Hmm.. [Spoilers]

[PvtRyan]

Just finished it, and loved it. Mostly.

The ending was rather lame imo. Well the actual ending with the Citadel exploding was nice, but the things leading up to that disappointed me a bit. The 'take these people to the train' bit was just silly, seemed like a timesink to stretch up the game a bit (while the rest of the game is marked by the best pacing and variety of any shooter) cause it offered no challenge (not when you get infinite rockets anyway) and was just repetition. I sorta hoped gathering the of the people would end up with doing some full out assault on some Combine.

And perhaps it was misinformation on my part, but I thought there would be a 'bossfight' in Episode 1, or was that Strider supposed to be that? Although I don't think the game NEEDS a bossfight, I mean, I loved the HL2 ending. But the HL2 ending, despite not having a bossfight, was still satisfying because there was lots of stuff leading up to the ending, with you being a god with the super gravity gun. In EP1 however, you escort people to the train (easy and less interesting than the rest of the game), run into a Strider which is easily disposed of (seriously, infinite rockets are NO fun on Strider fights, just duck, shoot, duck) and then hop into the train. How much cooler would it have been if that train was hard to get to? In the sense of Combine chasing you, while you and Alyx are running after the train which slowly starts riding away.

What I'm trying to say, is that the ending was unsatisfying.

Another thing was that in Episode 1 we would get some answers, I think it was literally said that we would find out more about the G-Man. But I don't think anything was answered, in fact, more questions arose, such as: what are the Vortigaunts really up to? Ok, so we got to know what happened at the ending of HL2. But seeing how the story is told in a subtle way and fans are bound to find out some answers I don't consider this an issue.

And: Synths? It's not a literal quote, but I'm *certain* I can remember something along the lines of "you will run into the creatures you saw in the Citadel at the end of HL2".

All in all, great game, won't call it the best shooter ever because it's hard comparing an episode to a full game. Just the things above are bugging me.

EDIT: One thing I'd like to add about the ending, is when Alyx said "I think we're actually gonna make it out!" I thought "Yeah right!" and figured the train would be stopped and the real end 'event' would begin. But no, it really *was* the ending, and I was like *gasp*

 

[snowykittenz]

*gobbles up eagerly*

I seem to remember in HL2 the original that someone said something about the Vortagons having unknown powers.

Perhaps the only reason the Gman could do the things he could was because the Vortagons hired him a a protector of humanity?

Seeing as he has now failed hes gone back to being an ordinary human being.

It would explain the Alyx scene the in trailer for Ep2.

Then again for all we know the Gman just could be some weird scinetist who developed such advanced technology for his age that he messes around with time and space...

 

[Asknoone]

I personally loved the ending. It was exactly what I was expecting - get the few remaining citizens out of the city, see of Barney etc. I actually enjoyed the Strider battle most though. Probably because while it was blasting those containers I thought right you stupid ****ing alien I'm going to give you one last send off before this place goes up.

I thought the battle was pretty damn fun, and that combined with the Citadels destruction really gave it that oomph factor. What you set out to do at the beginning was accomplished, and I can see I'm pretty satisfied with that.

As for Gman, well - I think I got enough out of him to know he's coming back to reclaim his pawn. Clearly, after HL2, he is well aware of your abilities and is receiving several offers for your services. He's used Black mesa to transform you into this killing machine, and now he's utilizing you like he did in HL2.

When I saw him enter through that doorway I knew he was coming to inform me that he's taken up one of the offers. Thankfully, our Vortessence friends were there to save the day - the 'third power'. What's important now though is what is Gman going to do in order to reclaim his pawns.

I was expecting to see the Crab Synth and Mortar Synths too, but it wasn't a big loss and didn't really affect the game too much.

My only letdown was Breen. He's an awesome villain and I was really looking forward to seeing him again in Episode 1, since I'm pretty sure he survived. But, alas, he just wasn't there. I'm fairly certain he's fused with the Advisor, given the fact it made a rather big deal of putting emphasis on his 'Host body' convo.

 

[DrAbysmal]

The running from the Strider part was pretty cool, but the escort mission prior to it was tedious and not very fun (which is too bad, because I had a blast playing the rest of the game).

I was disappointed in the lack of new enemies, though. The Zombine is the only one you actually fight head on, the Stalkers barely do anything but screw with some lifts and platforms, I don't think they even attack you in the few areas where you have to hit them with the energy balls. I think zombies ended up being overused a bit, too.

 

[Asknoone]

Oh, I loved the Zombines. They weren't used enough!

 

[Laff]

What I'm wondering was what G-man was about to say when he noticed the Vortigaunts. He didn't go to Gordon because he knew the Vortigaunts were there, he went there to tell you something. Probably even a new assignment.

 

[TheDan]

Man those antlions were damn annoying too heh.. Took me a while to figure out how to stop them attacking me while I crank that wheel!

Zombines were pretty cool, although I only once got to see Alyx kick some zombie ass since we kept shooting them in the crabs before they got too close

I think the HDR effect was really great in the core of the citadel, the lighting was just perfect. Those manhacks gave me a scare though ;D fell off the first time all like "ZOMG WTF"

Damn awesome game though, well worth the money imo. Athough I am disappointed we saw nothing of Breen, and I was expecting a battle scene at the end. I don't mind though, the end was good enough for me.. even though I did think "eh?" when the credits came up.