The Citizen
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| The Citizen | |
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| Developer(s) |
Accidental Games, Spare Time Productions |
| Release date(s) |
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| Genre(s) |
First-Person Shooter, Puzzle |
| Mode(s) | |
| Platform(s) | |
| System req |
Half-Life 2 and Source Engine Base 2006 |
| Input | |
| Engine | |
| Writer(s) |
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The Citizen is a series of single-player mods for Half-Life 2, set in a storyline parallel to the original game. The player takes the role of an ordinary man, pushed over the edge by the oppressive regime controlling his life. His home trashed, his family dead, The Citizen leaves his apartment for the last time. He seeks new friends, and a way to help the human resistance to smash the iron grip of the Combine. What follows is a winding tale of betrayal, determination and grief. Many obstacles lie in his path which require a sleek combination of agility, stealth, intelligence, and sheer violence to overcome.[1]
Contents
Part One[edit]
In the beginning, on-screen text describes the Citizen (whose name is never given) as living in an apartment in City 17 and explains that he was never interested in joining the rebellion against the Combine. The game begins in this apartment, with the Citizen facing a television set showing video of a hallway with a door. Suddenly, two Metrocops appear on the television and begin busting down the door, which turns out to be the Citizen's own door as the officers enter the room. One of them knocks the Citizen unconscious with a stunstick.
Eventually, the Citizen awakes to find his apartment is completely trashed and his TV missing, forcing him to leave and motivating him to seek out the Resistance. Other residents of the apartment are gathering downstairs, but a man (identified as 'bully' in the game files) is blocking the stairs, demanding the return of the television set the Citizen borrowed from him three weeks ago. The Citizen finds another TV to give to the man but unintentionally breaks it, causing the man to berate him before allowing him to keep the broken TV and finally leaving.
Downstairs, a Metrocop is blocking a door to the outside, and a number of residents are gathered in a common area where Father Grigori is delivering a sermon. The Citizen meets a woman in a white shirt, named Susan, who invites him to talk privately in her apartment. She explains to him that if he wants to get started with the Resistance, he should speak to a man named Argento, a skilled hacker with many contacts, on the top floor. She also provides the Citizen with some medkits before sending him on his way.
When the Citizen initially encounters Argento, he is near a window. Argento directs the Citizen to look at a City Scanner on the other side of the window, then uses a device to send a signal to it that causes it to self-destruct. Argento tells the Citizen to leave the building and look for Larry, a man who operates a garage across the street. Argento then hands the Citizen a key card to open the door and tells him to stay out of Civil Protection's sight, since Larry won't let him in if the cops are on his tail.
Outside on the street is the aftermath of a bloody battle between citizens and the Combine. The Citizen must take care to avoid attracting the attention of the surviving Metrocop at the end of the street (a crowbar can be found in a dark corner in the event that the Citizen is spotted). Upon the Citizen's arriving at Larry's garage, Larry explains there's not much he can do for him, but tells him of another man named Moe who runs a grocery store, and that the safest way to get there is via the sewers.
True to Larry's word, the sewer system poses few dangers to the Citizen, but several puzzles must be negotiated in order to advance. The Citizen is required to pick up a crowbar to open one of the doors. He also discovers and dons an HEV Suit here.
The Citizen exits the sewer near the grocery store's rear emergency exit. Inside, a man (who turns out to be Moe) can be heard yelling. Moe then cocks and fires a shotgun, killing a Metrocop who falls through the doorway. Moe invites the Citizen in and lets him have a pistol he keeps in the storage room. Shortly afterward, Civil Protection busts down the front door and a firefight ensues. Moe drops down a metal shield behind the front desk to reveal a turret, all the while laughing maniacally, as he, the Citizen and the turret dispatch the raiding Metrocops. However the tables are turned as a helicopter blows a hole in the roof and begins dropping Combine Soldiers into the building, forcing Moe and the Citizen to retreat into the storage room. Moe barricades the door and explains to the Citizen to get to the warehouse where his airboat is located and gives him the airboat keys. Shortly afterward, an explosion blows open the door, killing Moe. To get to the warehouse, the Citizen must pass through a courtyard guarded by a Sniper.
