Whatwhatwhat? It’s less than five hours long? Those people telling me it’s 8 or 9 hours are bloody liars. Mind you, they also said Episode One was 5 hours and I did it in three and a half. Anyway. But what an amazing five hours it was. Better in every way than Episode One, improving on even Half Life 2 itself – partly graphically, but mainly because of the number of quality, epic set pieces. The ambush in the village, …
So I came out of the bit I was in, found a car (which required completion of a see-saw puzzle – a HUGE see-saw puzzle), and then Alyx and I set off for The White Forest again, without the Vortigaunt. I was worried the car bit was going to be like the car bit from Half Life 2, but thankfully was far less annoying. Partly because I can run zombies down in it. Ace! Then I found an old building …
Gah, dammit. The perils of leaving games you don’t want to play yet in your console. I saw it there, on the 360 dashboard, and couldn’t help myself and started playing it. So far: very good. It’s different to both Half-Life 2 and Episode One, mainly because you’re not in or around the city. It’s also improved graphically a little too, especially character models. The HUD has had a few tweaks as well, and the flashlight and oxygen meters are …
Erm, that was very quick. I know the game is meant to be short, but I’d heard around 5-6 hours. Imagine my surprise, then, when I killed the game’s one and only Strider and then the game finished, just three and a half hours in. So yes, it was good, but as well as it’s length it didn’t do anything new. The whole episode was made up of bits from Half-Life 2, only in a different order. Time for another …
With a few games since Half-Life 2 was completed, I felt it time to return to the story. I’d heard Episode One was pretty short too, so it’ll be good for a quick play before starting something else. So far, it’s more of the same. Sort of. No crowbar though! There was a bit at the start getting back into the Citadel, stablising the core, then getting the hell out. Then a train crash, then a bit in a multistory …
Well, I wasn’t expecting to complete it tonight, but the last two chapters were very short and so I did. Erm, hurrah! I won’t spoil it for anyone else who hasn’t played it yet, but the last few hours were mostly filled with huge battles with striders and gunships, and hordes of baddies. Luckily, you’re accompanied by a team of other people for much of it, until you reach the Citadel, anyway. The end boss was a bit easy, although …
I’ve just realised, but “Eli Vance” sounds like “elephants”. A bit. If you squint. Anyway. I made it all the way through Nova Prospekt, including a few bits where I got to place some turrets of my own (before Alyx activated them). Found Eli, although couldn’t actually release him at first, until I made it to a teleporter and Dr. Mossman went loopy and did a runner with him. Eventually got my turn in the teleporter, and Alyx and I …
Played loads of this today, and finished the whole buggy section. It took longer than was probably necessary as I stopped at every junction, house and building to see what was inside – usually ammo I didn’t need and baddies I certainly didn’t need. The buggy section, like the airboat bit before it, seemed to go on far too long. It was more fun than the airboat bit, and you actually felt like you were getting somewhere in it (whereas …
So Ravenholm is straight out of Resident Evil. They might not be actual zombies, but they’re no so different. And then there’s The Predator who jumps around the rooftops and climbs drainpipes. Oh, and the harder versions of the headcrabs who poison you as well as jump on your face. I didn’t really like Ravenholm that much. Nothing about it seemed like Half-Life to me at all, and the loon from the church just detracted further. After that, it was …
Played through a bit more of this this morning. There was a huge section on an air boat thing, which did seem to go on for longer than it really needed too, ending in a fight with the helicopter that had been chasing me for most of the game so far. After that, I found Eli’s lab, with Alyx inside, and spent a while playing catch with Dog – a robot. I could play catch, since I had been given …
Now, you see, I bought The Orange Box for Portal. And nothing else. Although I did think that perhaps I’d like Team Fortress 2 a bit, as although not my usual sort of game, the unseriousness of it appealed. And so It Was Done, and The Game of Orange was Purchased, and Lo, Portal was Divine and Team Fortress 2 was Lovely. There was much rejoicing. And today, I was going to play TF2 a bit more, for I thought, …