I'm a really big Half-Life fan because all the games have been amazing and this episode is no different. Now you may wonder why I've only rated this 4/5 when I'd rate Half-Life and Half-Life 2 and 5/5 and that is because for me them original Half-Life games are epics and thats how a Half-Life game should feel. The Episodes while good, just lack that epic feel and that fresh new engine, amazing graphics feel. Now for the price point however this episode is really good value for money and with The Orange Box packed in with HL2, episode one, TF2 and Portal for about £16 which is just AMAZING and a must buy for any PC owner.
Now I say the game is like a best of the Half-Life series because for me it is like they took all that was good about Half-Life and Half-Life 2 and Episode One and just crammed it all into one six hourish game which is still longer than a full priced COD4. They took the amazing vehicle sections and improved upon them and they took the platforming and puzzles and improved upon them. They let you do more with the gravity gun and they had dungeon sequences that looked amazing and set peices like defending Alyx from Ant lions with turrets and sending wave after wave at you like the Zerg. They improved upon the story telling and really this is the first game in the HL series to really do story telling so well and have an emotional impact on it. They even put a whole achievement systme on steam for this game with gameplay changing achievements like having to carry a gnome from the start of the game right to the end and launch it in the rocket lol. The biggest addition to the game however has to be the more open world style of gameplay at the end when you are fighting the Striders which people loved so I expect them to expand upon that even further in the next game... though I don't want them to change the formula of what makes Half-Life great.
Everything about this game is just amazing and it keeps changing the gameplay up and improving upon what they done previously. I do have some problems with it however and that is the engine is looking really dated now, specially the grass and the tree's, the Source Engine can't do big open environments well. Also the weapons are really showing their age now and I know it wouldn't make much sense to change them up until Half-Life 3 but... they do feel very 90's Half-Life like and I feel shooters have evolved from that. There are no new weapons that I remember aswel but the Gravity gun will still keep you more than happy with all the physics fun that no other FPS has tried to copy, which I find strange.
What I find more amazing however is Half-Life 2 - Episode two are the only games where I'm with alyx thathaving an AI partner to follow you doesn't get annoying. I do however wish that maybe they would add coop with a new character in the next half-life game, though hopefully not at the expense of the gameplay for the single player.
Half-Life 2: Episode Two is an amazing game and it'll stick in my mind as like the best bits of the series. However it is starting to show it's age now and it doesn't really offer anything new, just impoves upon it, which is great but... I miss that fresh Half-Life epic feeling of waiting years and years for a massive epic new engine powered game with a new story to tell like with HL and HL2.
