My favourite game of all time. The only issue I have with this game is that it has a cliff-hanger that's unanswered even 16 years after it came out, Half Life Alyx did change a few things but its still a cliffhanger. But back to the review. Half Life 2 Episode 2 has the best atmosphere in gaming, even better than Half Life 2, and that game has an amazing atmosphere, there were no bits where I thought it was dragging on, it had challenging moments that got on my nerves but not because they were bad, and you can definitely see the improvement in the source engine with an increase in the graphics quality and many things being done that weren't possible in half life 2 or episode 1. This game also experiments with larger, more open levels, which makes me want half life 3 to be open world so bad. The game also introduces us to new enemies such as the hunter and the advisor (who were technically in the prior two episodes but more as background things). This also introduces us to many plot points which still remain unresolved such as the Borealis and the whole Mossman situation in the artic. Overall this is an amazing game and a must play.