Fun but too short!
The game starts right where Half-Life 2 ends, in the bowels of the mysterious Citadel. The first hour of gameplay is a bit of a departure, with traditional gunplay taking a back seat to the overcharged Zero Point Gravity Gun, which lets you fling enemies around like rag dolls. The rest of the game is more conventional, only with a more cooperative bent as you coordinate attacks with teammate Alyx. For the most part, it's exactly what you'd expect, and it's predictably excellent. Half-Life 2's action is second to none, and Episode One's furious firefights will still raise your pulse.
But if you were hoping that this expansion would shed more light on Half-Life 2's cryptic storyline, keep on dreaming. Taking a cue from Lost, Episode One dances around key plot points while giving very little in the way of new information. There are a few small revelations here and there -- it turns out that the events from the first Half-Life were what gave the alien Combine an opportunity to invade in the first place -- but don't expect to learn more about Xen, the G-Man, or what the Combine really look like.
The game is also quite short: with a runthrough taking between four and five hours, Episode One sometimes feels less like a full-fledged expansion and a bit more like a tide-me-over to Episode Two.
The next installment, Episode Two, is rumored to be out by year's end
The visuals are essentially identical to the ones you remember from late 2004, so even modest PC gaming hardware will see sharp details and solid performance. In general, a Radeon x800 or GeForce 6600 GT will provide a very pleasent experience. There's one new graphical frill that should please tech heads: High Dynamic Range (HDR) lighting, which gives the game a softer, more realistic look. But it's strange that the game doesn't look as staggeringly beautiful as the Lost Coast tech demo released a few months back. What happened?
With few exceptions, Episode One gives you exactly what you'd expect: more Half-Life 2. And in that sense, it's a resounding success. But if you were hoping for new weapons, new tactics, or massive amounts of new enemies, you're bound to be disappointed.