Shortly after taking off in the airboat, the Citizen comes to a courtyard where a pair of rebels (possibly a couple), a man named Jeremy and an unnamed woman (called Anne in the game files), are bickering about how to open a gate on the other side of the courtyard. The wheel to open the gate is missing and Anne wants to look for it. Jeremy walks off to "force open that gate [himself]" but is quickly shot and killed by a hidden Sniper as Anne watches helplessly. Anne screams, cries out "Jeremy, no!" and runs away, sobbing, into the nearby building. When the Citizen follows her, she collects herself for long enough to ask him to take out the sniper. The Citizen finds some grenades nearby and obliges Anne, who then explains the that the Resistance is gathering at the Elvet Theatre beyond the gate, but that she feels that she cannot continue there without Jeremy. After finding the missing wheel, the Citizen opens the gate and moves on as Anne moves to collect Jeremy's body. The Citizen must navigate the flooded streets while dodging or dispatching the Combine forces attacking him; he then breaks through onto surface streets, then onto a railway, and is forced to leave the airboat behind near some abandoned train cars.
The Citizen makes his way to a disused railway station where he engages in a gun battle with Combine forces, encountering Combine Elite Soldiers. He emerges from the station at a church occupied by the Resistance. A woman (called Myrle in the game files) is standing near a patch of flowers growing through the floor; she initially mistakes the Citizen for Gordon Freeman because of his hazard suit. A Combine Gunship flies by overhead and soldiers quickly descend on the church, and Myrle calls on the Citizen to ring the church bell. However, the door to the bell tower is locked, forcing the Citizen to find the key first. After he rings the bell, Resistance reinforcements arrive to fend off the remaining Combine forces.
Afterward, the Citizen is again directed to head for the Elvet Theatre. He must continue through another apartment building, exiting into a city square where he encounters a Strider and more Combine forces. After discovering a Rocket Launcher and taking them all down, the Citizen crosses the street to the Elvet Theatre, the basement of which has been converted into a Resistance stronghold. In the basement the rebels are blowing a hole in the wall to connect the basement to their barracks. A rebel calls everyone to gather around a radio to listen to the commander's radio broadcast, a rallying speech explaining the Resistance's plan to kill Wallace Breen.
- "My friends, it took only seven short hours for our enemy to take what was ours. Never before in the history of man have such losses been made in such a short time. We were caught unawares, disorganized, with our trousers firmly around our ankles, and now we exist as little more than slaves. Slaves! Even our ability to reproduce has been stripped from us! We cannot stand for this any longer!...The shining light that is Gordon Freeman is a beacon of hope to us all. But we cannot rely on one man, no matter how able, to defeat this evil alone. The time for action has come. We have an opportunity. We must rise hard and fast and reclaim what is rightfully ours. We must take them as much by surprise as they did us, as to hesitate for a second would mean certain death. As most of you will know, our plan is to assassinate Wallace Breen, tonight, at Central Conference Center. He's broadcasting one of his tedious speeches and we know exactly when and where he's going to do it. We have Marcus to thank, for deftly obtaining this strategic information which makes this mission possible. The only problem which remains is getting immediate access to the Conference Center. Thankfully, our friend Argento tells me he's found a way. He's at the Spare Time Café right now making preparations. Tomorrow could be the end of the war, so fight. Fight as hard as you can. Never relent. Never surrender. If you can stare your own death in the face and be prepared to lay down your life in the defense of humanity, then you could be the deciding factor which tips the scales. You could be the one who stands on that cretin Breen's throat, as he stares up at you and utters his last gasp in amazement. Isn't that worth fighting for?...We move out at 2300. I want every one of you kitted up and ready to fight by 2245. Prepare for the fight of your lives, soldiers. Prepare to be remembered as heroes for all eternity. Dismissed!"
- ― The Commander's radio broadcast
The Citizen and the other rebels are able to get about four hours of sleep before the mission. Larry, in command of the squad, leads them to the Spare Time Café to meet up with Argento, who is working on hacking a City Scanner. He explains that his plan is to slip it past the Combine's defenses and open some secure doors, a plan that thankfully works. However, the rebel squad is stopped by a second set of locked doors. Larry notices a switch in a room behind the door, and tells the Citizen to go through a nearby air vent to access it. After entering the side room, the Citizen is separated from the rest of the rebels and forced to find his own way through the Conference Center. After sneaking past a Metrocop patrolling the hallway, the Citizen manages to find and don a Metrocop's gear, allowing him to access some secured areas. His cover is quickly blown as a Combine Advisor comes out of nowhere and attacks him, destroying the disguise, then leaves just as quickly as it arrived. Shortly afterward the Citizen enters the Conference Center's library and faces off against Combine Soldiers, who have deployed Rollermines. A few rebels can be found in this library, and the Advisor returns briefly to distract the Citizen.
