Information AboutCity 17 |
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City 17 is a ''. CITY CHARACTERISTICS Location and architecture City 17 is visually described as a large Eastern Europe an city, featuring mostly Eastern European Architecture dating from pre- World War II Neoclassicism , to post-war revival of classical designs, Soviet Modernism , and post-Soviet contemporary designs. In addition, many abandoned and unused vehicles scattered throughout City 17 are based on Soviet-marketed Moskvitch s, Zaporozhets and Volga s, East German Trabant s and Czech Avia trucks, dating back to the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s; such vehicles were commonly seen in many Soviet occupied Eastern European countries and cities. Combine rule With Combine domination of Earth , the Combine would go on to include black monolithic architecture into the city, in the form of Watchtowers , barricades, Mobile Walls and Door Locks , all serving to restrict citizen movement in the city. In addition, large public television screens, which current Puppet Administrator of Earth, Doctor Breen , would use to broadcast his many prepared speeches ("Breencasts"), are installed in several public areas to address citizens regarding the Combine. As there is little emphasis in maintaining non-essential parts of the city, many areas of City 17 suffer from Urban Decay , and damages seen before the uprising of the Resistance suggests that the city may have come under Combine attack during the Seven Hour War . During the uprising, much of the city suffered extensive damage from either battles between the Resistance and Combine forces, or the advance of mobile walls, which typically destroy any building in their path. At the heart of the city lies the Citadel , a giant skyscraper which serves as an office for Doctor Breen. From this, City 17 can be viewed as the world's capital. City design The core of the city predominantly consists of wall-to-wall buildings, with blocks of clustered low-rises made out of a variety of old and new buildings. Soviet-era apartment high-rises and Public Housing are also seen inside the city and on the outskirts, with taller varieties distinctively prevalent in a city consisting of mostly low rises. Under Combine rule, certain residential buildings in the city were used as accommodation for citizens, and conditions in such housings were typically seen as poor, with little luxuries and constant inspection and raids by the Civil Protection. However, the city is still supplied with Electric Power , as televisions and lights are still in use, even in citizens' homes; it is suggested that the Citadel is providing power to the city, as large power lines can be seen extending out of it into the city. The outskirts of City 17 features industrial districts and additional Soviet housing, most of which are considered off-limits to citizens and are primarily guarded by better trained and augmented Combine Soldiers. Industrial districts are seen linked to the city via railway lines and canals, although it remains to be seen if they remain in use by the Combine, given that most of the industrial structures serve little economical use for the Combine. Aside the deployment of mobile walls, the Combine has left much of the city layout untouched before the uprising of the Resistance, preferring instead to use low-tech but effective barricades and walls, as well as patrols in and around the city, to block and restrict access of certain streets from citizens. Transportation systems City 17's transportation system was considerably sophisticated. In addition to Highway s and city streets, City 17 included underground road Tunnel s that travel beneath the city; during the Resistance uprising against the Combine, portions of the tunnel could be seen, badly damaged, with areas flooded with toxic substances. Several Railway lines run within the city, with at least one large Train Station connecting City 17 to other Combine controlled cities. The Combine maximized the use of these transportation systems, developing ground-based APC s that are designed to travel on existing roadways for patrols, while utilizing pre-invasion trains and Their Own Form Of Train s to transport citizens and goods in and out of City 17 using the railway lines. The presence of unused tramways on a street also suggests that the city once provided Tram services. A network of Canal s is also prevalent in and around City 17. Much of the inner city canals, however, were made defunct, after the Combine's effort to drain large bodies of water around City 17 left much of the area's canal system dry. Nevertheless, Resistance members continue to utilize the network and Sewer tunnels to escape the city and reach the industrial canals, where they will head to Black Mesa East . Much of the industrial district canal systems remain useable, albeit shallower, and with certain portions of the canals contaminated with hazardous materials. With large bodies of water and wide spaces, Air Boat s have been suggested to be a preferable mode of transportation for Resistance members during their journey through the industrial canals. CITY 17 IN ''HALF-LIFE 2'' City 17 is first introduced to Gordon Freeman (The Protagonist of '' Half-Life 2 '') by the G-Man . Gordon is brought into the new world without knowing what has happened in the previous years after the Black Mesa incident and starting work under the G-Man. Gordon is then pulled from a sleep-like trance the G-Man had him in, and is left standing in a train which is pulling into a station. Leaving the train after hearing the other passengers comment, "I didn't see you get on," Gordon faces a huge screen monitor with the administrator, Doctor Breen , smiling calmly down at the depressed citizens of City 17. He begins to read one of his many "Breencasts" to the rest of the city, through monitors positioned throughout the city. Barney Calhoun eventually finds retrieved Gordon, allowing him to escape out of the train station. Exiting the station, Gordon finds himself in a plaza, with the ever imposing Citadel far ahead, and further evidence of the Combine 's power in the city. Gordon's brief journey through the city reveals the level of