Ravenholm

Ravenholm
Half-Life location
Ravenholm, as seen from high above the town
First appearance	Half-Life 2 (2004)
Created by	Valve Corporation
Genre	First-person shooter
In-universe information
Type	Ghost town
Characters	Grigori
Population	1

Ravenholm is a fictional ghost town in the first-person shooter game Half-Life 2, developed by Valve Corporation and released in 2004. It serves as the primary setting for the game's sixth chapter, "We Don't Go to Ravenholm", which follows the game's protagonist Gordon Freeman as he journeys through the area after escaping from a Combine attack on Black Mesa East in order to reach a nearby Resistance outpost. Ravenholm is a mining town in Eastern Europe which was destroyed by a Combine headcrab bombardment that turned its residents into hostile zombies. The town's sole survivor, Father Grigori, offers his assistance to Freeman throughout the level, culminating in a last stand at the town cemetery.

The level received critical praise due to its level design and unexpected usage of horror aspects involving headcrabs and zombies, with some critics calling it one of the most well-designed levels in a Valve game and one of the best first-person shooter levels ever made. Due to its popularity, Valve initially contracted Junction Point Studios to make a prequel featuring the town, a project that later became a spin-off game developed by Arkane Studios that further followed the story of Grigori and his fight against the Combine. However, both projects were ultimately cancelled partway through development.