Following the fight the Citizen again comes to secured doors, but finds a Combine Elite's gear, allowing him to open those doors as well as sneak past several Elite Soldiers. However, the Advisor shows up again, destroys the disguise and knocks the Citizen unconscious. When he regains consciousness several minutes later, he awakens to see Larry and the other rebels, though one (named Steve) is dead, killed "horribly" by the Advisor. Larry explains that Marcus is leading them to the control room. Once everyone (except Marcus) is in the room (which looks nothing like a control room), Marcus closes and locks the door and runs away, revealing himself to be a traitor. A series of metal gates at the front of the room open, revealing Breen in an amphitheater below, guarded by a swarm of soldiers. A battle breaks out and Breen manages to escape in the ensuing chaos. After the rebels defeat the enemy, the Citizen finds and kills the traitor Marcus and frees the other rebels from the locked room. When they make it to the recording studio, Breen is nowhere to be found, but since the recording equipment is fully functional, Larry decides to "make the best of this" and put on his own broadcast. He sends the Citizen and all but two of the other rebels away. The Citizen leaves through an air vent and becomes separated from the rebel squad, but meets up with two other rebels planning to board a train. Before they can do so, Larry broadcasts his brief speech.
- "Citizens, our enemy remains, and the mission continues. Our efforts have not gone unnoticed. Fight for your freedoms, fight for your lives."
- ― Larry
The three citizens board the train but are followed by the Advisor, which kills the two nameless rebels. The G-Man then appears, somehow causes the Advisor to explode, then tells the Citizen "You've done a great deal in a small timespan" as the screen fades to black. The Citizen somehow ends up with DØG standing in an urban graveyard, then wanders into a room with a bare mattress and lies down to sleep as the credits roll.
Part Two[edit]
Part Two was originally going to be much longer, but was split in half during development. The first half was released as the current Part Two, and the second half, Part Three, is still in development.[2]
Previously in The Citizen you had taken control of an important Combine message relay, making the most of a failed mission to assassinate Dr Breen. It was located in a large conference building situated near a rebel safehouse - the Spare Time Café - from which your assault was originally launched. The café was later raided by the Combine, and ultimately destroyed. No rebels were present at the time, but something there led the Combine to the Elvet Theatre - a more important rebel hideout. The attack on the Elvet was devastating, causing much of the rebel command structure to be seriously disrupted.[2]
- "Wake up. Rise and shine."
- ― The G-Man
The Citizen awakes to being thrown from the train he was aboard at the end of Part I. His HEV Suit saves his life but is damaged beyond repair. Shortly afterward, he is discovered by an unnamed man in civilian clothes, who summons a medic named Jeff. The two carry the Citizen to their infirmary as he fades in and out of consciousness. The two men remark about another man named Josh who was injured during the raid on Elvet. Jeff also remarks that the Combine "didn't kill anyone" when they hit Elvet, "they just left everyone bleeding and dying on the ground. It was like a message." The Citizen passes out again before waking up in the infirmary.
- "You can save him, right? He can still pull through, right? What's happening? Oh, God, no! You've got to save him! Help him! Hold on, Josh, I love you! Don't leave meeeeeeeee...no, no, no, no..."
- ― Sarah
When the Citizen regains consciousness in the infirmary, he is lying on a bed across from the dying Josh. A distraught woman named Sarah (apparently Josh's girlfriend or wife) cries over him and pleads with the medics to save his life, but despite their best efforts Josh passes away before her eyes. The Citizen lapses into unconsciousness again and awakens to see Josh's bed empty and covered in blood, while Sarah, in another room, continues to weep. Jeff and another medic, Dr. Lamb, walk over to treat the Citizen and anesthetize him. They did not administer enough anesthetic as he briefly wakes up during the surgical procedure.
