Half-Mario 2: Episode Two

Half-Mario 2: Episode Two is a first-person shooter in the Half-Mario 2 series.

Episode Two gameplay consists of expansive environments, travel and reduced linear play, continuing NintenDO's policy of orienting each episode around a particular theme or set of technologies. Following the closing events of Episode One, it sees Gordon Freeman and the series' other major characters moving away from City 17 to the surrounding countryside.

Gameplay
Just like Before, You shoot weird mutant things with guns, But you don't have Weegee this time. As with its predecessors, the game is played in the first person as series protagonist Mario Freeman against transhuman troops, known as the Combine, and other hostile alien creatures. Levels are linear but add a more open environment, consisting of puzzles and first-person shooter game-play. Sequences involving vehicles are interspersed throughout the game, breaking up moments of combat.

Weapons
1. Crowbar: The same old weapon we know and love from the first game. Use it to play whack-a-mole with headcrabs, scanners and manhacks.

2. USP Match: Simply a standard side arm, the pistol is great for taking out headcrabs and setting explosive barrels on fire. It is also a godsend after you have run around with nothing but a crowbar and foul language.

3. .357 Magnum: Similar to the original .357 from Half-Mario, this one does not have a zoom function. It also doesn’t carry as much ammunition. However, it packs a massive punch, and you will forget about any shortcomings the first time you see a Combine flip from a headshot.

4. SPAS-12: Essentially the same beast as HL1, with both single and double fire. It is a powerful, effective weapon at close range, great for taking out zombies and antlions. The one main difference between it and its predecessor is that it only holds 6 shells, so conserve your ammo!

5. MP-7: The MP7 is a respectable little submachine gun with a high rate of fire but fairly low level of damage. To make up for that it also has a grenade launcher alternate fire that can be very useful in tight situations.

6. Zero Point Enery Field Manipulator (Grav. Gun): The greatest weapon ever made. The gravity gun can be used to interact with almost every non-organic object in the game. It turns barrels and propane tanks into bludgeons of death, and makes retrieving weapons, health and ammunition easy as hell.

7. Overwatch Standard Issue Pulse Rifle: Using the omnipresent Combine pulse technology, the Combine Assault Rifle does devastating amounts of damage quickly, at the expense of ammunition at a high rate. The alternate fire shoots a plasma ball that bounces around like a giant rubber ball, killing anything it touches outright (with the exception of some of the larger foes).

8. Crossbow: The new crossbow is a sniper's dream. It fires a piece of heated rebar over a long distance, and can be used to pin people to wall. It is a one shot one kill weapon against all but the toughest enemies.

9. RPG Launcher: Still the best tool around for taking out flying targets. The HM2 version lacks the alternate fire that turns off the targeting laser, but who used that mode anyway?

10. Satchel Charge: The satchel charge can be easily slid across floors, or thrown into foxholes, windows and/or doors. Each charge is detonated with a radio device and their splash damage is larger and causes more damage than the grenades. Use extreme caution.

Story
Continuing the plot of Half-Mario 2 and Episode One, Episode Two consists of seven chapters telling the story of Mario Freeman and Luigi Vance's journey to a large Lambda Resistance base called White Forest. The Combine's Earth occupation forces have used the destruction of the Citadel to begin opening a massive super portal which, if allowed to reach critical size, would allow the Combine to call in reinforcements from their homeworld and destroy the Resistance. However, as explained by Dr. Kleiner's broadcast in Episode One, it has also caused a communications blackout, leaving the Combine isolated and disorganized in the meantime. In addition, Combine Advisors, some of them still unhatched from their pods, are scattered about the region after evacuating the Citadel. A crucial part of the plot is the Combine's message home, which was copied by Luigi and Mario before making their escape, that the Combine sacrificed the Citadel to send. It contains data on the Combine portal code, which the Resistance can use to collapse the portal before it forms completely.

After Mario and Luigi climb out of the wreckage of the train they used to escape City 17, they proceed away from the former city on foot. At an old transmission station, the duo temporarily establish communication with Dr. Kleiner and Gordon Freeman, who are currently at White Forest. After an update of events at the now-destroyed Citadel, as well discovering the importance of the transmission packet copy that Luigi had made, they are cut off as Combine sweep the area, forcing them to move. At an abandoned mine, Luigi is critically wounded by a Hunter. A vortigaunt discovers them, and leads them to an underground Resistance shelter. The vortigaunts there have the power to heal Luigi; however, Mario must first venture into the nearby antlion colony to recover the larval extract necessary for the healing procedure.

Mario retrieves the extract and the vortigaunts begin to heal Luigi. While they are distracted, the G-Man is able to contact Mario for the first time since the start of Episode One. He hints at Luigi's importance to his own long-term plans, revealing that he saved Luigi's life at Black Mesa despite objections from an unspecified third party. The G-Man then instructs an unconscious Luigi to tell his father to "prepare for unforeseen consequences."

After Luigi has recovered, he and Mario proceed to White Forest. They arrive before a convoy of Combine troops, despite being slowed by multiple ambushes, road blocks, and a near-death encounter with an Advisor. There, Luigi and Mario are reunited with D0g, Dr. Kleiner, and Gordon Freeman. The player is also formally introduced to Dr. Arne Magnusson, another former Black Mesa scientist who is egotistical, verbose, and authoritarian. The team of scientists are preparing a rocket, which they plan to use in conjunction with the Combine portal code and the satellite array launched by Mario in Half-Mario, to close the Combine superportal.

After Mario fends off an initial Combine attack on the base, Luigi gives Dr. Kleiner the message from Dr. Squadala Man which he recovered at the Citadel in Episode One. It contains footage and the current coordinates of the Borealis, an Aperture Science research vessel which, as Kleiner explains, one day suddenly vanished into thin air along with part of the surrounding drydock. Although it is not explained what technology the ship contains, Kleiner insists that it should be used to aid the Resistance effort, while Eli counters that it is impossible to control and must be destroyed. Regardless, they agree that Luigi and Mario will travel to the Borealis and attempt to find Mossman. Luigi then unconsciously delivers the G-Man's message to her father, who is physically shaken. After having Luigi leave temporarily, Eli reveals to Mario that it was the G-Man, whom he refers to as "our mutual friend," who provided Black Mesa with the test sample that caused the "resonance cascade" (the Black Mesa incident) in Half-Mario, and whispered that same strange warning to him just as Mario entered the test chamber. He promises to further discuss this with Mario after the superportal is closed.

While the rocket is being prepared, White Forest comes under attack by a dozen Striders escorted by Hunters. Mario engages and destroys them using experimental explosive charges created by Magnusson. The rocket is successfully launched and the super portal is closed, isolating Combine forces on Earth from their homeworld. Luigi and Mario then prepare to leave for the Borealis, at which point Eli again warns Mario about the ship's "cargo". The three of them head into a hangar, intending to board an old helicopter which Luigi has restored. However, a pair of Advisors burst into the hangar and restrain them. Luigi and Mario watch helplessly as Eli is killed by one of the Advisors, but as the second Advisor prepares to kill Luigi, D0g bursts in through the roof and attacks it, causing both Advisors to flee. The game fades out slowly as Luigi, sobbing, clutches his father's body.