#HALF LIFE 2 EPISODE 2 PC#

You and Alyx are leading the flight from the city getting up close and personal with some of the creatures and sights from the end of the game.'ĭespite this comment and much fan speculation, the Combine Crab and Mortar synths were not present in Episode One Stalkers and previously glimpsed areas of the Citadel are instead encountered and explored by the player.Īfter some initial confusion, sparked partly with an attempt at humor by PC Gamer UK, which suggested that Alyx was Episode One's playable character, it was confirmed that players would indeed play as Gordon Freeman – unlike the original Half-Life expansion packs, which all dealt with different characters. The whole place is going to go up, taking out City 17 and what's in its immediate radius. You've done critical damage to the Citadel.

'Episode One deals with the events and issues set in motion during Half-Life 2. The announcement article also saw Marc Laidlaw explain the game's premise: They then rush to make it out of a war-torn City 17 as quickly as possible and also help evacuate any remaining citizens left.Įpisode One's focus is on character development, in particular that of Gordon's female sidekick and friend Alyx Vance, to the extent that she accompanies the player for virtually the entire game: 'It's kind of ironic that despite so much of the theme of Half-Life 2 being about other characters and other people, you spent most of the game alone,' project lead Robin Walker said in the episode's announcement article in PC Gamer UK. Taking place in City 17, just after the events of the last game, Half-Life 2: Episode one again follows scientist Gordon Freeman and his friend Alyx Vance as they stabilize a damaged Citadel core to buy time before it explodes, which will destroy the city and the surrounding area. Main article: Half-Life 2: Episode One storyline

The retail copies of Episode One also come with Half-Life 2 Deathmatch for those who have not previously purchased the later title. It takes advantage of several major upgrades to the Source engine since the release of Half-Life 2, primarily its high dynamic range rendering capabilities and the upgraded facial animation system.Įpisode One was released together with Half-Life Deathmatch: Source, a port of the original Half-Life's multiplayer, which doubles as Episode One's multiplayer component. The episode is a stand-alone game while a continuation of Half-Life 2, it does not require the original game to be installed or registered to a user's Steam account to play. The player is forced to deal with the effects of their actions during the main game. The episode takes place immediately after the end of Half-Life 2, in the war-torn setting of City 17. Half-Life 2: Episode One is the first of a planned trilogy of expansion packs/episodes for the 2004 first-person shooter game, Half-Life 2.

Half life 2 episode 2