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Dominating City 17's skyline, the Combine Citadel.

City 17 is a fictional city from the first-person shooter computer game Half-Life 2 (2004). Much of the game, and the entirety of its first sequel, Half-Life 2: Episode One, takes place in the city. Image File history File links Emblem-important. ... Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... Download high resolution version (510x768, 111 KB)The Combine Citadel, in the computer game Half-Life 2. ... Download high resolution version (510x768, 111 KB)The Combine Citadel, in the computer game Half-Life 2. ... This is a list of fictional non-combat technology employed by the Combine empire in Half-Life 2, a 2004 first-person shooter. ... FicTioNaL is a Gaming Legend. ... This article is about video games. ... A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ... Half-Life 2 (commonly abbreviated to HL2) is a science fiction first-person shooter computer game that is the sequel to Half-Life. ... 2004 2004 in games 2003 in video gaming 2005 in video gaming Notable events of 2004 in video gaming. ...

City characteristics

Location and architecture

A City 17 street, with a mixture of modern, traditional, and Combine architectural designs.

City 17 was visually described as a large Eastern European 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 (the environment and feel of the city itself resembles the setting of the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.) In addition, many abandoned and unused vehicles scattered throughout City 17 are based on Soviet-marketed Moskvitchs, Zaporozhets, Volgas and Kamazs trucks, Latvian SSR-made Rīgas Autobusu Fabrika minivans, East German Trabants and Czech Avias and Škodas, dating back to the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s; such vehicles were commonly seen in many countries of Eastern Bloc. However, Swedish gas pumps are also seen. Also, scattered around the city and the surrounding communities, Cyrillic characters can be noted on buildings and signs. Notable examples of these are on the Hospital in Episode One that Gordon' and Alyx go through ("Стационар"), and the small mining village the player comes across after Alyx sends a transmission to White Forest ("ШАХТА ПОБEДЬІ" - Mine of Victory). Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x1024, 687 KB) Summary A City 17 street, a fictional location from the first-person shooter computer game, Half-Life 2. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x1024, 687 KB) Summary A City 17 street, a fictional location from the first-person shooter computer game, Half-Life 2. ... Statistical regions of Europe as delineated by the United Nations (UN definition of Eastern Europe marked red):  Northern Europe  Western Europe  Eastern Europe  Southern Europe Pre-1989 division between the West (grey) and Eastern Bloc (orange) superimposed on current borders: Russia (dark orange), other countries formerly part of the USSR... This article is about building architecture. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The Cathedral of Vilnius (1783), by Laurynas Gucevičius. ... CCCP redirects here. ... Modern architecture, not to be confused with contemporary architecture, is a term given to a number of building styles with similar characteristics, primarily the simplification of form and the elimination of ornament. ... This article is about the Orwell novel. ... Moskvitch (Russian: Москвич) (sometimes also mentioned as Moskvich or Moskwitch, which means Muscovite) is an automobile brand from Russia. ... ZAZ-968 The Zaporozhets (Russian: , Zaporozhets; Ukrainian: , Zaporozhets) was a brand name of subcompact cars designed and built from 1958 at the ZAZ factory in Soviet Ukraine (Zaporozhsky Avtomobilny Zavod, or Zaporozhsky Automobile Factory). ... Volga is a brand name of various passenger cars from GAZ. Throughout the Soviet world, Volga cars were seen as a high status symbols, used by party officials, the nomenklatura, and security services. ... Kamaz (Камский автомобильный завод - Камаз / Kamskiy avtomobilny zavod - Kama Automobile Zavod - Kamaz or KAMA Heavy-Duty Truck Production Plant) is a Tatar truck manufacturer located in Naberezhnye Chelny, Tatarstan, Russian Federation. ... State motto: Visu zemju proletārieÅ¡i, savienojieties! Official language Latvian, Russian (de facto). ... RAF logo Latvian RÄ«gas Autobusu Fabrika, (Russian: Рижская Автомобильная Фабрика) (abbreviated RAF) was a factory in Jelgava, Latvia, making vans under the brand name Latvija. ... This article is about the state which existed from 1949 to 1990. ... This article is about the automobile. ... Avia was a Czech aircraft company notable for producing biplane fighters, especially the B-534. ... Å koda Auto ( (help· info)) is a Czech automobile manufacturer and one of the four oldest car producers in the world. ... A map of the Eastern Bloc 1948-1989. ... The Cyrillic alphabet (or azbuka, from the old name of the first two letters) is an alphabet used for several East and South Slavic languages; (Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Rusyn, Serbian, and Ukrainian) and many other languages of the former Soviet Union, Asia and Eastern Europe. ... Gordon Freeman, Ph. ... Alyx Vance is a fictional character and digital actor from Valves 2004 First Person Shooter computer game Half-Life 2, and its following episode: Half-Life 2: Episode One. ...

