My Only Preferred Part of the Half-Life 2 Beta

About 2 months ago MrWeenus on YouTube shared an old video from 2006 by 1Up Network where they interviewed Valve during the development of The Orange Box, which included a lot of footage of early versions of Portal, Team Fortress 2, and — the main focus of this post — Half-Life 2: Episode Two. A few weeks ago I also saw this video about the leaked Episode Two beta maps by noclick, and decided to check out the maps for myself.

The Half-Life community often jokes about the original "dark and gritty" HL2 beta, and some people prefer some parts of it more than the release version. I am not one of those people, as I prefer pretty much every bit of HL2 as it is in the actual build more than the beta, though I still find it generally fascinating to see all the changes and stuff that was removed.

The Episode Two beta is much less drastic change, with the largest changes being more subtle details, such as it originally being foggier and even raining at the start. Still, I still vastly prefer the release version more than any of the other beta maps, both in visuals and in gameplay… with one major exception.

The image above is from the map ep2_outland_05, the first map of the Freeman Pontifex chapter. It takes place once you finally exit the antlion-infested mine, and the first sight you're met with is The Combine making their way to White Forest, the same resistance base that you're trying to reach.

It's definitely a striking shot, which helps set up the end goal and what dangers will be in our way, and it even demonstrates the desperate state The Combine is in after the destruction of City 17, with us watching them mobilize so much of their army, and the more alarmed Combine Overwatch voice in the background.

It's an amazing set piece, with my only major criticism being how it feels perhaps a bit too generically cinematic. That being said, though, take a look at the original iteration of this map from one of the betas.

Specifically this is from the leaked Outland 05a map from June 8, 2006. (This map is actually a bit of an anomaly, as it's numbered 05a despite there being no outland_05b, and all future versions of the map were numbered just outland_05, but anyways)

The map is a bit foggier and has an overcast sky, which adds to the general look Episode Two had during this time. The actual change for the set piece, though, is that the bridge now seems a bit further away and much higher up, as you now start closer to ground level, and there's even a chunk of the canyon before it that adds even more distance and depth.

Despite me really liking this set piece in the final game, I have to admit that I actually prefer this version of it. Of course, the map itself is unfinished, and there are some things that I think the final map does better, especially the magnitude, but there's stuff this beta version gets super right for me. This part of the game is supposed to be a canyon, and it feels much more closed and like an actual canyon in the beta, meanwhile it's a lot more open in the final build. This also gives me a sense when staring at the bridge of looking at something in secret that we're not supposed to see, like we're hidden in a little nook outside of The Combine's vision, as opposed to the final version which feels much more obvious. It's definitely possible that they changed the intention of the scene later, but I do prefer the more sneaky feeling the beta map gives off.

Also, for one last detail, it might've not made the most sense in the context of where we are in the game, but this beta map also features a scene of four antlions feasting on a dead Combine soldier. This maybe would've fit better in some other part of the game, so I get why it's gone, but I just found it a very neat detail to show how even in the betas they still added small details like this!

And that's about it! Ultimately, I really like the bridge scene that we got in the final game, and I definitely don't think that the one in the beta is perfect either, though that makes sense as it is just a beta. Maybe my optimal version of the map would be in between the two, with the sneaky feeling of the beta canyon, but the size and aura of the release bridge.

Regardless, I find this a very interesting insight into what could've been part of one of my favourite games of all time, and in some way I am glad we've been able to get these peeks into the past of these games!