Jun 28, 2012 Overview: Half-Life 2 has sold over 4 million copies worldwide, and earned over 35 Game of the Year Awards. Episode One is the first in a series of games that reveal the aftermath of Half-Life 2 and launch a journey beyond City 17.

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Half-Life 2: Episode One continues the single-player story from the critically acclaimed Half-Life 2. Players slip on the battered spectacles of Dr. Gordon Freeman to engage in more alien and mutant battles from within the decaying walls of City 17. The expansion pack also focuses on freedom fighter Alyx Vance and her robotic companion, Dog, as they team up with Freeman to defeat the oppressive alien race known as the Combine. Though the add-on's length is shorter than the campaign found in Half-Life 2, offering an estimated four to six hours of play, the narrative addresses lingering questions and fleshes out the storylines of the principal characters in greater detail. In addition, the game introduces new ways to interact with the environment and includes a number of other surprises.

First off, let me start by saying that for the sake of repetition, this is not a review of Half-Life 2, so I'm not going to rehash all of the aspects of Half-Life 2 and its engine, graphics and game play mechanics. With that out of the way, what I will elaborate on are the noticeable differences between the two games and the improvements made upon the first installment. Given that this is a sequel, of sorts, Half-Life 2: Episode 1 does a fantastic job at what it was meant to do. It is the first of three 'episodes' released by Valve, taking right off where Half-Life 2 ended. You do not need to own the original Half-Life 2 in order to play Episode 1, although I wholeheartedly recommend playing through Half Life 2 before playing Episode 1 in order to get the full impact of exactly what is going on, and to make any sense of the intro sequence at all.

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2. If Episode Two was meant to recapture our imaginations and make us fall madly in love with the Half-Life universe again after a frankly brand-damaging hiatus, it's failed. If it was meant to extend the experience of Half-Life 2 and Episode One with a bit more of the same good stuff, then it's quite naturally succeeded.

The game really does throw you right back into the thick of things, resuming the story and exact feel that Half-Life 2 ended on. A few minutes into the game, and you find yourself knee deep in action yet again at the heart of the Citadel. Aside from some story at the very beginning to reintroduce the characters and remind you what was going on at the end of Half-Life 2, the game manages to keep a furious pace, and the action is almost always hectic. The game seems to play out much like an amusement park ride at first; tons of beautiful eye candy and things going haywire all around you, but just when you start to feel somewhat like a spectator the game begins throwing all kinds of obstacles at you, and the game transforms from a ride, to an interactive cinema of sorts, and effectively becomes a complete experience.

Though the game is built with the same engine as its predecessor, it has undergone some slight reconstruction and graphical improvement. One of the more noticeable things you see right off the bat is the addition of falling ash/dust particles throughout all of the outdoor environments in the vicinity of the ominous, burning Citadel (which in itself looks incredible). The second thing you may notice is that the facial expressions have been beefed up to add more of a sense of emotion, and that Valve's HDR post-processing has been applied to many more shaders and environments. So you're going to see a ton more bloom effects, which isn't a bad thing, as it helps the game look that much more polished.

The next major improvement that hit me like a ton of bricks was the game's visual and aural dynamics when compared with the original Half-Life 2. What this means in terms of visuals is basically that lighting drastically varies from scene to scene. The entire ambiance of the scene is quite different for every environment you encounter. You will quickly notice how much you come to rely on your flashlight this time around and how your once seemingly infinite hazard suit power supply is now more of another aspect of the game that you have to ration. You will find yourself in more than one situation where the lighting really affects gameplay and creates for a more interesting experience, such as using the flashlight to illuminate targets in a pitch black area so that Alyx can lend you some fire support while you try desperately to find flares (strewn about the various locales) as your flashlight power dies.

The game also seems to be more dynamic in the audio department with compared with Half-Life 2. That is not to say that Half-Life 2 didn't have great sound, but it seems like the music and sound effect touches were implemented into Episode 1 with more care, adding greatly to the overall experience and feel of the game. This may be due, in part, to the fact that it is a much shorter game, giving the designers the freedom to use the ambient music cues in closer proximity to each other without it getting tiring and annoying as such things might during the span of a full 20-40 hour game. The point is that the game feels like it has become much more of a complete experience, with the polish you might expect from a motion picture today.

