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Six years ago today, Half-Life 2: Episode Three was informally announced

J

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
...via GameSpot:

Today's [Episode One] gold announcement was the first official confirmation that a third Half-Life 2 episodic update is in development. Like Episode Two, Valve divulged little in the way of information about Episode Three, saying only that it was the last "in a trilogy...that will conclude by Christmas of 2007."
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In the ~18 months following this, Valve talked relatively freely about the game, with Doug Lombardi even saying in an October 2008 interview that they may show it off at the end of the year. But then came the silence -- in the years since, Valve has remained quiet, with only the occasional rumour, tease, or surreptitiously coded conversation confirming its virtual heart still beats. Oh, and there's also a few pieces of relatively ancient concept art:

Advisor_Intothepixel.jpg
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Borealis_Advisors.jpg
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Half_Life_2_Episode_Three_concept_2.jpg
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Personally, I'm in the camp that assumes Episode Three transmogrified into Half-Life 3, likely around the time Valve tightened its lips. Also, with Gabe confirming no new product announcements at E3, I suspect we won't see it until the next generation of platforms have hit. What about you, GAF? What form do you think the game will take and when will it see the light of day?
 
Laughing Banana

Laughing Banana

Weeping Pickle
Honestly? I am not even sure the game exists aka the have already made anything playable for it.

Valve saw no need for it because why would they? Steam has been massively profitable for them and everyone along with their mothers praised Portal games like the second coming of the Messiah.
 
J

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Gravijah said:
i'll play hl2 when episode 3 comes out.
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Similarly, I plan to play through the franchise (well, the mainline games and Gearbox's expansions) prior to Half-Life 3's release. I haven't played the original Half-Life since 1999, while the first (and, thus far, last) time I played Half-Life 2 was Q3/Q4 2006.
 
B

Bluth54

Member
I also believe we're just going to get Half Life . It's been too long for Valve to just bring out a 4-6 hour episode.
 
B

Bjoern the Smexy

Member
All I know is that this WILL be worth the wait.
Then again it's been FIVE YEARS since Episode 2, which is pretty crazy. It's only been a year between Episodes 1 and 2.

If the almighty Gaben at least said "Yeah, we're still working on it" that would be enough for me.
 
J

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Bjoern the Smexy said:
All I know is that this WILL be worth the wait.
Then again it's been FIVE YEARS since Episode 2, which is pretty crazy. It's only been a year between Episodes 1 and 2.

If the almighty Gaben at least said "Yeah, we're still working on it" that would be enough for me.
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Well, depending on where you stand in regard to Ricochet 2 actually being a codeword for Half-Life 3, he has said "everyone who was working on [Half-Life 3] continues to work on [Half-Life 3]."
 
R

rdrr gnr

Member
JaseC said:
Similarly, I plan to play through the franchise (well, the mainline games and Gearbox's expansions) prior to Half-Life 3's release. I haven't played the original Half-Life since 1999, while the first (and, thus far, last) time I played Half-Life 2 was Q3/Q4 2006.
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I played Half-Life again recently. I did not enjoy it.
 
O

Oreoleo

Member
I'm of the opinion that Valve (correctly) realized that there wasn't much life left in the HL2 mechanics after EP2, and the originally planned release of EP3, while bringing story line closure to HL2, would have been a tedious retread from a gameplay perspective. Particularly after the somewhat unexpected mass critical praise of Portal 1, I suspect someone over there decided EP3 needed some more time in the incubator in order to bring a more generational leap in the gameplay akin to what we saw between HL1 and HL2 to make it standout as the premiere Valve franchise that it is, and not just some game that they pump out.

I fully expect the game to have evolved to HL3 proper at this point. And personally I'd love to see another jump in the timeline to go along with it. Have the game start, following the events of EP2, going along as normal until epic G-Man scene where he rips Gordon (and Alyx?) out of time and sends him another 10 years in the future. Would be amazing.


Oh, and that first piece of concept art in the OP is one of the best ever.
 
S

SRidge52

Banned
Valve has backed themselves into a corner, now. When HL3 DOES eventually come out, it will never live up to the hype no matter how good it is.
 
O

Oreoleo

Member
SRidge52 said:
Valve has backed themselves into a corner, now. When HL3 DOES eventually come out, it will never live up to the hype no matter how good it is.
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On a bad day, the pessimist in me completely believes this is true.

Today, however, I disagree.
 
A

Alienups

Member
Orellio said:
I fully expect the game to have evolved to HL3 proper at this point. And personally I'd love to see another jump in the timeline to go along with it. Have the game start, following the events of EP2, going along as normal until epic G-Man scene where he rips Gordon (and Alyx?) out of time and sends him another 10 years in the future. Would be amazing.
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Pretty much this. I want to see how the buildup in HL2, EP1 and EP2 pays off but i also want HL3 to bring something fresh to the table like HL2 did. Change in setting, time-skip etc...
 
V

Vinci

Danish
It's being turned into HL3 and being redesigned into a post-Portal world. The Portal games are simply too good not to raise the standard higher than they were perhaps ready to hit with the previous development on Ep 3.
 
BigTnaples

BigTnaples

Todd Howard's Secret GAF Account
Catshade said:
Just let them take their time, guys. You don't want this to be another Duke Nukem Forever, do you?
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I am pretty certain had they released the demo build from E3 1932 it would have been better than what we got in 2011.

Hopefully Gearbox can build a ground up reboot that will do that series some justice.
 
O

Oreoleo

Member
Vinci said:
It's being turned into HL3 and being redesigned into a post-Portal world. The Portal games are simply too good not to raise the standard higher than they were perhaps ready to hit with the previous development on Ep 3.
Click to expand...

Damn, you put that way more succinctly than I did :D
 
J

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Orellio said:
I'm of the opinion that Valve (correctly) realized that there wasn't much life left in the HL2 mechanics after EP2, and the originally planned release of EP3, while bringing story line closure to HL2, would have been a tedious retread from a gameplay perspective. Particularly after the somewhat unexpected mass critical praise of Portal 1, I suspect someone over there decided EP3 needed some more time in the incubator in order to bring a more generational leap in the gameplay akin to what we saw between HL1 and HL2 to make it standout as the premiere Valve franchise that it is, and not just some game that they pump out.
Click to expand...
Vinci said:
It's being turned into HL3 and being redesigned into a post-Portal world. The Portal games are simply too good not to raise the standard higher than they were perhaps ready to hit with the previous development on Ep 3.
Click to expand...

Yeah, this would align with Develop allegedly being informed that "unexpected concept changes" are the primary reason behind its prolonged development.

Edit: Clarity.
 
Dice

Dice

Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
I wonder if many of the people getting impatient remember how hard Half Life games are.
 
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