The Coast


 * "Highway 17" redirects here. For the Half-Life 2 chapter, see Highway 17 (Chapter).

"You want him to take the coast road? He won't last five minutes on foot! It's spawning season for the Antlions!"

- Leon

The Coast is a region in Half-Life 2 located in between City 17 and Nova Prospekt, and features in three chapters: Highway 17, Sandtraps and Nova Prospekt.

As of the events of Half-Life 2, parts of the coast have recently come under Combine control forcing many of the rebels along the coast into more condensed pockets of resistance. After leaving the zombie infested town of Ravenholm, Gordon Freeman enters the region and embarks on a long journey along the coastline to Nova Prospekt, meeting Alyx Vance there. Though it's actual location is never mentioned in any way, the sea at the coast is apparently the Black Sea and its design is reportedly very similar to the coast near Sevastopol in Ukraine. This section is one of the longest in the game, and stretches for several in-game miles.

Overview
The Coast is largely seen as a barren wasteland being picked to the bone by Combine technology after the Seven Hour War. The Coast showcases the darker side of the Combine's rule over Earth including the depletion of natural resources, Combine raids on resistance outposts, Combine assault using headcrab shells and inhabitable areas. Much of the coastline including several highways have been severely damaged over the course of the Combine's rule on Earth. The Coast has also come under attack by hordes of Antlions that hide underneath the sand, and come out from underneath when movement is heard or felt above them. This is mainly due to the fact that their mating season has begun, and the resistance and Combine have had complications fending them off. Much of the coast had been abandoned because of the swarming Antlions, and many Combine thumpers are in place on the ground, to help fend off the Antlions. Judging by the presence of headcrab canisters, small portions of the Coast have become infested with zombies and other Xen wildlife. Highway 17, along with several main resistance bases are located along the coast.



Depletion of resources
It is more apparent along the Coast than anywhere else in City 17 that the Combine are indeed sucking up the natural resources of the planet. The ocean can be seen as being "dried up" and the waterline is much lower than it was; this is evident by the fact that the piers located near the start of the coast are some considerable distance from the ocean itself. Much of the coastline can be seen littered with wrecked boats and ships resting on what was previously seabed. Many, if not all, of the docks and piers seen on the Coast are no longer standing in water. When Gordon arrives at the harbour at the beginning of the Highway 17 chapter, it is now a considerable distance from the ocean itself. Indications of the previous sea level can be judged by moss which had previously gathered on harbour structures at the edge of the water, but which now lie several feet above the water level.

Highway 17
Highway 17 is one of the many coastal highways that connect City 17 to neighboring regions. As of the events of Half-Life 2, the highway is no longer maintained and is suffering from severe disrepair, with collapsed bridges, landslides, and scores of rusty, abandoned car bodies littered across the extent of the highway. Highway 17 runs nearly all the way to Nova Prospekt, and extends over several kilometers. Many small coastal villages are located along Highway 17, several of which are inhabited by Resistance members. By the time Gordon passes through the area, some of the former resistance bases are under Combine control, who are using them as bases or road checkpoints along Highway 17. Several road tunnels also exist along Highway 17 although most of them have been completely abandoned and some are infested with zombies and other extraterrestrial Xen wildlife.

The Resistance
The Resistance held a relatively small but powerful position along the Coast, but they were continually harassed by Combine raids and airborne assaults, which were later stepped up as Gordon Freeman passed through the area. By the time Gordon arrived, many of the smaller resistance bases and outposts located along the Coast had been destroyed or taken over by Combine forces and left abandoned. Because of this, the remaining resistance forces gradually condensed into larger but less frequently encountered pockets of rebels at key bases such as New Little Odessa and Lighthouse Point. After the events at Nova Prospekt, it is unknown whether any Resistance bases along the coast still exist or if they have been taken over by the Combine.

Combine presence on the Coast
Prior to Gordon's arrival in the region, the Coast was one of the few areas where the Resistance could face Combine forces openly. This was quite possibly due to the region's isolation and also that the Combine didn't see the Rebel forces there as a threat significant enough to make it worth deploying the forces needed to quell them. Nevertheless, around the time Gordon arrived in City 17, the Combine were making significant inroads into the region, raiding some of the isolated outposts and executing the occupants, as well as setting up road checkpoints to restrict rebel movement.

Shorepoint
Shorepoint, located at Pier 87, is the main resistance base located along the coastal regions of City 17. Located at the very beginning of Highway 17 and the Coast itself, Shorepoint acts very much like a base of operations for all resistance activities along the Coast. It is run by a veteran resistance member named Leon. As seen in the Highway 17 chapter, Shorepoint has, in its possession, a one-seater Buggy, also called the "Scout Car", which Gordon Freeman uses to navigate the increasingly harsh terrain and escape the many Antlions and Combine outposts along the coast. The Combine attempted a raid on Shorepoint shortly before Gordon Freeman's arrival, but were driven off. Shorepoint is connected to Ravenholm via a railway line and a mine shaft.

