The Comprehensive "My Review of Episode I" Thread

[Crusmang]

**********************************CONTAINS SPOILERS****************************************

Just finished HL2 Ep.1
Here's my critique/review.

The graphics were wonderful! The reactor core was especially amazing! :dork: ...

Sadly, that's about all. Granted, it was another chance to play HalfLife in Single Player, and that's always a good thing. But Episode 1 missed the mark in so many ways.

First off is Alyx. I expected more dramatic interaction with her. Solving physics puzzles, cooperatively dispatching a huge enemy, interacting together, hell, maybe even taking control of her for a brief period... None of this happened. She was the equivalent of a hood ornament, rather than a valued ally. More often than not, she got in the way instead of actually helping. She blocked doors and she certainly didn't implement any "tactics" to speak of in battle.
Moreover, there was not one battle during the entire course of episode one that you couldn't have completed without her help, even when you encountered the rolling mines. The part when she had the sniper rifle and would shoot through the window to kill the guys attacking you was nice. Every time she did that, "BOOM HEADSHOT!!!" came to mind :cheese: But one two-minute interval of wow-factor didn't save the other 150 minutes where she was a nuisance.

Next are the battles and environments. I had awaited this game in deep anticipation for months. Too bad the majority of it was spent in the dark with a flashlight on. I don't know if Valve was trying to revive the scare-factor of Ravenholm, but if they were then they came up WAY short. The environements were flat and two dimensional imo, and this made battles with the combine flat and uninspiring as well. No desperate car chases, no shootouts 1000 feet above ground under a massive bridge, not even a decent indoor shootout like Nova Prospekt.
I won't even go into how bland the environments were artistically. HL2 blows away ep1 in terms of mood and ambiance.

THE STORY... As in.... WHERE WAS IT? No questions were answered, other than that the vortigants and G-man are at odds. That's about it. And the only question raised was "what happens to Alyx?" and that question was quickly answered by the ep. 2 teaser. I won't go any further on the story other than to say that the story is what made HL2 the best single player experience in computer-gaming history. Without the story, HL is just like any other shooter.

And for anyone who would say "Oh Crusmang, it's just a single episode. Give it time..." I would tell that person to go watch an episode of 24. Huge revelations happen in that show almost every 10 minutes, and in the smallest amounts of time huge story elements are revealed. Consistently.

That's my 2 cents. Discuss.

 

[Asknoone]

I completely disagree with you in every possible way. The story in Episode 1 was stronger than it's ever been.

 

[Crusmang]

In your opinion, what made the story stronger?

 

[slayer101]

Great graphics, especially HDR lighting. But that really is about all the good I can say. Unfortunately, great graphics does not a great game make.
Eps 1 is an almost complete throwback to the original Half-life. I was not at all prepared to play through puzzle after puzzle after puzzle. There was a lot more time spent on puzzles than actual fighting. The number of puzzles in this installment alone seems equal to all of those found in the original Half-life. This was disappointing to me especially after Half-life 2 seemed to have ditched the overly extensive puzzle approach of Half-life, favoring more intense gameplay instead.

As a result, my assessment of Eps 1 is that it represents one step forward (excellent graphics) but 2 steps backward (inferior gameplay). Bottom line: we already played this game about 8 years ago. We don't want to play it again.

Also, there were some glaring inaccuracies in Eps 1's physics. On several occasions I watched the bodies of enemies fall straight through floors and platforms. Everything was fine while they were alive, but watching their corpses do a ghost routine was surprising since I don't remember seeing this happen in Half-life 2.

Finally, my biggest (and only) peeve from Half-life 2 was not fixed at all in Eps 1. Your allies still follow you WAY too closely. Many, many times I would try to back up, but could only go a step or so before being stopped by Alyx or some nameless ally. Alyx actually got me killed once because she wouldn't let me retreat like I wanted. This was a glaring fault in Half-life 2, and it's inexcusable to me that it wasn't fixed in Eps 1.

Overall, I give it a 7 out of 10.

 

[Hondo]

I completely disagree with you in every possible way.

You thought the graphics were bad?

 

[BeaverMon]

My review is simple;


First off, the weapons. Same ole boring weapons. You would think since the end of HL2 to this thing, they would of come out with a better RPG or an MP10.