As for the gameplay itself, many of you, much like I, may have been weary when this mini-sequel was first announced, dreading that it might fall into the standard 'expansion set' category: loaded with token new weaponry and new, unfamiliar territory. This is definitely not the case here, as this game is literally an extension of Half-Life 2. The game plays out just like the original, feeling much like the welcomed return of an old friend. There are a few new elements and tricks to be learned over the course of the game which add to it's diversity over the previous installment, but the game remains mostly unchanged. This is certainly for the best, as Half-Life 2 played like a dream. One thing players had better get used to is much more use of the gravity gun early on. Episode 1 is packed with areas in which the physics gun is your primary tool, and you're going to need to get pleasantly creative with its use as you traverse the different levels.

Another aspect of the gameplay this time around that changes things a little bit is that you really need to conserve ammo early on. For all of you who were getting used to the trigger happy ways of Half-Life 2, be warned, as Episode 1 will see you quickly run out of resources, and checking every nook and cranny in the area for supplies. This fact ends up making the game much more interesting, as Alyx fights alongside you through almost the entire Episode. You end up using her more as a comrade aiding you in dispatching the various enemies in the game, and she actually ends up helping rather than hindering your progress.

The enemies themselves are, for the most part, the same that you encountered in Half-Life 2 (Combine soldiers, Combine elites, snipers, gunships, zombies, the antlions, etc.) though there are some twists thrown in. Such is the case with the 'Zombine' (named by Alyx, not me) soldiers, who were Combine soldiers now infected by headcrabs and move a great deal faster than the standard headcrab-zombies. To add to their deadliness, the Zombine soldiers are armed with grenades, which tend to cause a lot of chaos. There is a nice variety in the enemies this time around to keep things fresh, and you'll find yourself in more than one sticky situation, being attacked by many different types of enemies at once, even stumbling upon battles already in progress between the Combine soldiers, antlions, and the zombies. I don't want to give away too many of the surprises and cleverly crafted situations in store when playing Episode 1, but I will say that the game manages to keep a refreshingly new feel to it, dropping you in pleasantly challenging situations that actually require a degree of thought and problem solving skill. Valve has really done a fantastic job making an already terrific game shine even more.

One last example of how Valve has added a nice little 'icing on the cake' touch to this game is the optional 'Lost Coast style' commentary mode. For anyone that did play through Half-Life 2: The Lost Coast (Valve's way of letting the public have a view of the design process and how the team overcame different technical obstacles), this mode will be very familiar to you. For those of you who have not played through The Lost Coast, this mode is a great way for you to see the thought process that went into creating this game, as well as all the tricks they used to bring the game to life. Think of it like a behind the scenes documentary on the game that plays out while you play through the story. While playing in this mode, 'speech bubbles' are placed throughout the game, activated upon the player centering their cross hairs on it and hitting 'USE.' This activates an audio track recorded by different members of the design team explaining how they developed the graphics, gameplay and other aspects of the game. This is fantastic addition to the game once you've played through, so that the player can see where the different ideas came from and appreciate a little more the amount of effort and work that goes into a production such as this.

On the down side, the game is not without its shortcomings. In Half-Life 2, players saw the game take a very linear turn when compared to the revolutionary free-roaming first Half-Life game. Half-Life 2 did offer some options when it came to direction, though the player still followed the same basic path. Episode 1 basically cuts out any non-linear gameplay there was in Half-Life 2 and forces the player to follow the exact path laid out before them. The game still plays out well, but it is sort of disheartening to see such a totally linear game in the industry today force feeding you a given path to take, but it is hard to find fault in a game that is such a great experience to play. This really adds to the feel of the game being more of an interactive movie, and whether this is truly a good thing or a bad thing can be boiled down to a matter of preference.

