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Preys-World - Half-Life 2: Episode One Review

Friday 14th of July, 2006 - 06:27:29 GMT

There was something of a buzz in the final hours leading up to the release Episode One, the next instalment of the Half-Life universe. It was the kind of anticipation that only comes with digital delivery, decryption of game files, and the ever-lying progress bar.

Episodic, that's the word of the moment isn't it? Not quite expansion pack, not quite sequel, sitting somewhere in the middle. So what are you getting for your £10 and change? Well you get something that isn't an expansion (new enemies and weapons are scarce) and something that isn't a sequel (same engine, same setting), so it's pretty much more of the same albeit slightly tweaked. Which is something most people who enjoyed Half-Life 2 would have hoped for, since a good sequel or expansion should remove the aspects that didn't quite work, keep everything else, and add some new stuff as well.

Back so soon?

There were plenty of things that didn't work in Half-Life 2 that most players would agree with at least partially. Vehicle sections were long, the AI wasn't the same leap forward that Half-Life brought to the genre, and a lot of the weapons saw little use. If these kinds of problems prevented you from putting your money down straight away you'll be glad to hear they're been tackled, mostly.

The AI is the same, so if you wanted more satisfying combat along the lines of FarCry's marines you're out of luck. What Valve have done is shift the game-play more towards the areas that made Half-Life 1 work. The environments are tighter, more confined, scripted sequences are more common and are constantly used to throw something new at you to deal with. You just have to do your best and hope you have enough health and ammo to last you to the next conveniently placed crates and med-stations.

Your arsenal has been trimmed, you'll still pick up new weapons as you progress but the scarcity of ammo means you're forced to work with what you're given, and your partner Alyx of course.

Got room for two in there?

This brings me to one of Episode One's greatest strengths - it's a co-op game. You spend the majority of your time fighting alongside Alyx, so it's not real co-op of course. Alyx is still as super-human as you so you rarely have to worry about her dying, in fact if you're like me you probably played through Half-Life 2 not knowing she actually could die, which is good as long as you don't see her take too much damage. But sometimes you do see her take damage, you can scrape through a real beating and wonder how on earth she's still alive. There's a fine line between annoying escort and demi-god and Valve came very close to falling off it.

When a game tries to take on a co-operative nature it's a very difficult thing to do right. Co-op games are rare and typically only work when you know the person you're playing with, you get great satisfaction relying on someone else's help and knowing that they can rely on you, but can you say that about an NPC? Well yes and no, as the co-operation is mostly one way. The typical example being a door that you both need to get through, but you're under attack by re-spawning enemies so what's the solution that immediately comes to mind? Exactly! One person opens the (painfully slow) door while the other covers them, but it doesn't work, because that's not the solution the level designer wanted you to find, and you know perfectly well that if the roles were reversed it would work fine.

But it's not nearly as bad as I'm making it seem, when it works (which is often) fighting alongside Alyx is a welcome change and a lot of fun. Rampaging through a disused hospital, painting the walls with two different colours of blood, raiding the cabinets for medical supplies and shotgun shells before running down the next corridor with Alyx at your side is a wondrous feeling, and there's plenty of variation within the standard co-op game-play to keep things interesting. In underground sections Alyx will rely on your HEV suit's built in flash-light to see enemies, which makes dealing with the zombie hordes a challenging and frantic affair. Add a few flares to this and you get to form a beautiful perimeter, it's just a shame Valve didn't opt to let you carry multiple flares so you could drop them where you please, you have to grab them off the floor and they light automatically.

Light Cycle

Outside you might get the chance to lure enemies into the sights of Alyx's newly acquired sniper rifle, tearing down fortifications with your Gravity Gun so she can get a clear shot. You'll see new combinations of enemies and get some real Half-Life 1 style three-way combat as well, you can play your enemies against each other then mop up the leftovers yourself. Shine your torch on those barnacles and let Alyx take them out or leave them be and watch as they string up the horde of zombies that are staggering towards you? There's a distinct pleasure that only comes from watching your enemies' legs kicking away as they're gently lifted towards the ceiling, before their body falls to the floor with a crunch.

Graphically Episode One is much the same as it's predecessor, that is until you enable HDR. If you're fortunate enough to have a rig that can handle this new addition then you're in for a treat. The entire game is draped in it, you'll marvel at the way a simple fire glows and shimmers, or the way a fluorescent light makes the decaying tiles that surround it gleam, there are certain sections where the light is so overwhelming that you think you've momentarily stepped into the world of TRON, and that's a very good thing, the blinding light just adds to the immersion. The Lost Coast didn't showcase HDR anywhere near as well as this does.

The usual cast of characters is back once more along with the high standard of voice acting we've come to expect from this series. Since you spend a lot of time with her Alyx's character is more fleshed-out with some nice moves, quirks, and memorable conversations and set pieces that you'll be revisiting several times. The plot is communicated in the usual Half-Life manner, you're spoon-fed one answer and given a bucket of new questions in return, and there's certainly plenty of those which will inevitably lead to rampant speculation on message boards for some time.

Episode One delivers what any good TV drama should, well rounded characters, an interesting story, a believable setting, and a hook that makes you excited about next weeks instalment. In short, Episode One is a success and a fantastic start for episodic content. Valve took an already strong game, threw out the cruft, and gave us a great gaming experience. If you're concerned about length, you shouldn't be, you get plenty for your money.

Play it, savour it, then smile thinking about the two further instalments to come.