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> Results: Half-Life 2: Episode One
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Half-Life 2 ended with a bang (literally), and Half-Life 2: Episode One picks up immediately after. This is Valve Software's first episodic content, with two more episodes promised in the coming year. When you finish this first episode, all you will be thinking about is how long it will be until you can play the next one.
Based in the same area as the original and featuring the same characters, Half-Life 2: Episode One utilizes all of Valve's technical advances to great advantage. Improved graphics and lighting along with better facial realism produce a game that looks as fresh now as it did nearly two years ago, and the gameplay remains every bit as tight. Compared to the recent SiN Episodes: Emergence, this focuses more on exploration and adventure, with lots of simple puzzles to solve along the way. There is plenty of solid shooter action along the way, and despite the many elements and settings similar to the original game Episode One seems fresh. It's very shortﾗabout four to five hours depending on your skill and speedﾗbut that's in line with the budget pricing. The course of action is simpleﾗif you played Half-Life 2 and enjoyed it, get this immediately. If you didn't like Half-Life 2, don't bother with this. If you haven't played the original, do that first. Shooter fans should have this on their list for summer gaming.  
Half-Life 2: Episode One is rated M based on the same level of intensity, bloody and gory violence and desperate peril that filled the original game. This game is also filled with much more colorful language that is inappropriate for kids but completely appropriate for people being killed as they attempt to flee from impending cataclysm.
The new game uses one of its original strengths to bring a mature sense of empathy to the characters. The original Half-Life 2 created a seemingly real set of characters in a believable world, and those characters come to life in a greater way in Half-Life 2: Episode One. It's highly effective. Every time you encounter a character you feel their desperation, and your friends in particular are wonderfully depicted and excellently portrayed as struggling through complete crisis. There is one in particular that mattersﾗAlyx. As your friend, comrade and partner through the whole journey, she is one of those rare game companions that enhance the experience. She is so life-like that it impacts the way you play the game. Powerful but not invincible, you need to protect herﾗand you want to keep her alive (of course the game ends if she dies, but that is beside the point). Alyx is also the focal point of many poignant moments throughout the game that portray the struggle of humanity's survival. She is always there to remind you that the alien forces you struggle against areﾗor wereﾗpeople. She provides levity that reinforces the sadness and horror of a world collapsing upon itself. While I lament the fact that Gordon Freeman is a silent and unresponsive character, through Alyx you feel alive within the game world. This review edited by Dave Long Comments? Chat about it in our forums! Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Browse Amazon.com's selection of "half-life 2" themed games Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Half-Life 2: Episode One |
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