Half Life 2 Episode 3- The Never Ending Story Pages 1 2 NEXT | |
The fact that the game is in production and Valve has no shortage of cash make it a certainty that it will be released. Valve have no need to rush it due to steam so they can take as long as they want. Also, the company structure means people can work on whatever they want so the bulk of people may be working on DOTA2 and CS:GO right now. Valve is like Blizzard, they take as much time as they need. Let's take a look at some games shall we: Team Fortress 1996 11 Year Gap Diablo 2 2000 12 Year Gap Both of them seemed like vapourware yet were both released and were released to critical acclaim. I think HL2: Ep3 can be good too. | |
Gabe recently confirmed that the HL3/Ep3 team were still working on it. So unless you think he was outright lying... | |
don't moan so much, considering they "wasted their time on" their some fantastic games, so frankly i say let them do what they do, its working. | |
I agree with the OP. If anyone at Valve had created any work on HL3 then Gabe's probably eaten it. | |
Ohh look another thread were someone makes the competently unproven claim that Valve hasn't been working on Episode 3 despite everything pointing to them having actually been working on it and making the equally unproven claim that they dont feel the need to finish it. I was expecting some new argument that actually made sense.... what was I thinking. furthermore valve will never explain who the g-Man really is, and to say that it probably wont come on Xbox or playstation is laughably stupid. | |
I couldn't disagree with the OP more. I think that when the next Half Life comes out, it will be one of - if not the - biggest release on PC of whatever year it happens to come out, regardless of what else is released. I also don't see why you would mention other platforms when HL has always been a PC centric series, and Valve has always been a PC centric developer. I'm quite happy for them to stay that way. Regarding the L4D series - I think it's a bit of a strange argument to make. L4D is a MP FPS zombie game with no real story, just mindless fun. HL is a SP FPS focused on story telling with a story arc that spans decades, and if you factor in the Portal stuff, it spans an even longer time period and becomes even more complex. As IW and Treyarch have shown, churning out a MP FPS each year isn't difficult. A SP game that focuses on story surely should take longer to create? On the topic of the story, after Ep2, the plot is incredibly open, and the GMan's involvement is pretty open to interpretation (as I think it will be after the next game). I really can't see any reason to be pessimistic about a story that has delivered the good in each installment so far. Feel free to give up on HL and Valve - I for one have no reason whatsoever to give up on them. They've been one of the only PC developers who have stuck to the "if it isn't ready, it doesn't get released" mantra, and I don't know why anyone would be upset or angry about that. I'd love to see the next HL installment sooner rather than later, but i'm quite happy to wait until it's ready. | |
I think it'll probably be Half Life 3, if anything. Valve are very busy doing lots of other projects though, and they're obviously going to focus on Steam more than anything else. | |
Was that the Ricochet 2 thing or something I missed. At any rate, I'm pretty sure Valve are working on something.
Lol, you made my day. The day Ep3 is announced, Valve will need to run and hide from all the money thrown their way.
Yes. By Valve doing it.
And who is saying that? Because last time I checked, there were at least a dozen other people who have seen/know of G-man. Well, of course, if it turns out that Gordon is a telepath and projects his own thoughts into other people, also likes to do magic in his spare time (and not only), and has the weirdest and nastiest case of DID, then yes, I can see that not going well. But excuse me if I don't take your word for it. Or would you like to explain the endings of other works that are unfinished? Care to tell me about the Black Council from the Dresden Files? I'm dying to know what it is. | |
Those are the things I don't get about people who are convinced it's not coming out at all. Some compare it to Duke Nukem, but then totally forget the situations the two games were in have almost nothing in common. Valve is making plenty of money, there haven't been any major power shifts, and they don't have outside investors to answer or pander to. It's their flagship franchise, and their top brass have confirmed it is in development, in one stage or another. And what could they possibly gain from lying about that? Inflating fans even more so they fall even farther when they reveal it's all a lie? Valve may be different from other developers, but they aren't stupid. If HL3 or Episode 3 or whatever you want to call it really wasn't happening, they would have said something by now. Captcha: just dance. | |
Lol what? I think Diablo 3 would like to have a word with you. If you don't think Half-Life is "main stream," then I think you don't know a lot about Half-Life. As of a year ago HL2 alone has sold 12 million copies, not including the sales via Steam. As of 2008 the Orange Box had sold 6.5 copies at retail, also not including the sales via steam. The Half-Life series is anything but unpopular or forgotten. Also, I'm pretty sure now that Gabe has made nice with the console makers, they'll be doing the same thing they did with Portal 2 and have a console release alongside the PC/Steam release (though where we will be as far as console generations at that point is beyond me). | |
