Quality wise - As good as HL2?

[VortigauntLover]

I'd say so. It's probably even more fun to play, it's just a shame it's only 7 hours.

I personally felt EP1 wasn't half as quality as HL2 but EP2...

 

[Paulaner]

In my opinion HL2 had a more thrilling and creepy setting, with unforgettable breathtaking moments. The graphics of EP2 was awesome. I hated the antlion caves and the strider battle but in the end it was HL2 > EP2 > EP1.

 

[Asknoone]

The short length is far from a detriment. More a virtue. I'm not sure where I'd rank them but probably Episode 1 would be last. Whilst Half-life 2 might retain the crown Episode 2 is far more replayable.

 

[Omnomnick]

HL2 is the longest and contains the lovely slow moving storyline while giving you huge limits of exploration. Ep1 was more a short story builder than an exploration, adventuring was limited but the story was fantastic. Ep2 was slightly longer and offered the most exploration we have seen yet also having an awesome storyline.

They are all different in different ways, I cannot mark one from another.

 

[Blackthorn]

I agree with Samon. Part of what makes Episode 2 so fantastic is it's length. You can tell Valve went through every moment of the game and cut out anything that wasn't pure, unadulterated awesome. I can guarantee that have enough unused material to make a game 3 times as long, and other developers would probably have been more than happy to settle with that, but it just isn't the Valve way.

I've yet to replay Episode 2 and get to a part where I think "Urgh can't be bothered to do this again". Half-Life 2 on the other hand has quite a few of those, mostly in Ravenholm. It's still a fantastic game, but Valve's editing skills weren't quite as refined as they clearly are now.

 

[Operational]

They are all different in different ways, I cannot mark one from another.

This. While in my mind the episodes benefit from tighter gameplay and stronger narrative than HL2, they still are Half-Life and I'm finding it hard to seperate them.

 

[PimpinPenguin]

I agree with Samon. Part of what makes Episode 2 so fantastic is it's length. You can tell Valve went through every moment of the game and cut out anything that wasn't pure, unadulterated awesome. I can guarantee that have enough unused material to make a game 3 times as long, and other developers would probably have been more than happy to settle with that, but it just isn't the Valve way.

I've yet to replay Episode 2 and get to a part where I think "Urgh can't be bothered to do this again". Half-Life 2 on the other hand has quite a few of those, mostly in Ravenholm. It's still a fantastic game, but Valve's editing skills weren't quite as refined as they clearly are now.

Quite the opposite for me, and find more bits i can't be bothered with in EP2 than in HL2 and EP1. The tunnels for me are just to long and boring, and the yard were you have to get the car just the standard Zombies. Everything after that i love.

 

[Growler1984]

I think for me, there are just one too many 'building-up-to-a-full-assault' moments in Ep 2 -I think it started getting a bit too cliche after a while; it reminds me of that Invasion Mode for UT2004, albeit with the same enemies - only more of them come, wave after wave.

Obviously the same happened in Ep 1 as well - with that [IMO] annoying 'troop defending' part; at least that has different enemies to contend with at once.


Apart from that, I agree with the generally agreeable of HL2>Ep2>Ep1

 

[Bob Saget]

I like the set pieces in HL2 more than those in EP2 and a lot more than those in EP1. There's nothing in EP2 that's quite as epic as the fight underneath the bridge in Highway 17. I have to give it to HL2, although EP2 is the only one in the series that doesn't have a single level that I don't like.

HL2 > EP2 >> EP1

 

[MJ12]

Ep 2 is very awesome but has some downsides, HL2 was something new, making it a superior adventure/discovery.

 

[Sheepo]

Comparing them now, and not by standards set when HL2 was released, I find Ep.2 was supperior. The combat and gameplay is much more challenging for one thing.

 

[Nibwoddle]

I refer to all of them as one game to avoid judging. But if I really had to say, it'd be Episode 2 at the top. The graphics are are amazing, It easily had had the best music (Last Legs, Vortal Combat and Sector Sweep), and it really lacked parts I didn't like. Replaying HL2 doesn't seem like a rewarding task, with parts I wouldn't want to replay EVER (Route Kanal, Entanglement), but I have replayed every part of Episode 2 several times over, never ceasing to get old. This is not saying that I dislike HL2, I adore it.

Episode One, then, is still very very enjoyable, but it doesn't have ANY parts I want to replay (okay, maybe the Strider battle, but then I'd have to go all the way through Exit 17 again, which is asking a lot). The whole Citadel escape thing, Zombies underground, Snipers in the street, it gets just a little boring. It was good the first time, but really, eh.

