Half-Life 2: Episode One (PC DVD)

I think it's a fairly safe bet to assume that if you're reading this, you have played Half-Life 2. Now, right off the bat, let me tell you; Episode One is not a full length game, nor does it have the ammount of conent you'd expect from one.

There are no new weapons for the player to use, and only one new enemy to face (A zombified version of a Combine Soldier, apropriately christened "The Zombine" by Alyx). However, if you let this deter you, then more fool you.

Each of the five new chapters are entirely new, and the level design, in my opinion, FAR surpasses that Half-Life 2. While the basic premise is the same, (Kill enemies > Find a strangley conveniant hole in the wall > Move on) Valve have really upped the ante. Enemy placement is far more even; In the original, I found myself wandering for several rooms at a time before encountering a platoon of enemy troops, whereas in Episode One, there are very few rooms with no enemies, just as there are very few where you are swamped. Coupled with the decrease in the number of ammunation crates scattered around the levels, this gives almost the whole of Episode One a frantic nature, which certainly keeps you on your toes throughout.

The main new feature introduced in Episode One is that of co-operation. The female side-kick, Alyx Vance, from Half-Life 2 is now elevated to a starring role, as she follows you for the entire game (Or at least, 97% of it). Now, I hear you thinking back to the squad AI of Half-Life 2, and moaning at the prospect of being laden with it for a whole game. Not so. Valve has again pulled out all the stops in Alyx's AI department. She is no longer a hinderance, and, in times of low ammunition, she can be a great help. By shining your flashlight onto certain enemies, or immobilising them with the Gravity Gun, Alyx realises that you want them dealing with first, and will switch her aim to your target. Indeed, in many sections of the game, I found myself literally bullet-less, and had to rely on Alyx to get me through. She did, and did in style as well.

Another area of improvement is the Source Engine itself. While it was still an amazing engine running Half-Life 2, Source really comes into its own playing Episode One. With the introduction of new technology such as High Dynamic Range Lighting, and completely recoded Lighting Algorithms, it is easily apparent that Source is the future. Even on my aging graphic card (nVidia GeForce 4 MX), the game is still noticably prettier than Half-Life 2.

The primary criticsm levelled at the game has been the length. Let's get this out in the open now, this is NOT a long game. For myself, a fairly average gamer, the game lasted just over four hours. £15 for four hours entertainment is entirely your choice, but let me say now that at NO point in the four hours was I bored, as I frequently found myself during Half-Life 2's epic sixteen hour journey. This is four hours of what is quite simply, one of the best games I have ever played.

On a side note, when installing Episode One, it is a requirement that you install Valve's Steam service. Frequently cited as the primary reason for not buying the game, I too was cautious of Steam until I did some research into what it was. Steam is a small application which connects to the internet and downloads small patches for each Valve game you own. This takes (on average) less than two minutes. Gone are the days of waiting for game developers to release one large patch addressing multiple bugs and game balance issues; with Steam, Valve can address a single issue, and have the fix out to the public the day it is finished. Many people often claim that some of these Steam updates break their games, requiring a reinstall. Not to deny this, but neither I, nor any of my Steam using friends have ever encountered such a problem. Personally, I have never had any problem with Steam whatsoever.

To sum up. The easiest way to describe Episode One is like this; Imagine your favourite moment from Half-Life 2. Now make it four hours long. Worth every penny.

Half Life 2 Episode 1 picks up exactly where Half Life 2 left off. Who's confused already? Can't blame you! It's a sequel (of sorts) but the "Episode 1" monicker does suggest prequel in this post-Star Wars world. Maybe it's just me, but I've had to try to explain the title to a few of my non-gamer mates, and it didn't really work. To me, original working title "Aftermath" would have been loads better, and more descriptive.

Anyway - the game opens with a very dubious, cop-out explanation of why Gordon's back and what happened to the G-Man. But that's all over quickly and you're back in City 17, on the brink of a cataclysm. Your goal is to escape the ruins of the city before the alien Citadel structure goes into meltdown - and that's all.

Along for the ride you have Alex Vance pretty much all the way through (but not Dog, her pet robot), and she's a fairly sweet companion, adding words of encouragement even when it's not always necessary and more importantly she's nifty with a gun, so she'll keep the heat off you. But you can't help but feel that it would be nice if Gordon said even a single word to her at any point. Is he mute? Must be. Or maybe he just doesn't fancy her.

You'll encounter new enemies. Firstly, the strange Stalkers (who don't do a heck of a lot of stalking, but do have one very memorable and scary scene) in the Citadel, when you're armed with nothing but the super-powered gravity gun. (What a Dull, Dull weapon that is. You'll be pleased to know that you will eventually get your regular arsenal back for serious combat)

Then you'll meet Zombine. I admit, the Zombine disappointed me at first - I was expecting more horrors. But they quickly go from let-down to real pest to being very, very dangerous - shuffling around carrying live grenades, midlessly blowing the beans out of themselves and you)

You'll also meet old enemies, like the poison headcrabs (horrid), and Ant-lions (no bug-bait this time though - you'll have to fight 'em!), as well as those fast, skinless, heavily mutilated headcrab zombies which roar in pain as they rip at you - still the nastiest thing in the game by far.

The game is a hell of a lot harder than Half-Life 2 was, which is a good thing - that was too easy by far. Some of the set-pieces will take a lot of practise to get through. The graphics are as good as you'd expect and the (main) characters still excellent. The rank-and file squaddies are still pretty dumb mind you - and they get massively in the way. Shame you can't use a bit of "battlefield justice" to deal with them.

Apparently, you don't need to have Half Life 2 to play this - but I can't imagine it would make any sense at all if you've not at least finished HL2, so I'm not sure what Valve were trying to achieve there. If you're a fan of Gordon Freeman already, you'll enjoy the experience. If you're not yet converted, this is probably not the best way into the Half-Life universe.

The episodic nature is very apparent. For the best part of twenty quid you don't get a heck of a lot. Did I feel cheated? Yes. Will I be buying Episode 2 as soon as it's out? Hell, Yes. It does a fine job of leaving you wanting more.

But there is no escaping the fact that it does just End. Very abruptly. It's almost as if they cou

It amazes me that most of the reviews here bang on about how appallingly short the game is and then give it 3-5 stars. This is the most dreadful example of computer game publisher profiteering to date (unless someone out there knows better). Essentially you are paying > half the price of a normal full length game for (at best) one third of a game....and there are another 2 like this yet to be released. But because its half-life 2 you all do it - its not as if it was that good a game in its original form. Thankfully borrowed a friend's copy - completed in a morning. If any of you out there think that a morning's game play is worth the price, please do buy it. Otherwise wait for the bargain bin.