Half-Life 2: Episode Two

Half-Life 2: Episode 2 is a 2007 first-person shooter game by Valve. It is the sequel to Half-Life 2: Episode One.

Story

The game opens right after Half-Life 2: Episode 1, with the train that Gordon Freeman and Alyx Vance were riding on having crashed in the wilderness outside City 17, which blew up in the last game. Alyx tells Gordon that they need to find a resistance base called White Forest. While going there, Alyx is attacked and badly hurt by a new type of enemy called a hunter. A friendly alien called a Vortigaunt arrives and helps Gordon take Alyx to safety. The other Vortigaunts figure out that they need something called “larval extract” made by aliens called antlions. Gordon follows a Vortigaunt into an old mine to find the extract, fighting antlions and zombies. They find the extract, avoiding a huge antlion that’s guarding it. Then they go back to Alyx. While Alyx is being healed, Gordon is spoken to psychically by the mysterious G-Man, who reveals he saved Alyx during the Black Mesa Incident. The G-Man then tells Alyx (still unconscious) to tell her father Eli to “prepare for unforeseen consequences”.

Gordon and Alyx find a stripped-down old muscle car and make their way to White Forest. On the way they fight off hunters and find a mysterious type of Combine alien called an advisor. Their car breaks down but is fixed by a group of resistance fighters. After this, they continue driving but are ambushed by the evil Combine faction at an inn. They survive and meet up with Alyx’s robot friend Dog, who fights off a huge Combine monster called a strider. They arrive at White Forest, where Alyx gives Eli the message told to her by the G-Man. Eli is shocked. When Eli and Gordon are alone, Eli tells Gordon that he too knows about the G-Man. They also find out about a ship made by Aperture Science called the Borealis, which Eli thinks is very dangerous for some reason.

Suddenly, the base is attacked by the Combine. Gordon and the resistance defend it in a long battle. Alyx and Gordon are about to use a helicopter to go to the Borealis, but the hangar is attacked by Combine advisors. Eli tries to fend them off, but is caught by one. He tells Gordon to destroy the Borealis before being killed by the advisor. Much like the last one, the game ends on a cliffhanger, with Alyx mourning the death of her father.

Reception

Like most of the Half-Life series, game received very good reviews. It has a score of 90 out of 100 on Metacritic.