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Big Fan of Halflife series.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: March 21, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I've already played HL1 and all components. Loved them all. As far as Half Life 2 and Episode one, Already played HL2 now on Episode 1. As far as Amazon and there pricing and shipping, No problems. Now this is where the probems come in. VALVE software, the proponents of the HF2 series want you to buy a disk and then not be able to install and play there game but instead require you to download the game from them. After installing there propriatory software to do this.Episode 1 on 756 download took me 12 days. I think after that my HL2 experience will end. No Episode 2 for me. Unless it's installable from the disk that I pay my hard earned money for.

The Game itself is good, but you MUST deal with Steam

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: January 25, 2007
Author: Amazon User

If you played Half Life 2, you already know everything you will need to know about the gameplay, and the graphics, which are fun and entertaining. In this extension, you and Alyx go poking around through the city ruins, fighting the baddies in much the same way that First-Person Shooters usually do. A lot of folks have commented that the game is a lot like Doom III, and I'd agree -- dark, creepy, with enemies jumping up and attacking you, etc. There are complaints about the game being too short, but for less than twenty bucks, I wasn't expecting a game that would last for weeks on end.

My problem was the *mandatory* online interaction with the "Steam" platform. On the game's box the buyer is told that no other software is needed to play Half-Life 2, Episode 1, except for what is in the box, but you cannot activate and play the game unless you submit and download validation and other content to and from Steam, and unless I'm quite wrong, this is done by software over the internet, not by telepathy or smoke signals.

Because of this, I had numerous problems, including frequent "crashes" during gameplay, especially between levels. Others have challenged my contention that Steam caused any of this, but why are Half-Life 2, and more particularly, Half-Life 2 Episode 1 the only games I've ever had these many problems with? Is it only a coincidence that that both of these games require the use of the Steam interface platform? Ultimately, the only way I could get HL2- Episode 1 to run satisfactorily was by disabling my firewall completely, and that is totally unacceptable. The criticism to that comment was that "all you have to do is run the game in the off-line mode", but something kept disabling my ability to do that, over and over.

In the end, the game is good, but it's simply not good enough to make me deal with Steam any more. No game would be.

Almost Flawless.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: August 01, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Alright, what's raelly pissing me off is the idiots saying this game sucks. Invasion of Privacy? What are you, stupid? Steam is an Online service that connects you with games easier, it automatically downloads updates for you, and you don't have to go to the store to pick up your game. Steam has a monthly fee? Who the hell do you think you are, dude? That guy's review with this game was nothing but spam.

Anyway, HL2: Ep1 is not for people who look for an open ended game. You can't free roam like in Oblivion, and you can't kill hookers or get fat off burgers. The game is a follow up to Half-Life 2 and starts off where HL2 left off. There are twists and turns to the story, and, while I won't give anything away, it definitely gives you more questions than provides any answers. This makes for a better, wider story development system, on the other hand. You'll find yourself calling Alyx's name in the game here and there in real life. Now, while the Source engine looks dated, Valve said in multiple interviews that they made Source to be highly Upgradable. Why don't you head over to a website and watch the HL2: Episode 2 Extended Trailer? Now we've got Cinematic Physics on our hands. Valve doesn't just raise the bar with this game, they twist it into new shapes.

Short but sweet! A work of art!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: August 06, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Plain and simple--If you liked Half-Life 2 you'll like Episode 1. Yes, it's more of the same but it's still great.

Well, to start of I love Half-Life 2 so of course I'm going to like Episode 1. To me it's like the other game I love: Mechwarrior. Yes, not all of the games are outstanding, but I buy them because I like the type of game. Same for Half-Life 2.

The graphics in Half-Life 2: Episode 1 are great! The HDR effects really add to the environments and their realism. It feels as though my eyes squint when entering a bright area or if I stare at the sun (in the game of course). Opposite is the way your eyes get used to the darkness. You might need to decrease graphics detail to get a better frame rate though. The animation is still the best I've seen. It helps that the skins of characters don't look glossy like Doom 3.