Combine rule

With the Combine domination of Earth, the Combine would go on to construct black monolithic architecture in 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 Wallace Breen, would use to broadcast his many prepared speeches ("Breencasts"), are installed in several public areas to address citizens regarding the Combine. At the heart of the city lies the Citadel, a giant skyscraper which serves as the hub of the Combine. From this, City 17 can be viewed as the world's capital. The Combine is a fictional powerful alien race and empire from Valve Corporations 2004 first-person shooter computer game Half-Life 2. ... This article is about Earth as a planet. ... This is a list of fictional non-combat technology employed by the Combine empire in Half-Life 2, a 2004 first-person shooter. ... This is a list of fictional non-combat technology employed by the Combine empire in Half-Life 2, a 2004 first-person shooter. ... This is a list of fictional non-combat technology employed by the Combine empire in Half-Life 2, a 2004 first-person shooter. ... A puppet state is a state whose government, though notionally of the same culture as the governed people - owes its existence (or other major debt) to being installed, supported or controlled by a more powerful entity, typically a foreign power. ... Doctor Wallace Breen, as seen in Half-Life 2. ... This is a list of fictional non-combat technology employed by the Combine empire in Half-Life 2, a 2004 first-person shooter. ...

A City 17 plaza, under surveillance by Civil Protection units and equipment, with a "Breencast" monitor, which Doctor Breen uses to address City 17 citizens.

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 Human Resistance and Combine forces, or the advance of mobile walls, which typically destroy any building in their path. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x1024, 631 KB) Summary A City 17 square outside the citys train station, a fictional location from the first-person shooter computer game, Half-Life 2. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x1024, 631 KB) Summary A City 17 square outside the citys train station, a fictional location from the first-person shooter computer game, Half-Life 2. ... Urban decay and renewal in Cincinnati Urban decay is the popular term for both the physical and social degeneration of cities and large towns. ... It has been suggested that The Combine War be merged into this article or section. ...

Clues in City 17's train station indicate that other inhabitable cities using a similar naming scheme exist alongside City 17. There is a mention of a "City 14" by City 17 citizens during Gordon's tour of the latter's train station, while train schedule boards suggests train services to other cities (labeled "C8," "C15," "C27," etc.). Breen also indicated that City 17 is one of Earth's "finest remaining urban centers" and that he chose to establish his administration in City 17, implying that he had "other areas" to pick from; this also implies that other cities have been destroyed since the Combine "invasion" (i.e remaining urban centers) or have been overrun by Xen wildlife. In Half-Life 2: Episode One, it is revealed that Citadels also exist in other cities. Islands in Xen Xen (pronounced Zen) is the origin of the alien species that appear in the science fiction video game Half-Life (Valve Software, 1998); the expansion packs Half-Life: Opposing Force (Valve Software and Gearbox Software, 1999); Half-Life: Blue Shift (Valve/Gearbox, 2001); and Half-Life: Decay...

City design

A ravaged City 17 street, close to the walls of the Citadel. Note the presence of tram lines on the road.

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 standing out 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 few 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. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x1024, 550 KB) Summary City 17s city center (with a toppled horse statue) a fictional location from the first-person shooter computer game, Half-Life 2, just before a barracade of Combine mobile walls which guard The Citadel. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x1024, 550 KB) Summary City 17s city center (with a toppled horse statue) a fictional location from the first-person shooter computer game, Half-Life 2, just before a barracade of Combine mobile walls which guard The Citadel. ... This article refers to public transport vehicles running on rails. ... A local authority tower block in Cwmbrân, South Wales Public housing or project homes are forms of housing tenure in which the property is owned by a government authority, which may be central or local. ... For delivered electrical power, see Electrical power industry. ...

The city was large enough to provide all necessary needs for the citizens before the Combine attacked. This is supported by the appearance of a hospital, several cafés and restaurants, office buildings, and underground city systems that the player fights through in Half-Life 2 and Episode One. Most of these buildings are still intact but are abandoned. The Combine has taken over some office buildings to keep a strong hold on the city, but the hospital has been left to zombies and headcrabs. Buildings that were formerly government buildings, such as the Overwatch Nexus, are in use by the Combine.

