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Half-Life 2: Episode Two

It's yet another road trip

Interactive storytelling is plain difficult, and in this regard Episode Two shows weakness, if looked at as a stand-alone story. There is a quick recap in the beginning for those who may have missed Episode One, but it doesn't delve back to Half Life 2, and if this is your first meeting with Gordon Freeman, you might feel confused. You can naturally just fix this horrendous gap in your knowledge by going back and playing Half Life 2 and Episode One first, as they are also included in The Orange Box. Even if you insist that you want to skip the "old stuff", the main goal of the game is explained early on, so you won't be wandering aimlessly.

Driving towards White Forest.

Scripted events spice up the action along the way.

Not that you could wander aimlessly - Episode Two is yet another road trip, just like the previous two stories. Most of the game consists of Gordon Freeman and Alyx on the road together, trying to reach White Forest with their package of important data, with Freeman blasting away every zombie, bug and Combine soldier on the way. Things are mixed with vehicle sections and "event" fights where progress is stalled while you take care of a special "boss" target or waves of common enemies. Regardless of these distractions, it's all about getting from point A to point B while following a narrow and somewhat convoluted path filled with hostiles.

Yes, there is a small twist to the status quo early on, but it's mostly just a quick detour. Valve seems to have concentrated on polishing the winning formula, and there is nothing inherently wrong with that - it's just that when you are blasting away mostly the same enemies with the same weapons for the third game straight, and even the plot is just a routine run along a linear route, you kind of wished for something more. Yes, the much-promoted "open areas" are there - at the very end - and it all plays out like an extended boss fight. A very entertaining and challenging boss fight, but it doesn't change the fact that the rest of the game forces you on a narrow and scripted path.

Achievements for extra replayability

As with Portal and Team Fortress 2, Half Life 2 Episode Two includes Xbox 360-style achievements also on the PC - and it actually adds quite a bit to the game. Some are easy to grab while just playing the game through once, some require you to show some skill on the way, but are easy enough to complete if you just choose to go for that, and some are pure genius. I'm, of course, talking about the Little Rocket Man achievement. It asks you to lug a garden gnome around through most of the game with you, so you can place it in the rocket about to be launched near the end.

This must be the weirdest way to get someone to play the game through for a second time - but it works. It adds a whole additional challenge to the game, requiring you to think outside the box in many places. Will everyone play the game again just for the achievement? Probably not, but those who want more out of their game have a solid extra challenge they can take up - and it's infinitely more fun than the usual "hardcore" level options that just jack up the difficulty brainlessly by adding more enemies or increasing their toughness and accuracy.

In addition to the achievements, replayability is enhanced by Valve's commentary system which is unlocked for each chapter you complete, enticing for another round of play just to hear what the developers have to say on the game.

The usual Valve commentary system is present.

Insert Garden Gnome here.

Page 1: IntroductionPage 2: Story and GameplayPage 3: Visuals and PerformancePage 4: Final thoughts & Scores

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