Half-Life 2: Episode Two

Windows October 10, 2007 October 10, 2007 October 18, 2007 October 25, 2007 Xbox 360 October 10, 2007 October 10, 2007 October 18, 2007 October 18, 2007 PlayStation 3 November 16, 2007 November 22, 2007 December 11, 2007 macOS May 26, 2010 Linux May 9, 2013 (Beta)

platform

Windows , Linux , Xbox 360 ,
PS3 , macOS

Game mode

Mouse , keyboard

system advantages
preconditions

CPU : 1.7 GHz
RAM : 512 MB
Graphics card : DirectX 8 compatible
56k modem

medium

DVD-ROM , download

language

German

Current version

1.0

Registration key

information

German version cut

Half-Life 2: Episode Two is the second part of an expansion trilogy of the first-person shooter computer game Half-Life 2 .

Like Half-Life 2 and Episode One, Episode Two is only distributed in a cut version in Germany.

action

Episode Two follows on from the end of Episode One . The Citadel of City 17 has exploded, derailing the train that was supposed to take Alyx and Gordon out of town. The two now have to make their way through the area around City 17 to bring a message stolen from the citadel with important information to the resistance.

Course of the game

To The White Forest : Gordon wakes up alone in the derailed train and is freed by Alyx with the Gravity Gun. In the fresh air, they watch a portal tower that emerges from the remains of the destroyed citadel. Alyx manages to contact Dr. Eli Vance, Dr. Kleiner and Dr. Magnusson (another survivor of the Black Mesa incident ) - the leaders of the resistance. You are in White Forest, an old missile launching base that now serves as headquarters. From them they learn that the Combine are trying to build a super portal to their homeworld in order to bring more troops to Earth. However, the resistance is working on a weapon that will close the portal. In order for this to work, you need the access code that you suspect in the recording from the citadel. Alyx and Gordon are now trying to get to the headquarters as quickly as possible. Shortly afterwards, they are attacked by a hunter who seriously injures Alyx. Gordon loses consciousness and only wakes up when a Vortigaunt appears. He frees Gordon and tells him about a nearby cave where he can heal Alyx. After he has called more Vortigaunts for help, they make their way there. On the way, however, the two are separated and Gordon has to cover the rest of the way alone.

This Vortal Coil : Gordon finds himself in an old mine. The tunnels and caves serve the ant lions (in the original Antlions ) as a building in which they raise their brood. Gordon looks for a way through the burrow where he is attacked by the ant lions. Eventually he meets the Vortigaunt again and has to find out that Alyx is near death. While they wait for the rest of the Vortigaunts, Gordon has to defend the cave with two resistance fighters from the waves of ant lions. With the three Vortigaunts hurrying up, one last major attack by the ant lions is repelled; it then succeeds in stabilizing Alyx's condition. In order to heal them, however, an essence from the antlion's burrow (orig .: Antlion Essence ) is required. Gordon therefore sets off with a Vortigaunt into the heart of the ant lion den, past an angry, poisonous ant lion guard (orig .: Poison Antlion Guard ). Once in the heart of the burrow, the Vortigaunt reaps the substance from the ant lion combs and the two return. Gordon is asked to attend the ceremony. The Vortigaunts begin healing Alyx. This distracts their focus and allows the G-Man to contact Gordon. He implores Gordon that the weapon must be used against the Combine portal. He also whispers to Alyx to warn her father of "unforeseen consequences". The ceremony then ends and Alyx is saved. Together with Alyx and the Vortigaunt, Gordon sets out to find a car that the rebels have repaired that will help them get to White Forest faster.

Freeman Pontifex (Pontifex Freeman): On the surface, the Gordon, Alyx and the Vortigaunt find that the Combine is sending all remaining units to White Forest to prevent the use of the weapon. On the way to the car the three have to defend themselves again against a normal and a poisonous ant lion guardian. You come to an old factory with the car on the bridge. Gordon now has to make his way through the factory to the other side of the bridge - covered by Alyx at a stationary sniper rifle - which is made more difficult by zombies and radioactive waste. Once on the other side, he can recover the car and open the way to the bridge. Since the car only has two seats, the Vortigaunt remains behind and Alyx and Gordon make their way to White Forest alone.

Riding Shotgun (Mobile Shotgun): On the way to White Forest, Alyx and Gordon are attacked several times by the Combine. In a seemingly abandoned house, they meet an advisor who tries to kill them. However, they can break free through an explosion and the advisor flees injured. When pursued by a hunter chopper, your vehicle is damaged. They have to stop at a rebel base to fix their car. Gordon takes care of the hunter chopper by throwing the mines back with the gravity gun and thus destroying them.

Under The Radar : At the other end of the rebel base, a self-firing system must be destroyed before the journey can continue. Alyx and Gordon continue to fight their way through a zombie infested area. In an abandoned village they are caught again in a massive ambush by the Combine. On the last few meters to White Forest, a strider emerges from the wreckage of a landing ship, but it is defeated by Alyx's robot Dog.

