What could have been done better?

[kineaesth]

Ah, he's just being a groupie. I'm also not completely sure about the Urban Flight chapters needing more destruction... In my opinion, the kind of ghost ton thing is right- There was alot of destruction in HL2, and after the Citadel began to go critical heaps of citizens just fled... There doesn't need to still be urban warfare of the scale seen in Anticitizen One and Follow Freeman.

 

[Jambi]

dude just legnth was the main issue for me, i know its only the first in a series of episodes but for its price it was pretty short, i thuoght it was very well done thought no complaints at all

 

[Tenebrous]

Length was definitely an important issue. When I got on the train, I had absolutely no idea I had come to the end sequence. I was sure we were going to run into more trouble. In retrospect, they should have made every single chapter just a few minutes longer. Episode 1 was much faster-paced than in HL2 (except for the Citadel, which was just awesome) and I recognized and liked that, but I didn't want to sacrifice game length for more action-packed chapters.

Alyx was awesome. I loved having her around. Still, she could have had more urgent dialogue. Just a little more weariness, more fear, stuff like that.

The first two chapters were gold. I loved the ruined citadel. So cool. There could have been more enemies, though. I wanted to use my white gravity gun much more than I did. The elevator part was genius! Great time.

I feel that we did get new weapons in Episode One. The rollermine override function, for example. Flares. Alyx with the sniper rifle. Okay, we didn't get new weapons, but we found new ways to deal damage to our enemies. Just as good, and possibly even more fun.

City 17 could have been more devastated, yes, but the first time I exited the underground to see the Kleinercast, the smoky air, the citadel, the strider, the gutted buildings, it was gold, man! I loved it. Got my dose of dystopia there. No complaints, but there was room for innovation.

Urban flight wasn't so good. The civilians needed better AI. Before the enemies started coming in, I had lined the path towards the train station with barrels, placed rollermines strategically. Didn't work at all when the civilians charged into battle. They should have been moving almost constantly towards the trainstation.

Strider battle could have been more intense, it didn't feel like an end-boss. I would have liked to fight a gunship or strider while on the train. Very cool ending.

 

[Asknoone]

Some nice thoughts there Tenebrous. The first two chapters aew easily some of the best Valve have ever produced, and I agree with you on the 'new weapons' front. Flares/Rollermines are simply a more inventive way to take on the enemy than some machine gun variant.

 

[Mahalis]

First three, methinks. Lowlife was a great setting, more cramped and creepy even than Ravenholm - all the way through, I had the feeling of "I'm god-knows-how-far below the surface, trapped, with a huge explosion on the way, and HOLYSHIT ZOMBIES." :E

 

[MorganFreeman911]

Episode 1 had a planned new weapon, Black Hole Grenades, but it was dropped and the concept was put into Portal instead.

I know about the Grenades, but what about the concept in portal, which I think is wrong. Are you sure? Source?

 

[nokori3byo]

I think a useful exercise for wieghing the merits and demerits of Ep. 1 is thinking about what it would have been like as the last 5 chapters of the original HL2. If the whole thing were just stiched together seamlessly, then what would you make of Ep. 1's content? How much of it would seem tiresome and redundant after the rest of HL2.

Now, in a sense, this kind of comparison isn't fair, because the games were created in different timeframes and people are bound to be more tolerant of yet another dark, subterranean zombie level when they haven't played one in nearly two years. But think about it. If you play the games back to back, doesn't Urban Flight seem a little bit too much like Anticitizen One with antlions? It really sort of made Valve seem tapped for ideas, which I don't for a moment believe is the case.

The two Citadel chapters are fully justified, because they addressed the common complaint about the original Citadel levels being two short and not being challenging enough. The final puzzle in Direct Intervention is one of the best in the series, IMO. Not overly difficult, but logical, well-constructed and rewarding.

To my surprise, I actually really liked "Low Life" for two reasons: the tripple-level antlion puzzle was innovative and hectic, and the elevator sequence ended on one of the most brilliantly cinematic notes of any video game scene I've ever played. By chance, the zombies clawing on the gates were all on fire, when I got through it--which was awesome. After that, a well-placed breather with Kleiner's speech then back into the fray.

I was disappointed by "Exit 17", not because I felt it was redundant within the HL2 cycle, but rather because I felt I'd travelled back in time to the 90s, when designers were less conscious of annoying players with repetitive play. Then again, I loved the final battle and the closing scene. With games, as with movies and books, I will overlook a lot, if the ending delivers. Ep 1. served up an finale that was vintage Valve: dark, ambigous, and grandly destructive. Actually, I've always liked the idea that HL2 (proper) could have ended with a train ride out of town. It would impose an elegant symetry on the City 17 saga which, of course ended at the conclusion of Ep. 1.

 

[Mahalis]

I know about the Grenades, but what about the concept in portal, which I think is wrong. Are you sure? Source?

We've been over that. It's wrong.