01 Jun 2006
26 Jun 2013 - Linux
26 May 2010 - Mac
01 Jun 2006 - PC (Microsoft Windows)
20 Dec 2007 - PlayStation 3
11 Dec 2007 - PlayStation 3
11 Dec 2007 - PlayStation 3
14 Dec 2007 - PlayStation 3
25 Oct 2007 - Xbox 360
19 Oct 2007 - Xbox 360
09 Oct 2007 - Xbox 360
22 May 2008 - Xbox 360
10 Oct 2007 - Xbox 360
Main story
Main story + extras
100% completion
Half-Life 2: Episode One is the first of a planned trilogy of expansion packs/episodes for the 2004 first-person shooter game, Half-Life 2. The episode takes place immediately after the end of Half-Life 2, in the war-torn setting of City 17. The player is forced to deal with the effects of their actions during the main game. The episode is a stand-alone game; while a continuation of Half-Life 2, it does not require the original game to be installed or registered to a user's Steam account to play. It takes advantage of several major upgrades to the Source engine since the release of Half-Life 2, primarily its high dynamic range rendering capabilities and the upgraded facial animation system. Episode One was released together with Half-Life Deathmatch: Source, a port of the original Half-Life's multiplayer, which doubles as Episode One's multiplayer component. The retail copies of Episode One also come with Half-Life 2 Deathmatch for those who have not previously purchased the later title.
Taking place in City 17, just after the events of the last game, Half-Life 2: Episode one again follows scientist Gordon Freeman and his friend Alyx Vance as they stabilize a damaged Citadel core to buy time before it explodes, which will destroy the city and the surrounding area. They then rush to make it out of a war-torn City 17 as quickly as possible and also help evacuate any remaining citizens left.
Audio | Subtitles | Interface | |
---|---|---|---|
Chinese (Simplified) | ✓ | ✓ | |
Chinese (Traditional) | ✓ | ✓ | |
Danish | ✓ | ||
Dutch | ✓ | ||
English | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Spanish (Spain) | ✓ | ✓ | |
Finnish | ✓ | ||
French | ✓ | ✓ | |
Italian | ✓ | ✓ | |
Japanese | ✓ | ||
Korean | ✓ | ✓ | |
Norwegian | ✓ | ||
Polish | ✓ | ||
Portuguese (Portugal) | ✓ | ||
Russian | ✓ | ✓ | |
Swedish | ✓ | ||
Thai | ✓ | ✓ | |
German | ✓ | ✓ |
The story continues after the cliffhanger of HL2 and while there is a good 3 hours of story here, the story does not develop too much. Much of the story of episode 1 consists of running away from the combine and not much else.
Gameplay wise, there is nothing new here. It literally just feels like a straight continuation of the main game, which is disappointing considering they had the time to add more ideas between this DLC and the main game. Locations and assets are reused 90% of the time.
The final section where you needed to escorts civilians was probably one of the worst moments in the whole Half-life franchise and really hurt my enjoyment of this DLC.
If you like HL2, you will like episode 1 of the DLC. It is more of the same. Just don't expect anything new.