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Ravenholm is a former mining community inhabited by escapees from the Combine-controlled City 17. Due to bombardment with Combine artillery containing headcrabs, however, Ravenholm is now swarming with several varieties of headcrabs and the zombie-like creatures the headcrabs create with the use of a human host. Gordon Freeman, the game's main character, must travel through Ravenholm when the Combine attack nearby Resistance base Black Mesa East, during the chapter called "'We don't go to Ravenholm ...'". The level has also been given the nickname "Resident Half-Life", a pun on the Resident Evil series due to the massive number of zombies in the town.
While fighting off hordes of zombies, Gordon meets the lone human occupant of Ravenholm, the old pastor, Father Grigori.(Although ravenholm may have other survivors since a wilhelm scream can be heard) The zombie-hunter priest provides assistance and advice, such as arming him with a shotgun, and eventually leading Gordon to a mine, which becomes his route out of the town. Many areas of Ravenholm are littered with large sawblades, propane cylinders, barrels of flammable material, and booby traps which have been contrived by Father Grigori. Due to the severe scarcity of ammunition in the area, Gordon must rely on the traps and gravity gun (with which he can fling the blades and other objects) to destroy the zombies. The entire town is also littered with people and headcrab zombies that have been hanged, burned, sliced and suffered other horrific fates.
