Half Life 2: Episode 1

Don't worry, no spoilers here!

I just thought that I'd review the game. I'm sure by now we've all played the first one, though, so let me explain my initial confusion. Episode 1 was marketed as the prequel to Half Life 2. Wasn't it? But it's not! It takes place right where the first one left off -- in the middle of that weird explosion we all hated so much.

The beginning is very annoying, as you don't have as much control, but you soon take point. The puzzles are still the same combination of physics and acrobatics, but now they've thrown in some electronics and logic. Yes indeedy, every important door has a switch somewhere you need to jump to and turn on. However, it's not the same old puzzles. These require a bit more thinking, and are still different from the original puzzles. (They put a new twist on the seesaw puzzle from HL2).

Now let's talk about Alyx. Sure, she's nice. But she's utterly useless in this game. Her only real purpose is to provide MINIMAL covering fire for you in certain instances, and use her zappy tool to hack combine electronics. If she just gave Gordon Freeman the tool, she would be totally unneccessary.

New monsters? Why, yes! There was some sort of squid-like thing that induces killer migraines (after you run for cover, you just sit there thinking "wtf?"), and headcrabs now turn the Combine into suicidal maniacs (Alyx calls them "Zombines"). Oh, and there's a creepy encounter with some Stalkers.

But the sountrack was awesome, the music picked up at just the right times, and provided just the right blood-pounding tempo to blast badguys to. I highly reccommend this for any HL2 fan, as well as for you losers who haven't even played the Half Life series yet. It will rock your world.