Much prefer this to HL2.

[Survivr]

I'm on the bit where you have to transport the people through to the trains (specifically the bit with the sniper.)

I am enjoying Episode 1 much more than I enjoyed the Half-Life 2. Not sure why though.

Please don't kill me. :thumbs:

 

[PimpinPenguin]

I'm glad your enjoying it. Although the escort mission was widely considered the worse part of the game. Isuppose it's nice that some people appreciate it.

 

[gFrohman]

I didn't like the escort stuff either, but there are some great moments in EP1. The length of the game kinda bothered me (it's very short), but then again, it is an episode. Alyx's character development is by far the strongest and my favorite part of the game. I just replayed this today and forgot how awesome it is; most of the time I either play HL2 right before or I move straight onto EP2, forgetting about what happened in EP1. It's hard to take EP1 by itself, but it's still a great game.

 

[PJ]

I also quite liked it, as It got harder every journey back and fourth. Not great though - too repetitive

 

[Acepilotf14]

But Episode 1 IS Half Life 2.
Just new levels.
Why would we hate you?

 

[Lucid]

Ep1 was my least favorite.
I enjoyed Ep2 alot more than HL2 though, aside from the antlions.

 

[gFrohman]

You have to take the episodes in context, in my opinion. It's not very rewarding to play the episodes separately, but better to play them back-to-back in conjunction with HL2. It'll be awesome in fifty thousand years when EP3 does come out and I can play them all in a row together.

 

[Survivr]

Just completed Episode 1, moving on to Episode 2 now. That Stryder fight at the very end is really... really... hard.

I like the escourt bit, I just don't like the bit in Lowlife where you have to push the cars on to the Antlion Burrows...

 

[gFrohman]

Yeah, that part's annoying - especially if you shoot a car on top of the burrow and you think it's sealed, but it's not.

 

[stealth1525]

The best way to know the antlion burrows are sealed is when you hear banging noises,
like the antlions are trying to move the car by attacking it

 

[gFrohman]

That or I check to see if that "stuff" if coming from the burrows still - there's this floaty shit that comes from the burrows if they're open.

 

[Godron]

Yeah, those antlion burrows in Lowlife were my least favourite bit of Ep1. In fact, Ep1's probably my least favourite HL2 game, although I couldn't say why for sure. Maybe because it's been causing my computer to restart whenever I play it, recently. I guess it's a matter of personal taste.

 

[Sledgehammer]

I think Episode One is very necessary for developing the relationships between many of the main characters. It's really rewarding to play HL2 or Episode Two after having played Episode One. I also like the story, while simple, it's somewhat creative. The citadel chapters are great, the atmosphere of Lowlife is good, but the 2 C17chapters feels way too much like something we've seen before.

 

[Nixt]

Antlions can kiss my ****ing ass.

 

[lambda prodigy]

i feel like HL2 was a tad rushed or short to say the least if anything id give it a 8.5 but with episode one id say a 9.5..so ya i like ep one better.

 

[City14]

I think for me HL2 and Ep1 are my favorite.Ep2 for me for some strange reason didnt feel very Gordon Freeman-ish, Idk why but I love playing in the city and such. It makes the game more realistic and gives me more connections rather than the Antlion nest and forest in Ep2.

 

[vsaravia]

I just don't like the bit in Lowlife where you have to push the cars on to the Antlion Burrows...

I had somewhat a hard time with that part, mainly the staying alive part.

I started playing HL2: EP1 last night. It had been a while since I last played it. I'm on the level after Lowlife, I forget what it's called, but I'm finally out on the surface. I really like EP1 more so than EP2, mainly because there were no requisites to get to another level in EP1.

 

[gFrohman]

Urban Flight.

The hardest part I had with the burrows was not me staying alive, but making sure Alyx didn't get wasted by the Antlions.

 

[Fiberawptic]

Episode 2 is better imo. Longer, way more new things to encounter, and the story is heavily more developed... more epic and cooler fight parts...

 

[DonHessu]

Episode 1 is my favourite, shame that its so short...

EP 2 would be as great as ep1 but it had those annoying caves in the beginning and that the guardian run... I hate that...

Cant wait for Ep 3!

 

[brad92]

I definetly prefer Episode One over Half-Life 2. Much more focused and refined in terms of plotting and gameplay structure. However, Episode One isn't without it's flaws. The final Strider battle was incredibly underwhelming, I think, despite the somewhat innovative approach Valve attempted to take with it. There's no way they should have excluded Alyx from such a pivotal moment, regardless of any impracticalities such a choice would have brought forward.

But ah, Episode Two is definetly the best in the series, I think.

 

[The Mild Gatsby]

I love the end of Episode One. I found it to be very satisfying. You actually get to save some people, after all the time you spend wandering around watching the precious remnants of humanity get mown down by Striders.

 

[ZeroPointGun]

HL2>EP2>EP1.

Imo.

Man, Half Life 2 was one of the greatest games ever, how you could possibly think an episode is better than it, I have no idea.

 

[Atomic_Piggy]

Episode 2 is better imo. Longer, way more new things to encounter, and the story is heavily more developed... more epic and cooler fight parts...

I agree. Episode Two was just more interesting for me, perhaps because we actually got some story revelations.

 

[Apocalypse89]

Episode One always had a certain charm with me, too bad that it's mostly forgotten.

 

[PimpinPenguin]

I preferred Episode 1 to Episode 2. I hated the tunnels and the Quarry where you have to get the car. They felt to long and a simple rinse and repeat of the gameplay we have already seen but boring. It felt like Valve has a checklist, Antlions check, Dark underground section check, Zombie and headcrab level check, the formula is getting a bit to predictable.

 

[Apocalypse89]

One problem I had with episode 2 is while it was amazingly good, you only start getting most of that quality once you get the car, by which point more than a third of the game is over.

Some of Episode 1's best moments were at the beginning, exploring the whole ruined Citadel, etc.

 

[Shem]

In my opinion, Episode Two is the best out of the Half-Life 2 franchise. It's not because it's the newest one, but because it had many improvements added into it that made it more replayable and more addicting for me. Some of the most notable changes were the lighting effects and the cinematic physics. Both improved greatly in Episode Two. Also, they really worked on the character interaction, I thought it was magnificent. The facial expressions and movements of the AI are fantastic.

 

[GiRoX]

The best part of Ep1 for me was Lowlife. It was the scariest part for me since the first encounter with Icthysaur in the marine labs at Black Mesa back in Hl1. Or maybe the Vortigore nest in Opposing Force.