5 years ago Valve released The Orange Box, it a was a compilation of 3 new games (also including HL2 + HL2EP1).The Orange
Box was also Valves first nextgen multi-platform game that supported 360 and PS3 (PS3 port done by EA). It instantly became
a huge success winning over 100 awards from various websites and gaining almost critical praise it received one of the highest
Metacritic scores for 360 and PC of 96/100
1827 days or 5 years since HL2 Episode 2 (released 10th October 2007)
2331 days or 6 years 4 months since Episode Three was announced
2323 days or 6 years 4 months since HL2 Episode 1
2885 days or 7 years 10 months since Half-Life 2
The Orange Box was released on the 10th October 2007 (9th September on Steam), originally the Orange Box was supposed to be
called 'The Black Box' with only the 3 new games however this was scrapped from some unknown reason. The collection included
new games such as the redeveloped multiplayer game: Team Fortress 2, the unknown puzzle game: Portal and the highly
anticipated next chapter of the HL franchise: Half Life 2: Episode 2. All these games took advantages of new steam features such
as as the new achievement system, personalized stats on games and friends integration.
Half-Life: Episode 2:
The highly anticipated 2nd chapter of Half-life finally arrived one year after Episode 1, Valve was trying to break up the game into
chapters so they did not get bogged down like they did with Half-Life 2. At release the game was praised for it's more open style
gameplay with vehicles and large open area combat. The game also excelled in puzzles while keeping a good balance with combat,
some consider this game as the perfect FPS. The story was one of the reasons why the game is so brilliant, players really do feel
part of game and care about the characters, the surprise ending has left fans anticipating the next chapter in the franchise.
Team Fortress 2:
Team Fortress 2 was in development for 9 years, first announced in 1998, up until a year before the Orange Box it was considered
'vaporware'. Part of the problem was that that the game went from several development cycles, scrapping each idea until they
found one that they were was happy with, in this case basing the game in a 50's/60's styled cartoon. The game was highly praised
for it's balanced gameplay, detailed characters for a a MP game and it's continuous updates to the game to bring new content and
game modes. TF2 eventually became F2P and has been very successful for Valve, being one of the few games to stay on top of
the Steam stats table.
Portal:
Portal was bundled with the Orange Box as a short 3 hour puzzle game however it instantly became a cult hit for it's story and the
dark humour that is rarely seen in a video game. Portal was developed by a few students from DigiPen Institute of Technology
who were hired by Valve. The game was praised for it's innovating puzzle concept that was considered original and refreshing for
a puzzle game.
It's hard to believe that a studio who usually took forever to make just one game in a matter of years has now actually developed
six games in the last 5 years since the Orange Box. You would think that Valve had thrown quality out of the window but it does
not seem to be the case for Valve, each game they have released has received high appraisals from the game media & journalists
as well as fans who can often be Valve's biggest critic's in some cases. Valve has been also very busy with Steam, the progress on
how far Steam has progressed is quite alarming, from one of the most hated pieces of software for gaming when HL2 released to
the best digital distribution client in the world.
Left 4 Dead - 2008:
Left 4 Dead came one year after the Orange Box and managed garner more pre-orders on Steam than any other Valve game
before it. L4D completely rewrote the zombie game by introducing fast paced zombies as well as co-op which let you play with
friends, the game was praised for it's deep character development and it's amazing re-playability due to the Director AI. The game
also had a MP mode which pitted humans vs zombie teams. The game is held as a instant classic and one of best exmaples of how
to do co-op right.
Left 4 Dead 2 - 2009:
It came as a great shock to many gamers when they found out that Valve was already making Left 4 Dead 2 when L4D was so new.
Valve wanted to release L4D2 one year after L4D1, which angered many fans, a lot of people felt that Valve that the game would
not be up to Valve's standards and that L4D1 would be ignored. However Valve tried to address those complaints and even got the
boycott group admins to play the game and changed their minds of the game. The game became an instant success and gained
a 89/100 Metacritic score - same as the first game.
Alien Swarm - 2010 :
Alien Swarm pretty much came out of nowhere, announced in 2006 it was forgotten until Valve released it in 2010 as a freeware
game. The game was played from a top down perspective, pitting players against an alien swarm in a colony base. The game
allowed users who did not previously own the Source SDK to actually use it for free and make levels with it.
