Review of Episodic Content, Half-Life 2 Episode One 330
Half-Life 2 was worth the wait. Great story, beautiful graphics, and inventive gameplay made the game a worthy successor to Valve's 1998 classic. Last week gamers were finally allowed access to the next part of the story. Half-Life 2: Episode One is a fast-paced and entirely worthwhile continuation of Gordon Freeman's tale. It also raises some really good questions about the very idea of charging for small chunks of content. Read on for my review of this $20 experience, and a few comments on the episodic content debate.
- Title: Half-Life 2: Episode One
- Developer/Publisher: Valve
- System: PC
In fact, in almost every way possible Episode One is a success for Valve. This game is the first in a trilogy planned to end next year, and Valve has done a fantastic job in capturing interest with this initial effort. Unlike SiN Episodes , which amused but failed to engage, Episode One was so gripping I almost immediately restarted the game with 'commentary mode' enabled just to see if I could glean any more from a second go-round.
As entertaining as the story is, this title truly shines in its gameplay. Creating Half-Life 2's gameplay was a long process of trial and error. For the player, a degree of handholding was required to teach the skill required to play. Episode One, in contrast, relies on your knowledge of FPS controls and experience with the original title, packing the relatively short game with eyebrow-popping moments. New uses for the gravity gun, clever physics puzzles, the near-constant presence of Alyx Vance, and some very challenging gunplay all add to the title's brisk pace. Of particular note are the moments where Valve tweaks the player expectations. A quick crawl through the ducts becomes a drawn-out odyssey through heavily trapped rooms; you know you're having fun when death provokes a laugh instead of a sigh of frustration.
Episode One looks great, of course. Some additional shiny has been added to the title, but for the most part you're going to be seeing the same textures and environments as in HL2 proper. It would have been nice to see some dramatically new areas, but the urban jungle you traverse on your way out of the city is as engaging as it is familiar. Sound effects are also reused, but the musical stings to accompany important moments are new and seemed more carefully composed than some of the previous offerings.
The fact that Valve has released a great product should come as no surprise. What strikes me most about this title is its place in a larger debate. Episodic content has provoked a number of earnest conversations this year; how much to charge, how much content is enough, and how often content is released all seem to be sticking points in the gaming community. When Bethesda began releasing commercial mods for Oblivion earlier this year, there were a number of people that felt three dollars for horse armor was a tad much. Subsequent releases for that game have been weightier, and their low price (just $1.98 for a pirate ship) seems to have allayed criticism of those offerings.
In comparison, last month's SiN Episodes was 5-6 hours of gaming for twenty bucks. About it, I wrote "If Emergence was $15, this would be a sure thing; at $20 I'm not sure this particular ride is worth the price of admission." Now that I've seen what my $20 can get me, I know it's not worth the price of admission. If we can expect Valve's success is a high-water mark for episodic content there's going to have to be a serious reexamination of pricing and release for future, lesser offerings. I'm willing to wait for Episode Two at this point; as far as I'm concerned Valve already has my money. At the same time, I'm unlikely to purchase the next episode of SiN. The story just didn't grab me, but the amount of time we're going to be waiting is what really frustrates. With no word yet on a release for the next episode in SiN's season, we're looking at a three months wait (or more) for another length of lackluster writing and time-worn gameplay.
What I enjoy most about the concept of episodic content is the potential. Can developer schedules achieve a brisk enough turnaround? Will enough gamers purchase the second episodes of SiN and Half-Life 2 to ensure there will be a third? With the popularity of Xbox Live, will more developers jump on the episodic bandwagon? I, for one, certainly hope so.
Whoring myself out with more episodic content (Score:5, Interesting)
Valve likes it [hylobatidae.org], anyhow. And yes, I'm a complete fanboy!
Fantastic (Score:5, Interesting)
Movie? (Score:5, Interesting)
Has anyone heard any rumours/press in regards to this? Maybe I'm just hopeful (and overly optimistic that if it happened, it wouldn't be a massacre), but a movie involving post-war apocalypse, a savior scientist, the comedic relief (Barnie), a hot sidekick, a nuttie scientist, cruel otherworldly footsoldiers, government conspiracy, and aliens that attach to one's head for happy zombification sound like a good combination to me. Hell, headcrabs and headcrab-zombies are probably in itself one of the cooler things... like an upgrade to the freakiness of chest-bursting nasties from the Alien movie series.
Episode One.1-3, The Movie (Score:5, Interesting)
The problem (Score:5, Interesting)
What all of you suckers who buy into episodic gaming can expect in the future is increased prices, more frequent releases of episodes with less and less content, and purchasing the initial version of the game that has had features that SHOULD have been included scraped to provide "must-buy" content for the inevitable episodes. Unfortunately that last one affects EVERYBODY who might buy a game, not just the idiots who buy the episodes as we all saw with Oblivion's horse mod.
All episodic gaming is is an attempt at prepping consumers to be nickle and dimed for every game element the companies can think of. Think ringtones, wallpapers and games on cellphones, only more expensive.
Motion Sickness (Score:3, Interesting)
Anybody else have these problems? Or know if it's better in episode 1?
i'm about 2 hours into it. (Score:2, Interesting)
The true value for money (Score:2, Interesting)
"Once youve brought all three youll have a complete game and you wont have to wait an extra year for it"
No, no I wont have a comeplete game. The reason being is that these episodes are reusing textures, prefabs, characters, sounds, AI and the graphics engine from HL2.When I spend $60 on a new game I want it to be just that "A new game!". I dont want to spend $60 on a game that has basically been modded from a previous game ive already played. Not only that, but it also does not come with multiplayer, I cant return it if I hate it and I have to wait an additional year from when I first start the gameto when I am actually allowed to complete it.