Sound is pretty good. The action sequences are themed along those of previous Half-Life 2 music--Techno sounding with guitars, etc. The dialog from Alyx and the other characters is still top-notch which adds to believability. The main focus is Alyx who will show more emotion and even make some jokes.

The levels, although using the basic set from HL2 (citadel and city 17), are a bit different especially the citadel. You get to see more of it from the inside while it's falling apart and get to see a previously seen enemy, up close. Yes, some of the levels use similar gameplay sequences from HL2 but some new ones are added. The similar sequences are still fun and that's probably why Valve put them in again. I still like the gravity gun...probably due to my engineering background.

The enemy AI is still the same where soldiers run after you without any strategy. This might be intentional as it isn't the main focus of the game. Valve might have given more weight to an overall experience as opposed to "frustratingly intense all the time" feel.

One novel quality of HL2: EP 1 is the addition of developer commentary which makes the game like an interactive "behind the scenes DVD." I like how the developers tell you about an issue in designing parts of the game and how they solved it. Awesome!

The experience is rather short (they say 4-6 hours) which got me thinking about the value of the game. Episodic content allows the developer to get the game to customers more quickly and receive feedback. To me, this translates into paying for convenience as I would think more money would be needed to publish each episode individually. So, for me, I was able to pay $16 bucks for the game (bought something else with it) which is $4-5 cheaper than going to the store and buying it. Great deal Amazon!

As for Steam, it hasn't given me problems. I know how to disable it at Windows start-up and I have dial-up so I play it in offline mode. Simple!

Lastly, if you have HL2, Episode 1 should only takes up about 2-2.5GB rather than 4.5GB stated in some reviews.

In all, Episode 1 and its predecessor are works of art.

worth the money

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: August 08, 2006
Author: Amazon User

It's a very good add-on that's not an add-on. It's a stand alone game, which pics up right where Half Life2 ends. It's a little short, but the idea is there will be several eposides following each other. It's well worth the money for any Half Life fan.

The same, intense Half-Life 2, only smaller.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: June 13, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Half-Life 2 was the game that put PC gaming back into perspective to me; it reminded me what I love so much about video games, and why I have spent hundreds of dollars on a gaming PC (only to have it outdated within several months.) The incredibly well played action, the lack of scripting, and the extremely precise integration of computer controlled characters made Half-Life 2 the most natural feeling game I have ever played in my life. Half-Life 2: Episode One, while short, does it all over again. I would expect no less from the able hands who crafted the two games who's boxes are on display in the front row of my computer room closet stash of boxes. Half-Life 2: Episode One, as promised, picks up right after the ending of Half-Life 2. It dives head first into the action after a small dialogue sequence between Alyx, Dr. Vance, and Dr. Kleiner. Gordron, as usual, is his shy self. After an awesome grand entrance to the first game objective, you're plunged back into the world of Half-Life to for around 6 hours. It's just as riveting, just as involving, and just as much of a white knuckled experience as Half-Life 2. You're kicking the crap out of combine soldiers with the friendly face of Alyx by your side and an arsenal of weapons and creative ideas. Before you know it, the rather short episode is over, and you're on end for Episode Two. Not the best $20 I ever did spend, but for Half-Life 2 it is worth it. I intend to purchase Episode Two and Episode Three. In the gaming world, it doesn't really get any more emotional, gripping, or intense as Half-Life 2, and I include the Halo series. They simply lack the emotional attachment that Half-Life 2 has. Half-Life 2: Episode One is a modern creation - take the same thing, make it smaller, and it's a hit. Whether or not this will be a hit is yet uncertain, but I think it's wholly deserving of being called a Half-Life game.

Stale and dated...

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 6 / 17
Date: July 21, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Well I played the non-steam version so this isn't a review including steam (which has put me off valve forever). Never again will I wait for Steam to update itself every single time I load up the game, never...

