Half-Life 2: Entanglement

20th April 2013

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This is the “ninth a” chapter (designated “9a” in the game) of Half-Life 2. In it, Gordon Freeman meets up with Alyx Vance in the Nova Prospekt train depot.

They discover that Dr. Mossman was actually a Combine spy working on Breen’s side. Together, they search the prison for Eli Vance and Judith Mossman, all the while fighting off security forces. They split up several times, but finally they reunite to track down Mossman.

Alyx plans to use the Combine teleporter to transport her, Gordon, Eli, and Mossman to Dr. Kleiner’s lab, however Mossman manages to trick Alyx, teleporting herself and Eli out of the facility to the Citadel. Alyx and Gordon are forced to take the risk in using the same teleporter to get back to Kleiner’s lab.

As they teleport away, Overwatch Elites are glimpsed for the first time.

Trivia
  • There are no more Antlions for the rest of the game, rendering the Bugbait useless, except for stunning Combine troops for a brief period.
    • Achievements

    Warden Freeman (10G) Survive the second turret standoff in Nova Prospekt.  What cat? (5G) Break the mini teleporter in Kleiner's lab.

    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
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    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
    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.

    Categories (?)
    Games Half-Life 2

    11 Comments

    1. PlanetPhillip

      Hardly any separation between these levels locationwise but this chapter takes a very different path gameplaywise. You have to defend three areas which actually felt a little over done to be honest. I would have prefered one HUGE standoff at the end. Perhaps because I played on EASY, but it should still be a challenge, even at that difficulty.

      The story takes a twist and allows the characters to express themselves – I have to admit to being surprised by the word “Bullshit!“. I was perfect but just a little surprising. In addition, we get a glimpse of Alyx’s “liking” for Gordon.

      Definitely a fun chapter but those standoff took the shine off it for me a bit. Looking forward to running free again.

      playtime: 53 minutes

      Reply
    2. Olrick

      I suppose that “Entanglement” is used as a physic terms, to describe the teleporter incident at the end or maybe other thing. It’s not clear for the French guy I am.

      Anyway, this (sub)chapter is a new act in game scenario. After reunion with Alyx and retrieve Eli we learn about Mossman’s betrayal. “Why?” I asked myself on my first play, that was unexpected. In the whole chapter and at this point in particular, we can notice that Alyx have many emotions perfectly rendered. Hail to Face Poser

      The other aspect of the chapter is of course action. After a classical part with progression in the prison we have to pass three survival phases. This kind of gameplay is not my cup of tea but only the second one is not easy. The main job consist of placing the turrets at the better place and it’s not hard in first an third battle, but in D8 we only have tree turrets for four entrance. The first time I finished it hidden in a turrets locker.

      A word about design. In this chapter we also encounter Combine architecture, with new part directly set on older. It’s very visible in the interrogation room where we meet Eli or in the teleporter chamber. So that the whole chapter is an alternance of human and combine building or a mix of two. Nova Prospekt is the nest and the imagery of Combine soldiers.

      -Caught my Eyes

      I want a pen like Alyx’s one !

      -G-man sighting

      I didn’t saw him, I was too busy with soldiers.

      -Death

      None

      -Playtime

      35 minutes

      -My French Let’s Play

      Reply
      1. Sparks

        Yes, I believe Quantum Entanglement is a sub-set of Quantum Mechanics, and describes the state-interdependency of two particles of matter which, having become quantum entangled, are then separated. That’s to say that in measuring the specific state of one particle, the state of the other can then be predicted even though they are now separated and seemingly should no longer be able to interact. Very counter-intuitive stuff!

        It might just be scientific “buzz words” that Valve had picked up, or maybe it’s a reference to the operating principles of the teleportation system, or it may just be a clever reference to the growing co-dependency of Gordon and Alex and their corresponding physical/emotional states, even though they are frequently physically separated. Only Valve knows the answer.

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entanglement_theory (It will make your brain hurt..)

        Reply
        1. Olrick

          Thanks for precision, I have already heard about this theory but didn’t made the link.
          On another side it prove that the French translation is not so bad. The French title, re-translated directly in English means “Quantum Correlation”.

          Reply
    3. Kaito Kid

      I personally hate this chapter, mostly because I have to carry Alyx around and there are a lot of long npc interaction where you don’t do anything. obviously this is awesome on the first time playing, but after that it becomes boring.
      On the other hand, the npc’s personalities are developped a lot during this chapter, with Alyx who doesn’t tell her father that Judith betrayed because he trusted her a lot. Valve found a believable (although repetitive) way of making us fight by ourselves a little, whne Alyx “works” on some computers. The second turret standoff contains a completely useless and “unreachable” room upstairs, so I went in it to draw a little. There won’t spawn any combine soldiers before we kill some of them so it’s an effective way to save ammo and health. Even tough this is the longest chapter yet for me, I really don’t have anything else to say. The slow teleporter is an interesting concept.

