In this final chapter, Gordon helps evacuate citizens and rebels and fights a strider blocking the train tracks. The Citadel blows at the end of the chapter, and its shockwave overtakes Alyx and Gordon’s train.
Upon reuniting with Barney at the train station, Alyx and Gordon work to move the citizens to the trains while facing increasing Combine opposition. They then decide to stay behind to lure the Combine away from Barney and the citizens as they board the train and make their escape.
After battling Combine soldiers and a Strider, the duo reprogram another train and board the caboose. As the train carries Alyx and Gordon away, the Citadel is visible in the background with the reactor core once again about to explode, and the Combine’s message is sent.
Several pods similar to the one containing the Combine Advisor in the control room are ejected from the Citadel as it detonates. On two occasions, as pods pass overhead, Gordon and Alyx are hit with psychic blasts.
The force of the shockwave from the exploding Citadel causes metal chunks and wreckage to fly toward the train Alyx and Gordon are on as it sends its final transmission, and the screen fades to an ominous white as the Citadel explodes, destroying City 17, and causing a shockwave that overtakes the train.
The last thing that the player hears is the twisting of metal and Alyx whispering Gordon’s name. The screen then fades to the credits.
No known trivia for this chapter.
Click on the thumbnails below to open a 1024 pixel wide image.
WARNING: The screenshots contain spoilers.
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I won’t be covering the Episode One achievements in the same way as I did in the Half-Life 2 TREE event, because they are less chapter based. However, HLFallout.Net has an excellent guide that I can highly recommend.
This post is part of the The Replay Experience Experiment event. This is a chance to replay all the Half-Life games and discuss them based on our experiences since we first played them.
The intro and trivia text are taken from the CombineOverWiki, a fan-supported, editable wiki covering the Half-Life series of games.
On the left is a complete text walkthrough for Half-Life 2: Episode One.
It has been written by Stanley E. Dunigan and updated with all the tricks and tips from PlanetPhillip.Com readers.
It is in PDF format, meaning you can open it directly in modern browsers or download it and print it.
(Left-click to open and right-click to save)
You can purchase Half-Life 2: Episode One directly through Steam and could be playing in within moments, depending on your internet connection.
Like much of this game, I had forgotten the rebel escort section. That said, I had forgotten most parts of the other games too, so it’s not too unusual.
This particular gameplay design was well done, but I have to admit I didn’t like it much. I don’t feel like a nursemaid with my HEV and weapons but being a hero is about doing things that NEED to be done, not just doing the things that you ENJOY doing.
The final section is a masterpiece in my humble opinion and I definitely remember that part. I keep coming back to the same idea but the best levels of any game are the ones set in a smallish space, but limited route options.
This section is completely linear and that’s fine with me because I want to fight not choice which way to go.
All in all a great end to what is actually a very good game.
The final sequence sets everything up nicely for Episode Two which I’ll be starting soon.
Playtime: 29 minutes
Exit 17 is set on two maps and offers two kinds of gameplay. Honestly I never enjoy the first one but the second is a fantastic boss map.
So, the first part of this chapter is ” Protect the civilians !”. It is well made, starting with a first journey without any enemies to recognize the place. Then difficulty gradually increase, to end with an APC and many soldiers.
In this phase we can notice Barney’s stress, contrasting with Nexus battle. This is the same thing we seen with Alyx some times ago.
Despite all of that, I still dislike this part, simply because it’s not my cup of tea.
Then, we have a fully action gameplay. Once Alyx is safe, Gordon is buried under problems. This Strider is not a very hard boss, but fighting it in the station is very exciting. In addition, it is incredibly burst out, shooting everywhere you can be. Probably the most difficult battle against a Strider. (Only one Strider, at least…)
Finally comes the Citadel explosion, a fantastic scene in my sense. All those efforts for that, the unavoidable fatality. At this point I felt it was just beginning, and that HL2 events was nothing in comparison of what will coming after that.
CAUGHT MY EARS
” See you when I see you ! ” I suppose Barney means Episode 3.
DEATHS
None
PLAYTIME
22 minutes
MY FRENCH LET’s PLAY
where is the download linik? 🙁
This is a chapter from Half-Life 2: Episode One. It’s not a mod. It’s part of the TREE event.
The area with the containers and the striders makes very good use of space. But it’s weird that in hl2 we fought so many striders at once and here only 1, I guess they couldn’t cram up another 1 in there hehe
Why does Alyx say “here we go, we did it, Gordon” twice?… Anyway, the finale is pretty impressive to look at and live through and ends with a cliffhanger and if that wasn’t enough, it even gives us sneak previews and I think the first time through it actually made me start ep2 right away. And if I hadn’t bought both in a pack, I would’ve bought it right away hehe
Even now, if it weren’t for this event! I’d start ep2 🙁
Playtime: 20m
The last chapter of episode one. This chapter is pretty cool. In the beginnng, we have to help waves of refugees get to the trainstation. This is like an inverted tower defense, as we progress the combine tries harder to stop us. They send snipers, soldiers, hoppers, a tank (I don’t know it’s real name), etc. Funny how when you go through the first time you think there is too much health, but you start running low on it very quickly.
Then the final boss battle with a strider. Alyx conveniently disappears from the field right before it appears -.-
Crazy run around containers and boxes in order to reach the ammo crate at the end, then we shoot down the strider, and we can finally leave. We see a lot of advisor pods being sent in every direction, and then the transmission goes out and the game ends, on a probable train crash (dejavu?)
Five words or less review:
I kicked that strider’s ass
Deaths:
None 😀
Playtime:
10 minutes 10 seconds 208 milliseconds
1 death, that’s not bad 😀
1 hour 4 minutes 38 seconds 209 milliseconds
We’re certainly done with the puzzles from the previous chapters. This one is all-out combat, but somehow it still feels like a nice mix. I think it’s because it’s split between an escort section and cat-and-mouse with the strider. In each section you do have chances to stop and catch a breath if you choose your spots carefully.
So in Episode 1, if Urban Flight is the pinnacle of balance between combat and puzzles, then Exit 17 is simply the combat pinnacle of the game. It’s tough, particularly on Hard, and it’s a great progression in difficulty. The escort bits get tougher one at a time, and I love how the environment (and path) change from run to run – it keeps you on your toes and keeps it from becoming too repetitive. I’m not generally a fan of escort missions, but this one was varied enough and short enough to feel just right.
But the memorable part is really the strider faceoff at the end. Here’s an enemy we’ve seen plenty of in HL2, but now it’s a different deal altogether. It’s close quarters and it’s 1-on-1 more or less (though Valve was truly evil and threw in a couple of poison headcrabs). It changes the dynamics of how you approach the battle and I found it to be the most difficult part in the Half-Life 2 games so far.
Playtime: 40 minutes, because that strider is a bitch on Hard, and it got me a couple dozen times!