As for Episode One:

Graphics: It is admittedly starting to look dated. Graphically it doesn't compete with the latest games (FEAR, Oblivion or even Tomb Raider for goodness sakes) but nevertheless it is better still than average. The Half-Life engine is still the best at creating facial characters (at least vis-a-vis Oblivion) though this seldom matters. The textures, particularly when you are close up are very dated compared to modern games but the water still shines in its subtle way. You still feel like you are in a hovercraft, as there is no real sense of moving properly or stepping - you are simply sliding around, no real sense of proper movement, you cast no shadows and have no legs, you are basically riding a rail.

Sound: Superb. This is where the game really shines. Great sound effects and the music maintains the momentum of the scene in question to aid in the atmosphere.

AI: Half Life 2 was a step down in this department from Half Life 1 and this is still the case here. There are no tough opponents in this game and no clever tactics to defeat you that were present in the Half Life 1 and its brilliant sequel Opposing Force. Much better things to be found elsewhere.

Story Telling. This is where Valve has traditionally shined. The original Half Life was a masterpiece in this area. More recent games such as FEAR and FarCry borrowed heavily from Half Life 1 and in some areas expanded on it. Half Life 2 though, despite some brilliant set pieces was a step backward in this area from the original. Episode 1 does nothing to bring back the atmosphere from Half Life 1 and does not offer and real answers to the questions being raised. When Half Life 2 was released I was working in the gaming industy. The game was hyped to the unbelievable and I bought it on the first day. After a week none of the gamers talked about it again as everyone had moved on to games with some substance. Nothing will change with Episode 1.

Value for Money: You are better off waiting for the FEAR expansion pack or playing Oblivion (if for some reason you haven't discovered it as yet). Episode 1 simply doesn't offer a reasonable enough experience for the money. With so many new things just around the corner (think Crysis) it is difficult to justify a purchase here.

Half Life 2

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 6
Date: August 07, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The game was OK. I just don't like the steam interface. It constantly hangs up my computer every time I turn the computer on. It always wants to connnect and it slows down my computer. I will not be buying the rest of the series.

Leaves more to be desired

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 6
Date: June 11, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Episode one has been anticipated by many, and has let down in certain aspects. Episode one takes off immediatly after Halflife 2, answering some questions and leaving us with more. Many people are let down by the length of game play, which is relatively three hours, give or take, depending on your skill level. Nevertheless, Valve delivers and leaves us craving for more. If the next episode is as short and clastrophobic as Episode One was, I don't see buying a third installment.

Pro's:
Answers some questions
Alex tags along as sidekick
Provides some interesting game play

Con's:
Short game
No new weapons
Leaves us asking more questions
Alex can get in the way sometimes

*Can't say I am too happy with steam or the episode approach. For twenty dollars an episode, I am hoping for at least a solid five to six hours of gameplay. When the 60 dollar mark hits (episode three?), I will be expecting 15 to 20 hours of gameplay.

I don't think I have ever been more amazed.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 14
Date: June 05, 2006
Author: Amazon User

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! That was the fist word out of my mouth when I entered the train station for Half-Life 2 on the Xbox. While the graphics weren't suberb and even though I had seen the same video over and over on my computer screen at ign, I was still blown away by it. Half-Life 2 on the Xbox was just an incredible game, and it was kindof sad for me to find out that I could run the game on P.C. even better I didn't want to go out and by another game that was exatly the same except for the two facts that graphics were better on P.C. and that you could also download a multiplayer componant for the P.C. version.

Anyways, like most people I was confused to an amount at the end of Half-Life 2. I wasn't mad though, because you know what Valve is pulling off when they leave you hanging on a cliff. They are making you thrive as much as you can to buy the next game that comes out so you can see what happenes. They also pull off this stunt of making you want the next game even more by giving out little to no information about the next game. When e3 2006 pulled around Valve said they would not be showing up, probably because the game was a month away from release anyways.

