10-27-2007, 11:22 AM
So I picked up the orange box Thursday night and let it do its thing overnight. Come Friday morning, I get up, do the necessary tasks, and plop down in this chair and get to work on Portal. Complete Portal, hop into Team Fortress 2 to get everything set up for later fragging, and then go straight to work on Episode Two. Episode One was a blast; the dark elevator room and the hospital as a whole were great.
But Episode Two really just blows One away. Maybe it's the change of scenery; One was just really more of the same. While the look and presentation had improved from the original Half-Life 2, you're still trudging around City 17 (well, a devastated City 17.) Two, on the other hand, moves you into forests, mineshafts, and missile silos. I haven't started on the developer commentary yet (something I'll probably slowly work my way through over the next few weeks), but I remember reading an article that said the art team visited sites like these in real life to take ideas from. The areas certainly look realistic, even with my decrepit 9600XT providing the graphical muscle. It also seems they improved their facial tech; Alyx and other notable NPCs now crease their brows when showing certain emotions, though the anonymous, expendable random rebels still have their mostly static (boring) faces.
But where Two really improves over One is in the NPC interaction. One was a big step forward over the original in terms of that, and Two is exponentially greater than One was, even though Alyx isn't always trailing you like a lost puppy in Two. I can only imagine the sheer amount of effort and trial-and-error the actors, art team, and developers put in in order to get the scripted sequences so refined, but it's definitely paid off. And while the Half-Life series has developed a certain habit of cliffhanger endings, Two's ending is - far and away - better than anything they've put out so far. It comes way out of left field and while you can predict the major event of it a few seconds before it happens, it's still shocking. For a second, I thought I was playing an RPG; you don't really expect good character interaction or plot twists in a shooter, that's for sure. Alyx's voice actress definitely deserves credit; there're several places in Two where she makes the character really come alive.
There has been a plot hole that's been bugging me, however. While it's not hard to accept the neo-Fascist Combine has taken control of Earth at the start of Half-Life 2, I don't think they ever actually tell you how it went from Nihilanthi aliens from Xen to the Combine from wherever. I've been playing through Half-Life 2 in an attempt to find out, but I don't think they ever actually mention it.
But Episode Two really just blows One away. Maybe it's the change of scenery; One was just really more of the same. While the look and presentation had improved from the original Half-Life 2, you're still trudging around City 17 (well, a devastated City 17.) Two, on the other hand, moves you into forests, mineshafts, and missile silos. I haven't started on the developer commentary yet (something I'll probably slowly work my way through over the next few weeks), but I remember reading an article that said the art team visited sites like these in real life to take ideas from. The areas certainly look realistic, even with my decrepit 9600XT providing the graphical muscle. It also seems they improved their facial tech; Alyx and other notable NPCs now crease their brows when showing certain emotions, though the anonymous, expendable random rebels still have their mostly static (boring) faces.
But where Two really improves over One is in the NPC interaction. One was a big step forward over the original in terms of that, and Two is exponentially greater than One was, even though Alyx isn't always trailing you like a lost puppy in Two. I can only imagine the sheer amount of effort and trial-and-error the actors, art team, and developers put in in order to get the scripted sequences so refined, but it's definitely paid off. And while the Half-Life series has developed a certain habit of cliffhanger endings, Two's ending is - far and away - better than anything they've put out so far. It comes way out of left field and while you can predict the major event of it a few seconds before it happens, it's still shocking. For a second, I thought I was playing an RPG; you don't really expect good character interaction or plot twists in a shooter, that's for sure. Alyx's voice actress definitely deserves credit; there're several places in Two where she makes the character really come alive.
There has been a plot hole that's been bugging me, however. While it's not hard to accept the neo-Fascist Combine has taken control of Earth at the start of Half-Life 2, I don't think they ever actually tell you how it went from Nihilanthi aliens from Xen to the Combine from wherever. I've been playing through Half-Life 2 in an attempt to find out, but I don't think they ever actually mention it.
ArrayPaladins were not meant to sit in the back of the raid staring at health bars all day, spamming heals and listening to eight different classes whine about buffs.[/quote]
The original Heavy Metal Cowâ¢. USDA inspected, FDA approved.
The original Heavy Metal Cowâ¢. USDA inspected, FDA approved.