The prospect of Half-Life 3 does not appear too sturdy, however even nonetheless, there’s a variety of nice methods for Valve to complete off the spectacular story that was arrange in Half-Life 2 manner again when in 2007.
On tenth October 2007, Valve launched Half-Life 2: Episode 2, the continuation of Gordon Freeman’s story as he and his associates fought to free the human race from the oppression of the alien Mix. The ending offered little or no in the best way of closure, organising plenty of plot factors for Half-Life 3. However 13 years later, a sequel has nonetheless by no means arrived.
2020’s Half-Life: Alyx, a prequel solely for digital actuality, marked the primary kick within the franchise for a very long time. However it’s not a full sequel in the best way that followers have been hoping for. Thankfully, in a latest interview (opens in new tab), Valve’s Robin Walker stated that the franchise nonetheless has a future, stating: “we completely see Half-Life: Alyx as our return to this world, not the top of it.”
Whereas this is not a affirmation of particular plans for Half-Life 3, it is sufficient to present followers renewed hope that this long-dormant collection goes to proceed in a single kind or one other. This is every part we all know of and hope for in one other fully-fledged Half-Life recreation.
Reduce to the chase
- What’s it? The long-awaited, and long-absent, continuation of the Half-Life saga
- When can I play it? With nothing formally introduced, it will not be anytime quickly
- What can I play it on? Solely time will inform
Half Life 3 launch date and platforms
Again when Valve introduced Half Life 2 can be getting episodic sequels, it revealed that there have been plans to launch three of them over the course of the following couple of years. They’d collectively kind what was basically a 3rd Half Life recreation. The concept was that improvement on an episode wouldn’t take so long as a full sequel, so followers might proceed Gordon Freeman’s journey sooner – albeit in smaller portions.
Half Life 2: Episode 3 was by no means launched, and over time folks ultimately simply began referring to it as Half-Life 3 – assuming that Valve was engaged on a fully-fledged sequel moderately than a model new episode.
In a 2020 interview with IGN (opens in new tab), Valve defined why Half-Life 3 by no means emerged as its personal launch or a shorter episode.
After a tough six-year interval which noticed Valve growing Half-Life 2 and its Supply recreation engine concurrently, stage designer Dario Casali stated that the workforce did not wish to repeat this, stating that “I believe our major take away from that’s ‘get some steady know-how after which construct a recreation on prime of it.”
As an alternative, the workforce determined to work on smaller, episodic releases, with Episode 1 releasing in 2006, adopted by the notorious Episode 2 in 2007. When it got here to Episode 3, nevertheless, Casali defined that “We discovered ourselves creeping ever ahead towards ‘Nicely, let’s simply retaining placing increasingly more, and extra, and extra stuff on this recreation as a result of we wish to make it nearly as good as we will, after which we realized these episodes are turning extra into sequels.”
In one other IGN (opens in new tab) interview with Valve’s co-founder Gabe Newell who stated that “Half-Life video games are supposed to unravel attention-grabbing issues“ and that the studio does not simply wish to launch Half-Life video games with the intention to “make the quarterly numbers.” With regards to a brand new Half-Life recreation, then, Casali says that Valve is “in search of what’s going to make that subsequent large influence.” Making a huge impact would, due to this fact, require thrilling new know-how or a brand new engine.
Half Life 3 story and setting
Though Valve by no means launched its third episode or a sequel, some data has spilled out through the years. How a lot of it’s nonetheless related is unclear, however Gabe Newell did affirm that gamers would retain management of motion hero physicist Gordon Freeman. The tip of Half-Life: Alyx actually means that it will nonetheless be true of the subsequent launch. Newell later said that Gordon would go unchanged in Episode 3, because it was then identified, so he would “largely stay an arm and a crowbar”. Newell additionally confirmed that he won’t ever communicate, since his companions are a “extra fruitful avenue to discover”.
Doug Lombardi, Valve’s VP of selling, additionally confirmed that the story wouldn’t return to Metropolis 17 and that the builders had put a variety of work into “making a pure progress of topography and local weather”.
Newell additionally confirmed that Episode 3, because it was then identified, would end the story arc that started in Half Life 2. Whereas he spoke of the potential of a fourth episodic instalment, he confirmed that it might be stand-alone and developed outdoors of Valve. It was later revealed to have been in improvement at Dishonored builders Arkane Studios and titled Return to Ravenholme. Sadly, it was cancelled.
Former franchise author Marc Laidlaw additionally confirmed to PC Gamer that Episode 3 wouldn’t have had a particular conclusion, very like Half Life and Half Life 2. The plot abstract that he later launched appeared to verify this.
Half Life 3 gameplay
Half-Life: Alyx is a VR-exclusive launch and has rapidly change into a “watershed second” for the platform, exhibiting its true potential.
If one other Half-Life title was to be launched, then would it not be on VR? Nicely, that is still unclear, and Valve stays non-committal. In an interview with PCGamer, Dario Casali stated, “At this level, we do not actually know what [another Half-Life game] can be—we do not know if it’ll be one other VR title. We do not know if it’ll be a non-VR title.”
With the discharge of Half-Life: Alyx being so latest (although the sport appears to be taking place very nicely), the workforce is biding its time: “The perfect factor we will do at this level is to gauge the response to this product. How are folks capable of take pleasure in it? How many individuals can we get into the VR platform? [Are] folks saying that VR is now this important a part of Half-Life? We actually do not know these solutions till we put the sport out and we begin listening.”
Definitely, for the time being, VR is a extra restricted platform when it comes to its person base, and if a fully-fledged Half-Life 3 have been to be launched, it is potential Valve would wish to make it accessible to as vast and viewers as potential. This all stays hypothesis, nevertheless, and we can’t know for positive what the long run holds for the collection till Valve confirms its intentions.
Half Life 3 information
Leaked idea artwork
Even though Valve has seldom spoken about Half-Life 3, not to mention launched gameplay materials, we have now had a good bit of idea artwork hit the online over the previous 13 years. Whereas it’s not fairly the identical as in-game renders of a trailer, it’s nonetheless one thing. Usually it’d give us some hints at what to anticipate, however given the period of time for the reason that artwork first floor, the character of the sport is prone to have drastically modified.
The primary items arrived on-line in 2007 and 2008, showcasing among the potential settings:
Some extra idea artwork arrived in 2012, and if legit reveals off all kinds of environments the gamers can discover.Valve has but to touch upon its validity, and because it’s normally fairly fast to dismiss fakes this has led some to invest that that is the true deal.
Counter Strike co-creator Minh Lee has additionally admitted to seeing some idea artwork himself.
“I do not assume I can speak about that, to be trustworthy,” he stated. “I believe it is sort of public data that folks know that it’s being labored on. And so if I have been to say that, yeah, I’ve seen some photographs, like some idea artwork of it, that would not be large information to be trustworthy. I assume I might say that I did see one thing that seemed kinda like within the Half-Life universe.
And I imply it would not shock anybody if I stated they’re doing it, they’re engaged on it, yeah. So to exit on a limb I would say I did some idea artwork for Half-Life 3.”
March 2008 additionally noticed the discharge of what seems to be Alyx Vance idea artwork on the Picasa web page belonging to Valve illustrator Andrea Wicklund. The photographs have been rapidly eliminated, however not earlier than being saved and redistributed elsewhere.
Reddit AMA
In January 2017 Gabe Newell went onto Reddit to participate in an AMA (Ask Me Something), which followers naturally used to ask some questions on the way forward for the Half Life/Portal universe. He did reply just a few of them, although he didn’t reveal an entire lot.
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