Half-Life 2: Episode One

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Description

Half-Life 2: Episode One continues the story of Half-Life 2. It begins immediately after the end of this game, and follows Gordon Freeman (the player) and Alyx as they attempt to escape City 17 in the wake of the defeat of the Combine forces and the battle in the Citadel.

Gameplay and Gordon's weapon arsenal are identical to Half-Life 2. Enemies too are familiar, with only one new zombie variant. A notable gameplay feature is the behavior of Alyx, who fights along Gordon's side for virtually the entire game. While the player still provides most of the offensive firepower, Alyx does provide a beneficial presence, and is far from the typical cannon fodder AI.

The game has four to six hours of gameplay, and also features a "Commentary" mode, which enables hotspots on each map where the player can listen to developer commentary explaining how or why certain things were done.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Trailer

Alternate Titles

• "戰慄時空2首部曲：浩劫重生" -- Chinese spelling (traditional)
• "半条命2：第一部" -- Chinese spelling (simplified)
• "Half-Life 2: Aftermath" -- Working title
• "Bantiao Ming 2: Diyi Bu" -- Chinese title
• "하프라이프 2 에피소드 1" -- Korean spelling
• "ハーフライフ２ エピソード１" -- Japanese spelling

Part of the Following Groups

• 3D Engine: Source
• Distribution Method: Episodic
• Game Feature: Developer Commentary
• Half-Life universe
• Physics Engine: Havok

User Reviews

More of the same... but that's not a bad thing.	Windows	Ian Badeer (79)
Pack your gear, Morgan.. I mean Gordon. There's still three episodes to go.	Windows	Marko Poutiainen (1160)
Has more of the unique level design of HL2, but not much.	Windows	Andrew Bruck (4)
Half-Life 2: Episode One Is Better Than Star Wars Episode One	Windows	MasterMegid (902)
About as good as it is long.	Windows	Peta Michalek (9)

Critic Reviews

GameStar (Italy)	Windows	Jun 13, 2006	92 out of 100	92
GameSpot (Belgium/Netherlands)	Windows	Jun 03, 2006	87 out of 100	87
Gameplay (Benelux)	Windows	May 26, 2006	84 out of 100	84
2404.org PC Gaming	Windows	Jun 11, 2006	8.1 out of 10	81
Edge	Windows	Jun 08, 2006	8 out of 10	80
1UP	Windows	Jun 08, 2006	8 out of 10	80
Press Start Online	Windows	Jun 12, 2006	16 out of 20	80
3DAvenue	Windows	Jun 11, 2006		80
Gamereactor (Sweden)	Windows	Jun 05, 2006	7 out of 10	70
411mania.com	Windows	Jul 16, 2006	7 out of 10	70

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Trivia

Dog

Valve development commentary in the game mentions that players seemed to love Dog, so they made him the first thing the player sees at the start of the episode.

Dr. Breen

Apparently, some citizens enjoyed some of the Breencasts. In the game, one citizen can be heard saying to another; "I don't miss Dr. Breen, but I do miss his show. Remember when he had the jugglers on?". This is possibly a reference to the satirical webcomic Concerned (the author of Concerned, however, denies this, believing it to be something of a stretch and citing the absence of jugglers in his strip).

German version

There are changes in some German versions of the game:

• All blood by humans (including German Freeman) and blood which is part of the level design was coloured green
• Almost all enemies instantly disappear after being killed. An exception are some dark parts were burning zombies are used as light source.
• The cries of burning zombies were toned down
• During the part were Alyx finds the first zombine, the corpse she refers to was removed

A detailed list of changes can be found on schnittberichte.com (German).

Awards

• 4Players
  • 2006 – #3 Best Add-On of the Year
• Games for Windows: The Official Magazine
  • March 2007 - #4 Game of the Year 2006
• GameSpy
  • 2006 – #9 Game of the Year
  • 2006 – #3 PC Game of the Year
  • 2006 – PC Action Game of the Year
  • 2006 – PC Action Game of the Year (Gamers' Vote)
  • 2006 – Best Graphics of the Year (PC)
• PC Powerplay (Germany)
  • Issue 02/2007 – Best Game in 2006 (together with Pro Evolution Soccer 6 and Heroes of Might and Magic V: Hammers of Fate)
  • Issue 02/2007 – Best Action Game in 2006
  • Issue 03/2007 – #2 Best Action Game in 2006 (Readers' Vote)

Information also contributed by Mark Ennis.