"Darkhelmet's Half-Life 2: Episode 1 Review"

aight aight. I had my copy prepaid at EB Games by February. I was going to get it the day it came out, but much to my dismay, my parents said I couldn't get it until after my exams. I had to wait an entire week until finally, today, I got it. I played it to completion in one sitting in 3 1/2 hours. Now that I got that out of the way, I can get to the review.

The game opens similarly to the beginning of the original Half Life 2. There is a black screen, with debris flying down like rain. You hear Breen's as he asks you what you have created in place of all your destruction. This is the same quip as in the final chapter of HL2. This opening sequence leaves more questions than answers as the vortigaunts appear in a pretty purple haze rescuing Alyx and you from the Citadel's explosion. You wake up under a pile of rocks, hearing Alyx and DOG searching desperately for you. DOG finds you, digs you out, and you are met with a post-apocalyptic sky and a citadel with a wormhole type cloud above it. That's all the exposition i'm going to give you for now.

This expansion differs greatly from its parent. You begin with your gravity gun and do not acquire another weapon until much later when you are in the underground streets. The crowbar even later. So far that it fails to play an important enough role. It didn't really even feel like half life without it.

Alyx also plays a crucial role in this game, as you never leave her side for more that 5 minutes (if you don't get lost). This is a big plus, as you do get in trouble quickly with the substantial decline of the amount of ammo in this game in comparison the HL2. Alyx can't die, never runs out of ammo, and has very well developed way points. She isn't a bad shot either. This is VERY good because of the amount of enemies in the game.

There are many puzzles in the game which left me more than satisfied. This game doesn't actually TELL you how to solve them either, Alyx just congratulates you with a "Good idea, Gordon!" when you finally solve it.

Barney doesn't play a huge role here until the last two chapters, however he does give you your crowbar again. He has his occasional quips that catch you off-guard and you'd be surprised the comments Barney and Alyx make with the things you can do. If you blow up a TV, Alyx gives you a "You're right, we don't have time to watch TV" and other subtle humor that surfaces throughout the game.

The skins of major characters have been redone slightly. Alyx has a little cut on her right eyebrow and Barney has a bruise here and there. However they seemed to redo Barney's face that makes him look a little more battle hardened which really drew from his character.

This game has a really fluid storyline and is a great buy for $20. It also has a preview of Episode 2 after you finish the game. It's really something to do one afternoon. It shouldn't take a seasoned player more than 5 hours to finish the game start to finish. I was really impressed with the game and am keeping my eye out for the next release date.

feel free to email me.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/12/06