The other thing is with Alyx getting in the way of opening doors. I found that VERY annoying. And how you can't actually "use" her like you can a Rebel (you can't tell her to stay back so you can destroy a tripmine).

But there's the good things. Like the ending when your going "OMG!!!!" when you see this wall of white light coming towards you at a high rate of speed.

 

[Mr. COWmaster]

Actually, I found tons of story in it, you just have to piece together the bits from the other games.

 

[Asuka]

I completely disagree with you in every possible way. The story in Episode 1 was stronger than it's ever been.

Agreed 100%. I will be writing a review aswell and uploading a screenshot pack. Soon.

My review is simple;


First off, the weapons. Same ole boring weapons. You would think since the end of HL2 to this thing, they would of come out with a better RPG or an MP10.

The other thing is with Alyx getting in the way of opening doors. I found that VERY annoying. And how you can't actually "use" her like you can a Rebel (you can't tell her to stay back so you can destroy a tripmine).

But there's the good things. Like the ending when your going "OMG!!!!" when you see this wall of white light coming towards you at a high rate of speed.

Why would there be more weapons. The game takes place the same day as the end of Half-Life 2 even. Its even the same place. Magic here ok new weapon. That would have been retarded....

 

[Hondo]

Why would there be more weapons. The game takes place the same day as the end of Half-Life 2 even. Its even the same place. Magic here ok new weapon. That would have been retarded....

To be fair, it probably would have made a lot more sense than finding another identical Colt Python for the second time in the exact same configuration as one you also happened to find in Black Mesa.

 

[Asuka]

To be fair, it probably would have made a lot more sense than finding another identical Colt Python for the second time in the exact same configuration as one you also happened to find in Black Mesa.

Thats also true. I think they re added all the weapons so people who liked and disliked some wouldnt be left out. I never used the Colt Python in Ep1. I barely even used the xbow. But some people might have used all ammo for it but not used the shotgun. I think thats the reason they readded all the weapons. Im confident that for Ep2 they are going to have lots of new things.

 

[BeaverMon]

The only part I didn't like is the scene of the elevator in the Citadel, where you got to think FAST to keep the huge falling debris from hitting the platform.

 

[MultiVaC]

The only part that bothered me was bringing the citizens to the train. You had to do it over and over again, it reeked of Bungie-style laziness. Other than that it never got boring, I beat it in two sittings.

 

[Asuka]

The only part that bothered me was bringing the citizens to the train. You had to do it over and over again, it reeked of Bungie-style laziness. Other than that it never got boring, I beat it in two sittings.

That was one of the coolest battles for me..

 

[DrAbysmal]

The citizen escort part was tedious and boring to me, made worse by the rebel AI and the fact that they whined a lot after taking a few hits. "You're supposed to protect us!" Then stay out of the way, or stay back and let me do the fighting, especially if you're not armed at all! What made this even funnier was how Barney bravely hid in a doorway the whole time while you had to fight soldiers, manhacks, hoppers, a sniper, and even an APC. I just hate having to backtrack over and over again in video games.

Other things I didn't like: No closure on what happened to Breen. Would have liked maybe a few more enemies, including the synths and my nostalgia craving for old Xen favorites, but it didn't make the game bad or anything, and hopefully they still have a chance of re-appearing now that we're out of the city.

Showing the mini-strider on the screen fairly early in the game only to have it saved for the next episode was mean. I was looking forward to tangling with it while in the city. The part in the parking garage with the three antlion holes was annoying. I was randomly killed while riding a few of the lifts in the citadel (not the big one with the falling stuff, although I was killed there too), I had no idea what happened, I just died for no reason with no enemies around.

What I did like: The soundtrack, improved graphics, the flow of action, level design. Alyx ended up having some pretty smart AI and some good dialogue, I was a little worried about babysitting her but it turned out pretty well. Zombines were cool. Overall, it was a good experience, and I look forward to seeing more newer stuff in the later episodes.

 

[shuin4]

The only part I didn't like is the scene of the elevator in the Citadel, where you got to think FAST to keep the huge falling debris from hitting the platform.

Same here. I kept missing the debris and it would end up smashing my elevator, or I'd throw the piece back up in the air and it'd come back down on the elevator.

