Fans of the Half-Life saga that want their experience of the episodic content kept intact, should look away from this story as it reveals a lot about the upcoming Half-Life 2: Episode 2.
A story in the U.S. issue of PC Gamer magazine spills the beans on the new title although it does manage to get the release date wrong. The magazine claims that a new release date, spring 2007, for Episode 2 has been set but Valve's Doug Lombardi has already gone on record to confirm that the game is still on track for a holiday 2006 release.
The Episode 2 storyline details mentioned in the magazine, appear more reliable and claim that Alyx is alive and well and will help Gordon to deliver his package to Eli and Kleiner. The new episode will also provide further details on the elusive Vortigaunts and the G man while the settings will be much more realistic with emphasis placed on woods, a mine shaft and a missile silo.
Episode 2 will also introduce a new, ramming, vehicle created by the woodsmen, a further revamped version of the gravity gun and a new weapon known as the strider-buster. The gameplay will introduce large scale battles which will involve large numbers of enemies and allies.
The article also claims that the new episode will feature the most challenging physics puzzle yet while a surprise will also be included in the form of a new multiplayer game that will ship with Episode 2. It is rumored the new game may be the long awaited Team Fortress 2, set during the seven hour war. That final segment is however, guesswork as Valve has kept work on TF2 a closely guarded secret.