The Citizen finally wakes up to see Dr. Lamb explaining how lucky he is to be alive and that he and Jeff have treated all his major injuries, but that he still has "a few dents and scratches." He points out that there are a few medkits in the other room beyond the barred doors. However as the Citizen heads there, an explosion rocks the infirmary, killing Jeff and hurling his body across the room. A few Combine soldiers storm in through the new hole in the wall. Sarah, relatively unharmed by the blast, runs out of the room screaming "Shit! Shit! Shit!" and throws a switch to lock down the doors, buying her, the Citizen and Dr. Lamb some time. A squad of rebels, including the Citizen's old friend Larry, enter through the back room; Larry hands the Citizen a shotgun to defend himself with just as the Combine blow down the doors. A brief firefight ensues; the Combine are defeated but more soldiers are on their way. Larry and the Citizen leave (passing by a room where a crowbar and some grenades can be found) to help Sarah and Dr. Lamb, who are trying to open a garage door to escape. Larry orders the Citizen to help the other rebels hold the Combine off. The Combine soldiers blow a second hole in the wall and soldiers pour in through both gaps, making the resulting firefight very difficult; most of the rebels who stay behind to fight are killed.
Once the coast is clear, the Citizen returns to Larry, Sarah and Dr. Lamb, who succeed in opening the door. They enter another room and open a door to a tight corridor. Upon seeing the narrow corridor, Larry immediately remarks that "something isn't right here" and asks the Citizen to scout ahead. Larry's instincts are dead-on; there is an explosion and the Citizen is thrown through a window and knocked unconscious. When the Citizen briefly awakens, he watches Larry being led away at gunpoint by two Combine Elites. As he is led off, Larry mutters "I'm going to kill every one of you assholes."
The Citizen awakens from a nightmare of grieving voices to find himself in a hovel with Sarah, who is now dressed in rebel gear. She expresses relief that the Citizen has survived and explains that Argento is waiting for both of them down the road. She has also collected the Citizen's weapons and allows him to retrieve them. To make it down the street to the other rebels, the two must fight several Combine soldiers.
When they make it to the other rebels, they are behind a barricade trading fire with Overwatch forces. Suddenly a Headcrab Shell falls near the Resistance barricade, killing several rebels and releasing its cargo. The rebels deal with this new threat quickly, suffering very little in the way of additional losses. Argento orders the remaining rebels to regroup in a safer place, behind a derelict train car. Another rebel is attempting to hack into a Combine database, but he trips a scanner, alerting more nearby soldiers. As Argento, the Citizen and the remaining rebels hold the soldiers off, the unnamed rebel hacker successfully accesses the database and retrieves the data, but he needs time to analyze it (they can't take it elsewhere). Argento orders The Citizen and a medic named Jameson to scout ahead and report any danger, and not to engage in any "heroics." The Citizen and Jameson discover a huge ambush laid up ahead and return to Argento.
The unnamed hacker finishes interpreting the data, which reveals that Larry is being held in a nearby hockey arena. Jameson seems unsure but Argento reassures him "it's the only lead we've got." To get to the arena, the rebels' only choice is to run into the ambush. The hacker picks up a rocket launcher and the rebels face the ambush, which consists of an APC and some soldiers. Thanks to the hacker's rocket launcher the threat is dealt with easily and the rebels make it to the hockey arena. Sarah attempts to open the door as Argento remarks that things are "too quiet." The door opens and the quiet remains. Three dead rebels are visible in the center of the rink, but it's not obvious which one, if any, is Larry. The rebels are stopped by a force field, which the Citizen has to disable (with Sarah's help). The rebels enter the rink to find that none of the three dead rebels is Larry (though Sarah recognizes one of them as Jack from Gamma Squadron), and that they have been tricked. Combine forces begin to storm the arena, giving the rebels a difficult fight. The rebels manage to bypass another force field and escape the arena into the stadium's old entrance and ticket area.
Here in the ticket area Argento explains that they need to inform the other rebels that Larry has been captured. Their only choice is to use a carrier pigeon from a nearby message post, but Argento fears another trap, so he sends the Citizen alone, confident in his abilities, instead of placing everyone in danger. Argento hands The Citizen a message to deliver via bird mail and a radio to keep in touch. He takes the remaining rebels to Charlie Company HQ, "the most secure rebel fortification left in the city."
To reach the message post, the citizen must climb over a closed Combine gate to deactivate a nearby force field, cross a bridge, pass through an apartment block and an abandoned playground, and find the rear entrance of a large yellow building. Dead bodies, blood stains and broken-down cars can be found on the streets.
