From an interview with Valve Software's Chet Faliszek from Beefjack.com:
With regards to the co-op campaign, how does it fit in the Portal universe?
Chet Faliszek: It has its own separate story, with its own characters, and takes place after the single-player game. GLaDOS has a little thing for you to do, and I'll say no more to avoid spoilers! The story in co-op really has to step back a little bit because you need room for people to breathe and talk. They have their own story that's competing against it, you know? They won't go: 'Remember when I was playing P-Body and you were Atlas and I pulled the light-bridge out from underneath you?' They're going to say: 'Hey, remember when I pulled the light-bridge out from underneath you, and you fell off into the goo?' There's more of a personal story that comes from that.
Of course, no one's quite sure how the overall Portal 2 story will be woven into Half-Life, but there is some speculation (among a few random gamers that I've talked to) that part of the reason we haven't heard anything about Half-Life 3 at all is because events in Portal 2 will heavily affect the Half-Life universe. I'm starting to get a totally speculative hunch that we'll be hearing about Half-Life 3 soon after Portal 2 is on shelves. (Wishful thinking?)
Related:Valve Plans to Bridge Portal and Portal 2 With a Surprise, Keep Gordon Freeman Out Of It [Kotaku]
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Valve Plans To Bridge Portal And Portal 2 With A Surprise, Keep Gordon Freeman Out Of It
Portal 2 takes place after Portal, long after enough for Aperture Science to be wrecked and covered …
Read more Read- Half-Life: Day One is the initial pre-release demo of Half-Life.
- Half-Life is the first title for the series, and was the debut title of Valve Software.
- Half-Life: Uplink was a standalone demo set in the Half-Life universe, and contained levels and a storyline not found in the full title.
- Half-Life: Uplink is a short five-minute film loosely based on the events of Half-Life.
- Half-Life: Opposing Force is an expansion pack for Valve Software's science fiction first-person shooter video game Half-Life.
- Half-Life: Blue Shift, commonly referred to as Blue Shift, is the second stand-alone expansion pack for Half-Life
- Half-Life: Decay is an add-on included in the PlayStation 2 port of the first-person shooter game Half-Life, returning to the setting and timeline of the original story, but with different player characters: two female colleagues of Gordon Freeman, named Gina Cross and Colette Green.
- Codename: Gordon, also known as Half-Life 2D, is a side-scroller puzzle/action game.
- Half-Life 2 is a science fiction first-person shooter developed and published by Valve Corporation.
- Half-Life 2: Deathmatch, often abbreviated as HL2:DM, is a multiplayer first-person shooter video game developed by Valve Corporation.
- Half-Life 2: Lost Coast is a technology demo showing off the Source engine's HDR rendering capabilities. The town of St. Olga, where the game is set, was originally slated to take place between the levels Highway 17 and Sandtraps, but was dropped.
- Half-Life 2: Episode One is the first of a trilogy[1] of expansion packs/episodes for the 2004 first-person shooter game, Half-Life 2.
- Half-Life 2: Survivor is an arcade game based on the science fiction first-person shooter video game, Half-Life 2.
- Half-Life 2: Episode Two is the second installment in a trilogy of episodes for the 2004 science fiction first-person shooter video game Half-Life 2, developed by Valve Corporation.
- Portal is a 2007 first-person puzzle-platform video game developed by Valve Corporation. The game was released in a bundle package called The Orange Box.
- Portal: Still Alive is an Xbox 360 Live Arcade exclusive edition of Portal released on October 22, 2008. It features the original game, with various new levels and 9 new achievements.
- Half-Life: Escape from City 17 is a two-part Canadian short film written, developed, and filmed by the Purchase Brothers. The film is set in the Half-Life universe, during the events of Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode One.
- The Portal ARG, or Alternate Reality Game, was introduced as an easter egg in the March 1 Patch. The notes released along with the patch read 'Changed radio transmission frequency to comply with federal and state spectrum management regulations', and accompanying this was a new achievement, 'Transmission Received'.
