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and Alyx Vance are awaiting Dr. Eli Vance 's casket so that they can rescue him.]] Nova Prospekt is a fictional location in Valve Software 's 2004 Computer Game '' Half-Life 2 ''. Previously a high-security prison, Nova Prospekt has been transformed by the Combine into a facility for the storage of Political Prisoners ( Alyx Vance ominously says that Nova Prospekt "used to be a high-security prison, but is something... much worse than that now"). When Gordon Freeman finally reaches the facility to rescue Eli Vance accompanied by a pack of Antlions , he discovers that it is a processing facility for captured humans. The Antlion swarm heading into the complex, goaded by Gordon Freeman, seemed to trigger practically all the Antlions in the area surrounding the complex to help invade. This can be seen in-game by Combine having to fend off endless hordes of Antlions either flying or tunneling into the structure. Even a few of the extremely-tough Antlion Guards come to join, smashing through thin walls with impunity and ramming any Combine they find, as well as Gordon himself. Throughout Nova Prospekt, the player catches glimpses of skeletal beings known as Stalkers , later seen while Gordon is fighting his way through The Citadel . Additionally, the player may see a human being changed into a Combine Overwatch Soldier ; his skin is pale and he seems to have multiple Bionic implants. This recalls the Propaganda heard early in the game in which Dr. Breen hails the Combine for "aiding" the Evolution of the human species. The name and design of ''Nova Prospekt'' continue with the Eastern European motif seen throughout the game (various signs and Graffiti are written with the Cyrillic alphabet, a church built in the Russian Orthodox Style in Ravenholm , and the fact that Father Grigori appears to have some sort of Eastern European accent). Translations proposed have included ''new prospect'', ''new perspective'', or ''new hope'' - it is unclear which language ''Nova Prospekt'' is supposed to be in; whereas ''Nova'' is a root meaning ''new'' in all Slavic Languages , ''Prospekt'' can have meanings ranging from ''prospectus'' to ''view'' to ''street'' depending on the language. One theory on the name of ''Nova Prospekt'' (if the translation is assumed "''new perspective''"), is that the political prisoners are subjected to massive propaganda, torture and manipulation by the Combine in order for them to accept or be forced to accept Combine rule and join their cause, hence the ''New Perspective''. Following this theory, the torture or "conversion" entailed at Nova Prospekt would not be unlike the methods described in the book '' Nineteen Eighty-Four ''. However, this process would likely be time-consuming and costly even to the Combine. Though there is evidence of torture inside the complex (a dead Vortigaunt , a creature sensitive to electricity, is seen bound to a chair with a beam of energy entering it at the neck, also see other possibilites under Vortigaunt ), it is likely that mechanical implants are used instead to "turn" prisoners to the Combine's cause. Metal obtrusions from the head of an exposed Combine soldier, and the apparent lobotomised state of the Citadel's Stalkers, suggests a much more surgical and efficient method of slave-manufacture devised by Earth's oppressors. Nova Prospekt appears to be separated into two parts (old, and new) illustrated respectively in the two levels of the game titled "Nova Prospekt" and "Entanglement". The old section of the building follows the motif of an Alcatraz styled maximum security prison riddled with open confinement chambers (useless to the Combine), labeled cell blocks, offices, and large shower and maintenance facilities. The Combine appear to have made little use for this particular area as they have moved all Combine related facilities and processes into the new section of the massive complex. This section exhibits many signs of disrepair and disuse, such as large pools forming in the sub-basements, crumbling ceilings and massive holes in the ground dug by Antlions . This section of Nova Prospekt is slowly being absorbed into the new Nova Prospekt by means of Combine technology. The new section of Nova Prospekt houses the processing facilities utilized by the Combine to convert POWs into Overwatch soldiers, as well as the developmental technology for Combine teleports. The architecture of this section is an example of Combine land development technology, seen in the final scene of "Nova Prospekt" and in City 17 later in the game. This technology in its predeveloped stage is a massive wall of assorted bars, wires, and machinery arranged randomly. The random positioning of any particular part of the structure, working with every other part of the structure each with its own variable function, allows for millions of permutations of arrangements that, according to a specified program, will build into whatever Combine facility it has been told to become. This mode of automated construction allows for the Combine take-over of any particular area. This development is shown in the final scene of "Nova Prospekt" when the player happens upon an absolutely wrecked part of the old facility bordered on all sides by this wall of random machinery. As the player progresses through this odd valley of destruction, the walls start to slowly change position eating up more of the old facility and becoming more specific in its arrangement. Shortly after this scene the player enters into the train depot of new Nova Prospekt, upon close examination of the wall, it is discovered that the depot has been composed entirely out of the moving machinery seen earlier. Later in the game startlingly detailed examples of similar Combine architecture are seen in the City 17 Nexus, and in the Citadel. |
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