The original Half-Life received a number of add-on packs between its release and Half-Life 2, but some fans were a little antsy that players never got to take control of Gordon Freeman again, let alone the fact that the add-ons were not developed by Valve. With the development of their online distribution system Steam, Valve were pimping the concept of episodic content, and many people believed that they would use this system to deliver their next lot of games in a much quicker time frame (rather than 6 years). Half-Life 2: Episode One isn’t the first episodic game to be released on Steam, but it is certainly the best.
Wasn't me
Half-Life 2: Episode One begins right at the end of the original game, and provides an explanation for how Gordon and Alyx escaped the Citadel. As things usually span out in the world of Half-Life, your task is far from finished. Although Gordon succeeded in eliminating Dr. Breen, the Combine’s presence on Earth is still thick, even if slightly depleted. Even more worrisome is the fact that Gordon and Alyx’s antics in the Citadel have destabilised its reactor, so they have to fight their way back into the area they just escaped from to buy some time for the denizens of City 17 to have a chance to escape before the reactor explodes and consumes the entire city.
People wishing for more after the end of Half-Life 2 should be happy to hear that this is the first of three episodes that Valve plan to release over the next year. For the low price of $US20 ($AU25/€16/₤11), players can download Half-Life 2: Episode One via Steam, although a boxed version will be available in stores shortly (for $AU40/₤20/€20). The game provides five additional chapters full of the same quality action that we saw in 2004, but there are a few additional enhancements. While it’s only a relatively short-lived experience at 4-6 hours, Half-Life 2: Episode One’s action starts from the first minute and never lets up throughout the entire experience. As far as pleading the case for episodic content goes, Valve have been quite successful. Through a mix of high intensity action set-pieces, quality script writing and solid acting, Valve have been able to achieve, and even exceed that Hollywood-action-movie-style dynamic that so many game developers strive for.
That's a dilly of a pickle
Valve are pushing more of a teamwork dynamic throughout the first episode, rather than the solo approach of Half-Life 2. Throughout the entire game you will be accompanied by Alyx, who does her part by providing covering fire, opening doors and the like. It’s an opportunity for Valve to expand the relationship between the two characters, even if it is a bit one sided (Gordon’s still the ever-silent hero). Again, being accompanied by someone else really helps push that movie style, as Alyx is constantly expressing emotion – joy, despair, anger and so on, as well as providing a running commentary on everything that’s going on.
There are a few other incremental improvements in Half-Life 2: Episode One; the Combine have gained the ability to rappel down the sides of buildings, along with a bit of an AI boost, and there’s a new enemy in the form of the Zombine, a Combine soldier after having been consumed by a head crab. These Zombines are quite a bit tougher than your standard zombie, and have a tendency to pull out a grenade and make a kamikaze attack towards our heroes. A few tweaks to the graphics have been made – astute players will notice a few extra facial expressions from Alyx, enhanced motion in her face like more dynamic wrinkling, as well as a few artistic tweaks to the characters to show the hell that they’ve recently endured. Perhaps the most noticeable improvement to the graphics is the addition of improved high dynamic range lighting, which was premiered in the Half-Life 2: Lost Coast mission released last year. For those with more recent graphics cards, high dynamic range provides much more realistic lighting than the usual bloom lighting we see these days, especially in outdoor areas. It does come at slight hit to the performance, but anyone with a PC acquired in the last 12 months should have no problems.
You still owe me a beer, dammit!
Most of the game comes across as being very familiar. Many of the art assets are the same, and there’s no real contrast between the level design here and in the main Half-Life 2 game. There are no new weapons, and in fact, some of the weapons from the first game don’t reappear. On top of that, there are no vehicle sequences, which is a little bit of a bummer. However, is more Half-Life 2 really a bad thing? Solving the challenging environmental puzzles and battling the hordes of Combine soldiers really gives you an appreciation for the talent at Valve, and just shows how much of a gap there is between this studio, and many other first person shooter developers.
As an experiment for episodic content, Half-Life 2: Episode One is a success, showing that the concept can be executed quite convincingly. The intense action begins in the first minute, and doesn’t let up. It’s short, but it’s cheap and gives amazing value for money. Most Half-Life fans will want to replay the game a second time to hear the additional commentary track; and to be honest, a good, condensed 4-6 hours of action at a budget price beats out a drawn-out, full price game any day of the week. Better yet, you only have to wait six months for the next episode, rather than three to five years. Half-Life 2: Episode One gives real bang for your buck.
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