- Beyond Black Mesa is a short independent fan film inspired by the Half-Life series.
- The PotatoFoolsDay ARG is the second alternate reality game (or ARG) created by Valve to promote Portal 2, following the original Portal ARG.
- Portal 2 is a first-person puzzle video game developed and published by Valve Corporation.
- Peer Review is a free DLC made for Portal 2 aimed at expanding upon the co-op part of the game. It continues the story of ATLAS and P-body as they assist GLaDOS in finding a mysterious intruder in the facility through the Cooperative Testing Courses.
- Black Mesa is a complete re-creation of the game Half-Life, utilizing the Source engine.
- Lamarr Goes to the Zoo is a side-scrolling platform game created by several Valve employees for a 48-hour game jam.
HL1 ERA
Period of time in which the original Half-Life held a primary focus.HL2 ERA
Period of time in which tHalf-Life 2 held a primary focus.ORANGE BOX ERA
Period of time in which The Orange Box's games held an equal focus.Portal 2 Era
Period of time in which Portal 2 held a primary focus.Silent Era
Period of time in which little to no official content having to do with the Half-Life universe was released, much to the dissapointment of fans of the series.
For one reason or another I managed to totally miss playing any of the Half-life series. I have the time and money now to play these games that I have heard such great things about. So what are all the Half-life games that I should play? and what order should I play them in?
I am confused of where the episodes and expansions all fit in. And what they mean by 'Source' versions. Are these even part of the same series? And what about Blue Shift, Lost Coast, or Opposing Force? So many games, and I don't know where or if they fit.
Are there any in the series that I should skip, or just read the plot summary for? Can someone please give me a run-down of what I should play, in order.
Frank♦19.8k2121 gold badges8989 silver badges137137 bronze badges
Adam HarteAdam Harte
7 Answers
The must-play Half-Life games are Half-Life 1, then Half-Life 2. The expansions and spin-offs for Half-Life 1 which were not developed by Valve are quite skippable; Opposing Force, Blue Shift and Decay return to the setting and events of Half-Life 1, but portray the story through the eyes of a U.S. Marine, a security guard and two scientists (since Decay is a cooperative multiplayer game), respectively.
The Source version of Half-Life 1 is, and I quote:
a digitally remastered version of the critically acclaimed and best selling PC game
Needless to say it's smoke and mirrors, there's absolutely no significant difference between the two.
My advice is to play the original Half-Life 1, then Half-Life 2, and if you'd like to extend the pleasure, sequels Episode 1 and Episode 2 for Half-Life 2 are quite good, but not as good as the two main games.
Nicolas BazireNicolas Bazire
The HL2 episodes are not an accessory part of the story, but actual sequels. They do contain plot changing events. The same is not true for the Half Life 'One' series, as far as I know.
Thus:
- Half Life
- Half Life 2
- Half Life 2 Episode 1
- Half Life 2 Episode 2
As for Portal -- it does contain some side references to corporate entities in the Half Life universe, but as it is that's more flavor than actual plot.
badpbadp42.2k4545 gold badges206206 silver badges419419 bronze badges
The Source versions are a remake of the original games on the engine used by HL2. Half Life: Source is pretty much identical to Half Life.
The recommended playing order is pretty much the release order:
- Half Life (Or Half Life: Source)
- Half Life: Opposing Force
- Half Life: Blue Shift
- Half Life: Decay (skippable - PS2 only)
- Half Life 2
- Half Life 2: Episode One
- Half Life 2: Episode Two
Half Life 2: Lost Coast is just a tech demo for graphics options that went into later Source games. If you want to be quick, you can skip everything but Half Life and Half Life 2.
Portal is also tangentially related to the Half Life plot, but isn't too important as it doesn't have much story of its own. Portal 2 may change this however.
MachaMacha9,1431010 gold badges6161 silver badges112112 bronze badges
As already pointed out, the most logical order is to play the games by their initial release dates. This is assuming you want to follow the Half Life story from start to finish.
