The same great gameplay, but the length is unacceptable
The Bad: Too short, no new weapons to speak of, no mutilplayer.
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Also included in The Orange Box
Half-Life 2 was a great game. A truly great sequel to a great game. Episode One is the first of 3 expansions for Half-Life 2, so this one ends ready for Epsoide 2. But does this first episode show a bright future for the other 2 expansions, or should they just drop it?
STORY
Episode 1 picks up right where Half-Life 2 ended. You are once again playing as Gorden Freeman, who in HF2, was yet again taked away from the world by G-Man like in the ending of the original Half-Life, but some wired looking creatures are breaking you free of G-Mans grasp, and sends you back to the world. You wake up in the ruins of the citadal, being found by Alyx Vance, and her mechanical pet Dog. You & Alyx have to get into the citadal, and make sure the reactor dosen´t explode, so that they can get survivors out of City 17. What follows is a short story, that has it´s thrills and a few memorable points, but the short length hurts it. 8.0
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay is basicly the same as in Half-Life 2, and includes the same weapons (although not all of them), and there´s only 2 things that have changed. The first is that you have The Gravity Gun all the time, which dosen´t hurt one bit, since it´s a great weapon, demostrating the great pyshics of the Source Engine, and it´s used well. The second thing is Alyx. Alyx was seen quite a bit in HF2, as she was maked the heroine of HF2. This time she´s back, and now she´s with you all the time, acting as your side kick, and she does her job more than great. She follows you where ever you go, never complains, always ready to give you a helping hand, and she can take care of herself. In short: The perfect friend. Her AI is perfect, and there never seems to be any problems with her. You´ll also grow your feelings for her, as she cracks jokes from time to time, and is a part of every event. The rest of the game is basicly HF2, with new locations, and 1 new enemy type. Combine zombies, which can be reffered to as Zobines (get it?). But the single-player does have it´s flaws. If you have played HF2, and are looking for something new, this might not be it. Only story is new here, the gameplay is the same as in HF2, which makes you wish there where some new stuff. Unfortunely there´s only the single-player here. No new mutilplayer enhancements. Only the short single-player mode. 7.5
GRAPHICS
The graphics are pretty much the same as in HF2, which (unlinke the single-player), is a great thing. The graphics in HF2 was awesome, and so it is in Episode 1. You still get the same great facial animations, the same detail, in short: pretty much everything that was great about the graphics in HF2. 10
SOUND
Stil the same as in HF2. The same voice actors return, which is a nice touch, even though some of the characters like Dr Kleiner and Barney only are on for a few minutes total. The music has seen a bit of an improvement. The music in HF2 was very eletronic music, but this time, it reminds a bit of the soundtrack from Halo 2, without the ocrestra though. But the sound effects are the same, and some new sound effects wouldn´t have hurt. 8.5
LENGTH
The main flaw of the game. The game lasts from anywhere between 2-5 hours. I completed the game in 2 hours and 30 min, so it was a big disappointment that it ended so quickly. The replay value is pretty low, because there´s no unlockables, and no mutilplayer. Only a developer commentary, and higher difficultys. That´s it. So what we got here is a pretty short game. 5.0
OVERALL
Episode 1 shows a bright future for the other 2 episodes for Half-Life 2. But the developers should stop thinking about using the expansions only as progressing the story of HF2, and starting thinking of some new stuff to include, and a longer game. 2 hour and 30 min compleating time is unacceptable, for such a game as HF2 Episode 1, and expansion for the great HF2, and even looking at todays standards. This is a pure example, that a game, that can be completed in no time, really can hurt a great game.