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 is not clear if they remain in use by the Combine, given that most of the industrial structures serve little economical use for the Combine.

Aside from 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

A Combine train passes by a canal and residential apartments.

City 17's transportation system had considerable variety. In addition to highways and city streets, City 17 included underground road tunnels 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 two large train stations connecting City 17 to other Combine controlled cities. The Combine maximized the use of these transportation systems, developing ground-based APCs that are designed to travel on existing roadways for patrols, while utilizing pre-invasion trains and their own form of trains 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. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x1024, 744 KB) Summary A railway line in use by a Combine train (left), along with a partly drained canal (center) and several residential apartments (right) in City 17, a fictional location from the first-person shooter computer game, Half-Life... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x1024, 744 KB) Summary A railway line in use by a Combine train (left), along with a partly drained canal (center) and several residential apartments (right) in City 17, a fictional location from the first-person shooter computer game, Half-Life... For other uses, see Highway (disambiguation). ... A disused railway tunnel now converted to pedestrian and bicycle use, near Houyet, Belgium A tunnel is an underground passage. ... This is the top-level page of WikiProject trains Rail tracks Rail transport refers to the land transport of passengers and goods along railways or railroads. ... Passengers bustle around the typical grand edifice of Londons Broad Street station in 1865. ... This is a list of fictional non-combat technology employed by the Combine empire in Half-Life 2, a 2004 first-person shooter. ... This article refers to public transport vehicles running on rails. ...

Resistance members inside a damaged underground road tunnel.

A network of canals 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. Although the cause of reduced water levels remain under speculation (including "beaming" the water offworld to support Combine activities elsewhere), it is possible that, if City 17 is indeed situated near the Black Sea, the reduced water levels may be explained by the catastrophic destruction or enlargement of the Bosporus Strait during a Combine attack on Istanbul, thus allowing a portion of the Black Sea to empty into the Sea of Marmara, then the Aegean Sea, and finally into the Mediterranean Sea. 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 usable, albeit shallower, and with certain portions of the canals contaminated with hazardous materials. With large bodies of water and wide spaces, air boats have been suggested to be a preferable mode of transportation for Resistance members during their journey through the industrial canals. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x1024, 518 KB) Summary Resistance members in an underground road tunnel City 17, a fictional location from the first-person shooter computer game, Half-Life 2. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x1024, 518 KB) Summary Resistance members in an underground road tunnel City 17, a fictional location from the first-person shooter computer game, Half-Life 2. ... For other uses, see Canal (disambiguation). ... Fatih Sultan Mehmed Bridge over the Bosporus seen from over Rumelihisarı This article is about the strait; Bosphorus is also a Turkish Boğaziçi or İstanbul Boğazı) is a strait that separates the European part (Rumeli) of Turkey from its Asian part (Anadolu), connecting the Sea of Marmara (Marmara Denizi) with... Istanbul (Turkish: , Greek: , historically Byzantium and later Constantinople; see other names) is Turkeys most populous city, and its cultural and financial center. ... For the art of stitching, see Sewing. ... Doctor Eli Vances lab in Black Mesa East Black Mesa East is a fictional location from Valve Softwares 2004 first-person shooter computer game Half-Life 2. ... An air boat Aft view of safety cage during operation Air boats, also called fan boats, are flat-bottomed punts powered by a propeller attached to an automobile or aircraft engine. ...

Language

A hospital with writing in a Slavic language.

The general populace of City 17 and the Combine all speak English (Combine only speak English when addressing humans). Several signs were visible in the game, such as the one in front of the hospital "СТАЦИОНАР" and a sign "ТЕХНИКА" on a large building, most signs, posters and graffiti being in the Cyrillic alphabet, in Bulgarian, Russian and in Serbian, which suits that City 17 is in Eastern Europe. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 750 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1280 × 1024 pixel, file size: 138 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) A derelict hospital with writing in Russian in City 17, a fictional location from the first-person shooter computer game, Half-Life 2. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 750 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1280 × 1024 pixel, file size: 138 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) A derelict hospital with writing in Russian in City 17, a fictional location from the first-person shooter computer game, Half-Life 2. ... The Cyrillic alphabet (or azbuka, from the old name of the first two letters) is an alphabet used for several East and South Slavic languages; (Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Rusyn, Serbian, and Ukrainian) and many other languages of the former Soviet Union, Asia and Eastern Europe. ...

