Gordon climbs out of the drainage canal and finds himself in the courtyard of the Combine-controlled prison. With the help of his Antlion backup he dispatches the Combine soldiers posted nearby, as well as a Gunship pair called in to stop him. He proceeds inside through a hole blown into a wall by one of the Gunships and emerges into an abandoned cell block.
Through some security monitors Gordon can see that the Antlions are wreaking havoc all across the prison, though he also notices some of them are being impeded by Combine floor turrets, so he takes care of those as he moves along. He enters a shower room and finds himself face-to-face with another Antlion Guard; carrying pheropods doesn't dissuade them from attacking like their standard counterparts, unfortunately, so Gordon has to kill it before he can move on.
After several more confrontations with the Combine's prison detail, Gordon slips through some rapidly closing razor walls and enters the Depot, Nova Prospekt's transit hub and main holding facility.
This chapter contains examples of:
- Advancing Wall of Doom: The articulated, sectional wall near the escape from Nova Prospekt. Quite possibly the most literal example imaginable. And if you can't spot the only serviceable exit on the left just before the lamp, the wall will lift up a section, step forward and drop down. There's widespread evidence that an identical wall around City 17's citadel has been annexing an ever increasing area of the city, but nobody ever seems to directly notice it as out of place.
- Dual Boss: The pair of Gunships at the beginning of the chapter acts as a dual miniboss in the Nova Prospekt courtyard.
- Hellhole Prison: Nova Prospekt definitely seems like it would have been one before the Seven Hour War, and the Combine have only made it worse by appending their own processing facilities to it.
- Ironic Name: "Nova Prospekt" can be translated as "New Possibilities", a rather optimistic-sounding name for a facility where dissidents get sent to be tortured to death or turned into Stalkers or Overwatch soldiers.
- Optional Boss: The two Antlion Guards in this chapter, unlike the previous one, can be skipped entirely if you're quick enough in clearing the debris blocking the way out of their respective arenas.
- Palette Swap: The Nova Prospekt guards encountered during this chapter, who are basically the standard Overwatch troops but wearing indigo uniforms with the prison's name embroidered on the back.
- Prison Level: Natch.
- The Walls Are Closing In: A set of Combine walls bordering the Depot closes in on Gordon, forcing him to find a way past them quickly.
