The focus in Episode One is on new content to play through, instead of new toys to mess around with. And that’s where the story picks up as you start to play Half Life 2: Episode One. With help from his friends, including the comely Alyx Vance, Gordon infiltrated the Combine Citadel, its base of operations on Earth, and destroyed the teleportation device at its top, which seemed to start some kind of nuclear reaction. Unfortunately, his efforts are mostly in vain, as the aliens manage to invade Earth in a wholesale war and quickly take over the entire planet, with the goal of enslaving humanity and stealing Earth’s resources. After fighting his way through the facility, and then into the alien dimension to defeat the invasion at its source. The games follow the story of one Gordon Freeman, a researcher at the mysterious Black Mesa facility, which is infiltrated by aliens from another dimension after a lab accident. While there have only been two core games in the franchise thus far, both have been exceedingly high-quality productions that have garnered acclaim from both fans and critics. Having sold millions upon millions of copies since the first game was released way back in 1998, it’s appeared on numerous platforms, including most major consoles. Half-Life is a game that really needs no introduction.
By: Matthew Rorie Design: Randall Montanari