Episode 2 may improve the series even further in certain aspects, but it completely ignores the true faults of the game
The story of episode 2 takes place right where episode 1 left off. Your train out of city 17 has crashed- fortunately- no tremendous harm has been done. You quickly regroup with Alyx, and set off to get her data packet from the citadel, and dr. Judith Mossman's message, to the human resistance's main base- white forest. It won't be easy though... Gordon once again faces many foes- both old and brand new- coupled with alot of classic bad luck that just seems to follow the poor guy around. I just gotta ask- when will Gordon finally get the vacation with Alyx he rightfully deserves?
The first thing you'll probably notice about episode 2 is that its environments are much more open than the areas of City 17 (More on environments and graphics later). While you are in a seemingly massive forest- its still classic Half-life gameplay. This is still a strict rail ride with a generally obvious path for you to always follow. So you go down this path doing stuff you've done since the original Half-life: fight hordes of enemies, explore occasionally, and solve the occasional puzzle. The gun-play is as sharp as ever however, so its not like this is a tired formula that needs to be replaced. In some nice changes of pace however, there are several points in the game that force you to use unconventional, tricky, and very rewarding methods to destroy certain combine vehicles. If you haven't seen those sequences yet though- I won't spoil them for you here.
Episode 2 offers a few new enemies for you to fight in the game. The primary new enemy is the dreaded combine hunter, which is a brutal tri-pedal beast that can follow you indoors. Then there's the acid antlion, which is reminiscent of the bullsquid from the original Half-life, only much smarter and capable of flight (more on that later). There's a few other enemies which are just variations of enemies already in the game, such as the fast zombie torso, and the acid antlion guard.
While Valve's vastly improved many aspects of Half-life 2 in episode 2, their being just plain lazy with the enemy AI. Half-life 2's enemy AI has been rather lousy ever since the get-go, but here, the AI situation only gets worse. No, I'm not saying enemy AI is performing worse than usual. Its just that Valve has absolutely refused to improve the basic combine soldier AI. The hunters unfortunately, also suffer from poor AI. There's also a bit of AI inconsistency with the new enemies added into the game. Primary example: The acid antlions are smarter than the combine soldiers. MUCH smarter at that. So....... An alien insect is smarter than a human? An ENHANCED human at that? Talk about ridiculous.
Its not all bad however, for allied AI has been improved quite a bit. The new vortigaunt AI is very effective, making them worthy allies to have, and allied humans seem to perform better than usual as well. And there are a few enemies with good AI, such as the already mentioned acid antlions, which constantly strafe around dodging your fire- and will occasionally jump away- or over you- to confuse you.
These facts all add up to make the first half of the game in the antlion caves by far the best part of the game, as you are facing enemies that are much more interesting (and sometimes more intelligent) than those lame combine soldiers. Unfortunately, the combine soldiers once again become the predominant foe half-way through the game, hampering the enjoyability of those mid-point and ending sequences quite a bit. I would of prefered acid antlions replacing those soldiers myself.
Graphically, Episode 2 marks a major improvement in graphics over episode 1. Everything looks sharper- the character models- weapon models- environment textures- lighting- etc. And you wanted more gore from Half-life? Episode 2 delivers- as more blood gets spilled than in the previous Half-life 2 games. Still no gibs though... The sound design remains sharp as well, even though a few new voice actors (most notable new voice being the new vortigaunt voices- but these are all well done).
Ultimately, episode 2 is another great Half-life 2 episode. Half-life fans will undoubtedly relish in it, and shooter fans will probably enjoy it as well, especially if they can forgive the game's still-lingering-and-completely-ignored enemy AI issues.
Pros: Longer than episode 1 was. Level-design is still very sharp. Beautiful graphics and sound. The Acid antlions show that there may yet be hope for Half-life 2's enemy AI.
Cons: Most Enemy AI STILL sucks, and hasn't shown any signs of improvement. Second half of the game is a little bland compared to the first half- from both gameplay and graphical standpoints.
Recommendable for: Half-life fans will relish in episode 2. Shooter fans should also enjoy this one- but be wary of the game's lackluster enemy AI.