Anyone remember how Episode 1 wasn't announced until maybe a month before it was released? And how during that short period of time, via osmosis alone, everyone went crazy with the hype machine? I have a feeling that Valve will do the same thing here. Everyone will continue saying "half life is dead" and "it will never be released", and then Valve will announce the game is shipping in one month, and the entire internet will go ballistic once again. Valve pretty much learned not to do pre release footage ever since their 2003 leak incident, and it works well for them. | |
Valve is infamous for taking a while to get things done. This time it's longer than most of Valve's fans would like, sure, but I don't recall Valve ever canning their flagship product and not telling the players. Valve doesn't work like EA/BioWare/id/etc. They don't work on a project continuously. They work on a project discretely, when inspiration hits. If the programmers/designers get tired of working on something, they can immediately switch to something else. This is how we got Portal(2), and L4D(2). They were the fun side projects that turned into full-blown games. So, yeah, they're working on Ep3. Chances there's just a high rate of burnout because there's a high expectation set by the fanbase. So the programmers/designers work on it when they feel inspired to do so, not because they have a deadline. That's the way it should be. | |
Duke Nukem Forever took long, and was made by GearBox, they've made Half Life Games before. One of my favorites even. We're doomed. | |
It was finished by them. Not made. They didn't do it from scratch, most of it was there already. | |
Your logic is so bad it isn't even funny. The HL expansions were a long time ago (and were just carbon copies of the original) and the majority of DNF was made by 3DR. DNF was also scrapped and ported to new engines about 3 times. Also, neither GB or 3DR are of the caliber of Valve. | |
it will probably be released in the future as a kickstarter project | |
They are working on it, this was commented on very recently, it'll probably be as HL3. Apart from a gross underestimation of the number of people on Steam, the number of people who bought HL2, the reception that HL2 and episodes had, and the enormous popularity of Valve right, you're spot on. | |
In my experience when something is being put on hold over and over again, the enthusiasm for the product dies like the downslide of DLC sold after release of the game itself. I don't think HL as a series is as successful now compared to what it was. I know there is a big difference between mainstream games and background indie ones. HL2 was a mainstream game when it was released, and gradually the spotlight has faded away till it's a shadow of what it once was, and even then Half Life didn't enjoy the fame that most games are now (Halo and COD to name a couple). I honestly can't see Valve continuing the series, not after this much time has passed. Maybe they will, and the game will come out with greater graphics/gameplay and other improvements to rejuvenate the series. In fact if they didn't revamp the game but still sold it with the same elements as the previous episodes, it would be a disaster. This is just my opinion on the matter. I respect and love to here differing opinions, but don't fall into the internet trap of cursing and declaring me a troll. I'm a passionate believe of freedom of speech. | |
It will come, and when it does a lot of people will forget their "lack of interest" and replace that with "total fucking excitement for the games release". It's going to happen...eventually. | |
Over hyped, imagine DKF with 100 percent more anticipation. My prediction. | |
...dafuq? Because some people at Valve, probably not the HL team, and another studio made other games, they've all given up on single player altogether?
You could've said the same thing about Diablo 3 a couple years ago. You can't assume people's intentions, because you have no evidence other than that they don't talk about it.
Um, fucking everyone? I don't know if you noticed, but Valve is sort of universally agreed to be one of the best developers that has ever existed and consistently puts out great games. The hype may be fading now, but once people see it exists, it'll explode.
Why do think that? Could it be because every Valve game so far has been on consoles too?
Yes, since you obviously know exactly what's happening at Valve this very moment with a game that's been said to be in some sort of production. | |
i cant see valve screwing there fans that bad, i mean a lot of the love for the,m comes from good faith on there part, at least as far as i can gather. and just look at that play halflife 2 day from several months ago, showed a pretty hefty market for the game. i am sure the game is being worked on to some degree somewhere, but they are likely just trying to get the story down, i personally don't think the series could be tied up with one more game, and valve dont rush anything. what i do hope that happens though is that they announce it about a month before release and watch as steam implodes through rage and pre-ordered frenzy | |
Here's the thing, everybody knows this, especially Valve. They know that, after all this time, if they don't do this, everybody would be more pissed and disappointed than if they didn't release anything at all. That's probably the biggest reason why this game has taken so long; they want to make sure that the wait will be worth it, and that means not just rehashing Half-Life 2 and the episodes. | |
Let's not forget that there were another four companies in Duke Nukem Forever's production, on top of that! 3-D Realms, Triptych Games, Piranha Games, and 2-K Games!
