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
The climactic finale to Half-Life 2 (HL2) left most players with mixed emotions. Elation at the completion of a fantastic shooter, and frustration at the sudden ending to the game's engaging story. Episode One picks up immediately after HL2 leaves off, and quickly reacquaints you with Alyx Vance and her robotic comrade. Within minutes, you're back in the thick of things, hard at work playing liberator to the human race. Episode One's story centers on the escape from City 17, the aftermath of the events of the original game, and the relationships between the resistance movement members. There are a few answers, some disappointing cop-outs, and a lot of new questions raised. The fate of Doctor Mossman, in particular, is a nagging question; her exploits are a briefly mentioned plot thread that is never readdressed or resolved. Like HL2 proper, the end of the episode is a major cliffhanger. If I had as many 'fade to white' moments in my life as Gordon has, I'd be awfully confused. These are hallmarks of Valve's storytelling at this point, though, and I don't begrudge them the need to keep us begging for more.
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.
While I certainly wouldn't classify HL2 as 'easy' on normal mode, the difficulty of firefights in Episode One takes things up a notch or two from combat in that game. Several action set pieces move beyond the more straightforward boss battles; they pit you and Alyx against waves of different enemies, or put you in close quarters with some vastly unpleasant creatures. The addition of a new zombie (the 'zombine') and smarter combine soldiers contributes to this challenge. The zombine in particular (a headcrab-infested combine soldier) is a tough opponent. It takes quite a few more hits than the normal zombie to dispatch. It also displays limited tactical ability, waiting for a small knot of its kind to form before rushing you, or using a grenade to act as a walking bomb. The smarter human footsoldiers are often a frustrating surprise; they take cover and shoot straighter than their cousins in the original game.
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.
In a nutshell, Episode One is Half-Life 2 all over again. Perhaps because of its short duration (only about five hours or so), it actually manages to be even better than the original title in almost every way. The puzzles are inventive, the combat is more intense, and the story grabs you within minutes of game start; the moment, early on, where Dog and Alyx have a great moment of simple character interaction made the price of entry well worth it (for me). I've played a lot of games since Half-Life 2 came out, but this is still a franchise that impresses; Valve delivers on everything it promises. If you like story with your shooter, play this game.
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.
Valve has proven they can deliver, and four dollars an hour should be a premium price for their premium product. In contrast, SiN is just not worth it. I want faster, cheaper, or more. Two of those three will make the next developer to try for the episodic market a success. Perhaps a SiN-quality game that lasts eleven hours for $15? Or the same length for $10 every other month? I would even be interested in true micro-installments. Two or three hours of content for five bucks every month would be a good standard to set. At that rate, the television season comparison SiN is reaching for becomes a reality.
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.
So.... uhh.... /shifts eyes (Score:3, Funny)
Re:So.... uhh.... /shifts eyes (Score:5, Funny)
Re:So.... uhh.... /shifts eyes (Score:2)
Until someone patches it
not doing that (Score:5, Insightful)
Five hours of gaming for $20... I must admit my reaction has been tempered now I think that $20 is like £14... but that is still a lot for 5 hours. If I buy a game for that much I would want a lot more than 5 hours of play; maybe I'm just tight. I've bought games in the past for less than this (infact I actually got a copy of Metriod Prime 2 free from nintendo) and they have given me easily over 20 hours and counting.
Re:not doing that (Score:3, Insightful)
I may play the game again in commentary mode, which was enjoyable in HL2:Lost Coast. But, in contrast, I have devoted countless hours (read:many many days of life and *cough*work*cough*) to CS:Source, and it jus
Re:not doing that (Score:2)
Re:not doing that (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:not doing that (Score:2)
well (Score:2, Funny)
You've got to admit that even 5 hours is more entertainment value than that other thing called "episode one" offered.
Progress?
Re:well (Score:2)
What Xenosaga? Hell no, I'm approaching 20h on it, have no clue what's going on, there's a feeling of anticipation every time I go around a corner and I picked it up for around $25. I have Episode 2 waiting and picked it up for about the same.
I would look at $20 for 5 hours to be a ripoff. A game at $20 for 5h or less is selling you 1/10th the game for only 1/3 the price.
Re:well (Score:2)
Episode One... think about it... here's a hint: "weesa gonna die?"
