Mostly everything I said in my Half-Life 2 review stands. This is a great continuation of Half-Life 2. However, it certainly feels like a small episode in terms of how the story is progressed. Although, it still goes in a very interesting direction.

One thing I love about this game, however, is the character of Alyx. I won't say she was bad in the original Half-Life 2, but she did feel a bit bland. Here, she is given so much more life and personality that it's incredibly hard to dislike her. She is great!

Don't expect a complete upgrade like how it was from Half-Life 1 to 2. This is simply more Half-Life 2 with some new ideas thrown in. Overall, a really great time.

Honestly, this didn't do much for me. There's a fairly strong middle section that utilises the flashlight for some fun and tense scenarios, but the opening and closing sections are quite dull. Alyx is a fun character, but her survivability feels a little ridiculous. Sure, Gordan shouldn't have got through the original Half-Life, but as the player I've seen that his success was only possible with the loading of MANY quicksaves, and thus the unlikeliness of his success is properly conveyed and justified. Alyx's invincibility renders her a non-factor, and as such it's hard to buy this as a joint adventure.

Don't really know what to make of this game tbh. Its a nice addendum to HL2, and I really enjoy seeing the aftermath of the game, but the game itself is... I guess lackluster? If the entire thing only had Gordon using the gravity gun, and maybe at the VERY end giving him some weapons, it would have been pretty challenging and interesting. Instead you're given normal weapon progression, which is fine, but it starts making me feel like "What was the point of this?" Obviously it leads into Episode 2, but the journey's fast pace and short time to reach the end made me a little confused. Also erm kill yourself Alyx with that zombine pun shit