Half-Life 2 Episode 1
By Joshua Williams on
Half-Life 2 was superb, a game everyone should play if they consider themselves a gamer. However the ending setup for a sequel big time. Half-Life 2 Episode 1 takes place directly after the end of Half-Life 2.
Half-Life 2 Episode 1 follows Gordon Freeman and Alyx Vance as they try to escape from City 17. Doom looms over the horizon in Episode 1 and the end seems imminent. Also noticeable is the fact that Valve has upgraded the Source engine in numerous ways and I will talk about that later in this review.
Alyx Vance plays an even larger role in this Episode, being constantly at Gordon side she is always there to help fight enemies or to reprogram enemy technology to help. Because of this, you feel more connected to her then you did in the original game.
The combat has much closer and more visceral feel, because almost all of the game takes place in dark enclosed places or at least in an urban setting. However the environments are balanced well, one minute you are running through the high tech Citadel and the next you are fighting for your life in a dark abandoned parking garage against hordes of vicious zombies. In one harrowing sequence you have to move through complete darkness spotting out enemies with your flashlight so that Alyx can shoot them. Another mission has you shuttling refugees to safety through a battle torn area. Valve makes sure the tension builds and stays there too. The puzzle aspects are bit lacking in this episode though, however it is almost nonstop combat, which isnt necessarily a bad thing but a few more puzzles would have been welcomed.
The graphics have been improved in many ways, most of which are subtle but welcome additions. One big improvement is the addition of HDR lighting or High Dynamic Range Lighting. This method of lighting adds a very realistic touch to game and adds a warmer feeling to light as it is in real life. They have also added many improvements to physics engine adding more realistic destruction of objects in the environment. They have also added more facial animations, giving the characters an even warmer and more realistic feel to them.Although most people will not notice these new additions to the source engine it certainly adds a nice touch and assures us that valve is working to keep the source engine up to date.
Although not much back story is revealed in this episode, the story is continued and makes progress in current time. However it is still as emotionally packed as its predecessor. It feels much like an episode of a TV show, short but sweet, often giving more questions than answers.
What valve really has done with this game is set a bar for episodic content in games. Although this game will only last around 4-6 hours and leaves on a huge cliff hanger, it shows that games can come out as episodes and still make top notch games.
They have added many graphical enhancements and new gameplay tweaks to this game, showing that not only are they continuing the story but also supporting the graphical engine it runs off of. They have reached new levels in character depth and have truly set an example that every game developer should follow.
However even with all these positive things I have said, I still do have my gripes. For one thing the game is short, although this is not necessarily a bad thing; I do wish it had been a little longer. My second gripe is that it was a tad bit repetitive and some scenes began to drag, I really think Valve throw in extra combat scenes just to pad the length of the game, if only they had taken a bit longer making the game I think they could have come up with some more original material. Finally my last gripe is that they didnt add any new enemies or weapons, something that really would have added more to the game. Although the current weapon set is more than fine.
Overall, just like your favorite TV series, this is an episode you wont want to miss. The graphics have been improved, the story is continued and the characters are as great as ever. You should play through this even if all you want is the story line. Also if you are interested in game development at all you should play through the game again with the developers commentary enabled and learn why they made the game the way they did and trust these guys know what they are doing.
