Gorgeously short but sweet.
From start to finish, this game definitely does not disappoint. There’s always something going on and the fact that it’s all happening via the use of the glorious, ever updating, boundary pushing Half-Life 2 engine makes the adventure all the more amazing. Not to mention the intricate artwork on, well… everything!
The level of difficulty is certainly harder than the previous (providing you don't use the 'Quick Save/Load keys), hell, how many exploding things and bullets can you dodge while looking after Alyx whilst she’s looking after you whilst you’re trying to look after someone else whilst looking at everything around you… I’ll stop with the looking.
Voice acting and character interaction (with both good guys and bad) are great. Problem solving isn’t all that but it calms down and evenly spreads out the absolutely chaotic events giving you time to tart about with the Grav-Gun a bit. (Which reminds me, you’ll find yourself using the Grav-Gun a lot more in this episode which is never a bad thing)
There are no vehicles to drive around in on this one but this isn’t a problem because the constant action keeps you busy and hey, you barely have enough time to worry about something like that (mwah ha haa). Well, I did say it was a breathtaking ‘short’ story.
The game doesn’t take you nowhere near as far out and about as the previous and it’s over before you know it making you think (just for a second until you realise how good the adventure had been) “hmm, this feels as short as a community mod”.
That said, it’s $15 (a tenner for me) and it’s most definitely money well spent. C’mon, a lot of us pee that kind of money up the wall all the time, why not invest in a work of art?
The fact that it’s short and you don’t really feel like you’ve travelled that far by the end due to the variation in location, are the only two things I’m bothered about. And by variation in location, I mean that I would’ve liked to have been swept away to a more spacious landscape like the beach in HL2 or whizzing around freely in the hovercraft. Instead I felt a little claustrophobic, as if the levels weren’t big enough, yet this was just a minor feeling I had, looking back AFTER I had played. Don’t get me wrong, this game is by no means repetitive.
In all honestly, I would have loved for Valve to have taken their time, told the impatient fans to quiet down and created one big Half-Life 3, like HL2 but better and longer. After all, you can’t rush art.
But let’s forget about that, they’ve done it this way and I’m still a happy-chappy.
In short, this game is like HL2 but a lot shorter yet a lot prettier and if you loved HL2 then you’ll definitely love Episode One.
Once you’re done playing it, you’ll be begging for Episode Two.
…Did I mention how gorgeous the graphics are?