Combine troops, former humans who have undergone severe bioengineering as a direct result of the Combine's force, also speak English. Although many of their words are difficult to comprehend as a result of their radio/vocoder, it is possible to understand what they say by using the subtitles option in the audio section of the Half-Life 2 menu or by using the GCFScape tool. They tend to speak in a strict, almost surgical manner suggesting that the Combine bear no interest or care for the human race as Doctor Breen might think and think of it more as a plague. They can be heard using medical concepts and expressions such as "antiseptic, sector not sterile, engaged in cleanup, infected" and "parasites."

Appearances

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 Freeman, Ph. ... A protagonist is the main figure of a piece of literature or drama and has the main part or role. ... Half-Life 2 (commonly abbreviated to HL2) is a science fiction first-person shooter computer game that is the sequel to Half-Life. ... The G-Man, voiced by Michael Shapiro, is a mysterious recurring character in the Half-Life series of first-person shooter computer games. ... The logo of the Black Mesa Research Facility, depicting a mesa mountain against the sky The Black Mesa Research Facility (also referred to as simply Black Mesa in the games) is a fictional complex located in the desert of New Mexico, United States, and is the setting for most of...

Gordon is then pulled from stasis and transported by the G-Man, left standing in a train which is pulling into a station. Leaving the train after hearing the other passenger's 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. Dr. Wallace Breen Doctor Wallace Breen is a fictional character from the 2004 first-person shooter computer game Half-Life 2, produced by Valve Software. ...

A city canal containing hazardous materials, headcrab shells and a few headcrabs.

Barney Calhoun, disguised as a Combine Civil Protection soldier, eventually finds Gordon and aids in his escape from 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 Civil Protection arm of 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. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x1024, 447 KB) Summary A canal containing toxic substances with headcrab shells and headcrabs, outside City 17, a fictional location from the first-person shooter computer game, Half-Life 2. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x1024, 447 KB) Summary A canal containing toxic substances with headcrab shells and headcrabs, outside City 17, a fictional location from the first-person shooter computer game, Half-Life 2. ... The Combine is a fictional powerful alien race and empire from Valve Corporations 2004 first-person shooter computer game Half-Life 2. ... Left: A headcrab from Half-Life. ... Barney Calhoun is a fictional character in the Half-Life series of first-person shooter computer games by Valve Software. ... The Combine is a fictional powerful alien race and empire from Valve Corporations 2004 first-person shooter computer game Half-Life 2. ... This is a list of humanoid and synthetic forces employed by the Combine empire in Half-Life 2, a 2004 first-person shooter, and its episodes. ... Alyx Vance is a fictional character and digital actor from Valves 2004 First Person Shooter computer game Half-Life 2, and its following episode: Half-Life 2: Episode One. ... Doctor Isaac Kleiner Doctor Isaac Kleiner is a fictional character from the video games Half-Life and Half-Life 2. ... Gordon Freeman, Ph. ... Doctor Eli Vance, as seen in Black Mesa East, Half-Life 2. ... Doctor Eli Vances lab in Black Mesa East Black Mesa East is a fictional location from Valve Softwares 2004 first-person shooter computer game Half-Life 2. ...

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-choppers and additional Combine units pursue him once more, but are eventually evaded and defeated as he reaches Black Mesa East and flees the city.

A view over City 17 from the Citadel. Note that the skybox texture used to represent City 17 from a bird's eye view (see full image) is actually a nighttime satellite image of New York City, showing Brooklyn and parts of the Lower East Side of Manhattan. (see Google Maps for comparison).

After Gordon and Alyx's failed attempt to rescue Eli and associate Judith Mossman at Nova Prospekt (in which Judith ends up teleporting Eli to the Citadel), they 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 Gordon and Alyx's attack on 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. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x768, 84 KB) Summary A view over City 17 from the Citadel. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x768, 84 KB) Summary A view over City 17 from the Citadel. ... The clouds and sky in this Half-Life: Opposing Force screenshot are part of the skybox. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... This article is about the New York City borough, or Kings County, New York. ... This article is about the borough of New York City. ... Judith Mossman - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... The beach and cliffs on Nova Prospekts Eastern flank, before Gordons advance into the facility. ... Alyx introduces Dog to Gordon in Black Mesa East. ...