Okay, the past two paragraphs might have possilby seemed pointless but I kind of wanted to give you a backround of things going through my head. I am here to give you my thoughts and review of one of the most amazing games I have ever played in my life: Half-Life 2 Episode One. For any of you who are wondering this phrase, "Why not aftermath, the box above says aftermath on it," I will give you the answer, so the next paragraph might take a little bit so if you know the answer to that question skip the next paragraph.

It seems that Valve decided NOT to make an expansion pack called "Aftermath." This time they have decided to give us an episode. No, don't worry, they are not giving us seizures, (though in a game like this you might expieriance one). When I say "episode" I mean something like several parts to a game. Or in simple terms, while Valve takes the next few years or so to create a third game (if they do) they give a nice candy bar which takes around a year to create. This candy bar, if nibbled wisely, will last you till you get your second candy bar, which should be at the end of the year. The idea of episodic games is quite smart and for this game, Valve makes it seem quite sucessful. And the storyline seems made for episodic content.

Okay, now that you know the purpose of episodic games and what they are, let us continue into the next pahse: the review itself.

Storyline- Last time, I didn't give much of a good revealing to what happened in the storyline, at the ending or the begining. I won't reveal much this time either but for those of you have not played any of Half-life 2 (Half-Life 2 is not required on your computer to run this game) you can eiter listen to this and learn the little information that I will give you OR ignore the following sentances until you reach a long line, just scroll down you'll find it. In Half-Life 2 you are sent by the G-Man, who is your puppeteer in a way, to City 17, one of the few remaining earth cities. Earth has been taken over by a ruthless group of creatures known as the Combine. You fight with your allies, Alyx Vance, Dog, Dr. Kliner, Eli Vance, and a cool soldier named Barney (NOT THE DINOSAUER). You soon enough get to the Citedel which is where all the creatures and soldiers (Combine soldiers) and ships, are coming from. It is the main base of operations for the Combine. Confront the person who said that Earth surrenders to the Combine (Dr. Wallace Breen) and defeate him by destroying the Combine's portal reactor. Which results in a giant explsosion, then the G-Man reapears to take you away.
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System Requirements- Half-Life 2 for the P.C. had one of the largest ranges for system requirements at the time for it's release. It could run on a extremely high system but the minimal requirements were extremely low so any computer that used it could probably run it well. Valve continues to follow doing this, requirements are exactly the same as Half-Life 2 for the P.C. Here's a list:

Minimal Requirements
1.2 GHz Processor Speed, 256MB RAM, DirectX 7 Level graphics card, Windows 2000/XP/ME/98, Mouse, Keyboard, Internet Connection

Recommended Requirements
2.4 GHz Processor Speed, 512MB RAM, DirectX 9 Level graphics card, Windows 2000/XP, Mouse, Keyboard, Internet Connection
My computer easily reaches near the recommended zone, I only have a 2.0 processor. So you probably shouldn't have to worry about this area too much.
You will also need a DVD drive for this game if you buy it in stores instead of downloading it from Steam.
Graphics- Half-Life 2 on the P.C. stunned the world with graphics, and Valve did it again with a really spiffy update to some of their graphics while maintaining the same requirements as before, like I said. They are really incredible graphics, with amazing facial expressions. You should really try to put the character textures at high in the settings for this game. At least the first chapter because it's amazing to see how Alyx's face can show her signs of being fatigued, sad, worried, happy, amazed and so much more. General textures are amazing at high, but take large chunks out of that framerate of yours if it is at high. Sadly, I had to put it at medium, which looks like the Xbox graphics: not too appealing. HDR, stands for High Dynamic Range, which is hard to explain but I will try to tell you how greatly it works in this game. Take a sunny day at home and have a window shade covering half your window, avoid letting any other lights in the room so it is quite dark compared to the rest of your home. Now, stare at an area in the room that barely has any light on it, also make sure no light from the window is touching this surface. Continue to stare at it for about 10 seconds. When you are done, look at surface near the window that has the light from the window shining on it. The area should look enlightened to a large extent, to the point where you can only see pure light, you can't even see details on the surface clearly. In due time, it will not seem to bright anymore, and you will see details on that surface again. This is one of the features you will expieriance with HDR fully enabled in the game. Not every level includes HDR just to know. I was very happy to know that my computer ran this game with full HDR without large portions of framerate drop. Whenever there is a game that has HDR, it normally does not run that well at all. The Rainbow Six Lockdown P.C. demo ran terribly with HDR, and Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter does not even run on my computer, I attempted to install the demo. In the advanced graphic settings area in the menu, there is stars next to the settings that Valve recommends you use in the game. These settings, from what I know, are all different for each and every computer, and they are quite trust worthy. I get a very good balance of graphics and framerate with these settings, the only dissapointment for me in these recomendations is that they say I should completely turn off Anti-Aliasing. There is a large amount more on the graphics to this game, but I feel I should press on.