One more caveat: The game is VERY short. Most players who were able to play through Half-Life 2 with minimal difficulties should be able to blow through Episode 1 in well under 5 hours on their first run. This definitely seems to be a one-sitting game. The only reason I think this hurts the game (and this would apply for pretty much all episodic games) is that you dish out the money for an experience that is over just as you are really starting to get into it. The price to gameplay ratio ends up being about the same as a full production game. Basically, you're paying around $60 for anywhere in the vicinity of 20 hours of gameplay. One can't help but feel some disappointment after beating the game without even having to take a bathroom break.

All in all, however, the game does not fail to impress, and follows up Half-Life 2 as a worthy sequel. And this is no easy feat given the game that it is following. There are far too many fantastic aspects of the game and general polish to outweigh the somewhat insignificant issues outlined above. The commentary mode on top of everything else really seems more like a great send off after beating the game. You get to unlock all the mystery behind and get sort of a recap on everything that happened while you were playing through. Valve really has done a great job showing people that episodic content doesn't have to be such a bad thing and can give the developers a chance to implement changes to the code as hardware becomes more and more powerful with time. The game is absolutely worth playing through and should not be overlooked in any case.

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Half-Life 2: Episode One is the first in what was intended to be a trilogy^[1] of episodic games that served as a continuation of the 2004 first-person shooter game Half-Life 2. The opening cinematic of Episode One takes place immediately after the end of Half-Life 2; however, the bulk of the game takes place a few days later^[2] in and around the war-torn setting of City 17. Once again, the player assumes the role of Gordon Freeman as he deals with the consequences of his actions in Half-Life 2. Episode One is a stand-alone game that does not require Half-Life 2 to be installed or registered to a user's Steam account to play. It takes advantage of several major upgrades that were made to the Source engine since the release of Half-Life 2, primarily its high dynamic range rendering capabilities and the upgraded facial animation system.

Episode One was released together with Half-Life Deathmatch: Source, a port of the original Half-Life's multiplayer, which doubles as Episode One's multiplayer component. Physical retail copies of Episode One also came with Half-Life 2: Deathmatch for those who had not previously purchased the latter title.

• 6Critical reception

Plot[edit]

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Continuing the plot of Half-Life 2, Episode One consists of five chapters that tell the story of Gordon and Alyx's struggle to escape City 17 before the total destruction of the Citadel.

Details[edit]

Episode One's focus is on character development, in particular that of Gordon's female sidekick and friend Alyx Vance, to the extent that she accompanies the player for virtually the entire game:^[3] 'It's kind of ironic that despite so much of the theme of Half-Life 2 being about other characters and other people, you spent most of the game alone,' project lead Robin Walker said in the episode's announcement article in PC Gamer UK.

The announcement article also saw Marc Laidlaw explain the game's premise:

'Episode One deals with the events and issues set in motion during Half-Life 2. You've done critical damage to the Citadel. The whole place is going to go up, taking out City 17 and what's in its immediate radius. You and Alyx are leading the flight from the city getting up close and personal with some of the creatures and sights from the end of the game.'

Despite this comment and much fan speculation, the Combine Crab Synths and Mortar Synths were not present in Episode One; however, Stalkers and previously glimpsed areas of the Citadel are instead encountered and explored by the player.

After some initial confusion, sparked partly with an attempt at humor by PC Gamer UK, which suggested that Alyx was Episode One's playable character, it was confirmed that players would indeed play as Gordon Freeman – unlike the original Half-Life expansion packs, which all dealt with different characters. Part of the reason for this change of direction may lie with the in-house development of Half-Life 2: Episode One: previously, Half-Life expansions were developed by third party Gearbox Software (albeit with scripts produced by Valve).

The game runs on an incrementally upgraded version of Valve's proprietary Source engine, and features both the engine's high dynamic range rendering capabilities, and a new version of its facial animation/expression technology. It also features the commentary node system debuted in the Lost Coast tech demo.

Episode One is available over Valve's Steam platform for $9.95 USD. The game is also being distributed through traditional retail channels by Electronic Arts both as a standalone and as part of the Half-Life 2: Platinum Collection. The game became available for pre-load and pre-purchase through Steam on May 1, 2006,^[4] with Half-Life Deathmatch: Source and Half-Life 2: Deathmatch immediately available for play as part of the package.

