Half-Life 2: Episode Two Preview

Preview @ TVG.com

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Then, in a corner office of Valve's high-rise abode I come across exactly what will be chasing you through the rural valleys, forests and wide-open spaces of Valve's futuro-Eastern Europe - the Hunter. "We wanted something that was like the Strider in that it's a synthetic Combine thing," explains Valve creature creator Ted Backman as he waves his hands over a clay rendition of the latest addition to the alien menagerie. "It can do lots of cool non-human movements, it can be dynamic and fight you in ways that a soldier couldn't, but also it's a lot smaller scale than an actual Strider - entering into buildings, chasing you through tighter terrain and relating to you in more of a intimidating, in-your-face, large way."

[...]The most intriguing prospect of Ep Two though is the setting - since forests, farmland and countryside generally aren't quite as constricting as the linear paths through barricaded streets and murky industrial complexes in which Freeman has made his name. Clearly, there'll still be a lot of this, chiefly an underground journey through mines and Antlion burrows, but much of this new instalment will take place in a far broader arena. You'll be really encouraged to get to know the lay of the land that you're covering, journeying back and forth between action hotspots as opposed to relentlessly pushing forward as you did in the Coast and Water Hazard sections of HL2; making decisions about which skirmishes to take on first and which places to make your stand.

To aid you in this, you're being given a new toy to play with - the creator of which, a youngish cheery chap called Josh Weier, I now perch next to atop a wobbly stool. What I see is essentially a cobbled-together Eastern European Hot Rod, complete with belching engine and a fridge strapped to the back to act as a boot and keep your saw-blades in. But what do you need in a countryside riddled with pan-dimensional villainy?

Bin grad ein bisschen sauer! Ich muss mir das gesamte Paket um 50€ holen. "Den CD-Key von HL2, HL2:EP1 kann man ja weiterverkaufen". Weil ich das spielen will, muss ich das Doppelte zahlen, hab dann den Aufwand einen Käufer für 2 Keys zu finden?

Kann mir auch nicht vorstellen, dass sehr viele einen Key vom Original und von EP1 haben wollen. Ok, die spielen dann einmal das, wollen sicher auch das 2. Add-On, Team Fortress und Portal. Also müssten die sich dann die Orange-Box nochmal holen. Das Ganze ist ein Teufelskreis!

btw. Falls es wirklich wen gibt, der nur HL2 und EP1 spielen will -> ca. am 9. Oktober vercheck ich die 2 Keys

Preview @ Shacknews

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Valve has given that question a lot of thought, and Walker and Brown shared with me some of their answers. For example, like seemingly most of Valve's design decisions, that Medic invulnerability charge serves multiple purposes. Most fundamentally, it adds depth and value to the Medic class and allows otherwise vulnerable or easily-targeted classes the brief opportunity to overcome that weakness. In a more overarching sense, it allows a team the opportunity to turn the tides if the game has reached a stalemate, with one team dug in with a heavily-fortified defense. A few Medic-equipped pairs can build up their charge and break through the enemy line (frantically shouted phrases such as "Invuln coming!" can be heard around Valve's offices during play sessions). Similarly, if a conservatively-playing team suspects that its opponents are hanging back and charging their Medics, they might be encouraged to press forward and disrupt those plans.

Team Fortress 2 has a sudden-death mode, activated if there is no victor once the game's timer runs out, that supercedes the actual objective to be completed. In sudden death, the game becomes Counter-Strike-like, with players losing the ability to respawn. If a team can manage to achieve its objective or kill all members of the opposing team, it wins. This allows for a significant change in pace, and injects a shot of intensity into a game that, with neither team having made sufficient headway when the clock ticks down, may well have been in need of it. It also has the side benefit of giving less experienced players the opportunity to spectate longer than usual, while occurring rarely enough that the game does not lose the fast Team Fortress feel.