Video game review by ERIK LEIJON

Half-Life 2 is still the gold standard when it comes to PC first-person shooters, even though it came out in the fall of 2004. Without Half-Life there would be no Counter-Strike (and its legions of crazed head-shot obsessed players), and the gravity gun alone is reason to heap Valve’s FPS series with endless praise.

Half-Life 2: Episode One (PC/EA, Valve) extends the one-player story mode, which is one part Orwellian tale, one part sci-fi action romp. Episode Two will be out later this year, and while it may seem like a cash grab to force gamers to buy the game in installments, if you’ve made an investment in the series I doubt you’ll stop now.

Episode One isn’t so much a new game as it is another chapter in a book. It’s not a full game (it can be beaten in far less than 10 hours), but for the completist, it revisits the characters and locations Half-Life fans have become familiar with.

It starts with Alyx and her robot friend Dog finding protagonist Dr. Gordon Freeman (who you play as) buried beneath a pile of rubble. Turns out the Citadel has been destroyed and is in the process of completely collapsing with the heroes still trapped inside. The action that proceeds is more frantic than the original, as Gordon and Alyx have to escape City 17 before it turns to dust. Without giving away any of the story, Episode One is a must play for anyone who played Half-Life 2 and wants to know what happens next.

Whereas the original Half-Life 2 starts off slowly, Episode One is action from the get-go and doesn’t relent. The graphics and gameplay are unchanged from the winning formula, to the point where everyone is still wearing the same clothes. Even better is that Gordon starts Episode One with the gravity gun, a Half-Life staple that allows the user to pick up almost any inanimate object and toss it around.

Another reason why the story of Half-Life resonates with so many gamers is the unbelievable character models, which really draw you into the story. They have their own unique mannerisms and personalities, so playing Episode One is like being reunited with old friends.

In an era where most FPSs care more about deathmatches and multiplayer, Half-Life is concerned with storylines and character development. The gameplay is still very tight and playable, but most of the satisfaction you will obtain from playing will be in seeing how Gordon and Alyx escape the Citadel. It would also surprise no one that playing the original Half-Life 2 is essential before playing this one (as I did for the purposes of this review).

A bit of advice: Half-Life 2: Episode One is extremely demanding on your PC, so before you play, make sure Steam (Valve’s download service software) is running, and type steam://support/?Issues=*. Even though I got my computer this year, the game was crashing constantly before I checked out Steam’s system assessment.

A Step Backward?

Microsoft has announced that 21 Xbox games have been added to the X360 backwards-compatibility list. Of these games, the most notable are Doom 3 and Star Wars Battlefront. Earlier this month, Microsoft VP Peter Moore said that “nobody is concerned anymore about backward compatibility.”

Even though Moore has since retracted his statement, I’m thinking that most gamers are in agreement with him. Question: how often have you played a PS1 game on your PS2, or how many Xbox games have you tried on your 360? Considering the amount of time and money that goes into backwards-compatibility, I wonder how important a feature it really is.