Gameplay- An area large amounts of people look at. Really the gameplay is very identical to the gameplay in Half-Life 2, intense. But with Alyx fighting at your side throughout almost the entire game, you get a different feeling. There is a good variety of fun moments where Alyx will do something scripted, like get into a sniper position and cover you as you advance into the next area, pop the heads off of Zombines (more about them later) and more. The gun training feeling that I mentioned in the Half-Life 2 review on Xbox is not integrated into the game as well this time. But you don't really need it to be. Also the locations you fight in have good variety this time, like a dark, scary, low ammo, power downed, undergound, highway. Full of Zombines and Zombies. Zombines are the names that Alyx gave to Combine soldiers that have been taken over by headcrabs. They are quite tough creatures, and take more than one shotgun blast to kill, unlike normal zombies. You'll also be fighting creatures more often this time, considering the fact that the Combine defense if failing, so there are more antlions and alike creatures making their way into City 17. Another place you fight in is obviously City 17. The Gravity gun is still there, and you get another fun time to have it supercharged but it will die off in time. Really, this game won't last you long. Five chapters long, and something around 4-6 hours. BUT, Valve gives you a director's commentary included, you don't need to go out and buy a limited edition or anything, you already have a commentary which is really fun and nice. You'll learn quite a bit about the clever minds of Valve and it's amazing how they create simple things that you don't notice to give you such a great game. So the replayabillity is still in the medium level, enough to last me till Episode Two at the end of the year. Also, after you beat the game there is a sneak peak trailer for the next episode which I will not say anything about, not even my opinion on it. So you get quite a bit with twenty dollars. Also, loading times, which came often on the Xbox version but went by quickly are still here in Half-Life 2 Episode One. This time, the loading times happen less often, but they last longer, like a bathroom break longer.

Okay, moving on again because I was running out of things to write about the gameplay.

Sound- As good as Half-Life 2 for P.C. Half-Life 2 on the Xbox had some strange differances with the sound than the P.C. version but it was good. Also, in this game, if you set the video settings too high it is possilbe you might run into sound problems in the opening video but shouldn't happen. Also the stuttering problems in sound compared to what I've heard about the P.C. version of Half-Life 2 seem to be fixed.

Music- I've said it before that I'm not much a person who WRITES about music. Half-Life 2 Episode One still has music that is strange, but it still matches the game enjoyably.

A.I.- With Half-Life 2 Episode One, the A.I., that was used incredibly with Half-Life 2, has been enhanced to even smarter levels than before. They'll still pull off smart flankings. Zombines will charge you after you shoot them for the fist time, they also at certain times pull out grenades and walk towards you while they hold it. Which is funny watch when you have a whole group of Zombies around him. Friendly character A.I. is mostly noticed with Alyx as she does a few cool instant kill moves. Along with smart pistol shooting. Really, Valve said that they did not give Alyx too many good fighting attacks when shooting. But what can be really cool is when you use your flashlight in the dark to let her see the enemies and she takes out the bad guys.

The game is Half-Life 2 Episode One, the developer is Valve. This is the review, and I'm summing up what I've typed for an hour and a half. Hope you enjoy this game and be amazed that much.

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