Episode 1 Feedback and suggestions!

So far the only criticism i have are the cranks.
Man, those were irritating with the ant lions constantly hitting me
I had to use notarget to get the one in the garage :/

Other than that I've loved it :)

Oh, and props to whoever came up with the 'dodge the energy balls' game
Was quite fun :)
 
I'm still waiting for the fricking thing to update... 6 hours remaining. I bought the darn thing from the store, and expected it to be UPDATED when I bought it. I know of one game I will not be playing until tommorow morning.
 
KagePrototype said:
No more cliffhanger endings plz :x
Click to expand...
Amen to that brother!

I remembered that thing with stabilizing the core. Putting 1 of the energy balls in, then moments later it explodes.
And I'm all "WTF?!?!". Sitting around looking for Stalkers 'cause I heard that they can destroy the balls. Was no Stalkers though.
That was a tough puzzle for me. But I figured it out. :)
 
Episode One was outstanding, although it was shorter than 6 hrs.
 
Hmm...
don't make me repeatedly escort groups of citizens to a train station.

That's pretty much it :)
 
So far the only criticism i have are the cranks.
Man, those were irritating with the ant lions constantly hitting me
I had to use notarget to get the one in the garage :/
Click to expand...
Ah, but you seem to have missed one of the game's most ingenious physics puzzles!
 
Narcolepsy said:
Ah, but you seem to have missed one of the game's most ingenious physics puzzles!
Click to expand...
Yup. You have no idea how hard the game was when I didn't realize that until almost the end :|

Ha, in fact, the first time this happened. I used the car to block the ant lions from reaching me rather than covering the hole -_-
 
Ikerous said:
Yup. You have no idea how hard the game was when I didn't realize that until almost the end :|

Ha, in fact, the first time this happened. I used the car to block the ant lions from reaching me rather than covering the hole -_-
Click to expand...
lol, hey, whatever works! That's the beauty of the physics engine. :E
 
Nothing really. Just keep the engine on par. Love the updates Valve has added. Everything else is always the best with Valve.
 
Not finished yet, but I'm in the hospital, with the age old electrified water. I LOVED how the first chapter reminded me of Black Mesa when all went wrong. <3 Valve.








Ikerous said:
So far the only criticism i have are the cranks.
Man, those were irritating with the ant lions constantly hitting me
I had to use notarget to get the one in the garage :/
Click to expand...
SPOILER!

Cover their hives with cars silly. :)

SPOILER END!
 
EP1 = BRILLIANT!!!!!!! :thumbs:

I do have 3 cons though:

1) Well shorter than 4-6 hours
2) Now I have to wait for episode 2 (brilliant teaser :thumbs: No GMan in it though :( )
3)GMan had only ONE LINE!!!!!!!
 
Alyx's comments ... hurting my brain! Zombine!? I was wearing headphones and my roommate heard me tell the monitor to shut up!

everything else is great (stopped just before the train escort part).
 
Was good as an episode. Lot of good content and gameplay fit into a shorter time. Mixing the gameplay up was very good. It helped overcome the intense nature of a lot of the action. It was a big improvement for NPC team interaction.

I didn't feel like it was the end while battling the strider. It wasn't until after I was on the train did I know it was the end. Maybe build up the end battle more or somehow give the feeling that this is the last battle. I am glad it was not a puzzle of shooting glowing globes though. ;)
 
Wow. [Contains spoilers]

Half-Life 2, Episode 1, was, and still is, amazing.

The first minutes in the game, where Dog digs you out, you get the first glimpse of the Citadel (which looks awesome!) and the first dialogue with Alyx (if you can call it a dialogue:p) made me shiver.

Did I mention the part where Dog threw you over in the car? THAT WAS O M G! So bloody amazing, the citadel falling apart around you, geez. They've made it better then I thought.
Every minute in the game, you have to think, no resting, always action, and that you only used the Gravity-gun in the first chapter was pretty cool aswell.

The entire dialogue, the comments from Alyx (Example: You're in the garage and it's pitchblack, you've killed loads of zombines(zombies) and all of the sudden you hear a moaning-scary-sound behind you, you turn around and discover Alyx standing there, smiling, and saying: "I got you there, didn't I? Haha..") What a bitch.

It's clearly Valve has made her speak and show her feelings so the player will get more emotional involved with her, probably because she will die in the last episode. Every good story, has a sad end. Of course, this is only speculating, but I want to remind you of Harry Potter and Order of the Phenix. Harrys godfather Sirius dies, but still, the book has an happy ending.. I think Alyx will die. :/

Anyway.

