It's amazing how fast time travels. Just over 18 months ago I was playing one of the most technically advanced games at that time, in terms of physics, graphics and facial expression technology.

Back in 1997 Stephen King wrote a book called "The Green Mile." He released this book as a series of six booklets, each about 90 pages long and each costing around $3. It was, IMHO, one of the best books he's ever written and harked back to the days of serialized novels, which were very common about...

is Valve's foray into "episodic games". The idea is to give a smaller amount of gameplay at a very reasonable price (usually $20 or less), yet to still have the production values of a full-quality game.

I really wanted the headline of this review to read "Alyx Lives!" Half-Life 2 was one of my favorite games last year. I know there are those that say that Doom 3 was a better title, but for me, it really was Half-Life.

First Impressions My reaction is It's amazing how quickly time passes by. Just last year, I was playing the "The Game of the Year" Half-Life 2 and now I'm playing Episode 1 of same series.

The ground is shaking, and a gigantic metal tower creaks above you. Sparks and fires light the shadows to reveal a mauled corpse in every corner, and debris and more bodies fall from the sky.

Fan favorite Alyx is back, and her character is the game's biggest innovation: Valve has developed her into a deftly written co-star who watches your back throughout most of the game; Players who are as smitten with Alyx as Alyx is with the protagonist will beam every time she calls out "Nice shot!

The endless load times are back; too

Engaging FPS - Beautifully made - Slighlty flawed So, if you've played Half Life 2 to the end your all ready sold on this game due to the cliffhanger at the end of the Half Life 2 campaign.

Title Half Life 2: Episode One Rating M (Mature) Developer Valve Software Publisher Valve Software Release Date June 1, 2006 Platform PC Genre First Person...

this is a great game, but it costs FAR to much for only 2 hours woth of gaming, and fans are going to be tricked into buying all the episodes for stupid prices!!

Traditionally the summer isn't a great time to release video games. The weather is nice, there's lots of sport on and 'blockbuster' films are lining up to compete for your well-earned pound.