Arkane Studios’ Half-Life 2 spin-off confirms it follows Half-Life: Opposing Force’s protagonist. Through the studio’s documentary by NoClip, fans find out many lost details about the game.
The canceled Half-Life 2 game, Return to Ravenholm, follows Adrian Shepard and another significant character. This title was going to be Episode 4 on the series but came abandoned in 2007.
According to the documentary, the game was going to be a standalone spin-off, much like Half-Life: Alyx.
Return To Ravenholm has ten missions designed for it
Following the documentary, Return to Ravenholm was going back to the titular city, following Opposing Force protagonist Adrian Shepard. The documentary also shows that players will join forces with Father Grigori.
Father Grigori was a mad priest turned mad scientist. In HL2, Freeman meets Grigori as a man with a penchant for milking headcrabs. The Arkane game also has killer monkeys, an endless wave of zombies, and drugs from headcrabs.
The entire game is wild, but it’s almost a full-fledged game. The whole game had as many as nine or ten missions designed. In each mission, Grigori and Shepard will solve puzzles as they try to power up the area where the priest lives.
Fans will notice that electricity gets a ton of use in the game. Electricity is a crucial mechanic in the puzzle-solving and how enemies die. Fans will find Shepard building a power network with a nail gun and an active socket.
Players can also use electric traps to hit on zombies in-game. Arkane also added weapons with special functions and high-utility tools. For example, players can mod a leafblower to use as a double jump jet pack. Players can also use a chainsaw.
Arkane’s Ravenholm has zombies, mutant monkeys, and headcrab stew
Unlike Half-Life 2, Arkane’s Ravenholm does not have a ton of notable characters except Shepard and Grigori. The game has a ton of monsters, however, and Ravenholm is rife with them.
Zombies and mutant monkeys that are scared of light sources fill the city. Arkane also designed acid-spitting zombies, much like Left 4 Dead 2’s Spitter. The hordes of zombies are not too smart, so they’re not hard to defeat.
Even then, these monsters are great at interacting with their environment. They can rip off doors, so players will be on edge. Ravenholm is more linear and almost complete too.
The game has its voice acting and even scripted sequences. Players will even find Father Grigory making a headcrab stew chock full of drugs. Curious fans of Arkane and their canceled Half-Life 2 game will find the documentary on NoClip’s channel on Youtube.
Images courtesy of NoClip/Youtube Screenshots