Our Mutual Fiend : The weapon of resistance is a satellite that is supposed to close the portal from its orbit. However, the launch of the rocket is at risk as long as Striders are in the vicinity. An alleged false alarm in the second missile silo turns out to be a combine attack. After the attack has been repulsed and the silo has been closed, the analysis of the stolen data from the citadel begins. It is a transmission from Dr. Mossman, in which a picture of a missing ship (based on the Philadelphia experiment ) with the name Borealis is hidden. Research was being carried out on Borealis by Aperture Science Laboratories, a competitor to Black Mesa, the results of which could bring the resistor a tremendous advantage. Dr. However, Vance believes that this dangerous research should be destroyed. In addition, he confidently reveals to Gordon that he also knows the G-Man and that he is directly responsible for the events in Black Mesa. Alyx and Gordon decide to leave for the Borealis after the rocket launches. First, however, is the expected major attack by the Combine: Striders, accompanied by hunters, attack in waves and try to destroy the rocket with the satellite. With the help of Dr. Magnusson developed sticky mines, the silo can be protected.

T-Minus One (T minus One): The rocket is launched successfully and the super portal is destroyed. Gordon and Alyx now want to go to Dr. Make Mossman to recover the Borealis. Dr. However, Vance asks Gordon if he finds the Borealis to destroy them. Shortly before the helicopter takes off, the hall is attacked by two advisors. You kill dr. Vance and Alyx also want to kill, but Dog rushes to help and drives the advisor to flight. Gordon passes out. The last thing he hears is Alyx's lamentation for her dead father.

Innovations

Like Episode One , Episode Two doesn't bring any major innovations in terms of game technology. If you disregard the use of sticky mines in a level, the player's arsenal is not expanded. Besides Dr. Magnusson will not introduce any new characters either. On the opponent's side, the player faces a new innovation, the Hunter , a very agile mini-strider. You will also meet ant lion larvae, the new caste of workers who can spray poisonous acid, and an ant lion king, which - apart from its coloring - does not differ from the one from Half-Life 2.

In terms of programming, however, the source engine has been heavily modified. Significant improvements over Episode One can be seen in the areas of lighting and shadows, physics and effects such as depth and motion blur . The engine now supports multi-core processors for improved performance and has been specially optimized to display outdoor areas with a large visual range. The rendering performance for displaying particle effects has also been greatly improved.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for Episode Two was composed by Kelly Bailey. The music is used sparingly in the game and is only heard when there are important developments in the background story, as well as great battles and encounters with new enemies. The soundtrack is included in the orange box .

No One Rides For Free - 1:02
Dark Interval - 1:35
Crawl Yard - 1:14
Nectarium - 1:47
Extinction Event Horizon - 2:04
Vortal Combat - 3:14
Sector Sweep - 2:46
Shu'ulathoi - 2:38
Last Legs - 2:07
Abandoned In Place - 2:47
Inhuman Frequency - 1:50
Hunting Party - 3:29
Eon Trap - 3:14

Differences between gameplay demos and finished game

For the Games Convention 2006 in Leipzig , gameplay demos were recorded, which were supposed to show content of the game principle one year before the game was released. The scenes shown were changed for the final version. The reason for this is given as having fun in the commentary mode. The original plan was to incapacitate Alyx for a while by falling. However, they went on to have her injured by a hunter in order to give her time to move the plot forward and to generate a feeling of revenge against the hunters.

Video 1: The video takes place in the This Vortal Coil part and shows the fight against the ant lions with the Vortigaunts. You can clearly see the ant lion workers (original: Antlion Workers ), which here still have the shape of green ant lions, while in the final version they have a completely different shape. Their poison is also stronger and they cannot shoot it at Gordon. The number of ant lions that appear is much larger here than in the game.
Video 2: This video plays again in the part This Vortal Coil and shows the fight against the (later poisonous) ant lion king. It is noticeable that the green coloring of the ant lion was retained in the final version. In the video it does not release any poison and the crushing of maggots does not give the player any life back, as they do in the final version. The tunnel system in which you fight the ant lion king is also smaller than in the final version.
Video 3: This video takes place in the chapter Riding Shotgun, right after the encounter with the advisor. It is noticeable that Alyx is not present - apparently a longer absence was planned for her. This is also supported by the fact that, in contrast to the final version, the car is only designed for one seat. In addition, the skin of the car has also changed up to the final version. In addition, no hunters appear.
Video 4: This video plays after demo 3. The stop at the rebel base seems unplanned because the car was not damaged by the Hunter chopper beforehand. The area around the rebel base is much smaller in the final version, as is the life energy of the hunter chopper. However, its AI is better in the final version.
Video 5: This video takes place in the chapter Our Mutual Fiend while trying to fend off the Striders. First of all, it is noticeable that, unlike in the final version, it is a real battle between Combine and humans. You can see soldiers and gunships of the Combine, which do not appear in the final version at this point. Hunters still have an impulse rifle while they fire explosive ammunition in the final version. Strider Buster (sticky leads) are only available to a limited extent and cannot be regenerated on machines as in the final version.

Web links

official website
Half Life 2: Episode Two at MobyGames (English)

Individual evidence

↑ Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One and Half-Life 2: Episode Two Beta Released. In: Steam . Valve Corporation, May 9, 2013, accessed June 26, 2014 .

[HL2_Linux_Beta-1] Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One and Half-Life 2: Episode Two Beta Released. In: Steam . Valve Corporation, May 9, 2013, accessed June 26, 2014 .