repression by the Combine, and the level of fear and dread among citizens. As the Combine Overwatch identifies him as a "miscount" in a building, he is pursued by Civil Protection Units over the rooftops and ledges of buildings before being rescued by Alyx Vance , who brings Gordon to Dr. Kleiner 's lab in a nearby building. There, Gordon is fitted with a HEV Suit , and is set to be teleported together with Alyx to Dr. Eli Vance 's lab in Black Mesa East . While Alyx successfully arrives at the destination, the teleport malfunctions as Gordon is about to be teleported, sending him to several locations (including Doctor Breen's office in the Citadel), and eventually back to City 17, just outside Kleiner's lab. As Gordon meets Barney once again, he is advised to venture along railway lines, canals, and sewage systems and the wider canal routes to leave City 17 and reach Black Mesa East, adding that renegade citizens are residing along the area and will offer assistance. Along the way, it is learned that parts of the route are also under attack by Combine units, including the deployment of " Manhacks " - flying blades - as an alert was put out from the Citadel to capture or kill Gordon after the teleportation incident at Breen's office. Several citizens in the area are killed, and bodies are also found along the way. As Gordon reaches the wider canals, an airboat is prepared for use to transport Gordon out of the city. As he rides the vehicle, Hunter-chopper s and additional Combine units pursue him once more, but are eventually evaded and defeated as he reaches Black Mesa East and flees the city. Later, Gordon returns to the city after reaching Nova Prospekt with Alyx to rescue Eli and associate Judith Mossman , who were captured by Combine forces. After Judith kidnaps Eli and takes him to the Citadel, Gordon and Alyx attempt to teleport back to Kleiner's lab, but find that they have reached their destination a week later in time, although it seems to Alyx and Gordon as though their teleportation was instantaneous. They learn that the destruction of Nova Prospekt sparked an uprising among City 17's citizens that sent the city into chaos: Combine units and citizens are fighting against each other, and powerful, more lethal weapons and equipment are being deployed in full force, damaging much of the city. While Gordon and Alyx race to the Citadel to rescue Eli, Alyx is knocked out, captured, and brought to the Citadel right away. Gordon eventually reaches the foot of the Citadel, with the aid of Barney and Alyx's robot pet Dog, and enters the structure to rescue Eli and Alyx and to confront Doctor Breen. The final stage of the game reveals that Gordon, upon releasing Eli and Alyx and damaging the Dark Energy reactor that would power fleeing Breen's teleportation off of the planet, was about to trigger a massive explosion of the reactor that would "bring down the whole Citadel" and destroy the entire city. At the moment of the reactor's explosion, however, the G-Man reappears, stopping time, and transports Gordon back into stasis to await further assignment. The fate of the Citadel and the city remains unknown at this point, thought promotional screenshots and trailers of the '' reveal a critically damaged, but still standing, Citadel. Rumor is that ''Episode One'' will take place against a backdrop of a mass exodus from the doomed city, at the heart of which the Citadel has become a ticking bomb, into a countryside infested with alien wildlife, some of it quite dangerous, and disoriented but still hostile Combine forces including some new varieties of soldier and biotechnological "Synth" weapons/vehicles. As of 14 April 2006 most of this has official confirmation {Link without Title} . BACKGROUND AND ORIGINS OF CITY 17 In ''Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar'', City 17 is described as being in an Eastern European setting. Some fans believe City 17 to be Sofia , Bulgaria , the hometown of the art director of ''Half-Life 2'', Viktor Antonov. This is based on both City 17's general resemblance to Sofia and the frequent appearance of Bulgarian words (written in Cyrillic characters) on signs and Graffiti throughout the game (although some of these are words in other Slavic Languages as well). One clear example is "цимент" ("cement") written across the top of a large building in Ravenholm - the only language that spells the word in this way, using the Cyrillic alphabet, is Bulgarian . Some believe that City 17 is based in Riga , Latvia . This is based again on the strong similarities between the game and the city. Interestingly, part of Riga, known as "Old Riga" is strongly reminiscent of Ravenholm. Riga is also a coastal city with a coastline that closely matches that shown in ''Raising the Bar''. Riga has been strongly influenced by Russian culture and as such features numerous examples of both Latvian and Russian (Cyrillic) languages. Its skyline is dotted with many buildings of a similar style and colour as seen in City 17, and the area is famous for its Art Nouveau influences. Old Riga is an area that is also dotted with tramlines and churches, any of which would fit with Father Grigori 's character. Most interestingly, however, is the number of spires on the skyline (especially the suspension bridge) and Riga Castle - all of which cluster around "Citadale Street" - a possible inspiration for the Citadel in ''Half-Life 2''. City 17 could also be based on Vilnius, Lithuania , as the streets in ''HL2'' are similar to the ones in Vilnius. The only difference is the addition of the canals. Others have said that the name City 17 itself is actually a reference to the Soviet practice of numbering secret Closed Cities rather than naming them, as in Arzamas-16 , Krasnoyarsk-26 , Tomsk-7 and numerous others. Yet another possibility would be St. Petersburg , Russia . This could explain the abundance of canals and an ever-present chain of coffee shops called Café Baltic. However, in addition to incorporating Eastern European elements, examples of Norwegian , Italian , Polish and French influences also exist, suggesting that the setting is something of a montage of Europe an locations. 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