The Closure, also known as Half-Life 2: The Closure and Half-Life 2: Episode Three, is a Fan Sequel starting where Half-Life 2: Episode Two left off.
It has been several days since the end of the previous episode, and many White Forest rebels have abandoned the Resistance base. Magnusson is concerned about the loss of communications with White Forest and Dr. Kleiner, causing him to send Gordon and several rebels to White Forest and find Kleiner.
The mod can be downloaded here
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Spoilers concerning Half Life 2: Episode 2 and previous installments will be unmarked.
This video-game provides examples of:
- Adapted Out: For some reason, Mossman is completely absent from this mod.
- Anti-Frustration Features: The puzzle hints will appear and assist the player if they end up getting lost or unable to solve a puzzle.
- Anyone Can Die: Of the main characters in Half Life 2: Episode 2, only Gordon, Magnusson, and either Alyx or Barney survive until the end of the story.
- Back for the Dead: Breen returns, but he is blown up by Kleiner.
- Bigger on the Inside: The Borealis's interior is considerably bigger than its exterior.
- Bittersweet Ending: Many of the Combine forces have left Earth, and the Resistance has taken or destroyed all Combine teleporter technology capable of getting reinforcements from the Combine Overworld. The Resistance is also setting up governments in cities conquered from the Combine and generally replacing Combine rule. However, Kleiner is dead, and either Alyx or Barney were killed after the battle for the Borealis.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Kleiner had a bad encounter with several zombies and headcrabs, giving him brain damage. When Gordon meets him in City 18, Kleiner is crazed.
- Bug War: City 18 is in the middle of one between the Combine and Antlions due to a massive hive near the city. The war has escalated so much that there are no citizens in the city anymore and the Combine have orders to shoot any non-Overwatch unit on sight.
- The Bus Came Back: Barney returns in this mod, initially in City 18. He makes another appearance when the Resistance takes the Borealis technology. He can potentially die at the end if the player opts to save Alyx over him.
- Breen also makes a return, but he doesn't last long.
- Crazy Survivalist: Kleiner. He is clearly crazy but docile in City 18. Kleiner actively hinders Gordon's progress and tries to blow him up when Gordon arrives at the Borealis.
- Creator Cameo: Leon "SPYmaps" Brinkmann, the author of the mod, does the voice-over explaining the more/less enemies mechanic and the puzzle hints.
- Death by Looking Up: Several fast headcrabs attempt to do this to Gordon within Borealis.
- Demoted to Extra: Alyx mainly stays in a house mourning Eli for most of the game.
- Driver Faces Passenger: A rebel piloting a shuttle with Gordon in it hits a strider on accident when the rebel was talking to Gordon.
- Gambit Pileup: Each sentient faction has their own intentions for the Borealis. The Combine and Breen want to take the Borealis technology so the Combine Overworld can send reinforcements, the Resistance under Magnusson wants to take Borealis technology and use it against the Combine, Kleiner wants to destroy the Borealis and its technology completely, while the Vortigaunts and the G-Man want to destroy only the more dangerous Borealis technology.
- Gladiator Games: In the ending slides, several Resistance members set up a gladiator arena for Combine soldiers and Antlion Guards to fight in.
- Heroic BSoD: Alyx has one at the start and continues to have one until the end.
- Killed Off for Real: Kleiner and Breen die. Either Alyx or Barney can die depending on who the player chooses to save.
- Knight Templar: Isaac Kleiner becomes one when he resorts to lethal measures to prevent Gordon from stopping his planned destruction of the Borealis.
- Mad Bomber: Kleiner intends to blow up the Borealis, and he cannot be talked down. Gordon must shoot him to stop him.
- Necessarily Evil: The Vortigaunts and the G-Man. The G-Man and the Vortigaunts agreed to destroy the more dangerous technology on the Borealis. When this was done, the Vortigaunts rejoined the Resistance and the G-Man left Earth.
- No-Gear Level: When Gordon enters the main Combine lab in City 18, he is stripped of his weapons. Fortunately, he can use the lab's defense systems to fight zombies and headcrabs within the lab.
- Non-Standard Character Design: There are quite a lot of rather unorthodox model replacements in the mod. Combine soldiers and metrocops are completely different in appearence, with metrocops looking more like HECU marines, and soldiers resembling Replica troops. Weapons are also completely different (crowbar is replaced with a wrench, and AR2 rifles are G-36's with laser sights, for instance). Fast zombies, vorts, and striders are always colored white, even outside of the arctic levels. Zombies are replaced with headcrab-less zombified metrocops, yet a headcrab magically appears once the zombie is killed.
- Non-Standard Game Over: If Gordon fails to shoot Kleiner when Kleiner is seconds away from blowing up the Borealis, both Gordon and Kleiner will die.
- Oh, Crap!: Breen visibly does this when Gordon walks near the Borealis teleportation device.
- Our Zombies Are Different: If a headcrab is able to puncture a host's head but not able to take the host, the host will become infected with a disease given from the headcrab, causing a crazed mental state.
- Renegade Splinter Faction: The Vortigaunts split off from the Resistance and attack Gordon Freeman, so they can destroy the more dangerous Borealis technology. Once this is done, the Vortigaunts rejoin the Resistance.
- Sadistic Choice: At the end, Gordon is forced to choose between saving Alyx or Barney.
- She's Back: After the Borealis technology is taken by the Resistance, Alyx helps defend it during a Combine attack. She can die if Gordon opts to save Barney over her.
- Self-Plagiarism: Some of the rooms in the mod are either reused or copy-pasted from SPYmaps's RooftopVille submission, Rooftop Retreat.
- Too Dumb to Live: Near the end, Alyx and Barney fight against Overwatch soldiers out of cover in an open, flat area. One of them is killed by the Combine for this mistake.
- Torches and Pitchforks: After the Combine's defeat at the Borealis, Combine troops are hunted by Resistance mobs despite requests to bring them into Resistance controlled cities to be tried for their crimes.
- Trash the Set: When Gordon returns to White Forest, the base has been raided by the Combine and headcrabs. The remaining rebels likely escaped to Magnusson's hideout or to City 18.
- Vestigial Empire: The Combine. They replaced their turrets with Aperture turrets. After their defeat at the Borealis, they are no longer capable of getting reinforcements from the Combine Overworld, with the ending voiceover stating that the Combine remnants are certain to be defeated.
- The Voiceless: The G-Man never talks at any point in the mod.
- Weird Moon: The Moon is shown to be far closer than its Real Life counterpart.
- Zombie Infectee: Kleiner becomes this after getting infected a new type of headcrab.