Once inside the building, the Citizen finds the stairs blocked by fallen items, but is able to bypass them through a hole in the ceiling of a nearby apartment. A rebel is standing in the apartment upstairs, coughing, but is quickly shot and killed by a Sniper. The Citizen must take care to avoid the same fate. Argento radios the Citizen telling him to meet them at the old luxury apartments west of the message post once he's sent the message. When the Citizen reaches the message post, it has clearly already been hit by the Combine, though several caged pigeons are still alive. The Citizen releases a pigeon from a cage on the loft, then finds himself under attack as Combine Elites and Manhacks come in from below and Rollermines shoot from a building across the street. The Citizen must make it across the rafters to reach the roof of the building next door. From there he must jump across a gap into the window of another building. Passing through this building as well, the Citizen makes it to another rooftop, which is immediately breached by a falling Headcrab Shell. The only way for him to advance is through the new hole, and the sounds of an approaching Strider force him to face the shell's deadly payload.
The Citizen now finds himself in a disused but well-furnished office building, apparently that of a once-wealthy banking or investment firm. A pair of turrets are attached to a Combine barrier across the street, shooting at the Citizen through the building's windows as he passes by. On the other side of a building is a man in an orange coat and a blue beanie, named Arthur, who somewhat resembles Odessa Cubbage. Not expecting visitors, the startled Arthur remarks "Jesus wept! Do you have to sneak up on people like that?" as he meets the Citizen. He then explains that he's been working on a device to reprogram the turrets across the street, and that someone needs to sneak around the barrier to attach it to the terminal that is certainly controlling the turrets. However, Arthur has somehow lost the fuse for this device, which he tasks the Citizen with finding. The Citizen manages to find the missing fuse and is tasked by Arthur with delivering the device to the terminal. To do so, the Citizen must dodge the marauding Strider and the sentry turrets to find a closed but suspiciously unguarded door across the street. As he's on his way out through a side door, the Citizen hears the sound of another Headcrab Shell being launched; if he's fast enough, he can make it out into the square before the falling shell hurls a damaged car up against the doorway. The Fast Headcrabs that emerge from the fallen shell provide a convenient distraction for the turrets. In any case, the Citizen makes it across the street to the door, passes through the building and arrives behind the barrier at the Combine terminal. He inserts Arthur's device into the terminal, reprogramming the turrets to start gunning down the Combine forces. The barrier's doors open and Arthur crosses the street to rendezvous with the Citizen. Arthur praises the Citizen for a job well done and explains that he must reunite with Gamma Squadron. A second set of Combine gates open, allowing the Citizen to continue through another building to the luxury apartment district.
On the luxury apartment's first floor is a swimming pool and shower room. A man in rebel gear has accidentally injured himself and requests the Citizen's help in getting some medical supplies, musing "So, I can tell my kids I got my war wound by slipping and falling on my ass, instead of at the end of some horrific Combine instrument. I can live with that." The Citizen obliges the man, who invites him upstairs. He follows the man to a large apartment where several citizens are gathered around a television. Larry, clearly under duress, appears on the screen, reciting words the Combine have obviously put into his mouth.
- "My friends, I have an important message for you. I have now seen the error behind the ways of the Resistance movement. Despite understandable intentions, it is clear now that we have been deluded. The way forward is not to fall victim to our own weaknesses of instinct, but instead in the wisdom of looking past primitive emotion and embracing the will of our...Benefactors. Lay down your arms and report to the nearest Combine patrol as soon as possible. You will be fed, watered, and treated with dignity. There is no need to fear Our Benefactors. All they seek is peace and unity. See...for...yourselves. Be at Cathedral Square tomorrow at noon. I will be there to demonstrate that there is a better alternative."
- ― Larry
In another apartment, three rebels with shotguns are holding a captured Metrocop hostage, his hands and feet bound. In what is one of the most disturbing scenes in the entire game, a male rebel callously executes the defenseless Metrocop with a shot to the back of the head. No one even attempts to stop him. The shot causes the dead cop's gas mask to fly off, revealing the face of a blond-haired man who bears a striking resemblance to Barney Calhoun. A Combine terminal in this apartment allows the Citizen to disable a force field downstairs. With the force field deactivated, the rebels begin to gather on the other side, outside the building in the street. However they are quickly scattered as the Strider returns and fires its warp cannon.
The Citizen escapes across the street into an old casino where he is greeted by the body of a man who has apparently been hanged. A dangling radio in the main hall occasionally picks up snippets of a gruesome transmission, the origin of which is never explained.