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. In physical cosmology, dark energy is a hypothetical form of energy that permeates all of space and tends to increase the rate of expansion of the universe. ...

Half-Life 2: Episode One

Half-Life 2: Episode One takes place against a backdrop of a mass exodus from the doomed city, at the heart of which the Citadel has become a ticking bomb. Hoping to open a portal to send valuable information back to the Combine leaders, the Combine survivors inside the Citadel deactivate the containment system for the Citadel's core. Though Gordon and Alyx manage to reactivate the system, it only buys time. As they move farther away from the Citadel, they witness its condition deteriorate.

The city itself, especially the regions closest to the Citadel, have been damaged beyond recognition by striders following the events of Half-Life 2, though regions further out, such as a hospital and the train station, are still intact. Many of the streets and most of the underground are in total chaos, Xen wildlife and Zombies now roam everywhere with Combine forces failing to contain them. Most of the railroad infrastructure is still maintained, as well, though any train leaving the Citadel was subject to falling debris. Half-Life 2 (commonly abbreviated to HL2) is a science fiction first-person shooter computer game that is the sequel to Half-Life. ...

The citizens of City 17, heeding the warnings of the Resistance, were all but gone during Gordon and Alyx's flight from the city. Only a few remained, pinned down by any surviving Combine troops and Civil Protection units. Thanks to the efforts of Gordon and Barney Calhoun, the last of the city's citizens were evacuated via train. Barney Calhoun is a fictional character in the Half-Life series of first-person shooter computer games by Valve Software. ...

When the Citadel detonated, the explosion was powerful enough to send debris flying for miles and landing outside city limits.

Half-Life 2: Episode Two

City 17's skyline as viewed from a countryside several miles away in Half-Life 2: Episode Two, with smoke rising into the sky and a super portal forming where the Citadel once stood.

In a scene from Half-Life 2: Episode Two, the remains of City 17 can be seen from the countryside. City 17 is largely a ruin, with numerous fires burning in the city and a fog of smoke hanging over it. All that remains of the Citadel is the outer walls of the structure. A smoke column is rising from the ruined Citadel while a super portal is forming into the sky from the spot where the Citadel stood. The outer sections of the city appear to remain intact, however Dr. Issac Kleiner states in an expository monologue in Episode One that the destruction of the Citadel would result in an irradiation of several miles radius, causing most of the city to be uninhabitable. At several points in the game, the remains of the citadel will emit large shock waves, damaging structures that are miles away from the city. The super portal, if not City 17 itself, remains visible on the horizon from most outdoor areas of Episode Two until the portal is closed at the game's conclusion. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...

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. Furthermore, near the beginning of the game a newspaper entitled "Работническо Дело" (Rabotnichesko Delo) can be seen - this was the most popular newspaper in Bulgaria during its communist period. Hints of the city containing elements of cities from the Baltics or Baltic countries is also evident with the presence of signs reading "Café Baltic." This article is about the capital of Bulgaria. ... The Cyrillic alphabet (or azbuka, from the old name of the first two letters) is an alphabet used for several East and South Slavic languages; (Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Rusyn, Serbian, and Ukrainian) and many other languages of the former Soviet Union, Asia and Eastern Europe. ... For other uses, see Graffiti (disambiguation). ...  Countries where a West Slavic language is the national language  Countries where an East Slavic language is the national language  Countries where a South Slavic language is the national language The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages), a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup... Ravenholm is a fictional Eastern European themed town (the actual geographic location is never revealed) in the 2004 computer game Half-Life 2. ... Population density in the wider Baltic region. ... The three Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania The terms Baltic countries, Baltic Sea countries, Baltic states, and Balticum refer to slightly different combinations of countries in the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea. ... Cafe redirects here. ...

Another possibility is that of St. Petersburg, Russia. The two cities bear a resemblance, such as; similar architecture, the use of canals, tram lines, the use of the Russian language, the presence of a cafe in City 17 called "Cafe Baltic" and St. Petersburg's location on the Baltic sea, the presence of large industrial docks and harbor machinery, notably similar landmarks, such as the statue of the horse in the ending chapters of Half Life 2 and it's similarities to the St. Petersburg Statue of Peter the Great, and finally both cities location on, or very near to a coast line. Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and Petrograd (Петрогра́д, 1914–1924), is a city located in Northwestern Russia on the delta of the river Neva at the east end of the Gulf of Finland...