Here's all of Half-Life 2 loaded at once in someone's browser

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Fly through a remarkably consistent vision of City 17.

City 17's plaza with three floating citizens
(Image credit: Valve)

Ever wanted to see what Half-Life 2's levels look like stitched together as one, continuous path? Noclip.website creator Jasper has you covered, using the web-based map viewer to put together a full picture of City 17.

Not to be confused with the documentary series, Noclip is a nifty site that lets you load up levels from the likes of Dark Souls, GTA III, Psychonauts and more to explore how they're put together. That library also includes every map from Half-Life 2, so last week, Jasper decided to try loading the entire game at once.

From overhead maps to stitched-together 3D models, this isn't the first time someone has attempted to stitch together Gordon Freeman's entire journey. But it is, as far as I can tell, the best rendition of the game's environments pieced together in one, continuous form.

It's shockingly consistent, too. The route through City 17's streets, sewers, canals and rivers never overlaps on itself, and it's not until the coastal jeep section that you see some serious intersection problems (the whole thing apparently takes place a few dozen feet below the canals).

Granted, Half-Life 2 is a big game, and even Jasper's trick doesn't manage to capture the entire thing in one image. They've given it a good shot with Noclip's isometric view, though, which helps put City 17's districts and waterways into clearer context with each other.

Sadly, the public version of Noclip won't let you dump dozens of levels into your browser at once. But it's a great tool if you want some insight into how your favourite game worlds are put together—in Half-Life 2's case, letting you peep at invisible trigger blocks and the tiny maps-within-a-map that form each level's skybox. 

Cheers, RPS.

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Natalie Clayton
Natalie Clayton
Features Producer

20 years ago, Nat played Jet Set Radio Future for the first time, and she's not stopped thinking about games since. Joining PC Gamer in 2020, she comes from three years of freelance reporting at Rock Paper Shotgun, Waypoint, VG247 and more. Embedded in the European indie scene and a part-time game developer herself, Nat is always looking for a new curiosity to scream about—whether it's the next best indie darling, or simply someone modding a Scotmid into Black Mesa. She also unofficially appears in Apex Legends under the pseudonym Horizon.