One of the final set pieces in Episode 1 is a shining bit of corn husk is an otherwise dull and smelly pile of poop. Because they finally remember the tone of HL2 - you're the goddamn Free Man. The legend. The one who everyone is willing to take up arms and follow. Not the person who spends all their time shifting crates with a gravity gun, or turning wheels to make doors slowly open. You're Gordon Freeman, the man who is here to save the world. So one of the final set pieces where you are having to shepherd groups of civilians to safety from the remaining Combine bent on exterminating them is remarkable. The Source engine shines - you see the look of recognition, adoration and maybe even a little hope on the people's faces as Barney brings them out to you in groups to escort. You feel bad when you lose one. The game which had previously been three hours of tedious zombie bashing suddenly becomes something else entirely.
So what do they do in Episode 2? Aside from a really impressive opening sequence (I will not spoil, I will not spoil - but DAMN that is cold). They decide - you know what? People complained about having to fight endless swarms of zombies in Episode 1, so we'll put them in a series of cut-and-paste tunnels fighting Ant Lions for more than an hour. And we'll even add some even more irritating Ant Lion opponents who just make the players insanely angry. Nevermind that you get a Vortigaunt companion who seems to be trying to imitate Bob Marley with his speech patterns, I'm bored! I know that my cause is noble and all, but damnit! Let me do something heroic that doesn't involve more mindless tunnel crawling.
I hear that once I hit the surface it all turns awesome again, but seriously - physics based puzzles with a "comedic edge" (ie NPCs commenting on how its "always with the couterweights" etc) aren't fun. They're boring. If you want to mix it up a bit look at CoD4. Give Gordon an AC-130 for a while or something. Not another goddamn "wait for a slowly descending lift in a dark room filled with constantly spawning zombies/antlions" segment.
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