Re:not doing that (Score:5, Insightful)
Put it in context (Score:2, Troll)
Re:Put it in context (Score:2)
Re:Put it in context (Score:2)
Re:Put it in context (Score:2)
Re:Put it in context (Score:2)
Try playing a real MMO. Everquest Titanium (first 10 expansions) is $19.99 at Walmart or as a digital download. First month is free. I've played hardcore for over four years now on the same character for three and a half of those. There are many zones I have yet to reach and although I've capped my level I haven't capped my maximum experiance gain. There is plenty of stuff to do, and the expansions keep coming if you want them (I haven't purchase
Re:not doing that (Score:2)
Or if you're going to compare it to random things- my guitar has given me hundreds of hours of enjoyment. Playing poker actually makes me money per hour. My internet connection gives me dozens of hours for just $50. And so on.
It wasn't 5 hours. (Score:2)
ps, I don't buy hardcovers =)
Re:not doing that (Score:5, Insightful)
Hell, I just saw a Cirque du Soliel show in Vegas and spent $125 [admission.com] for two hours of entertainment. So clearly entertainment should be priced at $60 an hour. So clearly HL2:E1 should have been about $240 and the original HL2 is worth more than $600. My copy of Freakonomics, which I got for $18 [amazon.com] and took me about 3 hours to read is grossly underpriced; why wasn't I charged ten-fold more?
Perhaps on the other hand, why are video games so expensive? Why does anyone buy them at all? Instead of dropping $50 on the newest video game (about 15 hours of entertainment), you could buy 6 paperback novels (about 24 hours)!
Different forms of entertainment isn't directly exchangible. You need to compare games to games. Market forces have set games at roughly $50 for 15 hours of play. That's what other games roughly charge. The competition for HL2:E1 isn't a few movies: it's Far Cry Preditor.
(And keep in mind that for both examples you gave, there are cheaper and quite popular options. I rent far more movies (about $3/movie; watched by 2 people) than I see in theatres. I purchase far more books in paperback than hardcover. I even sometimes use the library or borrow books from friends.)
Re:not doing that (Score:2)
I never play my games just once. I played through Half-Life 2 about five times (really slowly the first time), and I tried new things each time. In fact, I did a few areas repeatedly just because they were so fun (the crane!) and that means I probably got an additional few hours out of the game. And then if there's a multiplayer mode...
So, doing some quick calculations, I got about 70 hours out of Half-Life 2 single player alone. And some extr
Re:not doing that (Score:2)
Re:not doing that (Score:2)
Re:not doing that (Score:2)
Re:not doing that (Score:2)
As somebody said in the Sin thread, you can also play solitaire for 50 (or even 500) hours for the price of the cards.
As Zonk said, the commentary mode adds a lot to the replayability, making 10 hours of fun as opposed to 5 hours of fun and 5 hours of filler you'd have with some other games. I didn't find the comments as interesting as the ones in Riddick, but they revealed a lot ab
Re:not doing that (Score:2)
We used to pay 10p a game for space invaders, and it was well worth the money. Now we expect 400 hours of amazing 3D entertainment for less than the price of a medium pizza...
Re:not doing that (Score:2)
So is it worth $20, yes to some people it will be. But not for everyone.
Re:not doing that (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:not doing that (Score:2)
I was so enthusiastic while playing that I actually alt-tabbed out to write a description of an incredible experience I had while playing. I spent over an hour writing about a single
Re:not doing that (Score:2)
According to Google 10 seconds ago; 20 U.S. dollars = 10.6871861 British pounds
I'd be asking why you're paying twice as much as us...
Whoring myself out with more episodic content (Score:5, Interesting)
Valve likes it [hylobatidae.org], anyhow. And yes, I'm a complete fanboy!
Re:Whoring myself out with more episodic content (Score:2)
So stop posting on slashdot and go back to mapping! >.>
Re:Whoring myself out with more episodic content (Score:2)
Re:Whoring myself out with more episodic content (Score:2)
I'm not even done with it yet, and I love it...
Best SP mod for HL2.
Make more!!!!
Re:Whoring myself out with more episodic content (Score:2)
In all seriousness, link away, and thanks for sharing your work - it is, hands down, the best single player mod I've seen.
Re:Whoring myself out with more episodic content (Score:3, Informative)
Nah, more that I'm moving web hosts, and it would finally appear to be taking effect. The real site should be back up again sooner or later - but in the meantime, here's the MINERVA page on the Valve Developer Community [valvesoftware.com].
