Жартылай Өмір 2: Бірінші Эпизод

2006 video game

Half Life 2: Episode One is a 2006 first person shooter game developed and published by Valve for Windows. It continues the story of Half Life 2 (2004); as scientist Gordon Freeman, players must escape City 17 with Gordon's companion Alyx Vance. Like previous Half Life games, Episode One combines shooting, puzzles and storytelling. After the six year development of Half Life 2, Valve switched to episodic development, hoping to release games more frequently. For Episode One, they focused on developing the character of Alyx and expanded her artificial intelligence. It uses an updated version of Valve's Source engine, with new lighting and animation technology. Episode One received mostly positive reviews; the co operative gameplay with Alyx received particular praise, although the short length was criticized. It was ported to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 as part of the 2007 compilation The Orange Box. Episode Two followed in 2007.

In Episode One, players make their way through a linear series of levels and encounter various enemies and allies. The gameplay is broken up between combat oriented challenges and physics based puzzles. A head up display appears on the screen to display the character's health, energy, and ammunition. Throughout the course of the game, the player accesses new weapons and ammunition that are used to defend the character from enemy forces. 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. Examples of this co operative gameplay include combat in underground levels. In this scenario, the player can conserve their ammunition by using a flashlight to help Alyx spot and kill oncoming enemies. Similarly, Alyx will often take up strategic positions and provide covering fire to keep the player safe while they travel to a certain area or perform certain actions. Instead of beginning work on a full sequel, Valve decided to create a series of episodic sequels using Source. Valve's president, Gabe Newell, said customers would be happier with a new Half Life game delivered in a shorter time rather than waiting years for another "monolithic product". In April 2005, Valve announced Episode One under the working title Aftermath. In May, Valve announced that Episode One would be the first in a trilogy of episodic games to be released over the following two years. According to Newell, whereas the original Half Life (1998) saw the G Man transform Freeman into his tool, and Half Life 2 saw Freeman being used by G Man, the episodes would see G Man lose control. Valve's focus was character development, particularly that of Gordon's companion Alyx, who accompanies the player for most of Episode One. Walker said: "It's kind of ironic that despite so much of the theme of Half Life 2 being about other characters and other people, you spent most of the game alone." Valve made modifications to Alyx's AI to allow her to react to the player. Changes include commentating on objects the player manipulates or obstacles they have overcome. She also acts as an essential device in both plot exposition and directing the player's journey, often vocalizing what the player is required to do next to progress. The game was extensively playtested so that Valve could gauge its effectiveness and difficulty. Episode One was made with an upgraded version of Source, with more advanced lighting effects and a new version of its facial animation/expression technology. The Citadel has degenerated from the cold, alien and imposing fortress of the previous game into an extremely unstable state. This provides a visual cue to the player of the catastrophic damage they inflicted, and it allows for the introduction of new gameplay elements that accentuate the dangers which come with the Citadel's imminent collapse. It also serves a thematic purpose by highlighting the weakening of the Combine's dominance in City 17. Likewise, City 17 has been altered to reflect the aftermath of the resistance's open rebellion, with vast swathes of destroyed buildings, and the introduction of foes previously kept outside its confines in Half Life 2 to emphasize the scale of the uprising.

Episode One was sold in both retail stores and Valve's online Steam distribution system, where it was sold at a discount price. The game was also distributed by Electronic Arts as a standalone release. It was available for pre load and pre purchase through Steam on May 1, 2006, with Half Life Deathmatch: Source and Half Life 2: Deathmatch immediately available for play as part of the package. Episode One was rereleased in the compilation The Orange Box for Mac, PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. About 1.4 million retail copies of Episode One had been sold by 2008.

Response to Episode One was generally positive. Reviewers praised it for having more intricate, well paced gameplay than Half Life 2. PC Gamer commented that "while this inaugural episode may not be the essential FPS that Half Life 2 is, I can't imagine any shooter fan who'd want to miss it." PC Gamer directed particular praise to the balance between puzzle oriented and action oriented challenges throughout the game. Episode One earned scores of 87/100 and 85.59% on review aggregators Metacritic and GameRankings respectively. IGN awarded Episode One "Best PC FPS of 2006" and described it as a "great bang for the buck using Valve's new episodic plan", although it did not offer "the complete experience that Half Life 2 was". GameSpy ranked Episode One ninth on its 2006 "Games of the Year" list, and it also noted the implementation of Alyx as a believable and useful companion. A common criticism of the game is its short length. Episode One takes roughly 4–6 hours to complete, which raised the issue of whether the game justified its price. Game Revolution expressed disappointment at a lack of new features such as environments and weapons. During the 10th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Half Life 2: Episode One for "First Person Action Game of the Year".

Half Life 2: Episode Two was released in 2007. Episode Three was scheduled for release by Christmas 2007, After canceling several further Half Life projects, Valve released a prequel, Half Life: Alyx, in 2020.