- "*static*...autopsy results showed extreme damage to the...*static*...repeated suicide attempts over a long period of...*static*...function significantly impaired...*static*...ect regained consciousness after eight minu...*static*...ject showed massive resistance to death...*static*...God help us all. *static*"
- ― Unknown radio transmission
As if foreshadowed by the radio transmission, the casino is swarming with zombies, and other corpses, citizen and Combine alike, can be found elsewhere in the building, either lying where they fell or strung up like macabre decorations. A ghostly man can briefly be seen running across the floor of the casino, and a bizarre new type of zombie, slow, exceptionally tough and not obviously controlled by a headcrab, is encountered several times in the building. In the casino, the Citizen must find a key card to open the manager's office, then use the key card in the manager's office to open the door to a theater. In the theater itself there are five switches he must find and deactivate to turn of a force field; one is in a box seat behind a barricaded door, forcing him to find another way there. A Fast Zombie can be briefly seen but ignores the Citizen in favor of a hanged corpse on an upper level.
Passing backstage, the Citizen reaches a bowling alley and must ascend a staircase while fending off Classic Zombies. When he makes it up the stairs he must negotiate a pool of electrified water while defending against a Poison Zombie and two Fast Zombies that attack him. A second electrified pool awaits him as he escapes into a parking structure. When he manages to "turn off" the electricity in the garage, he is attacked by several Fast Zombies. Now free to make his way across the parking structure, he holes up for the night at an exit between two sturdy garage doors, one locked from the other side, with a gray-haired man also trapped in the parking structure. The two manage to get some sleep as they wait for rescue in the morning.
The Citizen awakes the next morning to find that the old man has left, the front door is open and that a man with a Scottish accent is explaining to him that "the man on the Overwatch broadcast last night" is going to be executed at noon with a Combine torture device. He directs the Citizen to a Resistance base at the old post office. The Citizen quickly finds a scene of combat, where rebels are firing at Combine forces below where he just was, swarming in from behind force fields. A hole in a far wall leads to the only escape. Several more rebels are found in the corridor below, and they make it to a defunct art gallery. Sounds of gunfire can be heard outside. The rebels must hide to avoid a Scanner that is passing through. When the scanner leaves, the Citizen's only choice is to escape through a window, since the door is blocked from the outside. He manages to unblock the door, allowing the other rebels out of the building. They arrive outside to see a Combine broadcast where Larry is "judged malignant" by the Overwatch Voice. Their progress forward is impeded by yet another force field, forcing the Citizen to look for a way to disable it. A nearby building proves to be the key, but the switch is guarded by two soldiers. On the other side of the now-inactive force field is the post office, but the doors are shut. A male rebel knocks on the door and asks to be let in, and is answered by a woman asking him "What's the password?" He responds "Password!" exasperatedly. The woman replies "Come on in" and allows all the rebels into the post office.
The Citizen arrives in the back to see a gathering of rebels trying to decide on the method they're going to use to rescue Larry. There are three options and six rebels to cast votes, and the voting ends up being a three-way tie, forcing the Citizen to be the decider. The three options are Explosives, Sniper and Undercover.
- If the Citizen chooses Explosives, he must plant an explosive underneath the torture device without being seen by the many Metrocops or Elite Soldiers policing the square. Once Larry is brought out, the other rebels will detonate the explosives and storm the square to rescue Larry.
- If the Citizen chooses Sniper, he will be provided with a Resistance Crossbow the rebels acquired after "some guy in a hazard suit dropped it." He uses the crossbow to take out Combine forces in key positions and sows chaos so Larry can escape.
- If the Citizen chooses Undercover, he is given a Combine Elite's gear, and, similar to the Conference Center raid in Part One, must use it to infiltrate the Combine force in the square. However, this time, the disguise is not foolproof, as Elite Soldiers will see through it if the Citizen gets too close to them. He must make his way to where Larry is being held, and once Larry is being brought out, he can take his first shot.
No matter what option the Citizen chooses, the ending is the same. With the Sniper or Undercover options, he must take care not to act too early, as another man is being executed before Larry. Once a sufficient distraction is created, a large group of rebels storm the square, kill the Combine forces, and rescue Larry, who exclaims "Oh you guys, that was...that was...so beautiful!" upon his rescue. Another rebel warns the Citizen that reinforcements are on their way and asks him to take Larry to a safer place. The Citizen escorts Larry across the square into a building. However as they are about to open the door to the next room, everything suddenly goes dark and the ceiling collapses. The words "To be continued..." appear across the screen, then the credits roll.
Part Three[edit]
Part Three is currently in development. The designers intend to release Part Three as part of an updated re-release of Part Two.[2] It will pick up after the cliffhanger ending of Part Two.
