I finished Half-Life 2: Episode 1 over the weekend and, to no one's surprise, I thought it was great. I really can't get over how brilliant the idea of episodic content is for gaming, at least when it comes to single player first-person shooters. The game lasted for about five hours, where your normal full length single player game generally lasts six to eight hours. Certainly no more than ten. So you have at least half the length of a normal fps game for only $20 (or $18 if you pre-order it via Steam like I did) instead of a whopping $50 for a few hours more. Granted many full games also come with multiplayer, but Valve has that covered as well, because Episode 1 comes with both Half-Life 2 Deathmatch and the Source-engine version of the original Half-Life Deathmatch. Plus has several other great multiplayer games available on Steam like Counter-Strike: Source and my favorite, Day of Defeat: Source.
Of course all this is only leading me into a discussion of how brilliant an idea Steam is. Never have a seen as much support by a developer for their games than I have seen by Valve over Steam. Constant updates and new features. Plus they sponsor the release of great third-party games over Steam like Darwinia and the SiN Episodes. These are games that are too small to garner the attention of a big publisher, but over Steam these games get the attention of millions of gamers.
But back to the actual game Episode 1. Yes, here are some spoilers, but it doesn't matter because most of those reading this have not, and probably will not, play the game. It doesn't answer of ton of questions from Half-Life 2 other than how you and Alyx Vance escape from the big explosion at the end of the game. The rest of the game follows the two of you trying to escape City 17 before the Citadel core explodes. Alyx is with you for the entire game, and she's probably the best Non-Player (Playable?) Character ever put in a game. Once again Valve pursues an actual emotional investment between the player and the characters in the game, and they succeed here more than ever before.
The game requires a great amount of team work to get through; for example, there are pitch-black areas where Alyx needs you to light the way with your flashlight, which includes illuminating any zombies or headcrabs so that she can take them out. The game also features a good mixture of puzzles and action, and once again makes great use of the physics engine with the greatest weapon ever created, the gravity gun (and yes, the super-powered version of the gravity gun does make an appearance again). The game ends with you and Alyx finally getting out of City 17 and also with another enormous explosion in which your survival is questionable (but obviously you do survive).
There's a preview trailer for Episode 2 at the end, which will have some nice new environments now that City 17 is no more, including what looks like some very open areas in a wilderness. There's also been at least one new Combine enemy hinted at in Episode 1. There's also some added replayability in the game because of the option to turn on the developer's commentary. This feature first made an appearance in the Half-Life 2: Lost Coast episode that was basically just a tech-demo for Valve's new high-definition lighting. The commentary is dispersed throughout the levels, and features all kinds of insights into level design, story and character development, and how the developers try to keep the gameplay different. I think it's a great feature. Here's looking forward to Episode 2 in six months.
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