Wait, what? I haven't actually heard about this one. What happened? | |
Jesus, I made you angry. I apologize. I'm not going to justify what I said though. Hopefully, I read your comment incorrectly. | |
I'm not angry but you can't hope to compare DNF's story to HL2 Ep3. | |
Precisely. That's why I don't like people saying "Gearbox ruined Duke Nukem" or anything to roughly that effect. It's like accusing somebody of ruining a frozen dinner because it's too salty or there isn't enough carrots in it or something. | |
Why won't it sell well? You seriously underestimate Valve fans, and why won't it get a PS3 or Xbox360 release? I personally don't think it's gonna be as good as it is hyped (yes even though I haven't seen any screenshots or gameplay footage, but I'm hoping my expectations will be wrong). But saying it won't sell well is just plain silly.
People actually blame Gear Box for Duke Nukem Forever? That is insanely ignorant. | |
Yeah, I don't even know where to start. -Pretty much everything you said about Valve's motivation for not releasing another Half Life game is just made-up guesses. I find this topic to be a nonsensical waste of time. | |
I felt this was relevant. | |
I do have to agree with this bit. A) If they explain the g-man, then the "mystery" is lost. Fans whine. B) If the g-man is left unexplained, then it's what a lot of people threw a fit over ME3's ending for. Fans whine. There isn't really any way to resolve the g-man plot without pissing off half the fanbase. | |
There is a LARGE difference between Half-Life and Mass Effect 3, in that people EXPECT the G-Man, and EXPECT him to be mysterious. Mass Effect 3's ending sucked because it was pulled out of nowhere at the final minute. Half-Life has built up the G-Man as a mysterious unknowable god-like force. It can get away with not explaining him because people EXPECT that. | |
Fair enough I suppose. Expectations can be kinda a finicky line to walk though. I think that there are a lot of people who would be unsatisfied in an ending that leaves him unexplained, even if it was well-written. | |
If Valve had simply sat on their collective asses and did nothing ala 3D Realms (the creators of Duke Nukem) the sting would be worse for any fan, but they instead pulled out multiple launches stated by bahumat42. Yes they may have written themselves into a corner for the next episode, yes the episode model failed for them, but at least they admit it and are trying to move on and not blame the fans. I personally can't think of any game company that can pull off HL2 Episode 3 other than Valve and they do deserve some slack, they may need a prod but the results are often worth it. | |
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The time between the episodes being released has been something of a hot topic, or it was before the world got bored and moved onto other things.
Obviously it's the irony that releasing episodes quicker was to make the release faster that has us marvel at Valve's situation.
And I think it's a safe bet that Episode 3 will never be released.
Looking at it objectively, we see a game that was slow to release from the very beginning, and while it was award winning and fantastic I can't help but wonder if Valve dragged their feet for a reason. Like a kid who just doesn't wanna do the damn dishes(!), Valve only really wants to produce multiplayer games. They declared their intent to only produce multiplayer not long ago, whether this discluded Ep. 3 from production is something to wonder about.
Left 4 Dead and it's very quickly released sequel were produced so fluently because though it has singleplayer, the ultimate attraction was the multiplayer. And let's face it; had the effort that was put into Left 4 Dead 2 been put into Half Life 3 (and I mean without the episodes, the actual game as a whole) then the game would have been released LONG ago. And Left 4 Dead 2 was release ONE YEAR after it's prequel.
Episode 3 could have been released Long ago, but it hasn't. And there is a reason for said delay. Valve dragged their feet for too long and, just like that kid who doesn't wanna wash up, they're still sitting in the sink while he's off doing something else.
Valve doesn't feel obliged to complete their game series, they've moved on. And whenever they're pressed, the questions are dodged with little effort. Just move on, next topic please.
If the gaming community were to group together and SOMEHOW get Valve to promise to finish (by finish... I mean START) Episode 3, then who would buy it? Sure there are PC gamers on steam, but it won't be a midnight line up like mainstream games. It'll be people buying the game as a sort of 'what the hell, let's see how that old series ends'.
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So all together, consider the points that are holding up production of Ep. 3. Valve's lack of enthusiasm; the time that has elapsed and the lack of a market that the game now offers.
Episode 3 won't sell as well as it would have, especially when you consider that it'll probably NEVER be seen on XBOX or Playstation.
Worth mentioning is that Episode 3's plot won't be resolved logically. Can you think of a logical way to explain the G-man's plot that wouldn't leave people disappointed or insulted. Telling the player that the g-man is apart of Gordon's subconscious and not actually real, would be like ME3's ending (and we all know how that went down).
Shall we forget about Episode 3? I think so. The sooner the better because, well... Ep. 3 just isn't coming. Though Valve won't admit it (because they like to keep you on the hook) Ep. 3's production hasn't even been started.
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In closing. The momentum of the Half Life 3 series has died like a marathon runner with a broken shin. Half Life 2 Episode 3; the Never Ending Story.