CGW: Granted, you're still working this out, but what would you say an episodic game needs to do in order to ensure the attractiveness of subsequent installments? Making us care for a character and then setting us up for her seemingly impending death seems like a start....

DS: The main thing we want to do is move the Half-Life story forward meaningfully. We want our customers to realize that these episodes are the continuation of Half-Life and Half-Life 2 rather than optional detours from the main story line. Character and story are fundamental to the franchise, and we intend to keep pushing on those in every episode. Of course, we'll always keep the gameplay fresh and fun by introducing new NPCs, settings, and game mechanics.