Chapter 6: Our Mutual Fiend - Part 2
Striders are coming, and Freeman is the only one capable of stopping their advance on White Forest. All it takes is one Strider to blow up the rocket and doom humanity forever to the Combine. With the formidable Synths closing in from all sides of the valley, alongside packs of Hunters, Freeman must utilize the new Magnusson Devices, his reliable Muscle Car, and his own skills and wits if he is to win this final battle of the Half-Life 2 saga.
Playlist with all completed chapters:
• Half-Life 2: Episode T...
Notes:
- It is possible to destroy the Striders that specifically target the buildings with the Dispensers. Gordon simply has to beat them to the building and kill them before they fire their Warp Cannon. However, for the sake of pretending that this is my first playthrough, and to make the battle a little bit more difficult, I elected to let them destroy as much as they can. Also, the building destructions look awesome. However, if Gordon manages to keep all the buildings intact throughout the battle, the player will be awarded the achievement "Neighborhood Watch"
- Hunters will target the Magnusson Devices and destroy them with their flechettes if Gordon is carrying them with the Gravity Gun. Therefore, one should always kill the Hunters before taking care of the Strider. However, if Gordon is fast enough he can blow up the Magnusson Device (and the Strider) before the Hunters can destroy it
- Hunters will occasionally dodge the car if Gordon tries to ram into them and they have ample time to prepare for it. In my video, I often catch them offguard, so they never manage to jump out of the way
- The three Dispensers closest to the Silo will never be targeted by Striders
- Striders with Hunters accompanying them tends to ignore the player unless their escorts are killed
- If a Strider manages to reach the silo, it will blow up the rocket with its Warp Cannon, causing the antenna to crumble and killing everyone around it (including itself). If this happens, MIRT will exclaim "Oh, dear God. NO!" The game then ends with the message "THE ROCKET HAS BEEN DESTROYED. MAGNUSSON'S MISGIVINGS ABOUT THE FREEMAN ARE COMPLETELY JUSTIFIED. THE GAME NOW ENDS."
- The game seems to spawn the Striders at a constant rate, ignoring how quickly Gordon kills them. That is why there is a brief lull in combat at 9:23 before the next Strider shows up
- If the medics that are posted at every outpost die, a new one will take their place
Trivia:
- The original final battle also had Freeman facing off against Combine soldiers and Gunships, in addition to the Hunters and Striders, as shown in this pre-release video:
• Half-Life 2: Episode T...
- If you always thought it was weird that there are no Gunships or Combine troops in this battle even though they were shown mobilizing to White Forest in the chapter "Freeman Pontifex", blame the playtesters at Valve who thought the battle was too hard :(
- The Superportal is not shown in this map because Valve thought it was too distracting for players
- When the final wave of Striders start coming in, any Resistance members still alive will fall back to the Silo
- Striders can flip the Muscle Car sometimes if they step on it. Gordon can simply punt it back upright with the Gravity Gun, just like the Scout car from HL2
- If Gordon manages to destroy the Strider before it takes out the Sawmill at 3:47, MIRT won't say the line "Another Strider coming in towards what used to be the sawmill" at 7:14
- The line that the Rebel says at 17:52 is the same one that another Rebel says in the chapter "Under the Radar" after Freeman destroys the Autogun in the scrapyard