Pure pop Alyx's clothes must be getting whiffy by now.Īctually, as cosily familiar as you'll be with most of what Episode One has to offer, new additions and a shift in emphasis make it a refined, fat free Half-Life adventure that's rarely less than brilliant. In a sense we're very much in GTA III/Vice City/San Andreas territory: you know exactly what to expect, but love it precisely because it's more of the same. The fact that it's the first part of a coherent story-driven trilogy elevates it above expansion pack cash-in fodder, but at the same time it's perhaps too closely associated with its 'parent' game to be thought of as a bona fide sequel. Who wouldn't?īut once you play through Episode One it's hardly surprising Valve tied itself up in knots when deciding on a title. Just as the box says, this is "the first new episode for Half-Life 2," and the game's millions of fans will be more than happy with the opportunity to wield the gravity gun again, duff up the Combine forces and hang out with Alyx. Actually, Aftermath worked pretty well.ĭaft naming conventions aside, Episode One very much belongs to the original Half-Life 2 in every sense. "We should have just called it Half-Life 3: Episode One, but it's a bit late now," he chuckles.
Even Valve boss Gabe Newell seems exasperated with trying to justify it. So it's part two of Half-Life 2, but episode one of three of the second half of the story? Something like that. When is a sequel not a sequel? When it's Half-Life 2: Episode One, the confusingly titled first new episode in a trilogy of releases that picks up the story where HL2 left off.
0 kommentar(er)