Alyx didn't bother me too much. Only thing I didn't like is when she would push you out of the way during a scripted event. Bitch nearly knocked me off the ledge when we first got into the citadel. But I did like the scene in the stalker train car and how frightened she was when it was screaming in her face. Great moment.

 

[Ikerous]

I thought the elevetor part was a lot of fun and pretty easy

The only part that bothered me was bringing the citizens to the train. You had to do it over and over again, it reeked of Bungie-style laziness. Other than that it never got boring, I beat it in two sittings.

Qfe

 

[enthused]

I thought Episode one was amazing. There were so many parts when I was just amazed. The HDR really added so much to the graphics. But really, what made Episode 1 so awesome was the gameplay. Fighting alongside Alyx was suprisingly fun and she had to most life-like expressions I have ever seen in a game. But really, the gameplay stood out for me.

There were two parts that really made me applaud Valve's single player sense:

1) When the Antilions were coming out of the three holes in the parking garage. I was like "Okay, there are three holes, I need to find three cars." So I am running around frantically, shooting them as much as I could but equally worried about Alyx. This is where I expected to watch the crappy AI (from so many squadmates in FPS's) fail. As I was getting the third car, I looked down to see Alyx kicking major ass. It was so cool to both be doing our own thing and then to accomplish it together. It was weird, I cant explain it. It was the first time where I felt me and Alyx were connected, as a team. Video games don't usually do that.

2) Ok, as much as I didn't like the dark parts in the game, the lighting and flares really made it a visual feast. Probably the coolest part in the episode was when I was looking for the power box to get the elevator going. So I was kicking ass, I had the boom barrels strategically places and I killed like 10 zombies easy. Then I turn to Alyx and she yells "The elavator!" At this point, I'm like "easy chick, no big deal" Then I point my flash light in the open and see 1 fast zombie and like 4 zombines comings at me. Right at this instant, my suit is out of juice. So I turn it on, it goes out, turn it on, it goes out. My light is flashing on and off, with each ray of light illuminating the face of a zombie. It was craaazy. So I just muscled my way through and got in the elavator. When Alyx said "Whew, that was close" IT was the first time I had ever talked to the screen "No Shit" I said.


I thought Episode 1 was spectacular, really it made me sit back in awe at some moments. Definitely worth the money, I dont care how long it was. I'll be playing it again anyway...

 

[B_MAN]

i have to wholeheartedly disagree with the thread maker
episode 1 has restored my interest in the half life series by putting forth a fantastic single player experience
the graphics were superb, by any standard
the continued story fit well with the ending of hl2 and the conlusion left me wanting more and wondering what was next for gordon and alyx
the gameplay was that which we have all come to know and love about the hl series; the combination of action and strategy/puzzle solving flowed almost perfectly throughout the entire experience
overall, im satisfied enough to say that it was worth every penny
can't wait for ep2!
9/10

 

[JNightshade]

Originally Posted by Samon
I completely disagree with you in every possible way. The story in Episode 1 was stronger than it's ever been.

*applauds*

Er, anyway, I'll just copy the crap I wrote in the newspost thread, and give it a score.

Originally Posted by Some Lazy Bastard
...
wow.

That was the best thing EVER. I played through it on hard, and it took me roughly 4 and a half hours. And it was AMAZING. You can knock it all you want for having no new weapons, but honestly, the fact is, Valve spent all their effort making the gameplay, levels, and story absolutely phenomenal. Besides the way it looks (drop-dead gorgeous) it was SO good. The combat was much tougher than the original- a very good thing. In fact, it reminded me very strongly of HL1, which was wonderful. The levels were reeeeally cool. The story was fantastic- it just really pushed everything to new levels. The interaction was excellent: talking with Alyx and everyone, all the funny dialogue, Kleiner's transmission... it made the game so much more whole. And they did some really things with the first-person view. Getting thrown in a car by D0g was really cool, and the scene on the train was unparalleled- it scared the SHIT outta me. All in all... I loved it.

So yeah, I guess it's safe to say I'd give it a 10 out of 10
Also, I agree that escorting the citizens was slightly lame. I'd definitely prefer taking a single group on a much longer journey. The fight after that definitely made up for it, though

 

[Flyingdebris]

my only complaint is that we didn't get to fight the mortar or crab synths, nor the orange eyed green clothed combine soldiers.

other than that, loved it

I'm gonna have to tweak the game harder now

 

[Asknoone]

The only part I didn't like is the scene of the elevator in the Citadel, where you got to think FAST to keep the huge falling debris from hitting the platform.

