The world of Half-Life 2 has amazed everyone with its great story, graphics and Valve's great support. Half-Life 2: Episode One is the first in a series of new adventures created by Valve that extend the Half-Life 2 single player experience. It details the aftermath of Half Life 2 and launches a journey beyond City 17.

Stepping into the hazard suit of Dr. Gordon Freeman, you face the immediate repercussions of your actions in City 17 and the Citadel. Rejoin Alyx Vance and her robot, Dog, to once again aid the human resistance in their desperate battle against the totalitarian alien menace of the Combine.

Episode One exposes Alyx's combat skills and knowledge of City 17. Battle side-by-side with her through Valve's first episodic game, a four-to-six hour adventure of greater density and detail than non-episodic releases.

We recorded a timedemo and used the built-in console to run a timedemo with each card. All tests were carried out at 1280x1024 resolution and HDR shadows fully enabled. Antialiasing and Filtering modes were enabled through Nvidia's 3D control panel:

The HL2 Engine has always been a favorite for ATI based cards. The Asus EAX1950XTX produces the best framerate with 133FPS, while the 7950GT SLI is close behind with 129FPS. Outstanding performance.

HDR Effects and AA/AF do take their toll however. The Asus EAX1950XTX could not maintain its supremacy and with 16xAF/4xAA, drops below the performance of the 7950GT SLI, but is still faster than the 7900GS SLI.