Half Life 2: Episode 2

The next installment in the immensely successful and genre-defining title, Half-Life, continues in pushing gaming in new directions, taking the seemingly stagnant 1-dimensional gameplay of First Person Shooters and shaping it into an epic, emotional and immersive experience. Despite delays and criticism from fans questioning the timeframe of true "episodic" content, the game does end up delivering answers in more ways than one as to why it took so long to develop.

The visuals for the game have been updated greatly, and these can be clearly seen throughout the many environments encountered, be it the dark underground caves of the Ant Lions or the bright, lush and open forest grounds. The lighting, colors and textures always remain impressive without artifacts that pull the player out of the game to question: "why is there a dull brown pallette in the sidewalk?" At times there will simply be a cliff with a beautifully rendered background to simply awe at, mountains, trees, clouds and all. Deviating from past Half Life environements of semi-enclosure within fences or walls, Episode 2 broadens this linear path with huge forest grounds where, at times, it is easy to get lost without a trail. The trail, of course, can be easily lost when ducking for cover from the attacks of the enemy.

All is not lost because Alyx once again returns as your AI-contolled sidekick throughout. This is where Episode 2 shines most to me. Alyx's tactical artificial intelligence has been improved to assist you in firefights, but more than anything is the overwhelming sense that she is becoming a prominent game figure for The Uncanny Valley (see wikipedia link below). The realistic, fluid animation of her body, and her many lines of conversation with Gordon and other NPCs spark an emotional attachment with the player, which would be impossible to deny in the final moments of Episode 2. Although perhaps looking on paper as a traditional point-shoot FPS, it needs to be played in completion to see that Valve has focused on storytelling and invoking an emotional response.

Several more of the classic NPCs return such as Eli and Barney, as well as introducing a new character who provides some comical relief (more directly than Barney's witty one-liners). They, too, do provide a feeling of friendship extending beyond "assets."

The only real complaint I can have about this game is the tedious beginning with the Vortigaunts and cave manuevering. Aside from providing some eye candy, I found it to be rather boring after a while, and then extremely long.

Valve has taken the genre in another new direction. While other game developers may focus on simply upgrading graphics or adding bigger and more spectacular weapons, Valve looked from another perspeective of immersion and emotion, and it has paid off (again!).