A brief, but worthy successor to Half-Life 2. Read this review!! :)
Episode One begins right where Half-Life 2 ended, with the explosion at the Citadel that left so many of us hanging off of the proverbial cliff. So how did Alyx and Gordon survive? What happened with the G-man? I’m not going to ruin it, but let’s just say it’s pretty weird. Gordon comes to with everyone’s favorite robot pulling wreckage off of him as Alyx looks on. This is where the escape from City 17 begins.
Yes, Dog and Alyx are both back. Actually, everyone’s back in one way or another: Alyx's father, Dr. Kleiner, Barney. You’ll be facing familiar enemies as well as some new ones, although they’re pretty much variations on baddies that you tore up in the last iteration, like what Alyx dubs the “Zombine”, a soldier-zombie with a penchant for rushing you with a grenade. This familiarity isn’t really a drawback, as Valve throws both old and new characters at you in interesting combinations and some very exciting situations.
One of the surprises of the game was the quality of the team play between Gordon and Alyx. While we’ve all seen the “I’ll wait here to flip the switch to open the door in the other room as you fight everyone” sequences, I was happy to see that Alyx was no slouch with a pistol. Working as a team in an FPS has never been this easy, not to mention fun! You never get stuck trying to enter a doorway with Alyx in front of you; never have to look back to make sure she’s still following you; and never have to worry about whether or not she’s going to get gunned down too easily in a firefight. While not invincible, Alyx can take a lot of damage, and appears to have plenty of ammo as well as good aim. There are some very cool fights where you have to work together to survive some sticky situations (I won’t spoil them here), and Alyx is always a help, and never a hindrance. You really do feel as though she has your back. And Valve’s puzzles are just as engaging as the firefights, especially because Gordon is usually battling and problem-solving at the same time. There are some very memorable sequences: one of my favorites involves trying to open a door with a crank in a shelled-out parking garage swarming with antlions.
All the fighting and puzzles notwithstanding, Episode One maintains a feeling of immersion in the character and the story by continuing with Valve’s tradition of providing excellent in-game, first-person “cut-scenes”. Nothing is cooler than controlling Gordon’s point of view during the crazy scenarios the HL2 team has thought up, and Valve has also excelled at promoting the immersive nature of the game with its visuals. The indoor environments are dark and moody, often you only have a single light bulb or your flashlight to see; the outdoor environments are bright, but bleak, and the always-in-the-distance Citadel with its swirling clouds make quite an impression. But where the visuals really shine is close up: characters’ facial expressions are very realistic. Alyx’s eyes are wide in terror when she’s scared, her expression is steely when she guns down zombies, and she cocks an eyebrow and smirks when she’s being sarcastic or making a joke. Being able to read faces really adds to the humanity of the game.
Speaking of jokes, there’s plenty of humor to be found amongst the dialogue in the game, and it’s always welcome. Dr. Kleiner (bald scientist) has hijacked Dr. Breen’s broadcast in order to help citizens leave City 17, and his comments heard on resistance fighters’ TVs and City 17’s large video screens are pretty funny, as are other characters’ reactions to them. Alyx in particular has a bunch of great lines. When a certain baddie leapt out of nowhere in one particular hallway, making me jump even as I killed it, Alyx echoed my exact thoughts out loud: “I hate those guys!” All of the dialogue (funny and serious alike) really helps foster a sense of humanity with Alyx, Barney, and the other characters, and only plunges you deeper into this immersive game.
The length of the game is the main problem here, but there are a few other issues I had with Episode One. One is the all-too-familiar environment. I love the Citadel, the sewers, and City 17, but I could have used a change of scenery. The environment isn’t exactly repetitive, but you definitely feel as though you’ve been there before. Also, it would have been fun to have a vehicle to ride. But my main gripe is that very few questions are answered. You’d think that in 4-5 hours of gameplay they’d advance the story more: we all knew Episode One would end on a cliffhanger, but there are definitely more questions now than there were at the end of Half-Life 2. I guess as long as Valve has us on the hook, they can take their time reeling us in.
However, these very minor details shouldn’t detract from what’s a very good game that is just as exciting and immersive as Half-Life 2. Valve, to their credit, does cram a lot of action and quality game-play into this short, face-paced romp, and the game has more than its fair share of memorable sequences and battles. Episode One had the difficult task of standing next to one of the best FPS games of all time, and when all is said and done, it deserves its spot. Just take your time and enjoy it, because in a couple hours, you'll be counting the days until Episode 2, just like the rest of us.