- Half-Life - You take control of Gordon Freeman in the Black Mesa facility
- Half-Life: Opposing Forces - You play as one of the marines during the events of the original game
- Half-Life: Blue-Shift - You play as a security guard during the events of the original game
- Half-Life 2 - Years later you take control of Gordon Freeman in a new story
- Half-Life 2 Episode 1 - Continue as Gordon Freeman after the events of Half-Life 2
- Half-Life 2 Episode 2 - Continue as Gordon Freeman after the events of Half-Life 2 Episode 1
Someone has already mentioned 'Half-Life Decay'. This is a coop game mode available on the Half-Life PS2 release. It takes place during the events of the first game. It is possible to play this on the PC (as someone has managed to port it onto the PC).
Lost Coast is a very short demo. It takes part in the realms of Half Life 2, but from memory the location doesn't appear in the full game.
Half-Life also has a rich mod community. One of the stand out mods would be the Black Mesa project - whereby Half Life 1 is being remade into the Source engine, used to make Half Life 2. The difference between this mod and the Half-Life: Source release is that the graphics are being completely polished.
Depending on your tolerance, or appreciation, for older games, it is feasible to completely skip Half Life 1, or at least the expansions. They were great games but are still old games. Not to say Half Life 2 isn't an old game.
Will you miss anything not playing Half-Life 1? Not really. The story in Half-Life 2 is so different. A different time, a different location, different enemies.. If Half-Life 1 never existed, Half-Life 2 would still be a great game and story.
If you play Half-Life 2 then the episodes are worth going through as they immediately follow events from the main game. There is also a cliff-hanger at the end of Episode 2. Episode 3 never appeared and people have been waiting a generation for the next installment.
Portal has been mentioned but the game is not like Half-Life. Don't assume that you MUST play Portal 1 and/or 2 because you played Half-Life.
user101016
There appears to be a lot of opinion and speculation generated from this question, so I am going to use the Wikipedia listing of the chronological Half-Life games, in order to give a rough overview of each game in the series. See below on my thoughts for deciding if you should play certain titles.
Which Games Should I Play?
I can't really tell you. The Half-Life series is so broad and diverse that it spans many releases, some official, some not. I have provided meta-reviews, where applicable, to help provide a general consensus of quality; However, due to different opinion, you might very well enjoy titles that were effectively shunned by the general community.
For this reason, I would mostly advise you to do your own research. Watch somebody play on YouTube. Read your own reviews on the game. In some cases, you can purchase packs of older titles at a good price, so you might consider buying a set of games and making your decision within the first hour or so of game-play.
There are some absolutes I can provide, that is, what games you should play for the purpose of story. Please keep in mind that some games are re-makes, in one way or another. In such cases, I will only list the original version. It is again up to you, personally, to decide whether you would have a greater experience replacing said title for the newer version, or if you in fact wish to play the very first release.
I am very interested in the story, including minor plot.
The following titles provide story, and are ordered in approximate order. There are several games the occur around each other, from alternate points of view, which can easily be played in any order. Furthermore, there are several titles that do not provide any form of story, which will be omitted.
Half-Life -> Half-Life: Opposing Force -> Half-Life: Blue Shift -> Half-Life 2 -> Half-Life 2: Episode One -> Half-Life 2: Episode Two
I am only interested in major story, and do not wish to involve minor plot.
The following title order will provide you with the main Half-Life plot. They are the main releases, with the episode releases intended to replace the expected long waiting time for Valve to develop an entirely new game.
Half-Life -> Half-Life 2 -> Half-Life 2: Episode One -> Half-Life 2: Episode Two.