I find it Ep2>HL2>Ep1.

 

[LackingSaint]

Clearly it all comes down to experience. Keep when HL2 was released, it was the first time Valve had ventured into this new story and graphical technology. However, by ep2, Valve had already done work on HL2, ep1, TF2 and Portal to help refine their game-making skills.

 

[Iliketobenaked]

I think its better.Half Life 2 even though of course a great game,some parts were too long Coast for example.Episode 2 does the changing of settting better I think

 

[TheIdler]

Huh, can't recall ever being bored with episode 2. Strider battles were intense and quite a thrill, as were the antlions. I enjoyed every bit of that fine piece of gaming beauty. It had Luster. Luster in spades.

Can recall being bored with HL2 just a couple times, I have to agree with Iliketobenaked, some levels were a bit too long. I am impatient though, It's a flaw, I am aware.

Oh right, Episode 1 is the reason it took me so damn long to get to the wondrous episode 2. I just couldn't bring myself to play it that much.

 

[Gregoric]

I find it hard to decide which is the best out of the three episodes. Though I found both Episode 1 and Episode 2 far more addictive than the original HL2.

Some bits of HL2 were really fun, the urban sections were good, the bridge bit was good and the end was really good but there's too much 'go from here all the way over to here in an airboat for 2 minutes of conversation and not much plot developement'.

Episode 1 was hella fun because it has that sense of urgency, not only that but Valve did an awesome job with the atmosphere of the game with the ash in the air and looming citidel getting ready to go into meltdown created a real sense of urgency which I felt that the original HL2 lacked very much. The only annoying thing about Episode 1 was the fact that the antlions suddenly wanted to rip me to shreds again when I went through the trouble of killing their mother and god knows how many siblings in the original half-life. Not only that but the strider battle is a brilliant climax to the game.

Episode 2 was also really good because of the change of environment and the advancing of the story and the plot. I also loved the bit where you first get ambushed by the hunters in the house. It's also the most dramatic of the 3 imo with Alex being wounded and you having to try and save her by exploring the hive of antlions. Although the mines section was abit long and boring and working your way down to the car was also boring. THe part that annoyed me most was the defense of the base agaisnt the striders. There were way too many of them and it stopped the strider being a really ominous and intimidating machine because now you could just blow the ****ers up with a pistol and some exploding ball thingy, a rocket launcher would've been way more practical.


But omg the ending to EP2 just made me crazy because now I've gotta get my hands on Episode 3!

Ep2>Ep1>HL2

 

[Steven]

I didn't like the whole out in the forest exploring thing, Half-Life just works better for me in Black Mesa or in an occupied city. I think their just following a trend of what's currently selling by doing this. I know it makes sense from a stroy line point of view, but it doesn't fit in with the game traditionally, I was hoping for more of the same I guess. The worst thing about Episode two was how compareably light and happy everyone was. The rebels saying things like "Gotta hand it to the combine, they got some skills" right after some of their friends have died kind of takes you away from the game. I think their was a few other overly calm moments with the rebels in this game.

If tl;dr I kind of didn't like the change in art direction.

inb4 flames

 

[Chug a Bug]

HL2 is still tops IMO. It was a great journey starting as a nameless nobody at a train station to being the nemesis of the Combine, Anticitizen One. The action was always measured, starting you off very simply and building up in graded stages to the epic Strider battle immediately before you head for the Horse. I loved everything about it, I replayed it again recently and fell in love with it all over again.

The story was fantastic too and very well told with many intriguing moments that were never totally explained - the slow teleport (a week!), what really went on in Nova Prospekt (sure, it was some kind of processing plant for humans but... what was Breen on about? Immortality? I mean, what? Was he babbling some mindless twaddle or did he really mean it? It raised as many questions as it answered and I loved HL2 for it.)

Episode One I really enjoyed too, though not as much as HL2. The gorgeous graphics inside the citadel, the falling ash... the sense of foreboding. The best part was Alyx's AI which was great, she was genuinely fun to have around she never felt like "just" an NPC she had simply the most realistic AI I've ever seen from a computer game. She just seemed.. real. The only bit I didn't like was the escort mission, too long and tedious. It's ok if you can get through it quickly but get bogged down in it and it became very dull indeed. The Strider battle at the end was.. ok, but a little too easy (and a little too conveniant, with shields and rocket ammo lying around in just the right spots). The end sequence though, the destruction of the Citadel, was fantastic. Overall though, a little disappointing.

