Half-Life 2: Episode One

This is arguably the best half-life 2 has to offer, mainly because it trims the fat of the main game and ends on a satisfactory conclusion unlike the second expansion pack. That said, I feel it doesn't offer as much as the second pack which is why I'm not giving it a perfect score even if it's my favourite entry of the three.

I absolutely loved half life 2, but this expansion is very boring to me. There are only 2 main locations in total and one whole half is just the same location of the end of the main game. Valve also lacked on the immersion sense as the plot is very basic and boring. It's a solid enough expansion and serves as a good transition into episode 2, but not a game I will be returning to very often.

Half Life 2 is one of the greatest shooters ever, though it is showing its age these days. Of course, if you look past its over reliance on see-saw puzzles and a couple of awful driving sections, as well as a control scheme that feels very dated (No dedicated melee or grenades button in a post Halo: Combat Evolved world) it still stands up today, such is the quality of the story telling and the shooting. We all know what happened next though; Valve decided it was taking too long to make games, so they said they’d do them in Episodes instead. Then they got filthy rich from Steam and stopped making games. Absolute bastards.

Anyway, Half Life 2: Episode 1 was their first game in this new format, and considering how much it is literally just Half Life 2, its incredibly disappointing. Firstly, it doesn’t address any of the original game’s issues. No dedicated melee or grenade buttons have made their way into the control scheme for a start, which is a massive shitter if you ask me. Of course, you play with the tools you have, and this game doesn’t give you those tools, so we have to just get on with it. Secondly, the irritating driving sections of the first game are gone… replaced with absolutely nothing at all. I can’t tell if this is a good thing or not.

Squad AI is still awful, which is even worse a deal this time around as you spend the entire game with at least someone at your side. Usually its Alyx blocking your way, getting you trapped in doorways or preventing you escaping grenades blasts but you get treated to some other companions at the end who all have a fucking death wish, going out of the way to engage Combine forces who are fucking miles away. They have the audacity to shout at you when their friends die after running towards a group of Combine forces armed with nothing but a fucking pistol. You deserve your death you stupid fucking plebs.

The game doesn’t really introduce anything at all over Half Life 2 actually. Well, there’s a new zombie that runs at you with a grenade in its hand but that’s it. The game is also incredibly short. I did a play through of this yesterday and finished the whole thing accidently. It took two and a half hours, including all deaths. Combine this with the way the game is determined to slow you down and its criminally short. This isn’t the rollercoaster of the first game; every area sees you being stopped in your tracks to solve some rudimentary puzzle. It feels like they made a 90-minute game and padded its length with boring puzzles.

Its not all bad though. The collapsing citadel is fun as well as the Alyx sniper part of the game. A shame its followed up with an irritating Helicopter battle where Alyx seems like a Combine Double Agent, constantly blocking you from taking cover. Honestly, the most fun in this game is had doing the “One Free Bullet” achievement, where you use nothing but the gravity gun, rocket launcher and crowbar to finish the thing. This at least makes the game more interesting to play. A shame that you have to do that to make a Half Life game as fun as it should be.

This continues where Half Life 2 left off, which is kind of bizarre because most DLC is either side content or prequel but it sort of works. Most of the DLC has you fighting the generic human enemies and the DLC feels more like a bridge between the game and Episode Two. It isn't bad but its just so short and doesn't have a lot of memorable moments. Its nowhere as great as the main game.