1. Half-Life 2: Episode 2 – October 2007
Episode 2 took the core gameplay and engine of Half-Life 2 and moved it to a bigger, more open world. It’s essentially a giant road trip and you, as Gordon Freeman, are free to go as fast or slow as you want. You can easily spend many hours just exploring the areas you encounter on your journey to a human resistance base. And while the dune buggy in Half-Life 2 was annoying, the new muscle car in Episode 2 is a beast and a blast to drive. Episode 2 also ups the stakes narratively and includes new enemies to fight, like the scary and deadly Hunter
It does end with a somewhat annoying combat and driving section, but that’s just a common trope in Half-Life games: bad final levels. More frustrating is the actual ending, which is a big cliffhanger. We were supposed to get an Episode 3. That never happened, and while 2020’s Alyx is great, I still hold out hope that a new game, set after Episode 2, will still be released. Maybe call it, I don’t know, Half-Life 3. Just spitballing here. Until then, I’ll just replay Episode 2. Again. For the 20th time.
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