Episode 2 article *spoilers*

The thing that immediately worries me is the Release Date:

Spring 2007

EDIT-in information as I go:

Main "areas" seem to be Forest, Riverbeds (further evidence of rescource stealing), Abandoned Mine and the finale is at an abandoned Missile Site.
Smaller environments referenced include a farmhouse possibly with farm included, and a barn.
A lot more distance is covered (in-game) than in Episode 1. (So assuming we covered 2 miles or so in Episode 1, this game could be quite large, scale-wise :E)
Oh wow. Almost as much distance as was covered in Half Life 2 in the same 4-6 hour timespan. That is a long way. :O
"Good thing you've got a new way to get around - but more on that later." Oh the teases.
Increased focus on character depth. Good thing.
The fight against the Combine "extends beyond Gordon Freeman." I don't know whether this could be a hint or just a turn of phrase.
"Who says the story has an end?" - Doug Lombardi.
"battlefield-type play"
"more citizens, more troops, a less repetetive combat forumla"
They're making another big thing of the fact that enemy AI will circle you if you dig yourself in.
High-level goals in a non-linear environment. As long as it still feels like HAlf Life I will be happy.
"Hunters," the official name for Mini-Striders, will follow you and track you down. They should be avoided, apparently. Like hell anyone is going to do that. XD
More physics puzzles than Episode 1. Which apparently had more physics puzzles than Half Life 2 did on the official count.
"Biggest physical puzzle yet in the series." Please include log flumes. XD
MAJOR SPOILER:
Alyx is still alive. And DOG is too. (Why anyone thought Dog was is beyond me..)
Highlight ^
Apparently "Dr Breen is out of the picture." There goes Samon's theories. Unless we don't find out he is still alive until Episode 3. :p
The force behind the Combine is more actively running things.
Vortigaunts... blah...blah... more fighting... blah. We knew that.
A vehicle! XD As yet un-named though with a tentative title of The Hybrid. I'll post a picture at the bottom. It's a two-seater with a gun in the passenger seat.
The car is made by two men who live in the woods.... alone. Brokeback ftw?
SPOILER relating to major one above: Alyx can be a passenger.
Highlight again ^
A box-out on Strider-Busters, which I can only assume are new weapons, are currently represented by a pumpkin model because they don't want to make a good model until they are sure the concept works. Does that mean we won't be throwing rotten fruit at our oppressors?
2 more pages to go. :p
Hunters stand 8 feet tall and can go anywhere the player can go.
It can "jump and move quite well." Jump. :O *hides*
"Expressive faces" Hopefully along the lines of how the Scanners and DOG are expressive.
Apparently they always wanted to do an expressive non-human character. (What about Dog?) On The Hunters you can see whether they are aggressive, hurt or angry.
"When it's about to fire one of its energy bursts towards its target, the Hunter's jaw opens up or clenches when it's very angry." Jaw? Just helping along anyone who didn't realise that the Synth aren't robots I assume.
Apparently, you can outwit them and you'll know they've lost you if an antenna appears out of the back of their head.
Taking down Hunters makes it easier to take out Striders because Hunters will actively shoot down Strider Busters. Which are stick mines to throw on Striders' underbellies apparently. The mine then draws energy out of the Strider to weaken it. You can then take it out with an RPG, a heavy object, or your car. Taking out Striders legs? Yes please.
Currently Hunters have a weak spot on them that'll take them down and they are currently susceptible to heavy objects and your car but that may change. I think the interviewer's exclamation of "Bollocks" sums that up.
No more "Super Grav Gun." That only happens near the Citadel core and makes for occasionally boring repetetive gamplay. Apparently.
But there is new Grav gun ammo with unique behaviours including Strider Busters.
BAck to vortigaunts. They are developing their relationship with other characters this time. Mainly Alyx and the rebels. There is a lot of story to them this time.
More information on the Gman again. So he will be in it? :E
The transmission becomes the key plot-point in Episode 2. We knew it would but there's some confirmation.
Kleiner and Eli are at the aforementioned missile silo. It's where they have set up base. So you do indeed reach them at the end of this episode.
The last piece of information is quite important so I purely copied and pasted it for your own reading.
words5ti.png

More above-mentioned SPOILER-ific info: Finally, there's a bit about Alyx. It basically re-iterates that she is supposed to help and not hinder and that she was not designed as a hint-giver. However there is a hint that we may be playing as her at some point. Just not in Episode 2.


