 The work of one theoretical physicist. The Citadel is destroyed, City 17 is in ruins, but the fight continues. Gordon and Alyx must make their way through trecherous territory with valuable information necessary for the survival of the resistance.
1. Gameplay
The Half-Life series is quite possibly the best written video game series of all time. The characters are compelling, nothing is ever cheesy, and somehow they give personality to a character who has zero lines. The player will never see the main character, and the main character never says a word, but the characters interact with the player in ways that make sense. 
Lunch time in T minus 30 seconds.
While Half-Life 2: Episode 1 was a bit disappointing, Episode 2 comes back and reminds players what made this series awesome in the first place. Gamers will travel with Alyx Vance in order to get valuable information back to the human resistance. Along the way the player will have to fight a number of new enemies and help the resistance hold off the Combine for long enough to get a satellite into space. Episode 2 does an excellent job of making this task vitally important to the player. 
It's a matter of life and death.
This expansion wasn’t perfect. The game did offer a new enemy type and a new vehicle, but I still felt like something more should have been added. I was hoping for new weapons, but unfortunately players will end up using the same weapons as before. Still, it was nice to see a good number of familiar faces and presented with a situation that felt like the human resistance was moving forwards in its efforts to retake Earth. 
The gnome photobombed my screenshot.
Episode 2 is an excellent setup for a sequel and definitely left me satiated, but only for a time. Once the sequel comes out (whenever that is), I’ll be pre-ordering it for sure.
My time playing Episode 2 was very brief. It took me only four hours to complete the entire campaign. However, this was my second playthrough, so I was familiar with the events of the game and how to approach each problem. With no multiplayer, though, the replay value of this game is fairly short. I will probably replay it right before I play the sequel, but that’s about it.
There was very little in this game that could be considered frustrating. The levels are fairly linear, so figuring out where to go is pretty simple. The rest of the game is fairly smooth and, as long as the player is familiar with this genre, practically plays itself. There were only two notable exceptions. About halfway through the game the player will have to escape an antlion queen without killing it. This is a rather tricky task that involves quickly diving into tunnels as the queen charges. The queen’s attacks cause an unbelievable amount of damage, so mistakes are very costly. Trying to navigate the tunnels while the queen is on your back is very difficult to do. Even on my second playthrough I ran into trouble once or twice. Late in the game, the player will have to use bombs to kill giant walking bug-like enemies known as “Striders”. The Striders are fairly easy to deal with (except for one or two that sprint for a particular building so that they can blow it up). But the striders are escorted by tougher, smaller enemies known as “hunters”. Hunters are very tough to kill, and while the player is dealing with two or three, the Striders are on their mission. In the end, I found that it was simply easier to run over the hunters with a car than to try and deal with them directly. 
This diagram is a gross oversimplification.
2. Parental Notices
Violence in Episode 2 is almost exactly the same as its predecessors. Players can use a variety of weapons to kill their foes. Most of the time the foes will not be human which makes the violence loses a lot of its realism. Hits with non-explosive projectiles and melee weapons will result in a small splash of blood, which sometimes may splatter a floor or wall. 
The green stuff is zombie blood.
Dead bodies, usually surrounded by blood, can be found in areas where people have been absent for long periods of time. Coincidentally, the player is usually traveling through these sorts of areas. 
This place needs a new janitor.
Some bodily remains can be found scattered about as well. While the player cannot directly move most of the bodies, certain body parts can be picked up and thrown. For example, I found a skull with full spinal cord attached, which I then managed to pick up and throw at a nearby enemy. 
Wait, what?
There are a few exceptions to this overall level of violence, blood, and gore. Some weapons and objects can be used to light enemies on fire. Most enemies will simply continue attacking while on fire until they die, but the headcrab zombies react in a somewhat horrifying way. They often will begin to scream and walk around almost as if they are trying to put themselves out before collapsing on to floor in a heap. 
Who wants toast?!
In some rare occasions the player will find circular saws. The player can pick up these saws and use them as deadly Frisbee-like projectiles. If the player hits a zombie in the torso with a saw, the zombie will be completely severed in half. 
Pop!
In one section, the player will watch as a giant robot tears the skull and brain off of a weird giant bug-like walking enemy. This isn’t nearly as graphically violent as it sounds. 
Juicy.
In two sections the player will watch as two humans (one dead, one alive) have their brains sucked out by a weird giant flying larvae bug thing. Blood and gore aren’t really an issue, but the violence is definitely obvious. 
Use it or lose it.
When the player first meets Dr. Eli Vance in person, Vance mentions the Combine’s “suppression field”, a device which prevented humans from reproducing. Specifically, he mentions the fact that it’s down, and asks if it’s so wrong that he wants grandchildren. He’s essentially trying to tell his daughter and the player that he wants them to get it on and have children. However, because this is so subtle and sexuality isn’t even mentioned anywhere else in the game, sexuality is not a factor.
There are only three clear substances in the game. The first and most common is “health”. The player will have the opportunity to pick up a number of greenish glass cylinders with liquid inside. Once the player “picks up” these items by walking over them, the health pack disappears, a sound is heard, and the player’s health instantly increases. Health packs are pretty common, but the specific nature of the substance is never made clear. The player will also be able to kill a number of “antlion grubs”. When the antlion larvae are killed, they will release a small somewhat round clump of glowing mush. If the player walks over this mush, it will restore a small amount of health. The player will also need to find “antlion essence” so that it can be used to heal the injured Alyx Vance. This is discussed in more detail in the “Magic” section below. It is never used by the player. 
The extract!
Gambling is not a factor in this game. 3. Other Factors
Episode 2 is designed with the same engine as its previous two predecessors. As a result, the mods that worked for the previous two games also apply to this one. More information on the content of these mods can be found here.
Religion is not a factor in this game.
There are still some remnants of graffiti art from City 17. However, I could only find this one specific example and even then the specific message behind this artwork is never discussed. Therefore, anti-law is not a factor in this game.
There is no online game mode for this game.
Much of the second half of the game consists of the player driving what looks like a modified Dodge Challenger. The player will have to drive across mountainous terrain, making a few decent-sized jumps, and in one section outrunning an enemy attack helicopter. 
It's missing a few parts.
Other than this, extreme sports are not a factor in this game.
There is only one real instance of magic in this game. Early in the campaign, Alyx is mortally wounded. Fortunately a Vortigaunt happens to be passing by and rescues the player and Alyx. After a somewhat prolonged journey, the player, the vortigaunt, and Alyx end up in a large elevator shaft for an abandoned mining operation. The vortigaunt then summons vortigaunt allies and together they begin to perform a magical ritual to save Alyx. 
Is that showing her muscle tissue? Then why are her muscles shaped like her clothes?
In the meantime, the player has to find “antlion essence” which has some sort of magical healing properties. Once the essence is obtained, the vortigaunts consume it and use the power it gives them to complete the ritual and save Alyx’s life. 
It's like blue honey!
This is the only example of magic in the game.
Human Disfigurement Headcrab zombies can be found throughout the game. These were, at one time, civilians. Their presence is significantly less noticeable in this game than in the previous games in the series, however. Suicide There is one dead civilian who clearly killed himself with a nearby shotgun. 
But why would he put a chair here? And why would he need shelving?
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