The long awaited HL2:Episode Two arrived with little fanfare. After waiting for its release this past year, low and behold I stumbled across it – a month after its release! How could this happen? At first I thought that (oh crap) the game must be getting bad reviews…but after devoting a weekend to rediscovering Dr. Freeman and the gang, I found that wasn’t the case at all.
The first most notable difference between Half Life2 and Episode Two (other than the 3-year-long wait) is the huge demand on my PC. In order to give this game a fair and objective review, I have to point out that my graphics card (an nVidia FX5200) sucks and this ultimately affected the gameplay and subsequent enjoyment factor. I had to constantly tweak settings to get better FPS and to lessen the painful slide-show at large outdoor scenes and during heavy battle (which unfortunately is most of the game). So that being said, gameplay kind of sucked overall; not the fault of Valve, just simply due to my now inadequate system. *sigh*
The opening sequence takes us back where we left off, on the train heading away from City 17, except the train had crashed. Never fear, Alyx Vance quickly appears to help and damn it’s good to see her again. Her features are more detailed, more refined and thankfully she has the same voice. Alyx is by far my all-time favourite female model in any game and something other game developers need to take note of. But no time to admire her features, a lot happens quickly and before you know it, you’re running to keep up. I was giddy with anticipation and eager to explore but not long later, I had to reload the map a couple of times to register what had just happened, as the first time around I think I was in shock. I won’t spoil the surprise but it was certainly unexpected. This sets in motion a series of tasks to complete before you can continue on the main goal.
Of course there are the usual missions to complete and more clues and background information is provided at various intervals, which all lead to the final goal; to deliver information to the resistance in the White Forest. The missions this time around seemed a bit predictable in parts, but some required more puzzle-solving than before. All the same resistance characters are present, except my drinking pal Barney.. where are you Barn? Vortigaunts are a plenty this episode but with some added cool treats; instead of staying in the background they are up front and pretty bad-ass actually. I expected more story to be around those clever Combine but they seemed scarce as did some scarier moments (such as those found at Ravenholm when waiting, exposed on a dark roof listening to the fast head crab zombies rattling up the pipes as they come for you, howling…shiver).
There were some instances (again due to a sluggish system), where I felt I just couldn’t survive. The enemies seems impossibly hard to kill and ammo limited. Thankfully I had help, which saved my bacon as Alyx certainly did her part. There are no new weapons in Gordon’s repertoire, which is fine as the gravity gun provides variation in picking up and throwing things. Valve did add in some cool toys though, such as the muscle car, complete with GPS for finding goodies and for actually finding the car when you jump out and run around. I really like the dynamic of jumping in and out of the car at non-obvious places and Alyx would either follow or say she would rather wait in the car. Her method of knowing when you are going to get in the car and sliding over the hood to take a seat in the passenger side is pretty darn cool too.
I wasn’t especially excited about the Strider-Hunter combo attack teams, as it seemed a bit repetitious and overdone. Bringing down those long-legged and fast creatures was an exhausting venture when all was said and done. Despite my stripped config settings, the scenery and maps were gorgeous. The detail and gradients were amazing but I would like to run through it again with a better graphics card to get the intended “ooohh and ahhhs”. The sounds and ambiance worked well in the outdoor scenes; birds chirping, wind blowing through trees, as did the general camaraderie between the resistance (you eavesdrop into some funny conversations).
Overall, I thought the story was lacking in some respects mainly due to it not feeling as threatening or dire, but then surprising in others—I did not expect to feel some very emotional moments, such as seeing dog and at witnessing some intimate moments between Alyx and her father. I can’t wait for the next episode and believe me, it will come with a new decked out rig.
Was the wait worth it? Not especially for the meagre seven chapters (6 hours of gameplay), but for the story, consistency and amazing graphics—yes. It’s good to be Gordon Freeman.
On a side note: If you have played HalfLife 2 and have seen the movie Children of Men with Clive Owen, you’ve probably noticed some startling similarities. They both portray the dystopia of society, graffiti, overturned cars, droned brainwashing messages over loud speakers, imprisoned citizens, destruction and oppression. Clive Owen has to fight his way to get through the various controls to help the “movement” and this is also the main theme throughout HL2. In City 17 all of these elements exist, even the resistance graffiti. Ironically, in the second episode of HL2 there is also mention of the ship the Borealis which could be their salvation or their downfall, as it is largely a “ghost ship”. In Children of Men, it is the ship “Tomorrow” which may not exist, but turns out to be salvation. Thayer and I cannot deny the similarities between the two, maybe that’s why we love both the movie and the game. It’s all about breaking free from social control.
Music to Game by:
Try the Children of Men Soundtrack—great dubstep and retro British tracks.