I thought there wasn't enough rubble.

First off, the weapons. Same ole boring weapons. You would think since the end of HL2 to this thing, they would of come out with a better RPG or an MP10.

See, Valve weren't generic enough to give us new weapons when we didn't need them.

 

[Lane5Slacker]

Wouldn't, if they gave us new weapons, that be like Halo 2? "Hey, yeah, it's only been a couple of days between games but we have all these new technological advances" Talk about a short R&D cycle....

 

[Mr Stabby]

I thought it was pretty good, the hospital part was possibly my favourite section. For £13 I thought it was a resonable length, it took me 5 hours to complete.

9/10

 

[DevgruSeal]

The only part that bothered me was bringing the citizens to the train. You had to do it over and over again, it reeked of Bungie-style laziness. Other than that it never got boring, I beat it in two sittings.

At least it was a bit different each time you went back to get people...

 

[irishman212]

I think Episode One is amazing. I was blown away by the graphics and HDR lighting, especially when I was in the Citadel where the big ball of radiation was...my favorite scene was when you fight against one of the Combine's dropships, and it's shooting through the roof of the building your in, breaking the roof apart. I thought that being with Alyx the whole episode was going to be aggrivating, but I loved her being with me because she was very helpful and sarcastic. I would give this episode an 11 out of 10. Episode 2 looks even better, I cannot wait for that one to release!!!

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Let me sum up my feelings in regards to Episode 1 in two words; Kick! Ass!

VALVe has done it again! Episode 1 is all the things that made Half-life 2 great made slightly better and crammed into 4 to 5 hours worth of gameplay. The intro was as stunning as anything I've seen, short, decisive and cooler than a cooler on a cool day. Next thing I know, Dog is pulling me out of the debris and I'm off.
The graphics are even more stunning than last time, the citadel looms over the player with dark, flashing menacing clouds predicting doom and destruction, ash snows down from the sky and pieces of debris trail down from the top with tails of fire behind them. Facial as well as NPC animation has gotten a real tune-up, when Eli finds out Alyx is still in the city he looks scared to death, Kleiner's gaze seems far off in the distance as he goes on and on about radiation and Alyx smiles wickedly when she blasts the head off a zombie.
Alyx is, as promised, so much more than she was in HL2! Her comments, her body language and her fighting style make her seem real, and further more, makes me like her! After twenty minutes I felt for her more than I had during all of HL2. And the scene with her in the Stalker car was intense, the moment I saw her face I wanted nothing more than to tear that son of a bitch stalker off her and save her!
Everything in Ep1 is notched up, the striders in HL2 were impressive, but I usually just ducked, covered, got up, fired, ducked, covered, got up, fired and so on until it was dead, I wasn't really that scared of them most of the time.
But when the final Strider came towards me and blasted containers all over the place, I backed the **** up! The fights are so much more intense, the flashlight sequences are amazingly cool (take that Doom 3, THAT'S how you make use of dark levels!) and just overall level design are several notches up from HL2. I'm almost scared of episode 2 now...

10/10
Episodic content for the ****win!

 

[Loke]

Oh well, thought I should write a review today of HL2: Episode One. It’s merely written for people who already completed the game so if you haven't played Episode One yet, don't read this as it contains spoilers.

So, where to start? Well, firstly I can say that HL2: Episode One is basically as good as, or even better, what I hoped. Just as I started it and saw the Half-Life 2: Episode One splash screen I
thought “This is going to be one hell of a ride...”.

After the intro, were the G-Man is taken away by what I think is the Third Power, I stare at some rocks covering my face while hearing some mumbling, then you see this rock being lift off. Behind it is Dog, and I never really felt so happy to see him. He pulls me out of the pile of rocks while I can see the Citadel going in a meltdown. It looks truly magnificent and yet scary at the same time because you don't have one iota if it's going to explode or just simply crash onto you.
After you can see Alyx desperately looking for Gordon in some debris, she tells Dog to throw away what ever he's holding (at this moment I laughed for the first time in the game) but seconds later she notices that it's actually Gordon himself Dog's holding, I can see the face on Alyx that's she's really surprised and relieved. Dog then drop me to the ground and Alyx hugs me, that really caught me by surprise because that's the first time a non-playable character actually hugs the player in first person view. I love you Valve... and Alyx.