The Games
Half-Life (also see Black Mesa)
- Genre: Single-Player First Person Shooter
- Original Release Date: 1998
- Developer:
- Valve Corporation (original release)
- Gearbox Software (PlayStation 2 port)
- Platform: Windows, OS X, Linux and PlayStation 2
- Engine:GoldSrc
- Metacritic Score:96 on PC, 87 on PlayStation 2
- GameRankings Score:94 on PC, 83 on PlayStation 2
- Notes: The first game in the Half-Life series, this game will take you back to where it all began, placing you in control of main protagonist Gordon Freeman. According to the developer, Half-Life has won over 50 Game of the Year awards, and sold over 20 million copies.
Half-Life: Source
- Genre: Single-Player First Person Shooter
- Original Release Date: 2004
- Developer: Valve Corporation
- Platform: Windows, OS X, Linux
- Engine:Source
- Metacritic Score:no score
- GameRankings Score:no score
- Notes: Half-Life, remade using the Source engine. It is worth noting that this particular release was criticised for not being a complete remaster, which lead to the development of Black Mesa.
Half-Life Deathmatch: Source
- Genre: Multi-Player First Person Shooter
- Original Release Date: 2006
- Developer: Valve Corporation
- Platform: Windows, OS X, Linux
- Engine:Source
- Metacritic Score:no score
- GameRankings Score:no score
- Notes: The multi-player component of the original Half-Life, remade using the Source engine. Much like Half-Life 2 Deathmatch, this game is simply a multiplayer game, and does not have any story.
Half-Life: Opposing Force
- Genre: Single-Player First Person Shooter
- Original Release Date: 1999
- Developer: Gearbox Software (under direction of Valve)
- Platform: Windows, OS X and Linux
- Engine:GoldSrc
- Metacritic Score:no score
- GameRankings Score:85 on PC
- Notes: Valve gave the development reigns to Gearbox, for this title, in order to focus on other projects. It is played from the perspective of Adrian Shephard,A member of the marine squad sent in to 'clean up' Black Mesa in Half-Life.
Half-Life: Blue Shift
- Genre: Single-Player First Person Shooter w/ Multiplayer
- Original Release Date: 2001
- Developer: Gearbox Software (under direction of Valve)
- Platform: Windows, OS X, Linux and PlayStation 2
- Engine:GoldSrc
- Metacritic Score:71 on PC
- GameRankings Score:67 on PC
- Notes: Another title developed by Gearbox, in this title, players take control of Barney Calhoun. Barney Calhoun is a security guard in Black Mesa, and a central character in Half-Life 2.
Another feature this game brought was the inclusion of high-definition models and textures, which would also upgrade Half-Life and Half-Life: Opposing Force.
Half Life: Decay
- Genre: 2 Player Co-op First Person Shooter
- Original Release Date: 2001
- Developer: Gearbox Software (under direction of Valve)
- Platform: PlayStation 2
- Engine:GoldSrc
- Metacritic Score: no listing
- GameRankings Score: no listing
- Notes: Designed as a 2 player co-op, for release with the PlayStation 2 version of Half-Life, Decay puts the players in control of two scientists inside Black Mesa. While only officially released for PlayStation 2, there also appears to be an unofficial port to PC.
Black Mesa
- Genre: Single Player First Person Shooter
- Original Release Date: 2005
- Developer: Valve
- Platform: PC
- Engine:Source
- Metacritic Score: no listing
- GameRankings Score: no listing
- Notes: Black Mesa is designed as a remake of Half-Life using the Source engine. This game is currently in early access. This means that if you pay for the game, now, you can play it, now. But it is not, in any way, a finished product. This is the main reason for no Metacritic or GameRankings score, although in house, Steam have received 'overwhelmingly positive' reviews from the players, at the time of writing this. You can ask questions about this game, since it is semi-available to the public. But be aware that only a select group of people will be able to answer them.
Half-Life 2 (see Lost Coast, included with HL2)
- Genre: Single-Player First Person Shooter
- Original Release Date: 2004
- Developer: Valve
- Platform: Windows, OS X, Linux, Xbox, Xbox 360 and Shield Portable
- Engine:Source
- Metacritic Score:96 on PC
- GameRankings Score:95 on PC
- Notes: Sequel to Half-Life, this is the first game to put players back in control of Gordon Freeman. It is critically acclaimed, and has sold over 12 million copies.