Portal 2 - 2011:
The pre-announcement of portal 2 was crowded in secrecy, Valve created the most cryptic ARG which expanded around the world,
forums, irc channels and Wiki's were created to solve this problem on what Valve was up too. When it was finally released it was
deemed as one of the best games of the yea - the game was also NeoGAF's GOTY 2011 winner. Portal 2 expanded on the original
portal game with an extra long story, new puzzle concepts and a co-op mode - a first for the the franchise.
Counter Strike: Global Offensive - 2012 :
Counter Strike was often forgotten by Valve, many people considered that they did not care or had any idea on how to advance
the game even though it was most played Valve game. However in 2011 Valve announced that they were working with Hidden
Path Entertainment to make CS:GO, a new version of CS with updated graphics and game modes which would also support
360 and PS3. This game was a real push by Valve to get back into the competitive scene in gaming tournaments, Valve is
committed to the game and has already released it's first update for the game, time will really tell if it has been a success or not.
Dota 2 - 2012 (beta) :
Dota 2 is Valve's first reach outside of the fps/shooter territory, Valve hired IceFrog to work in DOTA 2, but it was kept mostly in
secret until it was announced in 2010. Valve held their first showing of the game in 2011 at the international DOTA 2 tournament,
since then the game has been in beta and is currently the most played game on Steam. Valve has mentioned it will follow the F2P
model of TF2 and has already started to benefit from contributors, it's expected to Valve's most played game when it comes out
of beta.
Steam 2007 - Present:
Steam has really evolved in the last few years, the amount of features that has been added just shows the dedication that
Valve has put into the service, it's only recently that Valve has faced any stiff competition and yet it still remains on top.
Features that have been added on Steam on the past few years:
- Steam Cloud
- OSX Support
- Steam re-design UI layout
- Big Picture Mode
- Steam Greenlight
- Steam wallet & vouchers
- Steam workshop
- Steam recommendations
- Steam trading and inventories
- Steam screenshot features
- Steamworks
- Steam Linux (soon)
- Steam mobile
- Addition of software
- Addition of social aspects to steam
Right now Valve is trying to ship out Dota 2 which should be available before 2012 ends, it is unknown if Valve is working on any
other gaming projects. Valve is also working on getting Steam to Linux as well as L4D2, it expects to release the client in 2013,
in other Steam related functions it is also working on BPM and getting more software onto the Steam store, currently it has
development tools to create games on steam. Valve has also started to design hardware for games, Valve plans to change the
way games are played with controllers as well as wearable computers, a beta will start next year 2013.
Valve has been awfully silent about the next instalment of Half-Life, Valve originally announced that HL2:EP3 would come out
Christmas 2007, what ever happened with the episodic model of HL is unknown as the game never made it's deadline. Three
pieces of artwork were shown in 2008 about the location of Episode 3 which showed that Gordan Freeman had indeed gone to
the Borealis. In 2009 it was reported that one of the characters in the upcoming game would use sign language as a way to
communicate with the player as a new gameplay technique. In 2010 Gabe reported that HL will go back to being scary, the
launch of Alien Swarm also points to code related to Ep3 however this could be from Ep2. In 2011 Gabe stated that the episodic
model was dead but updating games when they need too, many think that this means HL3. More clues are also found in the
Portal 2 SDK. Many people suspect that is a hidden ARG in portal 2, through media, however this debunked by Gabe. In the
steam Christmas sale of 2011 there were several hints to Lambada sign. In 2012 more references were found in CS:GO
code, Marc Laidlaw confirms the rumor of a cancelled Half-Life 2 Episode, developed by Arkane Studios. (2006-2009).
In June a a handful of concept art was released which was confirmed by the SPUF moderators as legit.
Predictions (logical to crazy):
- Valve is building the next HL game in Source 2
- Valve may be waiting for next gen consoles
- Valve is working on the game mechanic that they never used in portal 2 (F-STOP)
- The game will feature rpg elements with a open world environment
- At some point Gordan Freeman will return to Ravenholm
- Valve may ask another studio to do Episode 3
- Valve is building the next HL game in Source 2
- Valve may be waiting for next gen consoles
- Valve is working on the game mechanic that they never used in portal 2 (F-STOP)
- The game will feature rpg elements with a open world environment
- At some point Gordan Freeman will return to Ravenholm
- Valve may ask another studio to do Episode 3