HDR-lightning was awesome, the "sucking"-part in the Citadel, where a wall blew out and a "twirl" sucked the wall in, and you had to cross the bridge, was frikking kewl. And did I say I found Alyxes jokes pretty good, to be in an action-game? It was no lame jokes from her.. They were good, and they made my gaming experience better.


Bottom line, EP1 was a thrilling "Oh my ****ing God"-game, which surprised me alot. Valve did this better then Half-Life 2, imo, probably because the intense action..

Anyway. Loads of part to discuss, but what to talk about?
 
OBS! SPOILERS! OBS!

I agree with you, the game was amazing! It seemed to me like they did it a lot harder than HL2, or am I wrong? Although that might have something to do with the fact that you almost didn't get any ammo at all during the first chapters (in the very first you only had your gravity gun) The game demanded a lot more "brainpower" than HL2, since you didn't always had your gun there to save you. Brilliant!

Can't really think of any more criticism, well maybe the annoying crashes whenever the game auto-loaded. That was pretty irritating. Specially if you didn't remember to save recently (like I did a few times.. gah!)

The last strider was HARD! :D I played it on easy and man I had to fight! This strider seemed to be more developed than the ones we saw in HL2, it had some blue light thingy going on and you don't wanna get hit by that ;)

I loved Alyx comments, I think they where great! Made me laugh so much, she has good humour that girl ;) And our beloved Dog, almost got tears in my eyes when he hugged Alyx before we got into the car. How emotionally! You can really tell that Valve worked a little extra on Alyx this time, made her more.. hmm.. human?

And then ofcourse, the graphics! Damn! :D When you get out of the hospital and you see the whole Citadel and the enormous reactor with the "war of the worlds" feeling in the sky. That was really something extra!

The graphics, the physics, the talking, the gameplay - everything was awesome! Can't wait until ep. 2 is here, where it seems like we're going out in the forest :D
 
I thought Episode 1 was awesome. Loved every minute of it and finished it in a single sitting. My lil bro was just watching me play the game for 2 hours straight at one point .

First of all i'd like Episode 2 to be about 6-8 hours in length, therefore giving me around 5-6 hours of gameplay rather than 3 and a half to 4, which is my main (and only) gripe with Episode 1.

Also, more weapons and new enemies. And i know there is definitely gonna be new enemies thanks to the trailer at the end. But i'd freaking love to see a cliff-side level in it, like Surface Tension in the original Half-Life or the Lost Coast HDR demo. And i would love to see a stationary boss again, like those claw things in Half-Life. That was cool boss fight.

I've got a whole bunch of ideas on how you could make Episode 2 better but it would all be pipe-dreams really.
 
Episode 1 was top quality however there are things I'd like to see
Needs to be about 30% longer
I'd like to see more weapons, unique ones that make gameplay interesting or ones we've seen in the previous games (eg gauss).
 
Very fecking good. The whole lot of it was just brilliant. After playing ti twice, The second time with the commentary on, Id advise you all to listen to it, Has got lots of little tidbits about how they might have structured a certain section, (You know the Car bit? That was first considered a joke and moved on to more serious ways to get you into the citadel,Well we all know which one they settled on ;))

My favorite new feature, The Friendly roller mines! Any chance of getting a new feature on the gravity gun to do it for you without alyx's help? Plus if you could keep them for abit but ahwell,Great stuff.
 
Really dissapointed about ep1 and alot of people i know agree. It truely was a waste of money considering it cost me $22 for a 3 hour hl2 regurgitation. The first chapter was so damn boring. The levels were bland and 'normal' and there were no jaw dropping moments like in hl2. I sincerely hope that they do not make ep2 as dull as ep1 or as short for that reason.
 
I loved episode 1, only one thing was a disappointment: the lack of new enemies. I thought we would get stalkers, synths and zombines. Only the zombine was actually an enemy, i meet only one stalker during the game. Great valve! I hoped to meet loots of stalkers in the citadel, instead i have to run through energy-ball corridors.

I loved the rest. The stalker train, the lowlife chapter (the entire elevator thing was a bit boring though), when you first reach the surface and the gate is locked. Fantastic!
 
I was extremely delighted to see that Valve put commentaries to Ep 1, too. I hope they'll continue to make those, it gives a whole new reason to replay the game. Another thing, I can remember myself a little euphoric when I started playing: "Oh, is that...?... Yes, YES, THEY ADDED HDR!"
 
