Despite being three years old – decrepit in game years – Half-Life 2 is still considered one of the greatest games of modern times. A staple of PC gaming and a title to which almost all (read: not Halo, until now) first-person shooters are benchmarked against, it’s won pretty much every game of the year award going, and has doubtless inspired a few into conception.

But what makes it so special? One of the main aspects of the Half-Life universe that sets it head and shoulders above its ilk is Valve’s remarkable talent for spinning a convincing and captivating yarn. Back when the original title landed, first-person shooter plotlines were scarcer than England goals and usually revolved around hardened marines fending off devil spawn. In a time when developers would simply light the blue touchpaper and stand well back, the telling of the Black Mesa incident through the eyes of a seemingly harmless bespectacled scientist was revolutionary and, if we’re honest, it’s still something of a novelty today.

Another key area in which Half-Life has always shone is with its use of set pieces. Be it a physics-based puzzle, such as the stunning bridge section in Episode Two (see Bridging The Gap boxout) or a scripted sequence, such as the long-awaited face-off between Dog (Alyx’s impressive pet robot) and a Strider, you’re constantly reminded why Half-Life is the epitome of elegance. You’re also reminded that it has, during its ten years of service, defined exactly what’s expected of modern games, FPS or otherwise. Make no mistake – even without the edition of Episode Two, the content provided by Half-Life 2 and Episode One would still make for a nearperfect score on the Xbox 360.

Sadly, Half-Life’s showing on console hardware to date hasn’t exactly done the series any justice. Until now, all we’ve seen are the rather lacklustre ports of the original game on the PlayStation 2 in 2001 and the sequel on the Xbox back in 2005. Neither was met with critical acclaim or commercial success, but this can largely be put down to the technical issues that plagued their console transitions. The Xbox conversion of Half-Life 2, for example, suffered horrendous frame-rate issues, and there was a fair amount of dissatisfaction surrounding the way the control system translated (particularly with regard to target aiming).

So how does the 360 conversion handle? Superbly. With a decent HD screen there’s nothing to set it apart from its well-polished PC counterpart. It’s as smooth as silk – even when you’re surrounded by a dozen Antlions – and everything from the smallest, grittiest texture to the largest wideopen expanse of scenery is every bit as impressive as Valve intended.

So, with the majesty of Half-Life and the PC comparisons covered, let’s turn our attention to the success or failure of Episode Two. As the middle piece of a three-part story, there’s pressure on Valve to hit the right pitch. Like any successful TV series, you have to balance the satisfaction gained from tying up old story-threads with a desperate need to keep things fresh. Being limited to very much the same scenery, weaponry and characters of the first two Half- Life 2 offerings in The Orange Box, it’s testament to Valve’s talents that Episode Two does exactly this without the need to resort to the usual cheap tricks, like throwing in a dozen new weapons, a brand new sidekick and the ability to fly. It sticks to its roots, but puts you in a pressure cooker of action and intrigue that Valve gradually turns up to 11.

Our only gripe is a slightly slow start. While the cave and mine sections in the opening chapters are important, they’re far too long and winding for their own good. In a full-length release along the lines of the original, a slow start is forgivable – if not to be expected – but in a six-hour episode it’s far from ideal. Still, marking Episode Two alongside the original Half-Life 2 and Episode One as part of a ‘Half-Life 2 collection‘ (which still only accounts for two-thirds of The Orange Box proper), we can’t deny that it’s a truly thrilling and ultimately satisfying slice of pie. That said, it’s by no means the star of The Orange Box that most would expect it to be, which means that particular accolade must be reserved for either Portal or Team Fortress 2...