Half-Life 2: Episode One

I'm hyped, but I wish I would be longer than 6 hours. That's pretty much going to be several thousand people's evening's.

Also, I wish they'd stop pushing the date back. Shit was already supposed to come out.

And finally, I wish these kids would release Black Mesa: Source. There's not enough HL action in my life.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

How do you make a mod for what's already somewhat of a mod in itself? I mean, Episode One is a standalone game, sure, but is it really going to have that many new things that people will really want to mod for it? I didn't see anything in the trailer but old enemies.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

What's a crab and mortar synth.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Magic

For episodic content, 6 hours should be plenty. If they can manage to release new content fairly frequently then it'll be even better. Also, to put $20 in context consider the prices of an MMORPG subscription (per month) or a magazine that comes out monthly. Then consider the price of your average PC/console game.

Yeah but do you remember how long ago Episode 1 was announced compared to how long it's taken to come out and how many times its been pushed back? I might be wrong, but I don't imagine another Episode being released within 2006 unless they've already started on it.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Too bad my "good" computer died and I don't think I can play Half Life 2 on an ATI Rage 128 Ultra, even with its stunning 16MB of RAM.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I found HDR to be meh at best. I played the Lost Coast level and it was okay, but the HDR wasn't really all that necessary IMO. Personally I don't like being pseudo-blinded when I look at the sky from inside a dark room...

Does anyone feel like typing up a plot spoiler? With my current computer I won't be playing this for months now.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Why was I under the impression that you actually played as Alyx in this game?

FELIPE NO

I'm looking at gameplay vids from the game. Is there any explanation as to how the "new" zombies came about? Or is it totally plausible for that sort of thing to happen?

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Oh, for some reason I imagined they were somehow immune to them (helmets?), which is why we've never seen a Zombine.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I played through this game yesterday, and I can say, if I paid for it, $5 would be an acceptable price. Truly, I don't think there's enough content in this game to warrant any more. We basically got one new enemy and a half, no new weapons, and the game was very short. And frankly, Zombine come off to me as throwaway enemies from Half Life 2.

I do like some of the "puzzles". For example, when I clogged an antlion hole with a car, I was proud of my brain. I was also proud of myself when I shot the planks off of a window so that Alyx could properly sniper oncoming zombies. I liked that some early fights required you to use the gravity gun since you are otherwise unarmed. I was somewhat excited during the final strider battle; I liked having to fight a strider up close as it did everything it could to take me down.

Besides that, I thought the game was simply "okay".

I don't see why the episodes could not be longer considering they were built on everything that was already there and reused the same textures, locations, weapons, and NPCs.

Also, since my copy is pirated; I was wondering if there was anything after the part where the explosion/flash reached Alyx and Gordon? The game cut off for me after that.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Grawl

So you say that they should have includes tons of new weapons and enemies, even though Gordon Freeman never left City 17? He couldn't find them in the original Half-life 2, but now he does? It makes sense that it's like this.

Not "tons" of new weapons or "tons" of new enemies. One or two of each would be nice; and something really original unlike Zombine which were just a twist on an old idea, or Stalkers which you don't even really engage in combat against. I'm not expecting a whole new set of enemies and weapons, just a few.

It was rather frustrating how they tease you with the mini-strider (look but don't touch!) and how the Crab and Mortar Synth are still not used for any purpose.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.