Alyx is a strong, improved companion
Mentioned in ~1 in 6 positive reviews
“I also love how much more Alyx was expanded upon. In the original Half-Life 2, she was quite underdeveloped.”
Steam review · 11.2 h played ↗
Half-Life 2: Episode One
Worth buying? What 300 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 300 Steam reviews actually say.
Overwhelmingly PositiveOverwhelmingly Positive · 96%Valve2006FPS · Shooter · Action
The verdict
A short, story-driven continuation of Half-Life 2 built around Alyx, with a strong start and finale but repetitive escorts and dark sections. Skip it if you want long, varied gameplay.
Great for
Half-Life fans who want the story bridge to Episode Two and a short, Alyx-centered adventure
Main risk
Repetitive escorts, dark flashlight sections and antlion pits feel like padded filler in a very short game
What players love
Story continues HL2 directly
Mentioned in ~1 in 8 positive reviews
“delivers solid story content and works as a worthy continuation of the main storyline.”
Steam review · 86.7 h played ↗
Atmospheric ruined City 17 and Citadel
Mentioned in ~1 in 13 positive reviews
“The atmosphere is incredible. I love the orangey, ruined City 17.”
Steam review · 11.2 h played ↗
Short, tight and fun
Mentioned in ~1 in 13 positive reviews
“Fun little continuation of the Half-Life story. Can easily be beaten with all achievements in one sitting.”
Steam review · 4.5 h played ↗
Fun achievements like One Free Bullet
Mentioned in ~1 in 17 positive reviews
“it was fun going for the achievement, "The One Free Bullet" which added a fun challenge I haven't tried in the past.”
Steam review · 3.5 h played ↗
What players complain about
Repetitive, padded levels and escorts
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 negative reviews
“Just how many cars do I have to push into holes to stop an endless stream of antlions?”
Steam review · 3.8 h played ↗
Too short and not worth the price
Mentioned in ~1 in 6 negative reviews
“the story game is too short, not really worth to buy”
Steam review · 4.1 h played ↗
Alyx AI and constant chatter annoy
Mentioned in ~1 in 8 negative reviews
“imagine half life 2 but you have to listen to Alyx yap for 5 hours...”
Steam review · 1.1 h played ↗
Dark flashlight sections and no weapons early
Mentioned in ~1 in 8 negative reviews
“The underground parking structure was just plain annoying, putting the player into pure darkness”
Steam review · 4.1 h played ↗
Annoying final strider and escort fight
Mentioned in ~1 in 15 negative reviews
“then to the nearly impossible strider part, it literally NEVER stops firing”
Steam review · 4.6 h played ↗
Game-breaking bugs and soft-locks
Mentioned in ~1 in 17 negative reviews
“encountered a game breaking glitch where Alyx straight up disappears and you can't progress”
Steam review · 0.8 h played ↗
System requirements
From the Steam store page
Steam Deck: PlayableController support
Steam doesn’t list requirements for this game.
More games to check
Other games we’ve read the reviews for
Atomic Heart
Very Positive · 82%+ Striking Soviet retro-futurist atmosphere
− Annoying protagonist and weak dialogue
analyzed 23 h ago
Cyberpunk 2077
Very Positive · 88%+ Excellent story and characters
− Still buggy and unpolished
analyzed 21 h ago
Aimlabs
Mostly Positive · 78%+ Noticeably improves aim
− Paywalls and subscription pushed everywhere
analyzed 4 h ago
Bodycam
Very Positive · 81%+ Photorealistic graphics and immersion
− Matchmaking, party play and P2P servers broken
analyzed 5 h ago
Weekly digest
Fresh games worth a look, in your inbox
The most interesting games we’ve just analyzed, once a week.Once a week we send the most interesting games we’ve just analyzed: the verdict, top pros and cons, and what changed. No spam.
One email a week · unsubscribe in one click