New Little Odessa


New Little Odessa is one of two main resistance bases situated across the Coast and Highway 17. Commanded by, Colonel Odessa Cubbage, New Little Odessa came under attack by a Combine Gunship during the events of Half-Life 2, which Gordon Freeman helped fend off with a laser-guided RPG. Prior to reaching New Little Odessa, the player can spot the base through a pair of Combine binoculars across the bay; this gives the player the opportunity to see Colonel Cubbage speaking to the G-Man in the balcony of a building (one theory suggests the G-Man is warning Cubbage of the impending gunship attack on the base and is even supplying rocket launchers and another is that he's telling Cubbage to give the RPG to Freeman who is on his way). The layout of New Little Odessa is somewhat unintended for any airborne combat. Its ultimate fate after the events of Half-Life 2 is unknown. The name of the base is most likely derived from the fact that it is led and was possibly founded by Odessa Cubbage. Most rebels refer to it as N.L.O.



Dockyards Station
Dockyards Station is a small warehouse district and pier situated where the ocean and a dried up inlet meet. This area was used as a Resistance base for a time, but was occupied by the Combine prior to Gordon's arrival.

Bridge Point
Bridge Point is an outpost consisting of a three story house and several outbuildings situated next to a prominent rail bridge. It was assaulted and occupied by the Combine some time before Gordon's arrival, and any Resistance members who may have been stationed there are presumed dead or captured.

Lighthouse Point


Lighthouse Point is the second resistance base that Gordon Freeman encounters on his way to Nova Prospekt, and serves as Highway 17's ending point (and the end of the road for Gordon's buggy). Lighthouse Point also came under heavy Combine attack, and was overwhelmed. Lighthouse Point is a better defensive position than New Little Odessa. The lighthouse itself offers anyone within the vicinity means of cover and advantages when it comes to protection, defense and offense. The top of the lighthouse is suited for combat situations in which the Combine would raid the base using synths including dropships and gunships. The name of the base is derived from the signature Lighthouse.

During Freeman's arrival at Lighthouse point, the base was under attack after Freeman parked his buggy. The player defends the base against dropships until a Combine gunship arrives. Then the player fires rockets at it from the top of the lighthouse until it is destroyed. The player then escapes the base by jumping on the cliffs through a secret exit located at the bottom of the lighthouse. The lighthouse is most likely overrun after that because the player could see a dropship flying away with the buggy and combine soldiers looking down from the cliffs for the player.

The area surrounding Lighthouse Point also serves as a base for one of Half-Life 2: Deathmatch's maps.

Vortigaunt Camp


The final but unnamed resistance base, located within canyons and caves, is situated a short distance from Lighthouse Point, but requires that Gordon Freeman transverse on Antlion populated grounds. The base houses several resistance fighters, as well as many more vortigaunts. One particular vortigaunt goes on to lead Gordon through the base and into a cave, in which Gordon is taught how to use the Antlion Pheropod to tame and command Antlions. Upon completion of training, Gordon is led out into a beach that connects to Nova Prospekt. The base is protected by a single gunner at its entrance via the use of a mounted pulse gun.



Nova Prospekt
The main perimeter of Nova Prospekt prison is also located along the Coast, although right at the edge of it. This portion of the Coast is littered with dozens of Combine Bunkers which act as defensive outposts in the event that someone should attempt to infiltrate the facility. Some of these bunkers are connected to older, pre-Combine fortifications, recognizable by their concrete construction. Large thumpers are also situated along the edges to the ocean in the attempts to help fend off Antlions from breaking into the facility. Despite the amount of defense located near Nova Prospekt, Gordon Freeman was able to infiltrate the facility, with the help of tamed Antlions. Also, Gordon finds a zombie and several corpses in a small camp at the foot of a cliff, and a fast zombie in a pipe, suggesting that some humans had hidden there. During Freeman's time in the facility it is likely that the defenses surrounding Nova Prospekt, including the bunkers and thumpers had possibly been deactivated as Antlions had breached the facility. The entire facility was most likely destroyed as the Combine teleporter exploded as mentioned by Doctor Kleiner saying "Indeed it did, and the repercussions were felt far and wide."

Behind the scenes


According to Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar, "The Coast" is what is left of an early concept, the "Wild", the "Wasteland" or the "Scrapland", where shipwrecks, car wrecks, submarine wrecks, an endless desert and other desolation scenes were to be found, the whole area associated with the railroad theme. It was to surround the protected, safe City 17.

Gordon Freeman was to see it for the first time when his train, originally known as the "Wasteland Train", was carrying him to City 17. The area was to be infested with Headcrabs, Antlions, Bullsquids and Houndeyes and other undefined alien fauna.

Like in the final version, Gordon was to leave City 17, after his journey to Quarrytown, and travel through the Wasteland (for unknown reasons), following the tracks passing by the Depot and continuing in unknown directions. There, the Depot and the prison were to be a simple stopping-off point, the main Wasteland chapter being the Air Exchange, the destruction of its reactor triggering the uprising in City 17. Like in the retail version, many rebel settlements were to be spread through the Wasteland. The railroad theme was also very important from the start, all the main Combine settlements of the region being linked by the railroad.

Even though landscapes similar to the original Wasteland may still exist in the final Half-Life universe (seeing one of the places visited by Gordon Freeman and Lamarr during the teleportation failure in the first chapter that fits that profile), the City 17 region is not that desolated, seeing the rather healthy landscapes of the White Forest in Episode Two.

The Wasteland area was last worked on to at least May 2003, as an E3 map named "E3_depot2003" was last edited on May 2003.