Unlike in Half-Life 2, where Gordon's first weapon is the crowbar, Gordon first acquires the Gravity Gun, which plays a crucial role in the game by allowing the player to use physics to manipulate objects at a distance in both combat and puzzle-solving scenarios. Throughout the course of the game, the player accesses new weapons and ammunition that are used to defend the character from enemy forces. A head-up display appears on the screen to display the character's health, energy, and ammunition. Episode One integrates tutorial-like tasks into the story to familiarize the player with new gameplay mechanics without breaking immersion. The gameplay is broken up between combat-oriented challenges and physics-based puzzles.
In Episode One, players make their way through a linear series of levels and encounter various enemies and allies.
Episode One received a generally positive critical reaction, and the co-operative aspects of the gameplay received particular praise, although the game's short length was criticized. Episode One is available as part of a bundle package known as The Orange Box, which also includes Half-Life 2, Episode Two, Team Fortress 2, and Portal. Valve views episodes One through Three tantamount to a standalone release. As the game comes to an end, Gordon and Alyx are caught in a major accident, and their fates are revealed in the sequel, Episode Two. During the course of the game, Gordon travels with Alyx as they attempt to evacuate the city. When the story begins, Gordon wakes up outside the enemy's base of operations, the Citadel, after being left unconscious from the concluding events of Half-Life 2. Episode One follows scientist Gordon Freeman and his companion Alyx Vance in humanity's continuing struggle against the alien civilization known as the Combine. The game's events take place immediately after those in Half-Life 2, in and around war-torn City 17. The game debuted new lighting and animation technologies, as well as AI sidekick enhancements. Episode One uses the same game engine, Source, as Half-Life 2. Initially called Half-Life 2: Aftermath, the game was renamed Episode One after Valve became confident in using an episodic structure for the game. It was developed by Valve Corporation and released on June 1, 2006. We hope you enjoy the ride with us as we complete this journey.Half-Life 2: Episode One (stylized as HλLF-LIFE2: EPISODE ONE) is a first-person shooter video game, the first in an intended series of episodes that would serve as the sequels to Half-Life 2 (2004). We'll be posting development updates along the way on our blog. We're aiming to make the game feel just as familiar as long-term fans will expect it to, while modernising the graphics and technology. Project Borealis is being created on Unreal Engine 4 to give it the updated look that Half-Life has deserved after all these years. Project Borealis is now an over 80 person team of developers dedicated to revisiting the Half-Life series with a fresh new episode for fans of the series, old and new, to enjoy. We're a group of Half-Life fans who are spending our evenings and weekends creating the game we've been waiting so long for. The story detailed the adventures of Gertie Fremont and Alex Vaunt, and is now believed to be an overview of the intended plot of the long awaited Half-Life 2: Episode 3.įrom the ensuing chaos in the Half-Life community, Project Borealis was formed.
On August 25th 2017, a plot synopsis was published on the blog of Half-Life writer Marc Laidlaw.