The renaming of Aftermath to Episode One^[5] was an indication of Valve's confidence with their episodic structure, an implication confirmed in February^[6] and May^[7] of 2006, with news of a trilogy of episodes covering the present story arc. While the plots and dialogue of Half-Life and Half-Life 2 were written solely by Valve's in-house writer Marc Laidlaw, the 'Half-Life 2 Episodes' were collaboratively written by Laidlaw, Chet Faliszek and Erik Wolpaw with Laidlaw retaining overall leadership of the group.^[8]

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Characters[edit]

Enemies[edit]

In addition to the enemies featured in Half-Life 2, Episode One introduces the Zombine — the Zombie form of the Combine Soldier, equipped with a Fragmentation Grenade. Furthermore, Stalkers now serve a gameplay purpose and the player can engage in combat with them.

Behind the scenes and Trivia[edit]

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• The game was originally named Half-Life 2: Aftermath, but was renamed to Episode One after plans were made to make the game episodic.
• Valve's Marc Laidlaw and David Speyrer take us behind the scenes of Episode One's development on ComputerAndVideoGames.com (October 12, 2006) (archived)
• With Dr. Breen's absence, Dr. Kleiner has hijacked City 17's public address system, appearing on TV screens throughout the game and keeping the Resistance updated with information about the Combine:
  • All Citizens are told to evacuate City 17 as quickly as possible, for while the Citadel's Core is currently stabilized, the Combine will eventually succeed in making it go critical once again, and when that happens, all of City 17 will be destroyed.
  • Humorously, Dr. Kleiner informs humans already out of City 17 that, due to the suppression field being disabled, now would be 'an excellent time for procreation', and urges citizens to 'do their part for the revival of the species'. Alyx replies to this by asking, while glancing at Gordon, 'is Dr. Kleiner really telling everyone to.. get busy?'
  • The destruction of the Citadel's Dark Fusion Reactor has caused a chain reaction that has put a damper on the entire Citadel Reactor Network, effectively cutting them off completely from the rest of the Combine. However, Dr. Kleiner states that it is only a matter of time before communication is re-established; warning that 'In addition to the completely xenotheric species, there are many modified post-human allies (Combine Soldiers) still remaining on Earth who will be doing their utmost to re-establish lines of communication and supply with the larger forces.'
  • And lastly, Dr. Kleiner hints that the Resistance has made 'secret technological advances' that may have long-lasting benefits in the war against the Combine.

• The group of Vortigaunts in the game's opening scene are part of the 'third power' at which Valve hinted;^[9] their role and purpose are mysterious.
• The G-Man's loss of control to the Vortigaunts is reinforced by his complete absence from the game thereafter. While he appears at least once in most of Half-Life 2's chapters, he is not seen at all in Episode One. Neither, notably, are Vortigaunts, but Combine Advisor(s) is/are seen at several points on various video screens, tracking the player and Alyx from their theft of the Combine's data packet onward. The G-man is also, for the first time ever, without his signature briefcase during the opening scene.
• This is the first Half-Life game in which Gordon does not start on a train. Somewhat similar scenes are experienced, however, during the slide of the thrown van entering the Citadel and the final train ride out of City 17.
• A conversation between two resistance soldiers can be overheard in which Dr. Kleiner and other main characters are criticized. One of the soldiers states that he 'kind of misses the Combine' and Dr. Breen's show. The remark 'it seems like everyone's a doctor but me' is also made.
• A reference is made in dialog by two resistance members to the fight that Gordon took part in at New Little Odessa. Their talk suggests that Odessa later took credit for being the one to destroy the Gunship, and that Gordon was never mentioned as being there or was said to have done nothing.
• An often unnoticed addition to the Half-Life series' gameplay made in Episode One is the new change in Combine Soldiers' AI. Episode One makes the soldiers utilize crouching more often than in Half-Life 2, and gives them the ability to crouch while being fired upon in order to 'duck' underneath the player's line of fire for the first time in the series. This feature is showcased to the utmost for the first time in the large street battle the player progresses through before entering the rebel safehouse in the game's fourth chapter.
• An unnamed weapon, nicknamed Blackhole Grenade or Vortex Hopwire, can be used by using console codes.
• One of the most infamous Achievements in The Orange Box is 'The One Free Bullet'; to acquire it, players must complete Episode One having fired exactly one bullet in their entire run-through. This leaves the player using only the Gravity Gun, crowbar, rocket launcher, and grenades.
• A glitch in the game can cause Alyx to die by the combine energy balls/secondary fire on the Pulse Rifle. It can also happen in Undue Alarm, and Alyx will disintegrate near the lift. The game will not fade out, but the player will not be able to start the lift anymore.
• G-Man has cut lines for the opening sequence. These cut lines can only be found in the May 2nd 2006 Preload Disc and they include G-Man swearing and snarling at the Vortigaunts. These were discovered on September 22, 2017 at around 11:00 AM EST.

