The Source graphics engine really gives this game an edge in the graphics department. Smooth interfacing and seamless texturing between environments delivers a very polished look. The game looked amazing running on a 6600 GT Nvidia graphics card which isn't high-end. With the use of better and more powerful graphics engines, games like Half Life 2: Episode One can be viewed on the highest settings. That deserves two thumbs up.

The level detail is superb and you will spend most of the game in and out of the citadel or around City 17. The AI seems familiar but, at times, also seems a tad smarter than we remembered. There were no surprises on the beastie side of things either. The voice acting in the game is great. It's nice to see the solid areas of the game have been re-introduced in the expansion.

The only aspect of this game we didn't like: the length. It seems whilst the episodes give gamers the option of playing the expansions as stand-alone products, it also appears that the length of gameplay time was reduced considerably to compensate. Either way, we wanted more and what we received was a lot less than expected - roughly six to seven hours of gameplay, tops.

As far as expansions (that aren't really expansions) go, Half Life 2: Episode One is one thrilling ride and a great step forward for an awesome series of games. We're keenly awaiting the next instalment with our Gravity Gun firmly in hand. Bring it on, G-man.