The Hybrid
hybrid2ma.png
 
I <3 you :thumbs:

Hunters communicate with Striders? OMG hawt :naughty:

And the new vehicle does NOt look ghey :frown:
 
Reginald said:
The thing that immediately worries me is the Release Date:

Spring 2007
Click to expand...
wtf shit wtf zomg spring 2007? Im sure its meant to be 2006, ep3 comes out 2007 :/
 
cool, can't wait to drive that car :D

E2 is said to be released in Winter 2006, of course PC Gamer thinks (know?) that it will be delayed and set 2007 in that article.
 
Breen's "out of the picture"?

That's a shame. I really wanted to see him again. Part of me also felt kind of sympathetic. He did have an ego and he was a Combine collaborator, driven by his thirst for knowledge. But he seemed to genuinely think that what he was doing was for the good of humanity.

Any way, the Episode 2 looks like SEX. Give it to me now.
 
Where does it say about the release date?
I hope Episode Two comes out this year, I can't wait too long for the continuation...
 
Awesome! I really like that car. And the release date doesn't mean EP2, it means as a whole.
 
Przemek said:
Where does it say about the release date?
I hope Episode Two comes out this year, I can't wait too long for the continuation...
Click to expand...

In the box-out on the first page.

Samon said:
And the release date doesn't mean EP2, it means as a whole.
Click to expand...

You mean Episode 3 too? And if not. What do you mean?
 
Yeah he means ep3 aswell

He said DOESNT mean ep2, but as a whole (all eps)
 
Samon said:
And the release date doesn't mean EP2, it means as a whole.
Click to expand...

But the releasedate of Episode Three is (and as far as I know, always was) the end of 2007.

That preview is awesome :)
 
It is talking about the end of the episode trilogy.

Reginald, when he says out of the picture he means out of the equation as far as leadership goes.
 
Samon said:
Reginald, when he says out of the picture he means out of the equation as far as leadership goes.
Click to expand...

That's what I thought.
 
Ew, the Hybrid looks like it was made out of organs.

Also ew, Spring 2007. From the trailer it looked like they were half-finished with it, but I guess not. :/
 
Samon said:
I honestly don't think it means EP2. They said Christmas..
Click to expand...

I do think it means Episode Two. Why would it mean EP3 (or end of the episode trilogy) when the article is about EP2?

The releasedate of EP3 isn't spring 2007 either, it's Christmas 2007.
 
waahh! E2 is comeing xmas 2006-spring 2007 and E3 xmas 2007! now, back to topic!
 
Maaan, Valve really talks now! :D

What really got stuck into my mind was this, at the last page

"Will we ever not be playing as Gordon Freeman?" "Not in Episode Two", Johnson says cagily. That doesn't sound like "never" to us...
Click to expand...

Is he just making one of those statements that makes you wonder, or can it be possible that we're not going to play as Gordon through all games? :O
 
Oppressor said:
Maaan, Valve really talks now! :D

What really got stuck into my mind was this, at the last page



Is he just making one of those statements that makes you wonder, or can it be possible that we're not going to play as Gordon through all games? :O
Click to expand...

I'm guessing "Episode 4." Or maybe one of the tech demos.
 
in my opinion, place where EP2 will take action is a lot different than HL2 or EP1, by which i mean, it will take much more work for valve, such as texturing forests, which we have never really seen earlier.
 
Reginald said:
I'm guessing "Episode 4." Or maybe one of the tech demos.
Click to expand...


