Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

10 Hours or Less

The Bottom Line:

"Ambitious"

Let's just go ahead and get this out of the way. Half-Life 2: Episode 2 does more to improve the quality of the videogame narrative than anything that has been made in the last 10 years. And developers should take note that the bar has officially been raised.

From the opening scene recapping the events of Episode 1 to the dramatic conclusion of this second act in the series, the player is immersed in a superbly paced story fit for the silver screen. The gameplay takes a backseat and has a decidedly more "arcade feel," despite a somewhat slower tempo than that of its predecessor; where Episode 1 was propelled forward at a breakneck speed by action, Episode 2 is driven methodically by the plot.

Episode 2 opens with Gordon and Alyx having survived the cataclysmic destruction of the Citadel and the literal train wreck that followed. With City 17 in ruin and the Combine reeling, Alyx insists that she and Gordon deliver the intercepted alien signal to her father and the Resistance at their secluded garrison in the nearby White Forest, before their benevolent benefactors can regroup. However, Gordon and Alyx soon discover that the Combine is already on the march, and headed straight for the White Forest station.

With the imperative goal established, Gordon and Alyx set off on an adventure spanning a fairly wide variety of locations, from the familiar post-apocalyptic badlands that are such a fixture in the Half-Life franchise to the more bizarre subterranean caverns of a massive Antlion den, crawling both with the familiar razor-limbed drones as well as venom-spitting worker Antlions. And even more unusual than some of Episode 2's backdrops are the situations that the player finds himself in.

The keystone of both Episode 1's gameplay and its plot was the relationship between Gordon and Alyx. As the player observes an emotional bond forming between these two characters, they become accustomed and even grateful to Alyx always being at their side, providing very real help in difficult situations. Episode 2 continues this emotional development in its story by placing Gordon in circumstances where he is either separated from Alyx and fighting to get back to her, or more simply where Gordon must rely on Alyx more than ever before.

The gameplay of Episode 2 follows the well-established formula of the Half-Life universe: frenetic gun battles against a bizarre menagerie of aliens, strangely calm moments where the player is faced with stoicly-presented puzzles, and everything punctuated by epic confrontations against overwhelming odds where victory is anything but certain. And just as Episode 1 was a surprising deviation from the original Half-Life 2, Episode 2 refines the formula further still in the effort of telling its story.

The most significant additions to the Half-Life universe made in Episode 2 are the Combine Advisors and Hunters. Horrific alien beings with seemingly limitless power only briefly glimpsed while exploring the Citadel in Episode 1, the Advisors are unleashed in the remote plains surrounding City 17 in Episode 2. Gordon and Alyx are utterly powerless to stop them, and we can only wonder how these monsters will be confronted in the final chapter.

More directly important to the gameplay of Episode 2 are the Hunters. Roughly twice as tall as a man, these agile tripods fill a void in the Combine arsenal between infantry and the heavy firepower of the Strider. Hunters are capable of making short work of the player both in close combat and in the open field with their deadly explosive darts. Their speed allows them to close the distance with Gordon more quickly than the player expects, as well as dodge slower moving projectiles and attempts at running them down in vehicles.

The Source Engine remains a marvel of technology, with even further enhancements and optimizations being made for Episode 2. The character models are incredibly detailed with stunning shader effects, high resolution textures, and facial animations. But probably the most impressive graphical additions to Episode 2 are the amazing vistas made possible by the game being set almost entirely outdoors and the physical simulation of large structures being destroyed. It's difficult to explain, but somehow they just look more realistic than what is usually seen in games.

The only downside to Episode 2 is that some moments in the game feel wrong for a Half-Life game. The car-chase sequence and helicopter battle set in such a confined space seems to be more suited to an action-platformer, and the opening section set in the Antlion den is fairly tedious and something that would be more at home in a lesser first-person shooter. Finally, the game's length of between 5-7 hours on the first run through can almost be seen as a strength given the percentage of longer games that are even played to their completion.

Overall, Episode 2 is a more than worthy addition to the Half-Life series and will likely be considered a milestone in the development of the videogame narrative.