Why I decided to write the whole beginning of Episode One is because that's one of the best moments in a game that I’ve ever experienced, the strong connection to a character have never really felt that strong in my opinion. The only expectation is Metal Gear Solid 2 (some scenes brought tears to my eyes), but that's a totally different game and you can't really interact in it like in Episode One.

What I like about Valve in making the Half-Life series is that, exactly like Hide Kojima (creator of Metal Gear Solid), they give the characters a personality. They aren't just some graphical pixels walking around don't giving a shit what happens around them. That's exactly the opposite with Episode One. The facial expressions on Alyx, her animations, her humor, her love to Dog, Eli and Gordon. It really feels like a real human being, not some unnatural doll.
It’s the same with the other characters in Episode One, Barney for an example. That beer he owns Gordon, a good ol' friend from the days of Black Mesa, you can really trust him. I liked the moment when he gives Gordon the crowbar he tells him not to lose it again because he's running out of them.
With characters with this kind of personality really gives the game a natural feeling. You can definitely tell that Valve likes to spend their time with the games they create, they don't want to make a half-assed attempt to make a good game, they spend their time! I don't care if it gets delayed or not, have Valve ever really suffered because of this? No, they can only make the games better. Be glad of what you get, there are very very few developers out there that's so competent like Valve, they listen to their fans and have really great support to the mod community, that's what I like about Valve.
And also, I don't really get why people complain about the games length. What did you expect from a episode? 20 hours of gameplay? There's a reason why it's called “episodic-content”.
For people who completed in 3 hours, what did you do? Speed run it? Take a break from it after a while, don't rush through it thinking you're special because you are the first one finishing it.
I played it to the third chapter, took a 3 hour break eating and watching television. And then came back and completed it with a satisfied grin on my face. It took me about 5 to 6 hours to complete it, and if you then count the 3 hour break, that's 9 hours.

Graphically, Episode One is the best-looking PC game I've played in years. The high dynamic range (HDR) lightning make the game look truly fantastic. The lightning cone (or what you should call it) around Alyx looks so good that I can almost touch her.
I played it in 1280x1024 on a TFT-screen, with everything maxed, 2x AA and 4x AF. It ran really great only with a few hiccups occasionally, but it never dragged me out from the experience thankfully.
Some textures seemed to have gone an overhaul, although I've always liked Half-Life 2's textures so I don't really mind it.
The facial expressions on the characters in the game are still wonderful, perhaps even better. The same goes for the animations.
While outside the city, looking at the Citadel, you can see these small bits, which looks like snowflakes, flying from the sky (ashes I guess). This definitely gave a sense of that the city is soon to get erased from the map and you got to get out from it as fast as possible.
I haven't really got much to complain about on the graphics, except that there were moments that Alyx would clip through certain objects, sometimes her hand were inside her arm, but it's nothing you notice so easily.

The AI on Alyx is definitely good. I could only see one bit of faulty AI on her side, that was after a Zombine got killed it dropped its grenade, Alyx screamed to take cover but instead she ran over to the grenade and stood there until it exploded, she didn't die thankfully. People say that they saw Alyx getting stuck in doorways, staring at an empty wall and not moving. Those did not happen to me.
Alyx's humor are good too, there were moments she said some funny things, like about the Zombine when you first see it lying on the ground. Another one are when you turn off your flashlight, Alyx makes herself sound like a zombie to make you scared. When you then turn around she says she's only fooling around with you. Great moment.
If she gets too close to a zombie, she'll kick it out of oblivion.
While I also prefer making my journey alone, it did work very well with Alyx on my side. She never got in my way and had no trouble protecting me.
The AI on citizens/rebels are pretty much the same, not that they are bad but compared to Alyx they are sometimes quite... stupid.