Some download links: 1 [trollied.org], 2 [man.ac.uk], 3 [mcc.ac.uk], 4 [rdg.ac.uk], 5 [mrc.ac.uk]. Yes, I'm using friends in UK academia for download bandwidth. But if old-fashioned HTTP isn't your thing, there's always BitTorrent [parm.net]...
Still, huge thanks for all the comments, and I guess I really should g
I wish I had more time to play it... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:I wish I had more time to play it... (Score:2, Insightful)
One wonders why we bother.
Download problems? (Score:2)
Re:Download problems? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Download problems? (Score:2)
Basically I would advise patience. Try letting it run overnight, you'll probably find it done in the morning.
Re:Download problems? (Score:2)
Re:Download problems? (Score:2)
clientregistry.blob (Score:2)
Re:Download problems? (Score:2)
I can install entire operating systems in half that. Some people really know how to waste space...
Re:Download problems? (Score:2)
Well, I'm not stupid. Just shocked at the irreverance towards 100mb of space.
Re:Download problems? (Score:2)
Re:Download problems? (Score:2)
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.
Pros and Cons... (Score:3, Insightful)
* HL1 is a little too straightforward to be a movie in its own right, but the events in that game are critical backstory to explain WTF is happening in HL2. Movies that open with a long expository narration can cover a lot of ground quickly, but typically make for horrible movies. Opening t
Re:Movie? (Score:2)
For chrissake.
Gordon Freeman is supposed to be a theoretical physicist. That would be the worst casting since Keanu Reeves played a similar role [imdb.com].
(Unless maybe it was Elizabeth Shue's turn as a scientist [imdb.com]. Hard to say.)
Episode One.1-3, The Movie (Score:5, Interesting)
20 dollars? try 12.99 retail (Score:4, Informative)
Re:20 dollars? try 12.99 retail (Score:2)
http://storefront.steampowered.com/v2/index.php?a
Re:20 dollars? try 12.99 retail (Score:2)
Re:20 dollars? try 12.99 retail (Score:3, Informative)
Then again, I don't know how much appeal this game would have to those who haven't already bought HL2...
Re:20 dollars? try 12.99 retail (Score:2)
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.
Re:The problem (Score:2)
This is exactly what I fear in regards to episodic content, and why I have been so adamantly against it since I first heard about it. Back when I got my first cell phone, it came with dozens of ring tones (including many recognizable songs), and 3 (full) games built right into it. Did I mention that I got the phone for free?
The last phone I purchased, for $400, came with almost no ring tones, and only DEMOS of a couple games, of wh
Re:The problem (Score:2)
Lots of addons have come out for that, and many seem to be either junk or very small chunks of content that are fairly useless.
Re:The problem (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:The problem (Score:2)
Re:The problem (Score:2)
Motion Sickness (Score:3, Interesting)
Anybody else have these problems? Or know if it's better in episode 1?
Re:Motion Sickness (Score:2)
In regards to the sibling posts here, vsync is off by default but can be enabled in Options | Video | Advanced.
Virtual Aspirin for HL2 (Score:5, Informative)
1. In the game list, right click on Half-Life 2: Episode One, and select "Properties".
2. Click on "Set Launch Options..."
3. Add "+sv_cheats 1 +fov 90 +default_fov 90".
4. Click OK, Close, and launch the game.
5. Headache-b-gone!
If HL2 gives you headaches, while other FPS games do not, this fix is for you. It sets the field of view to 90 degrees, instead of HL2's default 75.
i'm about 2 hours into it. (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:i'm about 2 hours into it. (Score:2)
Not only does it kill them in a sufficiently amusing and gratifying manner, you can also see where you're going...
Half-Life 2...great story? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Half-Life 2...great story? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Half-Life 2...great story? (Score:2)
Re:Half-Life 2...great story? (Score:2)
btw hi to another pink floyd fan
How to complain about episodic gaming: (Score:2, Insightful)
If that fails, charge the fuckers back.
These guys set their prices based on your willingness to pay. Talk with your wallet.
Think about this: most people won't bat an eye when they are asked to pay 20 bucks to buy a new book. That's five hours of content, considerably cheaper to produce than a video game
Re:How to complain about episodic gaming: (Score:2)
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 t
Re:The true value for money (Score:2)
Missing (Score:3, Informative)
Wow.. I actually.. *agree* (Score:5, Insightful)
When I was finally able to purchase the game, I downloaded at about 400KB/s, which is pretty respectable for my connection (though it can do ~1MB/s to the right server).
