Shiz, man. I've been pretty bored, despite the fact that I bought two new games recently: Killer7 and Half-Life 2: Episode 1. In this entry, I'll discuss my experiences with Half-Life 2: Episode 1.

I wasn't really too keen on the "episodic content." Episode 1 doesn't really make me feel better about it, but it's still pretty good. At least I don't have to wait 7 years for a sequel, right? Yeah.

Anyways, Episode 1 is a weird name. Shouldn't the first Half-Life 2 be episode 1 of Half-Life 2? Then this would be Episode 2? Or they coulda just stuck with the initial title: "Half-Life 2: Aftermath." I think that would've worked better.

The graphics are pretty much the same, too. The difference is in HDR lighting, which gives the game a more realistic look, at least when it comes to lighting effects. The stutter bugs seems to have come back, though. Ugh. Sometimes I love the Source Engine, but I hate it more than ever now that I found out that the engine is the reason behind the stuttering. I can run Doom 3 and Quake IV just fine on high settings, but HL2 on even the lowest settings can = stutter mania.

As for the actual game, it's entertaining. Though the weapons and gameplay mechanics are essentially the same as in Half-Life 2, it presents a real different experiences. For one, you're not alone. You've got your buddy Alyx to tag along with you. You'd usually expect a character like that to be a nuisance while playing, but Alxy is quite a bit of help. I usually found myself running low on ammo, and Alyx apparently has an infinite amount of it, so I just shine a flash light on some zombies and she shoots them for me. She's usually got something to say about something, and it's not really annoying, repeated dialogue. And you never really have to defend of coax her to do something. I like this. Valve did a good job at creating a support character like this.

As for other changes that make it feel like a new experience...you don't get the freakin' crow bar 'til near the end of the game! 'course, by that's only an hour or two into the game, since the game is so damn short. So in the beginning, you're only equipped with the gravity gun, and soon after that, the super gravity gun. It's not as fun to use as it was in the original HL2, though. You'll be yearning for a real gun.

When you finally get a gun, though, you won't be able to see anything to shoot. I'm not sure what exactly was going through Valve's mind, but Doom 3 was proof that an FPS game which is 90% black and dark isn't that enjoyable, but at least Doom 3 had a flashlight with infinite batteries! In Episode 1, we're fighting zombies in the dark with a handgun with limited ammo, a shotgun with limited ammo, and a flash light with limited power! Gah! 'course, Alxy's presence makes it less frustrating, but it's still not a fun time at the park. However, the darkness presented some pretty neat gameplay elements. You're able to use flares in this part of the game. You can light them and walk with them, put them somewhere, or even burn zombies to create a new light source! That was really cool, though I usually didn't have many opportunites to do that, 'cause my flares kept going out before I found a zombie to burn.

Episode 1 puts Gordon (the main character) in a lot more "tight situations" than in the original game. It's so surprising whenever you find yourself in these "Oh, shiz" situations, and it's really funny and pretty entertaining to find a way out of them. One of these situations is pictured to the left. I was XD'ing when I fell into this trap. The commentary on the game even mentioned that such a situation would be really unlikely, but they found it fun, and it is. I'll write a little more about the commentary later on.

The game was really short, though..really short. At first, I didn't think it was worth 20 bucks. A lot of the game was a bit too similar to Half-Life 2. There were no new weapons, only one new enemy, and the environments were pretty much exactly the same as Half-Life 2's. The game only lasted a few hours. I was surprised that it had come to an end the day after I bought it. I was like, "WTF? ...that's it?"

However, after I beat the game, I remembered that the game featured an optional commentary mode, where you could click on icons at various points in the game and hear some commentary from the developers of the game. That made, along wtith the game itself, made it worth 20 bucks. Even if not, I probably would've bought Episode 1 eventually anyway. I don't think it'll be going down in price, due to it already being cheap.

After Episode 1 is completed, a trailer is shown for Episode 2. Episode 2 will be worth every penny of those 20 dollars! The game seems to be set place in a forest or wilderness setting, much different than the urban setting of Half-Life 2. And also, the game is coming with Team Fortress 2, and PORTAL! Holy crap, Portal looks phenomenal! Check out the trailer, which I'll post below the next paragraph.

Okay, I'm done for now. That probably wasn't an very in-depth impression on Episode 1, but I'm no journalist. Anyway, watch the Portal trailer. Byeee.