Half-Life 2: Deathmatch
- Genre: Multi-player First Person Shooter
- Original Release Date: 2004
- Developer: Valve
- Platform: Windows, OS X and Linux
- Engine:Source
- Metacritic Score:74 on PC
- GameRankings Score:no score
- Notes: Half-Life 2: Deathmatch is simply a stand alone multiplayer component for Half-Life 2. It allows you to compete, online, but does not involve any story.
Half-Life 2: Lost Coast
- Genre: First Person Shooter
- Original Release Date: 2005
- Developer: Valve
- Platform: Windows, OS X and Linux
- Engine:Source
- Metacritic Score:no score
- GameRankings Score:no score
- Notes: Lost Coast is a technology demonstration. It was created to showcase the high-dynamic-range rendering capabilities of the Source engine. While this was released separate to Half-Life 2, it should be considered 'DLC' or an additional level, and is included with the purchase of Half-Life 2.
Half-Life 2: Episode One
- Genre: First Person Shooter
- Original Release Date: 2006
- Developer: Valve
- Platform: Windows, OS X, Linux, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3
- Engine:Source
- Metacritic Score:87 on PC
- GameRankings Score:86 on PC
- Notes: Half Life 2: Episode One is the first episodic sequel to Half-Life 2. Given the long wait between Half-Life and Half-Life 2, Valve have decided to focus on releasing episodes, in effort to reduce the long waiting period between game releases. The player takes control of Gordon Freeman, again, with a greater focus on developing the other characters.
Half-Life 2: Episode Two
- Genre: First Person Shooter
- Original Release Date: 2007
- Developer: Valve
- Platform: Windows, OS X, Linux, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3
- Engine:Source
- Metacritic Score:90 on PC
- GameRankings Score:91 on PC
- Notes: Half Life 2: Episode Two is the second episodic sequel to Half-Life 2, and direct sequel to Episode One. It was developed alongside Episode One, to give the two titles a greater sense of immersion.
Half-Life 2: Episode Three
The internet is filled with rumors concerning Half-Life 2: Episode Three. Is it really coming? Have Valve ditched the 'episodic structure', and instead, working on Half-Life 3? You will see 'episode three' listed within the game series, but be aware that most of it, at present, is speculation. When the game is released, this answer can be edited to include the appropriate information. I would speculate that, given the amount of time since Episode 2 compared to the time it took to develop Episode One and Episode Twp, and the expectation that an entire Half Life game would take a lot more time, we should be expecting Half Life 3 rather than another episode.
Further Information
- There seems to be some users who advise 'don't play that game, it was not made by Valve'. All Half-Life games listed above were made under direction of Valve. They gave control of a majority of original Half-Life titles to Gearbox, so they could work on other titles. Gearbox is the company behind Borderlands and Duke Nukem Forever, two very conflicting examples of widely-accepted first-person shooters, so my best advice is don't knock it unless you have tried it.
- If you are unsure about playing a game, look up the reviews. You should be playing the game because you think you will enjoy it, not because a group of fanboys say its bad. Just because I like apples, does not mean you have to. Thats what makes us human.
- You can find any missed story collected together on the Half-Life Wikia. I have deliberately used the scores from MetaCritic and GameRankings, as they attempt to give an aggregated average across many other reviews. If you are the sort of person that looks at what the reviews have to say, before playing, go to a website you respect the opinion of, and see what they have to say. This is not the place for personal opinions.
- The portal series is a series in its own right, but acts as a sort of 'spin-off' to the Half-Life series. While not directly related, one could assume they are set in the same fictional universe, with references to Black Mesa lightly used in-game.