+ ...it's more Half-Life?
+ there was more good stuff in it than hl2 (ep1 x3 > hl2)
+ voice acting, scripted sequences, puzzles (hl1 deja vu with the electrified water, trip mines, etc.)
+ improved lighting, animation, performance
+ flow/pace
+ hospital levels
+ commentary (needs more robin though!)
+/- length
- escort bit
- combat/weapons/enemies:
HL1 set the standard, F.E.A.R. raised the bar, HL2 didn't even match its predecessor.
MP7 is weak, shotty is sluggish, no grenade priming iirc, there's no real super weapons like the gauss and gluon, hit feedback could be better, movement feels sluggish, combine AI could be better (see F.E.A.R. AI)...

That's not a lot of flaws but the latter prevents me from replaying hl2 as much as I replayed hl1 (and svencoop).
 
kaMIKazE said:
HL1 set the standard, F.E.A.R. raised the bar, HL2 didn't even match its predecessor.
MP7 is weak, shotty is sluggish, no grenade priming iirc, there's no real super weapons like the gauss and gluon, hit feedback could be better, movement feels sluggish, combine AI could be better (see F.E.A.R. AI)...
Click to expand...

F.E.A.R was the biggest letdown last year, it failed to raise any bars. HL2 raised bars in areas people didn't expect.

I'm really quite glad Valve didn't add any new weapons.
 
Biggest letdown for you? Ok cool.
HL2 raised bars in combat with physics as a weapon but you get over it eventually :(
I don't think they needed to add a new weapon either, just tweak em'.
 
That was awesome, pure excellance.

I <3 alex. She was just so cool, we got to see her as a person. I was always checking over my shoulder to make sure she was okay and still following me. She was really funny.

The whole episode was brilliance. Not much more I can say.
 
kaMIKazE said:
Biggest letdown for you? Ok cool.
HL2 raised bars in combat with physics as a weapon but you get over it eventually :(
I don't think they needed to add a new weapon either, just tweak em'.
Click to expand...

Well, yeah, for me. It was just boring.

HL2 raised the bar in story telling for me. You were involved in the world and the characters were human. How many games can you cite a character as showing embarrassment?
 
A few, mostly old adventure games. None anywhere near as good as HL2 though.
Not sure why you're asking that since combat was my only complaint, which I hope Episode Two improves on.
 
I was merely talking about HL2 and what bars it raised, not that you disagreed. :)
 
You all say raising the bar is a good thing ... but when you raise the bar, the challenge of doing the Limbo gets easier. THINK ABOUT IT.
 
My rating

{SPOILERS}

:E - Awesome :) - Cool :| - Not so cool ;( - Bad

:E Vortigaunts "blocking" G-man's "powers" (We will see about that...)
:E Dog throwing the car!!! Gotta love the ride
:| All the action inside the Citadel
:E City 17 looks
:) Pitch Black, flaslight action (oh, and the flares, cool)
:) Grenade Kamikaze Zombines
:E Alyx jokes, comments, etc.
:E Dr. Kliener´s bulletin(Dr. Kliener is telling everybody to get busy?)
:) Hospital bit
:E Taking out the gunship in that Amazing looking loft with HDR
:) Scorting citizens to the train
:E Fighting a Strider inside the train station
:E Ending
:| 3-4 hours of gameplay
:E storyline/plot
;( storyline/plot answers(virtually none)
:E :E :E Episode 2 trailer (Alyx dies!!!!? Baby striders?!!!!! Action in the woods?!!!)

Average rating: :E
 
Very excellent game. I especially liked the fact Alyx was fighting with you the whole time. I disagree with the episodic route Valve have taken. I like playing through storyline emphasised games in a block so that I'm more immersed, but having to wait for episode 2 is gonna kill me.
 
I have to say, the best 6 hours of any shooter I have ever played. The game started off with a rousing start...illusions, more G-man and a surprise visit from the Vorts. Then onto Dog and Alyx! Some of the best dialogue I have ever heard in a game, it was natural...they joked, they had love and emotion in them and their animations and facial expressions were near on perfect.

Then you were thrown back into the hellhole of the citadel and headlong on a rollercoaster (literally) into the action portion. The graphics the whole way were superb, although I had a grip with the orange/baise fog that prevented me seeing further into the citadel ;) The action did get a bit tedious, with the constant "Grab. Throw. Rinse and Repeat" method, but it was still fun all the same.

After a stellar scripted sequence on the train, things started to heat up action wise. The flashlight/Alyx feature was an absolute blast...even more so when the flashlight went out when you didn't want it to. Alyx was still a joy to fight alongside with her occasional one liner and the little touches such as her holding her arm up when you shine the light on her.

Urban Flight was the best in my opinion. When you reached the surface, I felt nostalgia from the first game, when you reached the surface there. After a well acted and humourous speech from Kleiner (Lamarr is alive!) the combat went into full pelt again. The hospital, gunship battle and other small moments (such as the elevator falling into the water, and you having to escape) where all very nicely done.

