Huh, well I had a completely different experience than you. I actually had more fun playing through this than I did all of HL2.

I was glad that they got rid of the overlong vehicle sections for this episode in favor for more urban combat. Thats where I had the most fun in HL2. The fanboat and buggy sections in HL2 just felt drawn out, how many times did I have to drive to a generic shoreview house and take out some Combine just to be hit with another load time a few minutes later? And the fanboat became tedious aswell, every section was just "Drive from Point A to Point B" After 3 or 4 times of this I was tired of it. I wanted to get back to the city and fight some more. If it wasn't for Nova Prospekt, I would have stopped playing all together.

With Episode 1, it gave me a much more focused experienced. No more meandering around in the countryside for no reason. I was doing something, I had a concrete mission. And I had a completely different reaction to Alyx too. Most of the time I'd let her do the brunt of the work, while I jerked around with the Gravity Gun. She never uninvolved in my game, especially in the Hospital section. Not only was she up there kicking ass along with me, but on quite a few occasions, she saved me from a zombie I missed.

The only part I complained about was the slight escort mission at the end, but soon after I was rewarded by one of the most exhilarating "Boss" fights I've played in a FPS.

When the ending credits rolled, I was satisfied. I didn't fell cheated or anything. It was only $20, and I got $20 worth of a game.