Half Life 2 Episode 2 Review

So, I got round to playing it finally and I have to say, I was very impressed. I think the problem with Episode 1 was that, being the first of these episodic releases, you never knew how long it was going to be. There had been plenty of hype around this which was almost over-shadowed by the release of the Orange Box, which also contained, new releases, Portal and Team Fortress 2. Did it add up to the hype?

The first thing that is remarkable about this game is the setting and that was obviously going to change due to the end of the last episode. You do not start in a forest straight away however, as the ending of Episode 1 may have led you to believe. This game starts, more or less, in an Antlion nest, a cavey sort of place but being armed with nothing but the gravity gun at first is not easy. There are a different type of antlion too, these prefer to attack you with some sort of spray from afar. Then you make your way to the forests where you are given a car, different from the buggy, which helps you cruise the landscape with ease. You end up at a missile silo which delivers much of the familiar urban combat we're used to.

Another great thing about this game is all the new stuff they've added in this game. The creatures you come across are mostly the same, especially the soldiers as there is no change here but the best new enemy is the Hunter. These are a bit like Striders only a bit smaller. They are just bigger than a man and this makes them quite dangerous because they can enter buildings. They are difficult to kill, will take up a lot of ammo and have two attacks; one being rapid-fired, it hits you and then explodes and the other is a charging tackle which sends flying into the air. You are able to run them over which is a relief to find out when you get the car. In terms of new weapons, there is the Magnusson Device. Not technically a weapon because you cannot select it in your inventory, the Magnusson Device is fired using the gravity gun to the underbelly of the Striders which it sticks to. These explode and blow the Strider up. These are dotted all around one particular part of the map where you are under attack from Striders and Hunters.

The gameplay parts are fantastic, it seems amazing how many new ideas keep coming from the same world and the same series. What Valve are best at is making sure the player knows where to go and what to look at without thinking that they are being guided through. This is done by using set-pieces in a fantastic way and by prompting players rather than forcing them. If a player wanted to give something else a go, they could but they'd probably fail and enjoy the game a little less because of it. The set battles are always fresh because the scenery differs enough for each battle to be different. Puzzles are always fun to accomplish because they are always different but always still conform to the logic of the universe you are in.It goes the same for character building. The characters are well established with great voice acting on every part. Particularly compelling in this episode was the voice of the Vortigaunt who leads you underground to save Alyx.


When it comes down to it, some people may say that this game is a little short (I completed it in one sitting) but the fun and excitement you get out of it is the kind that makes you go back and do it again. These episodes are designed to be short and contain more story. If they weren't so short then they'd take a lot longer for Valve to churn out and that is certainly something I don't want!

All in all, a great episode and I now cannot wait for Episode 3.

95%

Life...

I've been playing a couple of games recently. One is Madden, which I have been playing a lot! It's one of those lazy things where I can't really be bothered to get up and change the disk, which is the ultimate in laziness but happens to me every day! I love the game, don't get me wrong, but I feel that it does get a little grating. I can't play the game online because the Americans are a hundred times better at it than I am. I would hope that the opposite would be true for something like Fifa because I am making a claim here that just because they are American means that they should be better at playing Madden. This generalisation might get me in trouble (with who I'm not sure) but fuck it! I think the thing about it is that you have to have a lot of experience to be good and I've only picked it up in the last few years. Is still enjoy the single-player and I think I'm getting better sometimes, then I go back online and get embarrassed!

The other game I've been playing is CoD4 which rarely gets old. The online is excellent although I don't really get the prestige mode. Surely this is just for elitists to boast about the special symbols next to their name but I would rather have a massive scope on my amazing gun! I end up playing team-tactical mode most times. There's something about the slow, calculated nature of search and destroy with only 6 players on the map that I love. And it seems to be the only mode which lets you play all of the game modes on a shuffle type setting. It had one but it disappeared! I suppose the best thing about CoD4 is that it's one of those games that you discover something new every now and again. Like discovering the joys of claymore mines for the first time or finding a new spot to hide that everyone goes past so you can blow their heads off without them knowing. I suppose the best thing is when you find yourself in a really evenly matched game with a couple of people who are really chatty and not complete dickheads!

I still haven't got round to playing HL2Ep2 which is a travesty I know. Having never played the Xbox version of HL2 before, I was intrigued to see what it played like so I started playing that with a view to moving on to Ep1 and then Ep2 after all that. I got bored, what can I say, I've played that game 6 times (I know, I'm sad!) and now I've run out of steam, no pun intended! I'm going to go back and play it because it is supposed to be really good installment. Are they going to release Ep3 on the Xbox. Is it going to be freestanding or is it going to be packaged in a different colour box, like turquoise?

Anyway, welcome to my gaming habits for the past few weeks!