Exit 17 let me down a bit. I had fought all this way to get to a battle where all I did was run back and forth escorting citizens through a couple of combine and hoppers each time. It felt a bit anti-climatic to have such a annoying battle. Even worse still when it turns out you just had to "walk" to your train along with Alyx afterwards. But as I was turning the crank...the music kicked in and bam! The strider came in...nearly the best battle in the whole game played out as I jumped, dodged and cursed my way to the precious rockets. The ending with the train was also good, seeing a bit of the countryside as well as seeing the Citadel going to hell.

P.S. Does anyone know the command for spawning mini strider npcs?
 
wow .. ep1 was the best FPS I've ever played!! Much better than HL2 itself!

I tell ya, I'm not a very hard-core gamer. I don't like HL1 very much and I can't play it for more than half an hour continuously. I either get bored, or .. scared. :bonce:
I liked HL2 alot, but there were still things that disturbed me (ravenholm). I thought MINERVA:Metastasis was more fun that HL2.

but wow, EP1 .. man, just amazing! I played for 3 hours straight then another 4 hours straight. It was alot of fun. I loved not being "alone" the whole time, specially in dark areas!! Something which I hated so much in the classical HL ..

I also loved how the relatively moderate pace/intensity of action.

Pros/Things I liked:
- Seeing the GMan powerless!!!! Man did that feel good!
- Alyx hug :p
- van-roller-coster ride! stunning!
- Having a sidekick.
- The occasional humor by NPCs (including Alyx).

Cons:
- The garage ant-lion battle seemed unfair (in the player's favor). Maybe because I was playing in easy mode, but it seemed that Alyx could fight these ant lions forever without dying or running out of ammo. I got the sense that I had infinite time to search for blocking cars! Also, when ever I activate a commentary node, I get an unfair advantage (NPCs stop playing, but I can still walk around and even attack them).
- The escort mission wasn't much fun .. specially going back and forth. I think it would've been better if I only transported two or three large groups, and maybe if there were more enemies .. as to force us to have a bigger battle.
- The place where I'm supposed to hit the turrets ... didn't make much sense to me (especially when I heared the commentary on it before actually playing it). honestly I didn't even know how they turrets died.
- There are some things that didn't really grab my attention until I heard the commentary nodes. For example, when nearing the train station and getting spotted by the combine; I didn't get it until I heard the commentary!! Some commentaries were actually spoilers. There's a commentary that tells you how to solve a puzzle before even facing it (when placing the three balls in-place blocks your exit).

Finally, I missed the EP2 trailer at first. When I finished the game, it quit itself, then opened up again!! I thought that was wierd, so I used alt-ctrl-delete on it!!!!!!!! (I didn't know it was loadint the teaser, because loading takes too long).

Overall it was really great. (even though it seems like I have more critisizm than applaud).
I had lots of fun.
 
to start off all Half Life games are great.

episode 1 was amazing graphically, HDR effects were astonishing, the levels were well designed and the ending was good.

however, the gameplay involving alyx began to get on my nerves, i prefered the original half life because it is just you playing through the game, you dont get any help, theres non of this "we need to get over there gordon" and "do this gordon, do that gordon!" .. the character alyx looks good but possibly has far to much of a role in hl2 and episode 1

the last battle annoyed me when i found out that it WAS the last battle, maybe could have had combine troops attack after defeating the strider while another strider appears a distance away and starts moving towards you, that would have given a sense of urgency to killing the combine troops in order to get ready for the second srtider.

i found the first bit of the game (with the uber grav gun) boring, the environments looked good but i feel that there should have been more enemies and they shouldnt have all been combine soldiers (and manhacks).

all this critisizm is making me feel bad, I REALLY ENJOYED THE GAME!!!

it was also far too short, i know that for the price it was probably the right length, but i would have been far happier with a game close to the length of hl2 or hl1.

The main thing i missed is the lonely feeling you got when playing through Black Mesa, it made it feel far more personal, with alyx around all the time it feels a bit too easy

i was also i little dissapointed with the lack of Gman plot, and does breen put himself into another body ? what was he talking about at the beginning in the recording about delivering earth.. i will have to play it again.

and why didnt you include the blue tentical thing from the hl2 trailer?.. the thing that was not included in the final game.

i hope that this critisizm is not taken to heart because i loved the game and i love the whole HL series, and i am looking forward to a longer Episode 2:thumbs:
 
Hasan, it's your own fault for playing the game first time with commentery on.
 
I cannot believe people are complaining about the length. If you are on of these people, then you are an idiot.
 
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