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Half-Life 2: Episode Two

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9.2 User Score:

Universal acclaim

Based on 21 critic reviews
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Based on 938 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Valve Software

Developer: Valve Software

Genre(s): First-Person Shooter

Players: 1

ESRB Rating: M (Mature)

Release Date: October 9, 2007

Summary

Half-Life 2: Episode Two is the second in a trilogy of new games created by Valve that extends the award-winning and best-selling Half-Life adventure. As Dr. Gordon Freeman, you were last seen exiting City 17 with Alyx Vance as the Citadel erupted amidst a storm of unknown proportions. In Episode Two, you must battle and race against Combine forces as you traverse the White Forest to deliver a crucial information packet stolen from the Citadel to an enclave of fellow resistance scientists. Episode Two extends the award-winning Half-Life gameplay with unique weapons, vehicles, and newly-spawned creatures. [Valve]

Also On Metacritic

GAMES: Half-Life 2 Half-Life 2: Episode One The Orange Box

Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

1UP

I've selected these examples at near-random to avoid spoiling truly standout showpieces. Episode Two's entire five-hour experience -- vivid, emotionally engaging, and virtually unsurpassed -- is full of them.

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100

Thunderbolt

Episode Two is an absolute must-purchase for any FPS fan. It’s an amazing experience from beginning to end. I truly cannot think of a way to improve this game.

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PALGN

Half Life 2 Episode Two equals Half-Life 2's achievements and in many cases vaults over the high bar which it created. Brimming with great story telling and excellent action it is almost a must play for anybody even remotely interested.

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Armchair Empire

Episode 2 is an awesome example of packing various kinds of gameplay into a compressed time span without the whole thing descending into a discombobulated mess.

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IGN

Any way you look at it, Episode Two stands out, even among the Half-Life series, as something special. It may be shorter than the original, but it's a burly experience packed into roughly six hours or so that offers up all the diversity, level design, and thoughtful gameplay we've known while making sure to propel the story forward and leave us wanting more.

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PC Gamer UK

Episode Two is the most sumptuous chapter of the Half-Life saga, and by a country mile. It's as if Valve's tech and art teams are trying to outdo each other: the Source engine has had a striking technical overhaul that renders textures, materials and curves uncannily well, and the artists clearly relish having a fresh palette to work with.

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AtomicGamer

On its own, Episode Two might not seem like much for its price tag, but as part of the Orange Box package, it becomes an excellent value that's packaged alongside two very different first-person games.

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Play (Poland)

A really solid add-on, as long as some full games and made like a good science fiction movie. At last the combat isn’t confined to city streets and cellars, so one can breathe freely. The only problem is the lack of new guns. But it’s an excellent sequel anyway. It has a megaton of mood, believable characters, sensible story motivating the hero and the old American clunker of a car switching gears with a wonderful grinding sound. It’s hard not to like it - and the Episode Two as well. [Dec 2007]

Eurogamer

A happy medium between the mind-blowing excess of its parent game and its somewhat compact Episode One offspring. While initially lacking in gameplay novelty or many truly 'new' elements that fans always hanker for, it more than makes up for this with its consistently engaging narrative tricks, refined set-pieces and a staggering climax.

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Computer and Video Games

More great story blended with improved AI and better firefights. It's starting to retread old ground though.

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AceGamez

By staying true to the already exceptional foundation of the series and adding meaningful changes that enhance the player's experience even further, Valve have demonstrated yet again that in this ever-competitive genre they still have the ability to impress and excel.

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GamerNode

The emotion, presentation, story and overall action-packed gameplay cements Episode 2 as an excellent addition in the Half-Life 2 series and PC gaming in general. While playing Episode 2, I never felt detached or alienated from the game.

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Jolt Online Gaming UK

In fact, though a good bit shorter than the original Half-Life 2, Episode 2 quite possibly rivals it in terms of memorable sequences. These include some lengthy vehicle sections, some stunning scenery, some stand-out plotlines and a good few damned enjoyable fight sequences.

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VideoGamer

Half-Life fans are going to flip out over what Episode Two has to offer and FPS fans in general should find a finely crafted, lean experience.

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YouGamers

Fine addition to the overall storyline of Gordon Freeman. Fails to stand alone, but I guess that's episodic gaming. Bit on the short side and the weakest link of The Orange Box, but good fun as long as it lasts.

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Computer Games Online RO

As the game progresses, the initial familiar sensation disappears and we get caught up in the story again, there are many open spaces and we’ll be able to drive another car (a modified Dodge Charger) on more types of terrain.

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The New York Times

I was less impressed by Episode 2’s story. While it sows a few seeds for the final episode of the trilogy, the game lacks the driving force of the previous episode.

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PC Zone UK

Episode Two contains some of the series' greatest moments, and it's still every bit as charming as its predecessors, but it's so similar to Half-Life 2 that despite what Valve might believe, we're really left wanting something a bit fresher. [Dec 2007, p.60]

GameSpy

A worthy, entertaining addition to the Half-Life saga, even if it's a little more inconsistent than its predecessors. It's got plenty of the action, puzzles and set pieces that's made the series so successful to date, and that formula hasn't been tampered with.

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Four Fat Chicks

For the first time in its history, Valve has produced other than a superlative product. That's more disorienting than disappointing, as though the sky had suddenly changed color or cats started speaking. I don't dislike Episode Two. I just wish I liked it more.

