out for praise. PC Gamer commented that "while this inaugural episode may not be the essential FPS that Half-Life 2 is, I can't imagine any shooter fan who'd want to miss it." In its review, PC Gamer directed particular praise to the balance between puzzle-oriented and action-oriented challenges throughout the game. In Australia, the magazine PC PowerPlay awarded the game 10 out of 10. Edge praised the "deftness" with which the game was able to direct the player's eyes, and the strength of Alyx as a companion, concluding, "In an interactive genre bound to the traditions of the pop-up gun and invisible hero, it simply doesn't get more sophisticated than this." Episode One earned scores of 87/100 and 85.59% on review aggregators Metacritic and GameRankings respectively. IGN awarded Episode One "Best PC FPS of 2006" and described it as a "great bang for the buck using Valve's new episodic plan", although it did not offer "the complete experience that Half-Life 2 was". GameSpy ranked Episode One ninth on its 2006 "Games of the Year" list, and it also noted the implementation of Alyx as a believable and useful companion. A common criticism of the game is its short length. Episode One takes roughly 4–6 hours to complete, which raised the issue of whether the game justified its price. Computer Games Magazine argued the futility of reviewing the game due to its episodic nature; as the first part of a three-part story arc, it is difficult to judge it when divorced from the final product. Game Revolution expressed disappointment at a lack of new features such as environments and weapons. Sequels Half-Life 2: Episode Two was released in 2007. Episode Three was scheduled for release by Christmas 2007, but was canceled as Valve found the episodic model contrary to their growing ambition for new instalments. After canceling several further Half-Life projects, Valve released a prequel, Half-Life: Alyx, in 2020. References External links (The Orange Box) 2006 video games Dystopian video games Episodic video games First-person shooters Half-Life (series) Linux games MacOS games PlayStation 3 games Fiction about rebellions Science fiction video games Single-player video games Source (game engine) games Valve Corporation games Video games developed in the United States Video games scored by Kelly Bailey Video games set in the 2020s Video games set in Eastern Europe Video games using Havok Video game sequels Video games with commentaries Windows games Xbox