Half-Life 2: Episode One now playable
by Conrad Quilty-Harper 
{ Jun 1st 2006 at 3:40PM }
Valve has opened the virtual doors to Half-Life 2: Episode One: that's right, the first episode of the new series that follows the aftermath of Half-Life 2 is now playable on Steam. Rumors suggesting that the game would be pushed back until June 30th have fortunately turned out to be false. Up until now, pretty much all we knew about the plot of Episode One was a mysterious little blurb found on the official site that says "in Half-Life, the G-Man made you. In Half-Life 2, he used you to defeat Dr. Breen and start the Resistance. In Episode One, he's lost control." So, loyal Joystiq readers, get to it! We want to hear first impressions of the storyline, graphics and, most importantly, whether or not the G-man's immaculate suit has been torn as a result of him "losing control".
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ben @ Jun 1st 2006 3:51PM
i need to finish hl2 first
Chris @ Jun 1st 2006 3:56PM
this game is ... just WOW!!! x100
It is so epic I'm about an hour in and it is just amazing. There is no game like it.
Sabre @ Jun 1st 2006 4:04PM
Dude you had how many years now to finsih the game? It's not even that long.
I already got it loaded and installed on my work machine but it is the one day where I actually have stuff to do...oh well. I'll play it at home on my TV later tonight...hehe.
SuiXide @ Jun 1st 2006 4:09PM
So far, it looks like the lighting has been bumped up considerably. The story is awesome and so far as I've gotten Alex is right there by your side the whole time. There's a few new enemies to fight as well.
No new weapons or gameplay, just the same formula that made Half-Life 2 work in the first place. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Derbeste @ Jun 1st 2006 4:26PM
Overheard online:
Gaming kid 1: What's 'a slow news day'?
Gaming kid 2: Dude, don't you read Joystiq? A slow news day is when a gaming blog starts posting articles about people talking about the SATs!
Gaming kid 3: Um ... A slow news day occurs when very few events of relevence happen in the world or any subset thereof. Like say...the gaming industry.
Gaming kid 2: Whatever. Same thing.
Derbeste @ Jun 1st 2006 4:28PM
woops! Wrong thread. ><
I hate looking dumb. :(
lordtara @ Jun 1st 2006 4:36PM
Started it at 10:30 am and the credits rolled at 1:20 pm.
bedpanjohn @ Jun 1st 2006 4:43PM
haha dork
Andy O'Brien @ Jun 1st 2006 5:36PM
You can play EP1 without ever having played Half Life 2, but who here hasn't?
Great game, Alyx actually kicks butt this time around, there are some really challenging parts, and the new Zombine soldiers are certainly a challenge.
Grats Valve, can't wait for Ep2 (of which you get treated to a trailer for Ep2 at the end).
For $17.95 (if you preordered), worth it, for $19.95, still worth it, and hey it only takes an hour or so to download on Steam, no run to best buy required.
Andy O'Brien @ Jun 1st 2006 5:49PM
OK, first impressions. (tried to minimize the spoilers here)
Storyline, great, feels like you get enough story vs. playtime, you never really get tired of the game flow.
COMMENTARY TRACK! Like the Lost Coast, Ep1 has those wonderful commentary bubbles where Gabe and the gang talk about everything going on and the processes behind the game. I really hope this is a sign of things to come in gaming. Great stuff.
Weapons... Same as HL2, you get some playtime with the suped up grav gun, as well as all the other weapons, nothing new here.
New play mechanics, Some fun stuff with the Antelions, also those annoying camera bots are now 100x's more annoying thanks to HDR mode. When the Camera bots take your picture you get temporarily blinded, it's freaky, you practically cringe away from the monitor (play in the dark). Alyx gets in the way only a couple times, otherwise, she's definatly an asset throughout the episode. Even cracks a couple jokes along the way.
Graphics, Think Lost Coast, polished and looking good! Pay particular attention to darker areas. There are some areas where you see light reflecting off of dark tiles that's really quite amazing.
Oh, and like HL2 they have those cool rendered front end menus, and the end fight kicks ass.
Can't stop gushing about this one, on my way to MetaCritic in a moment to boost the user rating a bit.
Bloo @ Jun 1st 2006 5:51PM
"woops! Wrong thread. ><
I hate looking dumb. :("
Do you not understand the concept of a blog? Don't worry though, you don't *look* dumb.
Ian @ Jun 1st 2006 6:12PM
Damn I still haven't finished HL1 but I did beat HL2 :) I think I'll dl it when I change my CD key to another name.
burn23 @ Jun 1st 2006 6:25PM
my wife wont let me get it until I get significantly further with Oblivion.. HL2 was sweet, but Oblivion owns me..
I never should've bought that game..
thomas_h @ Jun 1st 2006 7:33PM
HL2 = Saweet
HL2 Episode One = Saweet
cant wait for episode two and three. btw whatsup with episode two coming later this year but ep 3 isn't coming until one year after ep 2 ??
Jim Nightshade @ Jun 1st 2006 8:14PM
Just Finished the game. It's Pretty short but fun. The end fight was kinda of lame... only one strider. One bad thing about this episode is that I wanted a new weapon and didn' get one. I know this episode was short and only costs $20... but come on.. It took Valve that long to make this... seems like all it was was new level design. At least give us something new. A new monster, gun, character... something!
-JN
Eric @ Jun 1st 2006 8:35PM
This game is made of pitchblack and HDR/bloom to the max. It's on par with the best of HL2, even better at some points, especially with the story and mood.
For $20, with the commentary tracks, HL2DM, and DoD:S, it's well worth the money.
Nicolas Redfern @ Jun 2nd 2006 6:31AM
Anyone who doubted the value of Episodic content, doubt no more!
It's brilliant and easilly worth the money- particularly outside the US due to brilliant exchange rates. With the discount and tax it came to £12. A bargain for how we get ripped off in Britain!
plagiarize @ Jun 2nd 2006 9:48AM
i'm only an hour or so in, but i was pretty amazed at how much better the game looked visually. i'd heard the improvement was 'subtle' but that's an understatement.
graphics aside, this should still be called aftermath. this episode seems to be all about cleaning up after the end of half life 2, before we properly move on in the next one. i don't mind that it's reusing a lot of things because it's using a lot of them in different ways.
the pacing seems much better too, with Alyx keeping you company, and having seemingly a tonne of dialogue to up the immersion, i'm hoping that Valve have her with you the whole time in episode 3 (since it's already looking like episode 2 is 'vehicles' where 1 is 'alyx').
good stuff, worth the $18 (or $20 if you didn't pre order. why didn't you pre order? did you think valve forgot how to make games?)
Sabre @ Jun 2nd 2006 3:26PM
My one gripe is that you are stuck with the gravity gun for quite a while before you come across a gun. The entire time that Alyx is running around shooting the Combine, you'd think she'd grab an extra pistol or 2.