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GameCritics

Despite its lackluster first act, Episode 2 ends up showing more of the kind of progressive gameplay I have been wanting to see from the series.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 9.2 (out of 10) based on 938 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Mitch gave it a10:
Normally I would give this game a nine, but I feel desperately I need to use whatever I can to overpower "Help U" and his poorly written monstrosity which ceased to make sense to those of us with logical brains about 10 minutes in. In retort to what (I think) he was trying to say, The Orange Box was not just some rip-off game package deal. For $20 you can get two, freshly released games, a brand new episode for Half-Life 2, and because it wouldn't make any sense at all to give you a new episode standalone, the other two chapters of the Half-Life 2 experience. Since three of the five titles then were brand new in the Orange Box, and the other two titles were basically a free gift, I hardly think there is anything to complain about unless you were at the frightening level of idiocy that would have compelled you to buy all these games separately. Your opinion of Episode 2 is your own business, but dropping the rating because of the packaging deal is just asinine. What's more, I am inclined to disagree anyway with your review, whose grammar gave me throbbing pains in my frontal lobes, by stating that with each of the Episodic releases Valve is not only adding more to the rich storyline of Half-Life 2 (which probably doesn't matter to the kind of gamer you group yourself under), and not only enriching the gameplay with new stirring sequences whose difficulty is amped up much further than the previous two installments and innovative additions to the Source Engine and interaction with the environment, but is also constantly adding to the game's original code to make it more visually stunning (the addition of full bloom and environmental lighting is felt most in episode 2, and beautifully) and user-friendly without the sacrifice of challenge. It is a wonderful game, and even if you can't see that, I encourage you to actually try using your mind before suddenly running your mouth and dropping the game with an insincerely low rating. I mean a two?! I reserve those for the likes of Sonic the Hedgehog games! Show some decency!

Help U gave it a2:
This is the original advertising campaign. "Half Life 2: Adventures of Gordan Freeman and the Crappy Unnecessary Character: Part 2" By now, if you actually enjoyed Half Life 2 up to this point, we can throw just about anything at you. How about? The same puzzles. How about? One new Enemy with slightly updated AI. How about? A storyline that actually requires you to study and worship Half Life to sort of understand. How about? More awkward situations to the point of unrealism. How about? The final, not boss, Bosses be very overly complicated to defeat and leaves room for hours of frustration. Now we know how much our fans like the same old formulas. So, get this, we actually make it into a package deal. With one, count them, one good game in the package deal. Its called Portal or something....us valve teammembers are against games that make you think but we'll let this one slide. We can't call it something generic like "Valve Fanboy Package" we'll make it the "Orange Box" which is like the mating call for all Valve fanboys. I hope you come to enjoy our repackaging of Half Life 2 as much we enjoy half a**ing everything.

Marcelo S gave it a10:
The game is perfect. Everything is very well connect and, though I agree Alyx is almost a super woman (if I took half the shots she take I'd be long dead, even with 100 health and 100 suit!!!), the storyline is really wonderful. And, the challenge is pretty good, and not frustrating. The two final chapter are almost worthy all the game: kill lots of big robots, in a riot sometimes you almost get lost, and then, the astonishing end, impredictable and unexpectable. I'm really not a big fan of HL, though I consider it very good and entertaining, but, Episode 2 really made me write this review: it's simply perfect. It moves not only with your accuracy as a shooter, but you may even develop(finally!!!) some real bonds with the other characters. Finally I felt part of all those things of Black Mesa, G-Man and Alyx Vance. I really wanted Episode 3 was released today. Regards, Marcelo Soeiro

John C gave it a10:
Loved the game felt alot longer and more entertaining then Episode 1 and the new enemies and allies was pretty fun. It was also nice to have awards you could earn through steam for the game and im happy to know that Episode 3 may have a link to Portal since Aperature science is involved. Only thing i didnt like was the ending since it was a little depressing. Really makes me want to see whats going to happen in Episode 3 though.

Dan m gave it an8:
Rather underwhelmed by this game. Interesting (and quite striking) new graphics. Some new enemies to face, and some interesting action scenes, but for me thats not what makes hl2 fun. NO FUCKING NEW GUNS. Its an expansion, this is a travesty. They have perfect opportunities to give them also. Overall, just more of the same ol' same ol' formula thats getting very boring.

Ross H. gave it a9:
I would first like to say that half of the User Reviews don't even make sense, let alone give you a decent reason for why they rated the game as such. I will refer you first to Danny G who rated the game a 1. It seem he hated this esp, WTF is a esp? Probably short for episode but the individual is too stupid to realize the "p" is before the "s" in episode. I hope nobody continued reading his review after that unless they were trying to get a laugh out of it. The second I would like to note is Philip B. He rated the game a zero because operating system didn't grant him the permission to run executable. Please don't abuse the game rating system because you can't play it. Personally I gave the game a 9. It had everything I could want in good FPS. The story line was amazing and continued an arc that seems to keep the mystery of what is going on alive, well progressing itself in an interesting manner. The graphics continue to amaze and delight me and the physics compliment it nicely. The only two things I have against this game is difficulty and length of play. Since everyone already knows that these are episodes and are going to be short I don't have to explain my lust for more when I get done with an episode. However my problem with the fact that the game isn't very hard even on the hardest of settings still bugs the shit out of me. Please valve make another setting for die hard gamers to give us the challenge we need.

Anonymous Gamer gave it a10:
Unlike episode 1 this is far better. The enviroments feel more enjoyable especially white forest. The characters seem to be extremly real, it makes you forget about it being a game. The final battle was my fave part i wont give away any spoilers but I loved it! However when the game ended i felt like i had just read the final harry potter book, it was so sad id have to wait another long time to find out what happens. But out of all I seriously reccomend this game!

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Half-Life 2: Episode Two

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