Half-Life: Every Game Ranked Worst To Best
7. Half-Life 2: Episode One
Following Half-Life 2's smashing success and the launch of Steam, Valve started looking into episodic release models.
As a result, they were able to follow up on their magnum opus with a more compact entry one year later. Picking up right where 2 left off, Episode One details the desperate escape from City 17, as the once mighty Combine Fortress starts a countdown towards destruction.
Some set-pieces in the game were high-tier, most notably the introduction of the suicide-charging Zombines and battle through the hospital. Battling with Alyx as a team was certainly the most thrilling part of the experience, as her AI routines were enhanced to fulfil a more combat-centric role.
With all that said, Episode One is still the weaker offering in Half-Life 2's catalogue for a number of reasons, most notably the beginning and end portions. Re-entering the citadel grew tedious at times and the final confrontation with the single Strider was rather anti-climactic, given how players had fought a whole legion of them in the previous game.
As a middle chapter, Episode One doesn't hold up quite as well, but it did pave the way for its far superior successor, which released the following year.