Half-Life 2: Episode Two

Steam title card.

Half-Life 2: Episode Two is a first-person action adventure game developed and published by Valve for Windows on 2007-10-10, and later ported to several other platforms. Despite its name, it is the fourth game in the Half-Life series. This episode is a bit longer than episode one, and showcases several new features in the Source Engine.

Personal

My friend Cody bought me this game along with all the other Half-Life games. Having been a big fan of all the previous titles, I couldn't help but play this one.

I own this game on Steam and have beaten it a couple times and got 14/22 achievements.

Review

9	7	8	5	7

Best Version: Windows

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

• The hunters are a wonderful new enemy.
• The new doctor is quite obnoxious, but a good addition.
• The seamless move from the train crash of Episode 1 is a perfect way to start the game.
• Alyx Vance continues to be a fantastic addition to the game.
• The ending battle is wonderfully epic.
• The game is considerably longer than Episode One, which is nice considering the first one seemed too short.

Bad

• I don't like the fact that Dr. Vance and the Vorticons share a very similar voice from the same voice actor. It makes them seem less-real.
• There is a very annoying bug in the physics engine that sometimes vaults you into the air after you walk over a odd-shaped object. Especially the gnome!
• I don't like it when games make achievements for things that are necessary to beat the game anyway.

Ugly

• Nothing.

Media

Documentation

• 

  Prima Orange Box Guide.

• 

  Prima Orange Box Episode Guide.

Maps

• 

  Flattened map.

Screenshots

• 

  How'd she get up there?

Videos

Longplay.

Representation

Strong female character?	Pass	Alyx Vance plays an even bigger role in this game.
Bechdel test?	Fail	No women talk to each other.
Strong person of color character?	Pass	Alyx Vance is half-black, Eli Vance is black.
Queer character?	Fail	There are no queer characters.

Links