Continued

Where the developers didn’t depart the formula is in the storytelling. As always, the writing is excellent. Not, perhaps, in the verbose and intricate way of Fallout or Planescape, but rather in its subtlety and capability of weaving a believable alternate universe with its own rules and personalities. It’s really a combination of the writing and level design that creates an atmosphere and setting from which the player can draw as little or as much story as he wants. The storytelling isn’t always to every player’s tastes, as Gordon’s perpetual silence in the face of important questions is awkward under the best of circumstances, but the method works overall.

The plot takes its first major twist since the initial Black Mesa incident. Without revealing too much, we get another small hint about the G-man, as well as a new perspective on the Vortigons. Of less interest is the tale of Alyx, who somehow manages to continue being quite believably human, without actually catching our attention. Perhaps that will change in Episode Two, as Alyx and Dog go on their own adventure.

Another point of difference between Episode One and the main game is the far smaller appearances by the supporting cast. None of the doctors make major appearances, and even Barney’s time is quite limited. Some characters seem to be set up for future events, others just offer bit parts before disappearing.

The continuing excellence of the Source engine is evident with Episode One. Despite the year between releases, Episode One looks as top-flight as any game out there, with no real weaknesses. The addition of high dynamic range lighting adds surprisingly to the gameplay experience, and it is to the credit of Valve’s level designers that they used it in subtle ways, rather than beating the player over the head with a trick. At times, at high settings, under the right circumstances, and in the correct place, the image was almost photo realistic. These were brief flashes if supreme believability, often of a ruin with part of a sky in the background and the sun peaking in, but that is one of the most impressive feats a game engine can manage. Otherwise, the game looked very much like Half-Life 2, to no one’s surprise.


We noticed some odd sound stutters that weren’t there in the original release, sounds that would repeat themselves – especially if a weapon was equipped or fired for the first time. These were relatively rare and given the lack of verification of the complaint, it may very well have something to do with the soundcard swap in the review machine during the weekend of the review. It may be the new Sound Blaster X-Fi drivers, or a conflict between the new drivers and remnants of the old Hercules card.