- While most of the Alien Pods in the first stop of the elevator battle will break and release Alien Grunts, some of the pods will remain inactive, even after Freeman kills all the enemies (2:56)
- The track that plays at 5:07 ("Ascension") gradually builds to a rendition of the Black Mesa theme ("Resonance"), originally heard right after the Resonance Cascade in Chapter 3: Unforeseen Consequences
- Freeman cannot break the stasis tubes holding the Black Mesa personnel at 8:19, however he can shoot the bodies and even gib them with explosives, after which the remains will disperse out of the tube
- The celestial map at 9:31 seems to be a visualization of the Milky Way Galaxy that Earth is located within (the resemblance is quite damning if one noclips and looks at the map from above)
- The massive structure at 10:18 is where the elevator feeds into. Position-wise relative to the Tower, it is also right underneath the giant portal ontop of the Tower that leads to Nihilanth. Interestingly, if one were to noclip through the top of this structure, it can be seen that the actual Nihilanth portal is in the distance - however this could simply be for map design purposes
- Just like in HL1, voicelines from various characters (scientists, HECU, and Guards) from earlier in the game can be heard once Freeman teleports to the top of the Tower (11:15)
- The Mantas that circle the Nihilanth's portal were first seen as tiny specks from afar at the start of the Xen chapter (11:15)
- The silhouette of Nihilanth can be seen at random intervals at the top of the Tower when Gordon stares into the portal (11:15, 11:24, 11:34, 11:45, 11:55)
- The entirety of the fifteenth chapter "Xen" can be seen in the distance at 12:00 - the starting islands on the far right (the massive healing pool/waterfall area can clearly be identified), the swamp in the middle, the river on the left, and the teleporter island/hub on the far left by itself. The locations in the chapter Gonarch's Lair takes place at the base of the island the Tower rests on, and is therefore obscured by the smog and cannot be seen (11:27)
- The flames that surround Nihilanth's portal will damage Freeman if he walks on them, though it is not an instant kill and the damage is relatively negligible (12:22)