Seriously, where is the value in that? - sure you can suger coat it with "But they have updated the graphics engine!", "They have new character dialog", "its soo rich and immersive" - at the end of the day though you are just paying for a remake of a game you already own, with the added bonus of paying an additional $60 and having to wait a year to complete the game.
I have now tried episodic gaming, I realise now more than ever that I hate it, and I will never again all into this trap. I urge the rest of you to boycott this type of sales behaviour before we see games chopped up, released slowly and costing more before its too late.
The 'Lost' of Video Games (Score:2, Interesting)
They're so afraid to reveal anything that they reveal nothing. They're so afraid to tie up a plotline that they have no plot. Sound to anyone like an ABC drama that slowly drove off a cliff?
If not for the polish and gameplay (linear as it is) I'd have given up on HL a long time ago.
Breencasts (Score:3, Interesting)
Episode One: A quick personal review (Score:4, Interesting)
Everyone obviously has likes and dislikes in the gaming world as much as in everything else, and while I simply do not have much interest in most of the other games this company or most others have to offer, (save for a couple of Counterstrike matches on a LAN) I do not remember ever being drawn into one as much as I did when I belatedly got into Half-Life 2 a year and a half ago. An avid Sci-Fi buff and Cyberpunk enthusiast, the original premise of the game struck a deeply resonating chord in me, one that no other game so far has managed to, as I have found most of them to be far too awkwardly simplistic, or just hard to get into.
The keyword here is immersive and what really got me was just how easy the game's developers had made it to fit yourself into Gordon Freeman's character. Again, not being a gaming maven who spends at least 6 hours a day in front of a console, it was a bit of a shock how HL2 got me hooked, like no other game ever did before. The attention paid to atmosphere and details makes for a very eerie experience, the 'Physics Engine' they use is really darn good, and without trying to start a flame war, I would in some levels tend to feel the same way about this particular franchise as I felt about George Lucas and Star Wars in the late 70's, which is to say pretty darn excited.
The gaming experience on this Episode One is nothing short of breathtaking. As others have mentioned, there are plenty of cute puzzles and new tricks to keep one guessing, the introduction of some new and welcome characters like those lovely grenade-wiedling Zombines, and after spending a leisurely two sessions playing through this in 'Normal' setting, must report that I feel just as elated as before with HL2, as I reached the climactic ending. Obviously, I cannot give the game a newcomer's look as HL's key-commands are tatooed in my synapses, but the flow was very natural, and it definitely felt like we all picked up where it left off the last time around....
There were no bugs that came to halt the otherwise smooth experience. Wish I had the necessary resources to experience the HDR effects, but it would appear that my laptop's graphic card is not capable of rendering it. Oh, well...
On the down side, I did find some of Alyx's scripted answers and come-ons a bit irritating after a while, as they tended to detract from an otherwise solid storyline, bt that's something I am willing to live with. The commentary is a pretty fine way to acquaint yourself with the finer points of game design if you so desire, and very unobtrusive.
But as in good wine, what matters most to me in the end is the aftertaste, and I must report that I - for one - cannot wait for the upcoming release of Episode Two later this year. I find that the episodic format suits this game pretty well, and as long as we know what to expect, do not find it offensive or bothersome.
So there you have it. A solid 8.5 at least, with a big grin on my face and plenty of other-worldly and futuristic inspiration. Fantastic game, well worth my or anyone's time.
Z.
Disclaimer: No, I do not work for Valve or any associated companies... after a game like this, I almost wish I did!! (LOL!)
double ripoff (Score:2, Interesting)
Funny(?) thing is, it's available for about $19.50 as a physical DVD package in the game section of the offline shops. Something is not right here... I mean, online distribution was supposed to be cheaper, right?
Anyway, the concept of episodic releases isn't bad. The pricing is. Whole HL2 was IIRC about $50 here. This episode doesn't have comparable amount of fun that would really justify the price.
Sin "ep1" was worth the price since it did contain refereshed Sin1 game as a bonus. That old stuff made it up for the deficiences in the "ep1".
Re:I would pay full price for a hacked copy (Score:3, Interesting)
The things that I am opposed to are:
- It _requires_ an Internet connection. Even if you buy the CD, you need Internet connection to "unlock" it (or something like that). You need Internet to reinstall it too. If Valve goes out of business or decides to stop supporting it, you can't play your game. In the first day of the release many people couldn't play the CD they purchased because Valve's servers were overloaded. That is simply unacceptable.
(Incidentally the same reasoning applies to Windows activation, but at least MSFT provide a way to activate by phone)
- An Internet connection is needed even for single-player offline mode! I have read many complaints from people who selected "offline mode" but after a couple of weeks the game refuses to start. Perhaps this was a bug and it is fixed now - I don't know.
- I have also seen many complaints from people who had their accounts deactivated by Valve. Perhaps they were "hackers" and deserved it from Valve's point of view, but I don't care about that - if I have paid for a game, I would like to be able to play it wherever and whenever I want, not when Valve decides to grant me this privilege.
Understand that I don't have first-hand experience with HL2, because I refuse to buy it on moral grounds, so perhaps my facts may not be 100$ accurate. However I was really looking forward to playing HL2, so when it came out I spend some time reading Valve's forums - I think it gave me a good idea of the situation.