Half Life 2: Episode 1

GAME SNIP
Genre: First Person Shooter
Developer: Valve
Publisher: Valve

Pro's: Graphics just as gorgeous as always, sound is good, same addictive gameplay, great sidekick AI

Con's: EXACT same gameplay, feels like playing a few selected missions from HL2 over again, repetitive levels, short

The first expansion to Half Life 2, the game delivers much of what you would expect from Valve and the Source Engine. The graphics, including the now famous voice acting and facial expressions of characters from the original Half Life 2 are still there, and the fast paced gameplay returns as well. My main gripe with this is that the short, linear levels present in the expansion pack are strongly reminiscent of a few of the last missions from Half Life 2. The first level, however, is fantastic and a blast to play.

Not only are you reintroduced to the characters in this first level, such as Alyx and Dog (I would have put a spoiler warning were it not for the bucket loads of screenshots featuring both of said characters preceding release), and that it has a look unique compared to the rest of the levels in the game, and it requires a moderate degree of problem solving using the gravity gun, which is always fun.

Now, we come to the most annoying thing about this game. As any shooter veteran will be able to tell you, it has sort have become a cliché for all shooters to have a "spider level;" that is, a level full of tons of weak, fast, insect-like creatures. There are way too many of these for such a short expansion. Without giving too much away, there are far too many times when certain types of enemies spawn infinitely, adding a cheap degree of difficulty that is especially surprising from a developer who has largely avoided that in the past.

There isn't really much to say on the graphics, sound, physics, etc... other than they're stellar, but given HL2's credentials in those areas, no one playing the game will be really surprised by any new graphical flares.

One nice touch is the inclusion of the developer commentary, when turned on, activated through little chat bubbles in game, and there's a pretty good amount of it as well. Hopefully the next two expansions in this trio will include this as well.

Overall: 80% - Though this is surely going to get rave reviews from most reviewing sites/magazines, the shortness of the gameplay and the lack of level ingenuity, especially the almost lazy seeming infinite spawning enemies for cheap difficulty are flaws which cannot be overlooked. A bit disappointing, think of it as the Blue Shift of Half Life 2 without the major graphical upgrade. Still, very fun over all, and well worth the $20 price tag.