The production value of the game is very good. The character interactions are very good and the constant interaction with Alyx is very good. She does neat little things like covering her face when there's an explosion hear her.
The story is "ok". I'm pretty picky about plot in general, so "ok" from me probably means "pretty good" for most other people.
My beef with the game has to be Alyx's health/ammo levels. She has infinite ammo, so there's bits where in order to conserve ammo, you have to pretty much just wait around for her to kill baddies (and point them out with the flashlight.. which while being cool at first gets old). The second bit is that she can die, but there's absolutely no indication of how much health she has. There's no number anywhere and it's not depicted on her character, either. She's fine, she's fine, she's dead. If she starts saying "Oww!" a lot, then you probably need to get her away.
Anyways, they've got my $20 for episode 2.
Is Episode Two... (Score:2)
Well worth $20 (Score:5, Informative)
There were new "gimmicks" introduced (new enemies, new puzzle components) and variants thereof used very well. They were fairly easy to figure out but that didn't make it any less satisfying when the way forward would open to more cool stuff. You seriously can't go more than a few meters without something cool happening.
The commentary is a bonus. I was disappointed that there were only a couple that took control of you or tweaked the rendering engine temporarily to show you something, more of that sort of thing would have been real neat. But the commentary itself was still very good, you learn a bit about the behind the scenes stuff (sort of like a mini "Making Of" while in the game. However, sometimes it's hard to hear commentary if in-game characters are talking at the same time. Fortunately you can always move away to more easily listen to the commentary.
The only qualms I have is that I had a weird hanging problem (maybe something with my drivers, who knows) but on a second play through it disappeared.
Also, I missed vehicles. The episode 2 teaser reveals large outdoor areas, hopefully you'll get a vehicle for part of the episode.
In short: I am quite looking forward to episodes 2 and 3 and will preorder as soon as the option becomes available on Steam.
The 'Lost' of Video Games (Score:2, Interesting)
They're so afraid to reveal anything that they reveal nothing. They're so afraid to
Good, but it wasn't THAT good (Score:2)
For one, it was relatively easy. I played it through on Normal skill, and died very few times. None of the puzzles were difficult enough to delay me more than a minute, and I found that the new zombine enemies just blew themselves up.
I found the music annoying, to say the least. I considered turning the music off, but quickly realized that the start of dramatic music always foreshadowed an unexpected
Re:Good, but it wasn't THAT good (Score:2)
Didn't you play it with HDR? I thought Valve used HDR to exceptionally clever effect in that reactor thing near the beginning. You walk into the reactor and are absolutely overwhelmed with brightness. You have to sit still for a minute to let your eyes adjust and slowly get your bearnings. You piddle around for a while and solve the puzzles, slowly getting used to the light adjustments, when all of a sudden you get
Re:Good, but it wasn't THAT good (Score:2)
In the reactor I found that it was rather obvious where and when you would be attacked, so dealing with the bad guys was not a problem. The only surprise was when they sent manhacks after me as well, but you can hear those coming before they get to you.
My favourite part of the game (with respect to game play) was battli
Story? I don't think so... (Score:2)
I often wonder if people are playing the same game I am... Seriously, the story for Half-Life 2 can be accurately summed up as: "You're in a dystopian future, and the dictator in charge cooperates with aliens. Get to him, blowing up everything on the way!"
For that matter, the original half-life didn't fare much better, as it had a plot that was basically equivalent to the plot of DOOM: "Sci
Episodic Games (Score:2)
Re:Episodic Games (Score:2)
If the game were made by anyone other than Valve I'd agree with you. However, as maddening as it is when this studio delays a game indefinitely, you KNOW it's for the better. I may curse them under my breath for taking so long, but I holler praise for the world to hear when I inevitably appreciate the painstaking care they've taken
Breencasts (Score:3, Interesting)
Worthy successor my big fat Combine ass! (Score:2, Insightful)
> and inventive gameplay made the game a worthy successor to
> Valve's 1998 classic.
You are bloody kidding me.
HL2 was to HL what Episode 1 was to Star Wars.
Valve made an unbeliveably basic mistake; having a non-speaking Gordon only works if there are no burning questions he would absolutely have asked - and he would have asked where the hell he's been and what and how do the resistance know about it.
