Let me just start off by saying my liking of HL2 took awhile.

Ive had the game forever but just couldnt get myself to complete it. When the announcement of the Orange Box came out and they said it would release with episode 1 and 2 I figured I had to at least catch up on the story if im going to play the next 2 eps. So i put it in godmode and mashed my way through. The game was OK enough and the ending was anti-climatic to say the least. But it set up for the next games well enough. Ep 1 was cool but very short and Im glad I didnt buy that as a standalone. But Episode 2 was so damn awsome I was glad I played through the first 2 installments.

If you have a decent system you owe it to yourself to try this game and play it with the settings maxed. Valve does a great job of lighting, especially in the earlier tunnel levels.

The story this time around is finally a little more fleshy and somethings are finally coming to light.

The new car is fast and fun but the lack of a new gun is dissapointing to say the least.

There are a couple new enemies. The Zombine, pretty much just zombie combine and a new crazy worker antlion that spits acid at you. The new worker antlions AI tactics are really good too. I enjoyed battling these bugs more then the combine. They actually took cover and then leaped out from corners making me jump out of my seat a couple times.

Last note is the music. As always its adrenaline pumping rock to the max and this time I swear they got the guys from 28 days later to do some soundtracking. Look up Vortal Combat in youtube sometime and youll see what i mean.

All in all this games episode pleased me to the very end. Alot of the new games that have come out have made me oooh and ahh till about 3 hours in and I realize its all the same, but ep 2 keeps me running for more until the end comes up all too soon. (another disapointing thing was game length. 5 hours tops on the hardest setting.)