      Challenges:
      – Warden Freeman
      Yes, you can’t actually complete the chapter without getting this achievement.
      – What cat?
      I still don’t understand how we can break this thing ._.

      my ideas:

      – Skip the first turret standoff
      Yep 😀
      – Escape the teleporter (requires dying)
      actually did that by accident, not sure how it works

      Five words or less review:
      Alyx’s butt is nice

      Deaths:
      1
      I got thrown out of the teleporter at the end and had to redo the final fight ._.

      Playtime:
      28 minutes 35 seconds 208 milliseconds
      *cries*

      Reply
      1. Sparks

        Just keep activating it – after about the 10th go or so, it decides it’s had enough. I you get bored see how much big junk you can pile up at once on the “open” side, and see what happens when it tries to re-integrate it all at once on the enclosed side!

        How do you skip the jail turret standoff? Don’t you need to kill all the combine before Alyx appears to open the doors?

        Yes, Alyx does have a nice butt, and it’s even nicer if you play with the nude patch! 😉

        Reply
        1. Kaito Kid

          If you mean the first standoff, I just fly over the field and move on.

          If you mean the second one, actually there are neverending combine that will spawn as soon as you kill the previous ones. The spawning limit will also get higher and higher after some time, so you will end up with a lot of them at the same time near the end. As I don’t kill the first three, no more will spawn. There is a timer that actiavates as soon as all 3 turrets are placed, and that triggers Alyx’s sentences. After she says she’s going to catch up with us, the soldiers will stop spawning and Alyx will show up as soon as all the remaining are dead. I just escaped to that useless room upstairs and I waited until the sequence was over while drawing on the walls. When I hear Alyx saying she’s coming, I just go back downstairs and kill the original three soldiers. My turrets might have killed a few of them that got replaced, but it didn’t really matter in the end.

          Reply
    4. Unq

      This chapter has always blended with Nova Prospekt in my mind so I wasn’t surprised to see it was kind of a sub-chapter. However, upon replay I can really see the difference, even if the general location inside the prison isn’t different between chapters. But if you look for the differences, there are actually quite a few. We’re reunited with Alyx and encounter a number of plot points in this chapter that were really totally absent since starting Highway 17. Also the surroundings are quite different, as there is much Combine architecture in this part of the prison where the troops are more active and the areas are actively used.

      The turret defense sequences are also different than we’ve seen before. I kind of liked the ramp-up in difficulty (I think it’s key to start with a pretty easy sequence), although I agree that the finale should have been the most challenging. Part of the problem in it being too easy is that you can carry all previous turrets with you to the next defense section. It only takes a bit of patience and didn’t slow me down too much, and at the teleporter area I had an extra 5 turrets to use which was dandy, I only had to shoot once.

      And finally, we get out of Nova Prospekt at the end. We get a quick view of the Combine Elite troopers (but it’s not our first, we could glimpse them on one of the monitors in the prison before this), and we’re welcomed back to a changed City 17 by Kleiner.

      Playtime: 1 hour, 1 minute

      Reply
    5. rikersbeard

      “Entanglement” seems a rather simple ‘survive the block’ kind of task back in “Nova Prospekt”, but it took me an hour! There is a lot of stuff to do in this smallish level and a lot of story development.
      Alyx arrives, “Yippeeeee!” and then disappears while I go and face the music, “Hmmmmm”. The first survival task at the security post was a breeze for me, having apparently placed the two turrets in the optimum positions, where they never fell but repelled every attack! A first for me!
      The sequence with the music and staged light cut-off is pure cinematic magic, and then the flares are fired into shot to complete this scene perfectly. Well-done Valve!
      Mossman is a traitor! What a cow! I didn’t like her at Black Mesa East, too secretive by half. Then double-crossed at the teleporter, come on Alyx, you’re the tech girl! And what about Gordon, what kind of science geek are you!
      The teleporter takes its sweet time charging up, while the inevitable horde of combine overwatch keep knocking over my sentry guns and being a general pain. I sorely miss my antlion horde.
      The teleporter is ready just as I am mopping up; Rambo style and we’re off as those red-eyed stormtroopers arrive!
      Old friends are reunited and I’m lumbered taking the dog for walkies!

      POINTS OF INTEREST:
      The flare-lit passage.
      Alyx on the monitors as an electronic companion.
      The baffles on the under floor power conduit opening as the teleporter charges.
      A watery reminder with added spark!
      Combine architecture on the rise.

      MISSING:
      My antlion army!
      G-Man?

      DEATHS:
      None.

      PLAYTIME:
      1 hour exactly!

      FIVE WORDS OR LESS REVIEW:
      Sentry guns need stable mount!

      Reply
    6. Blue Lightning

      Very hard battle level, and very fun too.

      Reply
    7. Ade

      “We’ll find you another pet headcrab. There are plenty to go around!” Indeed 😀
      The beginning of the level was hard if I started with less than 50hp, Alyx is a chore to protect, but the rest was a breeze compared to previous playthroughs, I think I’m getting better at positioning turrets.

      Playtime: 41 minutes

      Reply

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