That was my guess too. Since at one point Valve was going to do an "Alyx background" level type thing.
 
It would be interesting to play as a different character, but I hope Ep2 and 3 are focused on Gordon - and that's how we finish the story, until some day Valve comes back to Half-Life again.

Episode 4 could be done by some other developer. I only wish it won't be in third person perspective ;)

Also, I really hope this 2007 thing is false... I simply cannot wait that long for another episode. I loved Ep1 and had nothing against its lenght, but I need more fast. But delays happen...

edit - I love the fact that Episode Two takes place outside of City17. The forests are very interesting and the fact that Valve is adding some non-linearity. But they made Half-Lifes in such a way you don't notice the linearity, which is a problem in Sin: Emergence, for example.
 
PCGamer has always been the first and most accurate when it comes to announcing release dates, ESPECIALLY from valve because of their close ties and constant test-playing of the valve's games. They posted June 1st for the release of EP1 about a month before valve even officially announced it. I would trust any release date they say if they say it directly in their words...
 
It seems there is much more emphasis on exploration this time around, and more realism to the locations. I'm also excited about the characterization of the Vorts, and the facial expressions of the Hunters. It's definitely taking a new approach. And I hope there will be more details on the Gman as well. Also, that car looks pretty sweet:D

As for Alyx, I just now remember the interview about Valve possibly making "expansions" for other perspectives in the HL2 world, which may mean Alyx. But it makes me wonder that he said "Not in Episode 2", instead of "Not in the trilogy of episodes."
 
God Damn, after reading that I cant wait for Episode 2.... Hopefully they wont delay it.
 
I'm curious as to why these Strider blasters are now required rather than just firing RPGs at them? Other than that, all good infomation. I hope your time with the Vortigaunts reveals how things are going in the Borderworld. And as for Breen, he may not be in power anymore but that doesn't mean he didn't survive. ;)
 
I don't think it ever stated you MUST use the Strider Blasters, but I assume, in the vast wasteland, rockets are hard to come by. I'm guessing the Strider Blasters are a naturally found creature, similar to Snarks. EDIT: Or even a plant.
 
tehsolace said:
PCGamer has always been the first and most accurate when it comes to announcing release dates, ESPECIALLY from valve because of their close ties and constant test-playing of the valve's games. They posted June 1st for the release of EP1 about a month before valve even officially announced it. I would trust any release date they say if they say it directly in their words...
Click to expand...

Agreed i love PC GAMER US. Best mag, best reviews, best exclusives.

I cant wait to get my copy and read it for myself.
 
Max35 said:
It seems there is much more emphasis on exploration this time around, and more realism to the locations. I'm also excited about the characterization of the Vorts, and the facial expressions of the Hunters. It's definitely taking a new approach. And I hope there will be more details on the Gman as well. Also, that car looks pretty sweet:D

As for Alyx, I just now remember the interview about Valve possibly making "expansions" for other perspectives in the HL2 world, which may mean Alyx. But it makes me wonder that he said "Not in Episode 2", instead of "Not in the trilogy of episodes."
Click to expand...

im sure he said that to be careful not to give out ANY information about EP3. Valve likes us fans thinking about what the next episodes will be like, and if he said "well youll definately be playing as gordon the whole time..." thats still giving out information that hinders our imagination of the future episodes...
 
Raziel-Jcd said:
Agreed i love PC GAMER US. Best mag, best reviews, best exclusives.

I cant wait to get my copy and read it for myself.
Click to expand...

exactly! hell they even stated theyve SEEN Ep2 already :O
 
Reginald said:
I don't think it ever stated you MUST use the Strider Blasters, but I assume, in the vast wasteland, rockets are hard to come by. I'm guessing the Strider Blasters are a naturally found creature, similar to Snarks. EDIT: Or even a plant.
Click to expand...

Page 4 stated it was a sort of sticky bomb thing that stuck to the strider and drained its energy making it weak. a naturally found sticky plant that drains energy? nahh... im willing to bet its combine tech or something.
 
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