[Merlinus Ambrosius]

So I finally got a chance to rip through this game today....holy freaking crap. I've been a little irritated that its taken Valve a year and a half to release the second episode of what was supposed to be a relatively steady stream of new content....but all that time has been well spent.

The Source engine has received some serious upgrades, from the lighting to the physics engine itself. Theres one particular sequence where a Strider blows up a building, and the debris rains all over the place giving the game a huge feeling of authenticity. Followed shortly thereafter by sheer panic as you realize "Oh shit, that thing is aiming at me now".

Theres some driving sequences with a new vehicle, that looks something like a stripped down Charger:



And these driving sequences are extremely fast paced, practically action movie-esqe. In fact, the whole game feels cinematic.

And Adam Baldwin (Jayne from Firefly) does some voice overs for a freedom fighter that is absolutely awesome.


Anybody else had a chance to play through yet? Its well worth the purchase...and I'd probably say its better than Episode 1. Its a bit longer too.

And it does tie in slightly with Portal, though we'll see how big that connection gets in the next episode...

[Jason Vines]

I played through Episode Two a week or so ago, and I agree with you: It packs into a little under seven hours (how long I took to finish it) more adventure and excitement than most other three games combined, while simultaneously managing to look superb. Also, the non-linearity of the outdoor levels, while not approaching that of Far Cry, nevertheless draws me further into the game world, thrilling me even more.

I especially like the battle at the end, which calls for strategic thinking about how to use your environment and traverse around the level. That level of "strategery" still isn't as high as I would like--I want to deploy infantry companies and tank columns in an FPS!--but it beats the standard boss confrontation.

As I played Episode Two, I took some screenshots, which I'll post to the gallery this weekend.

Merlinus Ambrosius said:

Theres some driving sequences with a new vehicle, that looks something like a stripped down Charger

After the glorified go-kart from Half-Life 2, this was a nice change. I loved cranking it up to full speed and racing around the roads!

Merlinus Ambrosius said:

And Adam Baldwin (Jayne from Firefly) does some voice overs for a freedom fighter that is absolutely awesome.

I noticed Tony Todd's voice, but I couldn't identify Adam Baldwin's at the time.

Merlinus Ambrosius said:

And it does tie in slightly with Portal, though we'll see how big that connection gets in the next episode...

I haven't opened Portal yet. I have played Team Fortress 2 a few times, though. It's a pleasurable indulgence of nostalgia for Team Fortress Classic, which I first played in 1999. If the community for TF2 persists, maybe it'll entertain me as long as its predecessor did.

[-Oz-]

I did enjoy playing through Episode 2, it had a lot of really great moments, and a lot of effing hard ones (ie. the last part with the striders). My only reserve about it is that it felt way, way too short for how long it took them to release it. We waited a year (or more?) for it and it seemed to end as quickly as it began.

I just hope that further episodes do not follow the pattern of these first two: taking a while to release, and being over very quickly.

They're supposed to be episodes, I don't want to wait a year between each 6 hour installment of the series.

[Merlinus Ambrosius]

Yeah, as for as episodic content goes, Valve has really failed hard at getting content to consumers in a timely fashion. But then, its hard to complain too much considering that the game is so awesome.

And at any rate, I'm still waiting for Sin Episode 2, which is never gonna come because the company went belly up.....*sigh*