Location from Half-Life 2 by Valve
The wilderness beyond City 17 — dense forest, abandoned infrastructure, and the road to White Forest through Combine-infested territory.
The Outlands are Episode Two's primary setting — the forested wilderness between the ruins of City 17 and White Forest base. After the Citadel's destruction, Gordon and Alyx must travel overland through terrain that is beautiful, dangerous, and contested. The Combine maintains a presence here through automated defenses and roving patrols, but the forest is too vast for full control. Resistance contacts move through the trees, Vortigaunts inhabit cave systems, and the remnants of pre-war civilization — bridges, tunnels, rail yards — provide both routes and ambush points. The journey through the Outlands is where the relationship between Gordon and Alyx deepens, where the Vortigaunts reveal their healing arts, and where the Hunters first appear as a new and terrifying Combine adaptation.
Dense pine and birch forests covering mountainous terrain. Abandoned railroad bridges span deep gorges. Pre-war infrastructure — roads, rail lines, power stations — lies in various states of decay. Combine Autogun emplacements guard key chokepoints. The forest canopy provides cover from aerial surveillance but not from Hunter patrols on the ground. The air is cleaner here than in City 17 — the first natural air in hours of gameplay.
Also known as: The Outlands, Outlands, The Forest