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Half life 2 ravenholm11/5/2022 ![]() ![]() The Sealed Section of Dark Project referred to a quarter of a great city in the game that had become infested with undead creatures. The second story you need to know about Ravenholm is the story of how the level came to be in the game in the first place. While elements of that story are up for debate, the popular consensus is that Half-Life writer Marc Laidlaw, who has stated in the past that he’s a big fan of the Thiefseries, at least partially based it on a section in Thief: The Dark Project called “Sealed Section.” The resilient residents of Ravenholm were essentially turned into zombies by the headcrabs, and any rebels who were lucky enough to live outside its boundaries at the time of the shelling began to only speak of the town in whispers as they warned the curious to stay far away from it. It’s not clear why the Combine decided to use so many of these shells on Ravenholm given the relatively rare uses of the weapon outside of this instance, but it’s possible they felt the idea of enslaving a town whose residents resisted them for so long was too poetic of an opportunity to pass up. These headcrabs then burrow into the area just waiting to find someone to attack, infect, and effectively enslave. It looks like a bomb, but instead of exploding upon impact, the Headcrab Shell unloads hundreds and hundreds of headcrabs upon a populated area. Essentially a biological weapon, the Headcrab Shell is an especially cruel instrument of war. Whatever peace Ravenholm offered was shattered when the Combine bombarded the town with Headcrab Shells. It was seemingly founded as a mining town, but when the Combine (the invading antagonists of Half-Life 2) took over much of the area around Ravenholm, that rustic mining town soon became one of the last safe havens from the technologically superior Combine and their evil intentions. Before the events of Half-Life 2, Ravenholm was a small village that consisted mostly of shabby wooden houses. The first is the story of the town itself as presented in Half-Life 2 and related supplementary materials. ![]() Ravenholm is a town with two stories, and you need to know both of them to fully understand what makes it so special. You could even argue that at least the first season of Stranger Things managed this rare feat. Creepshow (and the similar Tales from the Crypt) blended fun and frights remarkably smoothly. Bloodborne accomplished something similar in terms of the gothic horror genre. There have been few examples of horror over the years that manage to feature comfortably familiar horror tropes and be, at least at times, genuinely scary. The moment that someone actually tries to use them in a genuine way is usually the moment when you may start to feel contempt towards them. The cliches of horror are typically only appealing so long as they are treated like something that is fun. However, if you’re an adult and someone does something like wave a paper bat in front of your face with the intention of scaring you, not only will you not be scared but you might feel insulted. We’re reminded of that feeling every Halloween. At worst, the genre’s oldest trappings (dark and stormy nights, pearl white ghosts, bats, witches, and vampires) usually put a smile on your face as you recall your earliest memories of not only being scared, but being treated as if you were old and brave enough to be scared. See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.Horror has long been somewhat free from the contempt that familiarity brings. As I recall, we felt like a lot of the staples of Ravenholm - headcrabs and zombies! - were pretty much played out, and the fact that it would have to take place sometime before the end of Episode 2 (so as not to advance beyond where Valve had pushed the story) was a creative constraint that would hamper the project.and Arkane."Īs years pass without any word about episode 3 or even a possibility of a 'Half-Life 3,' fans can add the following video, put together by ValveTime, to the heap of false hope around the series continuation. We threw ideas around, they built some cool stuff, but we eventually decided that it didn't make sense to pursue it at the time. Last year, Valve's Marc Laidlaw explained the project's short-lived life, "We are big fans of Arkane and wanted to come up with a project we could work on together. has unearthed concept phase production materials from back when the 'Half-Life' series was in active development. Long-rumored cancelled project emerges from 'Dishonored' developer Arkane Studios. ![]()
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