"The wait's over, finally!"

Half-Life 2: Episode One. Part one of the multiple award winning Half-Life 2s expansion pack trilogy, a year and a half in the making. It takes place directly after the events of Half-Life 2. All Hell has broken loose in City 17, and your primary goal is to evacuate -- quick. The game features a much, much higher emphasis on jump puzzles and the occasional physics puzzle, one of HL2s downfalls; but it is EVERYTHING Half-Life 2 should have been (not to rag on HL2, because it's an absolutely amazing game, don't get me wrong.) Let's break it down, shall we?

Graphics: 9/10

With the implementation of Valves HDR (High-Dynamic Range) lighting, it made an already gorgeous game even prettier. The new environment presented give the game a rather chaotic feel, as opposed to the very dark environment of HL2. Also worth mentioning are the BEAUTIFUL ambient sky effects above the Citadel. Valve never fails to disappoint in this regard.

Story: 8/10

Little is explained, maintaining the series' purposeful enigmatic nuances - but, for once, this kind of bothered me. I guess I was just expecting too much judging from the trailers, but I was hoping it would expand much further upon the situation, which is really did not. But it provides excellent speculatory tools for future episodes, which is not all bad. Does it advance the storyline quite a bit? Yeah. Does it explain anything? Not really. This doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would, but I guess that stems from being a regular LOST (the TV show) fan. :p

Sound: 6/10

Maybe it's just my lousy 5.1, but the sound in the game felt like a rather large step downwards. In Half-Life 2, the sound ENVELOPED you, gave you a feel for what you were doing with absolutely superb ambient effects. Episode 1, on the other hand, did not have this; nor did it have the (rather boring, but effective) music tracks, except for a couple spots, or maybe I just didn't notice them (doesn't say a whole lot about them, if that's the case.)

Gameplay: 8/10
Played HL1/2? You know the drill. Run and gun, baby. But the most prominent addition to the gameplay, in my opinion, are the much needed jump/physics puzzles that HL2 was in great need of. One large gripe I have is that they didn't add that much content, the only major thing being a new enemy (and a rather irritating one at that.) But, all and all, if you liked HL1/2s gameplay, you'll have no qualms here.

Replay Value: 3/10

Only thing you'll want to come back for is maybe the commentary.

Overall (not an average): 8.5/10

Short but sweet, well worth my $18. Finished in a little under three hours and loved every minute of it. Only real complaints are with the complete disregard for explaining some of the elements of HL2, but these will undoubtedly come later, and I can't wait for the next episodes.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/05/06