Review by: Cliff Bekar
Published: May 22, 2006

We have all heard some version of the following story: An endless stream of sequels has sucked the innovative oxygen out of the gaming industry. Sequels demand an ever-larger share of developer resources, of retail shelf space, of gamer mind share, and gamer dollars. And since sequels don’t grow the market, they threaten the very future of gaming. The details of the story differ as regards the identity of the ultimate culprit. Perhaps consumer preferences are overly staid, or perhaps the technology of next generation game development, with its movie-like budgetary outlays, has forced publishers to seek safe sources of cash flow. But the main implication is always the same, sequels tend to stifle innovation. Turns out that the story is fatally flawed: I just played a sequel to the sequel of a game that generated two official expansion packs. Five ‘sequels’ and counting, and it was deeply innovative.

It is precisely the innovative nature of Half Life 2: Episode One that makes it tough to review. Episode One does not innovate in the traditional sense, there are no new gameplay mechanics, no new weapons, no breakthroughs in its level design. Still, the conception of digital entertainment represented by Episode One is different then anything that has come before. In a very real way, where you come down on Episode One is a function of where you come down on the bet that Valve is placing on the future of gaming software. In the future, so argues Valve, we will be buying episodic content directly from developers over broadband connections. Love it or hate it, it seems Steam and its inevitable imitators are here to stay. All this makes for a technically innovative sequel that plays much like the first two games in the series. So, how to judge a sequel that plays like an expansion pack, but holds out the promise of a steady stream of episodic content? How to judge a sequel that forgoes the usual panoply of exotic new locales and weapons in favor of developing a more nuanced narrative arc? How to judge a game that purposely develops characters and situations that will have no payoff for months? Valve is no longer producing Half-Life 3: Aftermath, at least not in the traditional sense. It now plans to deliver three shorter ‘episodes,’ which, in their entirety, will look much like a traditional game (so the entire package should end up costing around $60). A key question burning up internet forums, including those here at Avault, concerns whether or not these shorter episodes, with their five to six hours of gameplay, are worth $20 each. If Episode One is any guide, yes. Despite the fact that no new multiplayer content is included, and the new single player content is quite limited.

Half-Life 2: Episode One, an awkward title for the ‘sequel’ to Half-Life 2, starts off, quite literally, exactly where HL2 ended. The first thing Gordon sees is Alyx Vance recoiling in the face the oncoming explosion that ended HL2. No major spoiler in revealing that Gordon and Alyx survive the explosion (was their any doubt) high atop the Citadel. And, right from the start, we are confronted with far more questions than answers. In fact, within the first ten minutes, we learn that the the Vortigons have some tricks up their sleeves (they save our heroes) and that the G-Man is out of commission! Gordon and Alyx are able to contact Dr. Kleiner and Eli on a surviving Vid Terminal, on yet another Vid Terminal we learn that the leader of City 17 survived Gordon’s attacks, but is only a couple steps ahead of our hero (although, it turns out, we’re not after him this time). At first the duo are drawn out of the city in the hopes of transporting an important message to the resistance. Later, as the game progresses, they need to escape the city to save their own lives as the reactor core in the combine Citadel threatens to explode, taking the city, and perhaps much more, with it.

Along the way you will encounter many familiar locales and people. All of which serve to bring you back into the narrative that HL2 established. Dog even shows up in the beginning to facilitate your reentry into the Citadel, and later Barney helps you evacuate a number of resistance fighters.