Half-Life 2: Episode One takes place directly after the events of the original Half-Life 2. The original game shipped in November, 2004, and was a huge success. Now, in 2006, the episodic sequels have started shipping. Overall, Episode One is a great introduction to the new trilogy of content, and maintains the original Half-Life 2 feel, while introducing just enough new to the world to help keep things fresh. The drawback is the length: there are roughly four to six hours of gameplay in the new “episode” and the hours are so entertaining that they seem to go by even quicker than that. We put the game through the paces, and you can check out our full review - after the jump.

We bought the original Half-Life 2 when it first came out, but only just recently finished the game. Really, the release of the new episode pushed us to finally beat the original. It wasn’t that the original wasn’t compelling; things just seemed to keep coming up to push us away from the game. We probably played through 50% of the game in the first week, and then games like Halo 2 and World of Warcraft started pulling me away. And once we lost the story thread, it was harder to come back and pick up the game. The open ended game play of World of Warcraft seemed like a good break from the strong narratives in Half-Life universe.

So, I would come back to the game every six or so months, and play a little more. Finally, the release of Episode One gave me the impetus to finish the game. Thus, I approached Episode One having essentially played the last five hours of Half-Life 2 beforehand. This works out in a couple of ways, because everything that happened in the finale is fresh in your mind, and you get the satisfaction of having the ending resolved in the new Episode. The first thing resolved is the rather abrupt ending of Half-Life 2. Through some vortigaunt trickery, Alyx and Gordon meet up outside the Citadel, and must somehow get back in. Gamers will spend a large chunk of the first part of the game back in the Citadel, playing with the Super Gravity Gun. In this way, Half-Life 2: Episode One plays out more or less like the reverse of the first game. In Half-Life 2, players spent most of the game being inexorably drawn to the Citadel, and now, Alyx and Gordon must make their escape. Having just played Half-Life 2, the new Episode still seems like fresh content, with only a few sparse feelings of “oh, here we go again.”

One of the great new features in the game is the teamwork between Alyx and Gordon. Alyx now accompanies Gordon through most of the game, offering quips and interactions, but further, her support. Some of the most aggravating sequences in the gaming universe have been those obligatory escort missions that seem to be jammed into the weirdest spots in games, but Episode One never feels like that. Alyx acts as a partner in the game, and can get Gordon out of a number of tight spots. While Alyx can die in the game, it takes a lot of punishment to make this happen, and as a result, she never is a burden to the player. The way she is integrated into the game really goes a lot way towards making this dynamic work. The game also makes limited use of the squad mechanic found in the original game, but here, the squads are basically cannon fodder.

There are a number of new ways that squad mates can become fodder for the enemy. First, are the new combine zombies, as shown in the preview screen shots. They are fast, organized, and dangerous - they certainly had us swearing more than a few times. Combine squads also seem to show off a few new tactics, and there are more places in the game where well placed headcrabs will shock the player. Playing at the same difficulty level as the original game feels a little bit harder and more challenging as a result. Unfortunately, the boss creatures are largely the same as in the first game, and many of these extended battles have a feeling of “more of the same.” On the plus side, these battles still have intensity to them, and the controls never seem to get in the player’s way.

Graphically, the game has been tweaked a little bit in the two years since the original release. The first update is the game now features HDR lighting on cards that support it. There is an additional eerie feeling from the visuals now that you didn’t have in the original game. Character models for the main characters feel a little more detailed thanks to new models and improved textures.

One of the things that makes Half-Life 2 work so well is the superior crafting of the universe that Gordon Freeman occupies. Things fit together, and one gets the feeling that there is a deep back story to the world since gamers last saw it in Half-Life 1. NPCs in Half-Life 2 were amazingly well developed, and while Alyx and Barney seem real in the game, there are precious few other NPCs worth interacting with. Around the middle of the episode, Gordon gets to eavesdrop on some of the day-to-day citizens of City 17, and gets some ego-deflating insight into how the average Joe is dealing with these crazy events.

Again, Valve Software offers a compelling view into the Half-Life universe, and sets up the rest of the trilogy with Episode One. While the somewhat “truncated” ending of the original Half-Life 2 was kind of a let down, gamers expect Episode One to end in a cliff-hanger, and Valve doesn’t disappoint. The ending plus the information in the Episode 2 trailer offer a tantalizing tease into what’s coming six months from now, and what will conclude a year from now. Episode One primes the pump for the next year of content. Gamers who liked the Half-Life 2 should definitely spend the $20 for the new content. Others who are only slightly familiar with the Half-Life universe might want to get the game when it goes on sale, or see if there is an inevitable bundle coming with the original and the first episode included together.