Bugs[edit]
Part One[edit]
- If the player picks up the Rocket Launcher that the rebel drops when killed, then the player's current Rocket Launcher ammo will be displayed as 3 on the HUD no matter what the current ammo actually is. If the player picks up the Rocket Launcher near the ammo crate, the current ammo will be displayed correctly. The player never acquires the rocket launcher in Part II, so it is not possible to be certain if this bug exists there as well.
- It is not possible to sprint in this game if the player acquires the HEV suit in the intended way. If the HEV suit is obtained by console codes, however, it is possible to sprint. This bug is not present in The Citizen Part II.
- Starting a new game from Chapter 2 via the menu or loading a map via the console does not grant you the HEV suit or any weapons; you must gain them by using console commands.
Part Two[edit]
- Several bugs are documented in the game's readme file.
- It is possible to get trapped if you head out of the message post building towards the hockey arena instead of in the intended direction. A barrier will keep you from returning to the upper floor of the building, preventing you from advancing.
- The Strider in "Serious Investment" clips through one of the buildings slightly as it walks. This is purely cosmetic and has no gameplay effect.
- If the new zombie enemy is disintegrated with an Energy Ball, its breathing can still be heard coming from the place where it was killed.
- Starting a new game from Chapter 2 or 3 via the menu or loading a map via the console does not grant you the HEV suit or any weapons; you must gain them by using console commands.
Trivia[edit]
Part One[edit]
- There are fifteen Easter Eggs hidden throughout the game for the player to find, which unlock hidden content at the end of the game.[1] Similar to the lambda caches associated with the Lambda Locator achievement, they are often associated with supply crates, medkits, suit batteries, and ammo clips, though one is associated with an amusing radio transmission. The designers have attempted to discourage players from cheating to find these Easter Eggs by implementing the "noclip jail" (see below).
- Attempting to use noclip to enter areas out of sequence or areas that are inaccessible will frequently result in the player being sent to a jail cell with "This is where Noclip got you" written on the wall. An old man will address the player directly, explaining that such cheat codes will get them nowhere and telling them to stop it. He will then let the player out and direct them to a teleport, sighing "I hope you learned your lesson this time, for both our sakes." A suggestive picture depicting Dr. Breen and Dr. Kleiner is visible on a back wall, with the text "So, what hand do you usually use to bring down the console?" under it.
- The G-Man can be spotted at least once prior to the end of the game, in a room in the sewer system. If the player enters the room, he will have vanished.
- The church found in the segment "Holy War" is a very obvious reference to Aerith's church in Final Fantasy VII, complete with a hole in the ceiling and flowers growing through the floor.
- Posters seen at the Elvet Theatre advertise productions such as "Freeman: The Stage Production," "Ocean's Seventeen," "An Airboat Named Desire," "Two Beer or Not Two Beer" with Barney Calhoun, and "Our Benefactors: a monologue of a Citizen saying how good the Combine are" with Judith Mossman.
- In the rebel barracks by the Elvet Theatre, a man can be heard singing in the shower, "Nobody knows the trouble I've seen, nobody knows but G-Man..." with "G-Man" replacing "Jesus" in the second line.
- Markis (pronounced Marcus) is the name of a traitor in Guild Wars: Prophecies. This may be a coincidence.
- According to the credits, "this mod happened by accident."
Part Two[edit]
- There are many unused sound files present in the sound directory, possibly pertaining to Part Three. One of the stranger ones has Larry claiming that he is going to live forever and become a god. The sound clips also reveal his full name to be Larry Soderstrom Jr., sharing his surname with his voice actor, Eric Soderstrom Jr.
- Subtitles were planned for this game and are roughly complete for the English and Spanish languages, but the designers were not able to implement them due to a change in the Source engine.[2] The subtitle files are still present in the game files.
- At the loft with the pigeons, there is a pair of binoculars pointing at a mailbox across the street. This has no bearing on the plot and, according to developer Jose "Kasperg" Ameyugo, is related to an Easter egg and "won't be useful until the next release." [3]
- If you bring the injured man one of the random items in the corner, he will make a snide remark such as "Yeah, what the hell are you smoking? Does that look like medical supplies to you?"
- It is actually possible to save the captive Metrocop by pressing a button behind the chair to release him. This has no effect on the plot.
- According to the credits, "This mod was the sequel to a mod that happened by accident."
