Get a Half-Life, Part 2

Half-Life 2: Episode Two

HL2:E2 is a nice improvement over Episode One. The gameplay felt more even, the environments were larger and more naturalistic, leading to more instances where gameplay felt sand-boxy but was still linear. Additionally, it cleans up the commentary interface to the standard that Valve has used for all its subsequent titles. This one is slightly longer than its predecessor, and there's more story, including the return of the G-Man and a *gasp* cut-scene.

We get a new weapon and few new gameplay mechanics, another vehicles section, and we finally get to face the "hunter", first glimpsed in Episode One. We interact with a new foe, "advisors", but never actually fight any, but they will no doubt be important for Episode Three. We also get the first (to my recollection) mention of Aperture Science, the corporation behind the story in the Portal franchise.

I actually preferred it to Episode One, as it had an incredibly thrilling climax. My only complaint is that the first half of the game is dominated by what essentially amounts to a fetch-quest sending you into the antlion tunnels. It was a fun quest, don't get me wrong, but it felt a little RPG for a Valve title.

Something else I've gotten from the commentary is that a lot of the gameplay is shaped dynamically. The game will actively try not to destroy buildings if you're not there to see them go down. The enemies are AI controlled rather than scripted, with randomizing elements to ensure a different combat experience any time you get into a huge fight. There are several AI battles that you participate in, and you increasingly see multiple factions fighting each other (zombies versus antlions versus Vortigaunts at one point). This is, of course, designed to enhance replay value.

Also there to add some replay value is the addition of achievements, something that is now a staple to any Valve game and, let's be frank, just about any game that comes out nowadays. And, because I'm as much of an achievement-junkie as the next player, and because this list of achievements seems remarkably... well... achievable... I'm sure I'll be back.

At any rate, I have now played through the series, grown to appreciate it, and whetted my appetite for the as-yet-unreleased but oft-promised Half-Life 2: Episode Three, which is supposed to finish off this story arc and possibly kill off our bearded, bespectacled hero: Gordon Freeman. In the meantime, I've got DLC for two Left 4 Dead games to explore and Portal 2 this fall.

See you 2011, Gordon.

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