Route Kanal

Half-Life 2 guide · Escape the city through the canals via airboat.

Gordon Freeman flees the City 17 metro cops through the drainage canals and sewer systems on foot. Along the way, he links up with underground resistance members who provide aid and eventually an airboat. The chapter involves navigating hazards like toxic waste, explosive barrels, and Civil Protection forces to reach further along the canal network.

Don't miss 0/1

The "Barnacle Bowling" achievement, which requires killing five barnacles with a single explosive barrel; it can be missed if you do not slide an ignited red barrel down the slope toward the cluster of barnacles in the canal.

Items

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Submachine Gun (SMG): Found near a dead rebel in a drainage pipe where Civil Protection attacksAirboat: Gifted by the rebel outpost after navigating the sewer network

Secrets

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In the canal tunnel with radioactive waste, look for a Lambda spray paint tag on a concrete pillar; climbing nearby pipes leads to a hidden cache containing health packs, battery power, and ammunition.Near the railroad tracks where a train passes overhead, check behind a cluster of concrete sewer pipes marked with a Lambda cache symbol to find hidden supply crates.

Enemies

Civil Protection

Weak to Headshots

Human officers armed with 9mm pistols and SMGs who deploy manhacks and shoot from catwalks.

Manhack

Weak to Crowbar or pistol shots

Flying, bladed drones that rush in groups and emit high-pitched whirring sounds.

Barnacle

Weak to Shooting them or feeding them explosive barrels

Ceiling-dwelling parasites that dangle tongues to pull Gordon into their mouths.

Headcrab

Weak to Crowbar strikes or pistol fire

Small parasites that jump at Gordon's head, easily dodged by sidestepping.

Hunter-Chopper

Armored Combine attack helicopter that bombards Gordon with machine-gun fire and dropped depth charges along the canals.

Tips

You can use your crowbar to bat incoming manhacks out of the air instead of wasting precious pistol or SMG ammunition.
Push floating blue plastic barrels into the underwater cage to raise the wooden ramp so the airboat can jump across the broken canal gate.

Not listed for this area: shops and people.

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