One the gameplay side, there are a few new things thrown in. One is if you are in a pitch black room, turn on your flashlight and turn it onto a enemy, Alyx will shoot at it while you keep your light on it. This way, Alyx can kill enemies if you're running low on ammunition. She's really good at killing things too so that's a big plus, one of those things that you hardly see in games nowadays.
Alyx can also reprogram the Rollermines to help you out. Take out the gravity-gun, pick up the Rollermine and turn it towards Alyx, she'll give it a jolt and then it's all done. Rollermines are invincible to gunfire but can be destroyed when it come in contact with water.
There are also some moments were the Rollermine, when on your side, turn red and seconds after explode. I don't why this happens.

While I didn't like playing the chapter “Our Benefactors” in Half-Life 2, it was much better though out in Episode One. Let me explain, in Half-Life 2 there were pretty much only slaughter most of the time while you were inside the Citadel. Wave after wave of Combines trying to kill you. That's not fun in one bit in my opinion.
But in Episode One, they toned down the slaughter and opened up more puzzles instead. My favorite bits are actually in the Citadel, one is when you battle through the reactor core. The HDR really worked well in this part too.
While it didn't really answer some of the questions I’ve had since the play through of Half-Life 2, and also brought more question instead, it felt pretty good.
The ending was better than Half-Life 2's, pretty similar to F.E.A.R.'s. The pods flying out from the Citadel looked like the pod were the Advisor was inside at the beginning of the game. But could it really have been so many Advisors’ inside the Citadel? I doubt it.

I have three complaints I would like to share though.

First, I'm pretty disappointed with the fact that we never saw what happened to Dr. Wallace Breen. Did he really die at the end of Half-Life 2? I have my doubts, he's a far too interesting character just to kill of like that. I really hope to see him in the future episodes as he is one my favorite characters in the Half-Life series. He's got one of the best dialogs I've heard in a game, so killing him off would just be sad.
Second, only one sighting of the G-Man, one simple dialog from him and that's it. One of the reasons I looked forward to playing the game was to see the G-Man. I hope to see him, or at least hear him in Episode Two.
Thirdly, last and main complaint, is the bit near the end of the game in the chapter “Exit 17”. You were ordered to bring groups of citizens to a train. It was okay until the point were I noticed that it felt like a filler, one thing many games suffer from. Back and forth, one more time and yet again. It would have been much better if they cut down it from 5 groups to 2, or perhaps Alyx could have had led another group. This didn't really feel like Half-Life at all. The only good thing that rises up the aspect about it is the fact that the scene changes from time to time, but it didn't really help the feeling of dullness.

So, to sum it all up.

Graphics: 9/10 – A very strong nine here, HDR combined with awesome animations, great atmosphere and level-design makes it one of the most beautiful games I've played on the PC. Characters’ occasionally clipping through objects lowers the score a bit.

Sound: 10/10 – Half-Life 2's and Episode One's strongest point in my opinion. The new sounds for the Zombines are truly fantastic. Gunfire from a distance is still one of the best I've heard. And don't start me on the music.

Gameplay: 9/10 – The new gameplay aspects are done well and works fine.

Final Score: 9.2/10 -At the end, I had a extremely fun time playing Episode One and in the next few days I’ll play through it once again. I have yet to try out the commentary-system so I can't comment on it yet, but if it's even as half as good as Lost Coast's then I'm fine.

Episode Two, I must say, looks so damn interesting. Not only because of the new Combine walker but also because it's in a entirely different setting not seen in any of the Half-Life games until now, it has only been around Black Mesa and City 17 so far, so I'm very curios to see more of it in the future. I also hope to see more of the Xen creatures now that we've made it out in the wilderness, especially Gargantua.

I took a bunch of screens during my journey, I'll take more on my second play through though.

There are five more screens on my FTP (MAJOR SPOILERS THOUGH), so if you want to see them just copy and paste the link into the address field and change the name to episode4 or 5, 6, 7, 8.

 

[BeaverMon]

What I liked and didn't like about EP1

What I liked;

1. I feared since hearing that this was going to continue where HL2 ended, that there was going to be somesort of countdown timer internally in the game that the player MUST finish the game before the timer runs out and the reactor explodes.
I am SO happy that you can take your time in this game. I HATE "beat the clock" games. They get WAY too hetric and stressful with me.

2. The ending. Everytime I see it, I just feel like wanting to scream out "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!" when that shockwave inches closer and closer to you 'till it ingulfs you. It just takes my breath away. Words cannot describe the ending.