HL2 was really good - graphics, gam
what did you expect? (Score:3, Insightful)
HL2 EP1 contains the same scenery and same graphics because it takes place in the exact same timeframe in the story. They are still at City 17, they are still at the citadel, and they are still fighting the combine, who are still using the same technology they did 15 minutes ago.
And this is what you should expect from episodic content. They are chapters in a story, not seperate different stories.
Is $20 too much? Depends on the game.
I wouldn't pay $20 for salmon, but if its wrapped up in wine soaked rice and seaweed with cucumber and avacado, thats a different story.
It was really fun but it was very easy and short (Score:2)
Episode 1 was $20. I was expecting maybe half of the length of HL2's game, since it's just about half the price. Well, it's very short. Extremely short. The size of the game is about 1/8th of HL2. It was definately fun, and they really do put a lot of work into Alex's facial expressions an
HL2:EO (Score:4, Insightful)
One of the cool features that were added was the ability to play through with the commentary engaged. After I finished the Episode, I played through with the commentary which answered a lot of the 'concerns' I had as to why things were a certain way. Had some of the pessimists actually participated in the commentary they wouldn't be so quick to oust Valve on some of the decisions they made regarding Episode One.
Now, I'm not saying Episode One is a perfect game. All I'm saying is that a lot of the griping about the content is not necessary.
Here are some things (my short list) I found good about the episode:
New content - Stalkers, Combine Zombies, and helpful roller mines to name a few.
Puzzles - While many of the puzzles weren't overly difficult I thought they offered a fresh change from 'same old, same old' puzzles set. Plus, the core puzzle took be back to the good old Half-Life 1 days with some of the puzzles encountered there.
Good Intro - Some of individuals didn't like scripted scene at the beginning. I thought it a very well introduction for veteran and new players alike. Now if you didn't like it because you just prefer run and gun, it's your purgative, but say that next time. I thought it did a good job of setting up the story of the episode and what your 'goal' was for the content.
Different from HL2 - While I thought they did a good job of extending the story line, I thought it was cool that they didn't follow the same example 100%. The game play all though similar had a different feel to it, to me it seemed there was more sense of urgency and I thought they did a good job of conveying that to the player. You can actually trap yourself! :P
Intriguing, Good Story line - Now, I started playing Episode one not really expecting any questions to be answered. The thing I have really enjoyed about the Half-Life series is how entwined you become in the story line and want to know more. It makes you think; guess some people don't like that!
And the bad(short list) things:
Linear - The one thing that I have never really liked about the half-life series is how linear the levels are throughout the game. Of course this is not why you play Half-Life but it's always in the back of my mind.
Drawn out - Some of the sections/ideas were a little too drawn out in my opinion for the content. For example, the ball sockets got a little old after a while. Also, I thought there were too many areas that were pitch black
Dexterity required or bugs? - Some areas I thought required a little too much finger dexterity, such as were you had to knock the falling debris out of the way with the gravity gun, for some reason I had a hard time with my timing, it seemed sometimes the Ggun wouldn't even shoot sometimes, but I couldn't tell if it was me or what.
Unfair insertion - Also I didn't really like the fact that I was pushed into fighting the Antlion Guard without knowing it was there.
Well, with that, I thought the Episode was good in general and I can't wait for the next!
I would pay full price for a hacked copy (Score:3, Insightful)
Also I don't think I should need an Internet connection to play a single-player game. It may seem like a worthwhile trade off for now - it is convenient, the game is not bad and most of all do have Internet connections after all. However we are giving up our freedoms one by one and I won't be surprised when the next version of Steam charges 25c each time you start the game.
So yes, I would gladly pay full price for a hacked version of the game - one that doesn't require a Steam account, social security number, zip code and good credit rating.
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
Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)
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!)
Re:English translation anybody (Score:2)
Its HL2.1. If you liked the first one, you'll like this one. And for half the cost (ha-ha. half-life at half-cost.) of the original game, its hard to pass up. No waiting in stores, just click the button and in about 15mn your ready to go.
Also, there is a new update in Cedega that allows the game (and all Steam games) to work better in it. So, not only is it cheap but it's also 'cross platform' to boot. Use the cash you saved on
Re:All Episode Pack?? (Score:2)
You can see the details of the three packages here: http://storefront.steampowered.com/v2/index.php?a