The Ü™
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Follow Freeman through "Half-Life 2: Episode Two" -- Attack of the...never mind.
It's been too long a gap between Half-Life 2: Episode Two and Half-Life 2: Episode One, the first expansion pack after the award-winning Half-Life 2, which has been on the market for nearly three years and is still looking marginally strong.
Where we last left Gordon Freeman (you play as him -- the dude with the crowbar), we were leaving the City 17, but not before destroying the Citadel. With faithful companion Alyx Vance, Episode Two starts after the train used to exit City 17 was derailed and thrown over a cliff at the cliffhanging (no pun intended) ending to Episode One. Gordon and Alyx are now left in forested wilderness, trying to reach the White Forest.
Episode Two is much longer an expansion pack than Episode One. It is reportedly supposed to be the meat between the buns that make up Episode One and the upcoming Episode Three -- meaning that it's planned to be the longest.
Powered once again by the Source engine, which made its debut in 2004 with, yes, Half-Life 2, we now get to see a side of the Half-Life universe we've never seen before. And there are new creatures added to this game and new textures for creatures known as the Vortigauts, who are voiced, this time around, by Tony Todd (of Candyman fame -- he also played the super-awesome mortician in the first two Final Destination movies).
Episode Two proves the Half-Life universe to still be a remarkable storytelling feat. There is rarely a dull moment in Episode Two's story, and Valve (developer of the Half-Life games for all you noobs out there) continues to stimulate the gamers minds not only with first-person shooter action, but also with various puzzles to test our problem-solving skills and physics that seem to get more impressive every time.
Episode Two, like Episode One, also has a number of graphical enhancements. Where Episode One's graphical enhancements mostly revolved around the new HDR (high-dynamic ranging) filters, which made lighting effects look drastically more real, Episode Two has some more subtle, but all-the-more effective gore enhancements and particle effects. Episode Two also has new creatures, most notably the Hunters, miniature versions of the Striders that are animated flawlessly.
The game is riddled with the amazing action and sequences that are more than you would expect from an expansion pack. This was a factor that made Episode One sort of a letdown.
Unfortunately, I am having trouble gathering all my thoughts right now, so I'll probably tweak this review...
It's been too long a gap between Half-Life 2: Episode Two and Half-Life 2: Episode One, the first expansion pack after the award-winning Half-Life 2, which has been on the market for nearly three years and is still looking marginally strong.
Where we last left Gordon Freeman (you play as him -- the dude with the crowbar), we were leaving the City 17, but not before destroying the Citadel. With faithful companion Alyx Vance, Episode Two starts after the train used to exit City 17 was derailed and thrown over a cliff at the cliffhanging (no pun intended) ending to Episode One. Gordon and Alyx are now left in forested wilderness, trying to reach the White Forest.
Episode Two is much longer an expansion pack than Episode One. It is reportedly supposed to be the meat between the buns that make up Episode One and the upcoming Episode Three -- meaning that it's planned to be the longest.
Powered once again by the Source engine, which made its debut in 2004 with, yes, Half-Life 2, we now get to see a side of the Half-Life universe we've never seen before. And there are new creatures added to this game and new textures for creatures known as the Vortigauts, who are voiced, this time around, by Tony Todd (of Candyman fame -- he also played the super-awesome mortician in the first two Final Destination movies).
Episode Two proves the Half-Life universe to still be a remarkable storytelling feat. There is rarely a dull moment in Episode Two's story, and Valve (developer of the Half-Life games for all you noobs out there) continues to stimulate the gamers minds not only with first-person shooter action, but also with various puzzles to test our problem-solving skills and physics that seem to get more impressive every time.
Episode Two, like Episode One, also has a number of graphical enhancements. Where Episode One's graphical enhancements mostly revolved around the new HDR (high-dynamic ranging) filters, which made lighting effects look drastically more real, Episode Two has some more subtle, but all-the-more effective gore enhancements and particle effects. Episode Two also has new creatures, most notably the Hunters, miniature versions of the Striders that are animated flawlessly.
The game is riddled with the amazing action and sequences that are more than you would expect from an expansion pack. This was a factor that made Episode One sort of a letdown.
Unfortunately, I am having trouble gathering all my thoughts right now, so I'll probably tweak this review...