3. The fact that Alyx is by you more, has more scripted sequences, and better responds to you. She's saved my ass lots of times in that game.

4. The fact that Kliener is now on the TV Broadcasts and not Breen. I like Kliener more.

5. The opening where Dog throws you and Alyx over the gorge, then you go threw the Citadel (reminded me of that scene in Quake 4 where you crash threw that area in your excape pod. The blur animations where amazing).

6. The scene where Alyx uses that Sniper Rifle to pwn all of those Zombies.

7. The Zombines. I found it hullarious when they hold up a grenade and kill themself with it.


What I didn't like;
1. Alyx getting in your way when trying to open a door.

2. Not having ammo when going against an army of Zombies.

3. Having to leave the light on in dark areas, when going against an army of Zombies.

 

[okidoki]

The story was very compelling. The vortigaunts facing off with Gman was awesome. I didn't think there would be a more provocative scene than that. That is, until the ending sequence on the train. Holy shit.

I loved how you get to know Alyx better. It was great to hear her sense of humor about dubbing the "zombine" and the comment about Kleiner's encouragement to "get busy". The emotional scenes were good too (she actually hugs you). Her AI as well as the enemies was definitely improved, although the only improvement to the soldiers seemed to be that they could jump. And I swear the guns sounded different as well as the combine radio chatter.

The citadel was my favorite part. All the debris and strange technology was amazing. I enjoyed killing the stalkers. It's too bad I wasn't as much in awe of any of the later envoronments of the game. I hated the tunnels, not because it was poorly done, just because it was so dark. It certainly was scary. The detail in the city was amazing. I stared at the citadel when I first reached the surface for way too long. Best skybox ever. Even though you played through similar evironments in HL2, it was still interesting. The battle with the gunship was one of my favorite parts. It reminded me of the roof of the apartment building at the start of HL2. The lighting was amazing. Zombines were the only new enemy, although antlions in the city was a new factor. There were new animations, although I only saw Alyx push a zombie like in the teaser once, when I let a zombie approach her for that very purpose. I don't know why there were so few appearances of the fast zombies. It didn't seem worth it to throw them in only two or three times.

One disappointment was that there were not many interesting twists after leaving the citadel. It made it somewhat anti-climactic. The only new gameplay elements I remember were covering the antlion burrows with cars and escorting citizens to the trains. It was also easier than I would have thought. The only part where I died repetitively was fighting the antlion guard. The scene with Barney giving you another crowbar seemes kinda lame to me, but I was happy to get it. No new weapons, but like others have said, there was no reason plot-wise to add more.

Overall, great game. The story, Alyx's AI, and level design were the strengths. 9/10

 

[pomegranate]

I will only say that I enjoyed playing Ep 1 more than HL2, and that I went to some extent to point out the faults of the main game, so I'm not uncritical.

 

[StarBob]

Ok... Here's exactly what Valve did...

They upped the production value by leaps and bounds... and implemented all of the things people said they liked from the original HL2. Dog was right in the beginning doing more things that made him great. You get to play with the super Gravity gun again straight away. You get intense moments of run and gun action. One thing I noticed was that they simplified many of the puzzles. The puzzle involving the laser mines and exploding barrels was pretty intense as far as puzzles go.

The production value also increase in scripted events straight from the start. Every event was great... and help the small bit of story along. Graphically, I enjoyed everything that I hadn't seen before. I knew that the HL2 engine was capable of great things and this expansion proves it.

My biggest problem was the length of the game. Half Life 2 felt a little drawn out in portions, but that was to be expected. Episode one went from action to action and it was over before I even knew that I was near the end. What I believe happened was that Annihilation was Episode 1 and 2, (etc) but was seperated for profits or to polish things that made Episode one appealing (graphical improvements, story). Honestly I feel as though I should have paid $8 because it was like watching a long movie.

Overall, the game was worth the purchase for the story alone, but I really don't know why it had to be so short. The graphical upgrades were great to look at and using the new gameplay implementations were fun to play with. I just really wanted to be playing longer. If it were combined with Episode 2 in a single package and longer I would say it was 100% better than the original HL2. Yet problems aside it made me want Episode 2 about as much as anyone could... which is obviously the goal