Critical reception[edit]

Critical and public response to Episode One was broadly positive, with some reviewers praising the game for having more intricate, well-paced action than the acclaimed Half-Life 2,^[10] though a common critique of the game has been its short length;^[11] depending on the player's skill (or patience) the game can take less time to complete than the company line of 4–6 hours, which has caused various observers to raise the issue of whether it justifies the price tag.^[12]

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The game's interactivity, particularly in the shape of the character of Alyx, has also received praise.^[13]

PC Gamer magazine gave an 85% in the US edition and 90% in the UK edition to the game. In Australia, the magazine PC Powerplay awarded the game with a rarely seen 10/10. Edge gave the game 8 out of 10, praising the 'deftness' with which the game was able to direct the player's eyes, and the strength of Alyx as a companion.^[14]

Awards[edit]

Episode One received the 'Best First-Person Shooter' of 2006 award from IGN.^[15]

Soundtrack[edit]

Gallery[edit]

• Original cover art.

• Steam header (old).

• Steam header (current).

• Download hay day for macbook air. Steam hero image.

• Steam logo.

• Vortigaunts rescue Gordon Freeman from the G-Man's clutches.

• A Combine Advisor.

References[edit]

1. ↑Half-Life 2: Episode One Available June 1 on Steam (May 24, 2006) (archived)
2. ↑Marc Laidlaw on the time between Half-Life 2 and Episode One (August 13, 2011)
3. ↑Half-Life 2: Episode One on Computer And Video Games (April 13, 2006) (archived)
4. ↑Half-Life 2: Episode One Pre-Loading Now on Steam (May 1, 2006) (archived)
5. ↑Half-Life 2 Goes Episodic on Gamespot (February 10, 2006) (archived)
6. ↑Valve Confirms Half-Life 2: Episode Two on IGN (February 21, 2006) (archived)
7. ↑Half-Life 2: Episode One gold, Two dated, Three announced on Gamespot (May 24, 2006) (archived)
8. ↑Company People on ValveSoftware.com (archived)
9. ↑Half-Life 2: Episode One Interview on IGN (April 27, 2006) (archived)
10. ↑Episode One review on GameSpot (archived)
11. ↑Episode One review on GameOver Online Magazine (June 8, 2006) (archived)
12. ↑Half-Life 2: Episode One Review (PC) on ActionTrip (June 07, 2006) (archived)
13. ↑Half-Life 2: Episode One review on The A.V. Club (June 13, 2006) (archived)
14. ↑Review: Half-Life 2: Episode One. Edge Magazine - August 2006, p.80.
15. ↑Best PC FPS - 2006 on IGN (archived)

External links[edit]

Official

Official website (archived)

Half-Life 2: Episode One on Steam

Game Guides

HeadCrab Union Game Guide (archived)

GameSpot Game Guide

Press

Eurogamer's Episode One Preview

GameSpot Q&A

Exclusive Half-Life 2: Episode One preview on 1UP.com (August 29, 2005) (archived)

Official Half-Life 2: Episode One videos and trailers on VGPRO (archived)

Gamer Within's Episode One Review (June 1, 2006) (archived)

Half-Life 2: Episode One Review on BytePress (archived)

Review on VGRC.net: 8.75/10 (archived)

Critique

Half-Life 2: Episode One Review on The Ant Nest (August 31, 2006) (archived)