Half-Life 2: Episode One

Originally Posted by Syphex

How do you know this? It doesn't release until the 1st.

There are such things as leaks, nevermind that somebody somewhere has played this game too.

Also, news on Episode 2 & 3: http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/valve/h...ted-176560.php

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Half-Life 2 is supposed(rumored to) to come out on 360 next year. I wonder if they will include Episode One with it. That would be pretty sweet.

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

Originally Posted by Stealth

There are such things as leaks, nevermind that somebody somewhere has played this game too.

Also, news on Episode 2 & 3: http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/valve/h...ted-176560.php

I'm probably going to buy Half-Life 2: Episode 1 after my new computer has been built since my current computer is still struggling to play Half-Life 2.

As for this picture...



...just looking at it sends shivers down my spine.

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

Already purchased and pre-loaded like what. I need to make sure my computer is all tuned up tonight so I have a lean machine for Thursday's gaming session.

How ya doing, buddy?

I've preloaded it, but stopped short of actually purchasing it online. I'm not sure why, I guess I just like actually having the CD itself, even though it offers no benefit as it's permanently attached to your steam account anyway.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I too have preloaded it but have yet to purchase it. Anyone know when it's out to buy in shops?

FELIPE NO

Tomorrow, apparently.

How ya doing, buddy?

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.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Well, I just beat the game, and I sort of feel ripped off. It felt too short I think. Though it was a pretty solid expansion pack. Plus nothing happens to Alyx.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Same here, it could have been a bit longer. Something I've noticed, though, is that on the chapter selection screen, the last chapter is titled "Coming soon" and simply causes HL2 to restart when I click the "Start new game" button.

Most amazing jew boots

Yeah I just completed it too, I don't feel ripped off, I have paid more for worse. It is a great game, I can't say there was any part I didn't like. And the end was, like Half-Life 2, a great cliffhanger. Bring on Episode 2!

Edit, i'm having the same problem YeOldeButchere, maybe a bug or something they are just not ready to release? I read that they were going to have a quick look at epidsode 2 at the end, much like SiN, so I dunno whats up

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

So how many hours did you guys need?

I was speaking idiomatically.

Ohh wait there is an Episode 2 trailer, and wow is all I can say, it looks great!

Grawl, it took me about 5 hours to complete, about an hour over SiN so there is more value for money here then with SiN but I enjoyed Emergence despite its length, it is deffinitly recommended

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Recommended to download you say? Ok. =p

FELIPE NO

Hahaha, I just recommend you play it by whatever means, I just bought it cause SiN was a pain to download so I thought I would have to end up buying it like I had to buy SiN

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

I downloaded SiN and the game works fine. I'll just check for Half-Life: Episode 1 when I finished SiN and see if it's downloadable by illegal means.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

After playing a bit of Episode 1, I really hope the eventually decide to go back and add HDR rendering to HL2....

How ya doing, buddy?

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.

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

Hm well I felt the same way about Lost Coast as well...It's different when you have more varied environments.

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

Just finished the game a little while ago, and well...

Spoiler:

Meh. It's rather underwhelming. It only took me about 3 hours to finish, and the only new thing in the game are the zombines. Which are basically just regular zombies but sturdier, they can run, and they might pull out and hold onto a grenade. No crab or mortar synths. ;_; And crap, the final boss is a fucking strider. I feel gypped.

The most interesting parts, by far, are the intro with the G-man and vortigaunts, and the ending movie that seems to indicate Alyx's death and reveals a new, "mini-strider-like" enemy.

On the bright side, at least, while I despised the portions of Half-Life 2 that you had to travel with Alyx because of her incompetence, she's much more capable of taking care of herself and helping you out in combat in this game.

Originally Posted by Eleo

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

Spoiler:

I'll go into depth about the intro movie, since it's one of the more interesting parts of the game:

First, you see a freeze-frame of Alyx and the explosion of the portal. But then a bunch of oddly-colored, glowing vortigaunts start appearing all around her, chanting; then they grab her and disappear. Cut to black, and the G-man walks out of a bright white door, like usual, close up on his face. But before he can say anything, you hear the same chanting, and a blue glow illuminates his face. He looks around, slightly worried, then the camera pulls back to show he's surrounded by vortigaunts. "We'll see about that," he says, as two vortigaunts grab you and everything goes black.

Next thing you know, DOG is digging you out of rubble, and Alyx is there too. You talk to Dr. Kleiner and Dr. Vance on some tv communicator thing, and they inform you that the only way to make it out of the city in time is to go back into the Citadel and stabilize the reactor.

That you and Alyx do, and it plays much like the final chapters of HL2. You even get the super gravity gun again, temporarily, but lose it for no apparent reason when the reactor stabilizes. Another point of interest is when you pass by an escaping Combine Advisor, who does some funky psychic thing on you that has no effect. Around the same time, Alyx also finds some important information file on a terminal and makes a copy of it - but it can't be read until you escape and decrypt it.

After that you find your way to a stalker train leaving the city, but unfortunately it crashes and you have to make it out on foot. You're still underground for a while, and there's lots o' zombies.

After making it back to the surface, you work your way through the city for a while until you meet up with Barney, who needs your help to get a bunch of citizens from a safe house to a secured train station. After taking 5 or 6 or so teams of them across, they load up with Barney and head in one direction, while you and Alyx plan to take a train in a different direction to lead the Combine away (since you've still got the important information they don't want you getting away with.)

This is all well and good, until while you're holding a gate open for Alyx, a strider shows up and destroys the crank. So you have to make your way up and across the station on cargo containters, where you find a box of rockets. Kill the strider, hop down, and get on the train with Alyx. As you make your way out of the city on it, first a bunch of Combine Advisors fly off from the Citadel and do their psychic thing on you as they pass. Then the Citadel explodes, and everything is engulfed in a blue light. The End.

Then you get the second most interesting part of the game, the ending movie. First it shows Alyx hanging onto a pipe off a ledge, apparently about to fall. Next a vortigaunt is shown, carrying and setting down her lifeless body, while a vortigaunt voice-over says "This is more than anyone can bare, but we will perservere." Then it shows the new "mini-strider-like" enemies, vortigaunts fighting antlions, etc., while a Dr. Vance voice-over says "We're done running. This is our chance to take back our world. We're not going to lose it a second time." Cut to Half-Life 2: Episode 2 logo.

I was speaking idiomatically.

For anyone who wants it who hasnt got Episode 1 yet, I'm uploading the Episode 2 trailer to yousendit

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Just downloaded bought the game. Unpacking Decrypting as we speak.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Grawl

Just downloaded bought the game. Unpacking Decrypting as we speak.

Well at least you won't have to wait the load times, isn't Half-Life much faster loading when not played through Steam?

The episode 2 trailer

http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.ph...E4BA276ABD3BC7

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

Just played till chapter 4, and so far the game is amazing. A few points that were really nice:

Spoiler:

* The beginning, where Dog throws you into the citadel.
* Protecting yourself and Alyx when the elevator goes down, using the energy balls.
* Reinverting the core reminded me of the end of the original Half-Life 2. Not bad.
* At the end of the trainstation-level, when you get overwelmed by zombies.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Wait Starman, wah...?

Something's not right with my version then, because it cuts right after

Spoiler:

the blue light at the end of "Exit 17", then it jumps straight to the credits, at which point the game simply exits, and restart.

I suppose the part I'm missing is that last chapter titled "Coming soon" which I can't seem to play for some reason. That's weird.

There's nowhere I can't reach.