Episode 2 was another step down for me. I found the mine sequences tedious (although the escape from the Guardian was exhilarating). The driving sequences were honestly boring I found, although the graphics were very pretty. Plenty of rocks and trees and grass and... nothing much else. Whereas in HL2 the close house to house combat made for an intense and claustrophobic situation, you never knew what lay around the next corner - ammo crates or a poison headcrab or maybe a combine ambush - the open forest sequences in Ep2 had really nothing of interest. Sure, the ambush at the Forest Inn was great - and the Hunters, especially when they enter the house and come after you - was fantastic - it's a long wait till something interesting happened. The missile silo battle was brilliant too, but these are the few highpoints. The Strider battle at the end was intense, but a a little repetitive - Kill Hunters, kill strider - repeat until over. The end sequence was simply brilliant though, no-one does character development like Valve...

So to sum up for me HL2 was revelation but Ep2 is just... more of the same, mostly. It's been done before, and mostly it was done better too. Alyx's AI didn't seem as well developed either and Gordon and Alyx's relationship seems to have stagnated too. So HL2>Ep1>Ep2 for me.

Maybe I'm getting a little too familiar with the HL universe for my own good.

 

[57210788]

I loved all 3 but enjoyed episode 2 the least. The antlion caves and strider ending are the two things that push it to last on the list. The caves seemed like a bit of a cop out on making beautiful scenery and I always hate battles where you basically have to save it every time you pull the trigger. Don't get me wrong, episode 2 is still on my top 6 or 7 games list, but it's the lowest of the 3 so far. I reallyt do love the character building though (especailly the Gordon getting ready to bone Alyx stuff "I'll watch while you go poking around down below") and the Charger is the best drivable unit yet IMO. I also REALLY liked the short but awesome ride in the rail cage where you run over Zombies and then end up in the watery pit. What a rush.

 

[Combine_Advisor]

it would have been better if they have just gone with hl3 and not hl2 episodes...they suck-eth

 

[Atomic_Piggy]

Hmm, its difficult. Most of HL2 was consistently good, while the antlion nests were boring and average. Despite this, I think I like Episode 2 more. I have no idea why. I just do.

 

[ApoJapo]

There where parts in hl2 which wasn't really a challenge. In ep2 I liked every sec. of it and the enemy's made it much more challenging. Quality wise I put ep2 above hl2.

 

[nokori3byo]

Ep2 was the most perfect, even if it wasn't quite as deep as HL2. Ep 1 is right out of the running for its disastrous final chapter. I still can't believe that after the brilliance of the game's entire first half, they managed to shit the bed so completely at the end.

Playing through Ep. 2 a second time now, I'm impressed by how the game manages to feel big in spite of it's short running time. I even managed to enjoy Freeman Pontiflex quite bit, despite it's dearth of original gameplay ideas. Also, I actually bothered searching out all the weapons caches this time around and had a great "what a clever boy am I" moment on solving the rocket cache puzzle. I love they added that optional puzzle-solving element. It added way more interest to a second playthrough than chasing silly achievements ever could.

Someone should really make a "Things to See and Do in Ep. 2" thread...

 

[XmanXavier11]

I loved EP2. It was very well done. Wayyy better than EP1, but tied with HL2 in my opinion. I love the new source engine and the forest landscape.

 

[legohalflife2man]

The forest environment was a big test for Valve and Half-Life's mapping capabilities. They did a nice job with it, and I was pleased to see how large the maps were between loading points.

 

[XmanXavier11]

Yeah, me too. And the actual loading points were quicker.

 

[Operational]

Yeah, me too. And the actual loading points were quicker.

I believe they did all kinds of load time optimizations for the 360 version, which they then moved into the PC Orange Box Source Engine.

 

[Pivovar]

I agree with most of the stuff said here, with the sequence being HL2>Ep2>Ep1. There are no parts in either HL2 or Ep2 that I don't like, and i've replayed both of those way too many times, and still awesome every time. One of the reasons I probably like HL2 so much is 'cause I'm a very nostalgic person, and all the old memories of fun times, especially remembering how in 2004, Half-Life 2 seemed like a gift-from-god level of awesome, are very enjoyable. But also, the reason Ep2 didn't win over HL2 might be because of it's length. It's the only explanation I can think of since otherwise, it's brilliant. Now don't get me wrong, it's not too short to be enjoyable, hell no, it's just that the short length leaves room for a lot less variety in the environments. In Ep 2 we have, what,: Nice view, caves, warehouse, forest, base. That's pretty much it. But Half Life 2 has just so much variety, and not only in levels, but in everything. The story is really nice and gradual, the pacing is like that too, new game mechanics are introduced throughout the entire game, and all together, it just seemed like one gradient, fluent, perfectly sized adventure.