Furthermore, it is possible to 'replace' the Gravity Gun in Half-Life 2 with the Portal Gun from Portal, with some easy manipulation on the user-end.
user106385
ok.. i read all the answers above, and i must agree in some parts and disagree in others. If anyone really wants to have more than just a simple answer like my fello slacker answers above, read this. If you become a true fan and wants to know about the game (more than just playing, but to treat the storyline as a master piece like if it was a book), then this is the order and reason why to play them:
- Half-Life OR Half-Life Source OR Black Mesa (Which is a remake on a Half-Life 2 source mode but at the current time I write this, is developed by Valve to be sold on Steam for a low price).
- Half-Life: Oppossing Force OR Operation: Black Mesa ( which at this time is being developed but not finished, is a remake in the Half-Life 2 source mode, it merged with the delevopment team of Guard Duty).
- Half-Life: Blue Shift OR Guard Duty ( not finished but development in progress, same team of Operation: Black Mesa, remake on the source mode of Half-Life 2.
- Half-Life: Decay OR Decay Or Hazard Team (if u do not have a ps2, a ukranian team ported the game to pc, named Decay, Hazard Team is not finished and the development not progressing, source mode Half-Life 2 remake, lets hope they group up with the other modder remake teams so this will be finished).
- Half-Life 2
- Portal
- Half-Life 2: Episode OneWe are patient and totally professional to handle your goals of earning your driver's license. Driving School is family oriented, recommended by most of our students even though we did not advertise much.All of our instructors are trained to give to the customer a complete satisfaction in your driving experience so that you can handle driving on your own with skill, safety, caution, and respect for all other drivers andpedestrians. Axis Driving School looks forward to serving you. Uxbridge driving test route. Because building your confidence is key to your success.
- Half-Life 2: Episode Two
- Portal 2
Note that Gearbox games are not yet decided to be cannon or not.. if they decide they are ( which Half-Life: Blue Shift is most likely to the presence of Barney Calhoun on Half-Life 2), then you would not want to play some new storyline without a clue what they are talking about because you skipped the previous games, besides.. they are all fun :P
Portal games are in the same universe and you never know when they are going to combine the characters from within.
And guys.. That is how you answer someone's question :)
AND FOR THE COMMENT OF THE GUY ABOUT BLACK MESA:
If you learn to read.. i said it is developed by Valve to be SOLD, not to be finished. AND it is being worked by their development team to finish the chapters in Xen. I mentioned the mods to give a little bit of credit.. even though they are not done, they still put effort on them (except Hazard Team, lets keep hoping they finish working on it. That is as far as i know aboht that mod, that is dead. if is not or you have some kind of information about it that i have not mentioned or you might want to add.. please write it so i can be informed).
AND as i must add and restate: playing this expantions and Portal games are just to know and/or be prepared for any other storyline it could come ahead, if u got the time and money as you said.. go ahead and play them all.. if not then just play what you feel like it... this was just my recomendation. It would not surprise me, in fact, i am expecting for Valve to recommend players in some kind of announcement to play Black Mesa as they call it cannon for the storyline (when they finish Xen ofcourse). If the other mods are as good as Black Mesa.. my opinion goes the same for them.
user62181user62181
(add-ons include, opposing force, blue shift, decay, and the mod remake of half life 1, Black Mesa).
Then play, Portal 1 (if you have it). Half life 2, HL2 episode 1, HL2 episode 2, Portal 2, and then maybe play TF2 just for fun.
That's my recommendation. =D (Also, even though Black Mesa is still incomplete, it still does a good job of re-creating HL1 and making it look even better then before, you should play it even more since now it has multiplayer, but still, just a recommendation). That said, please play it after HL1 to compare, and play HL2 after. Thanks! Just wanting to state my opinion!
Ramdom_Man11Ramdom_Man11
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November 20, 2018 Half-Life is 20 years old – as old as Gordon Freeman when he studied at MIT. To celebrate we’ve updated some classic Half-Life stories, like the sorry tale of Half-Life 3 below, and a rundown of the studios we’d like to build it. You’ll find links to the other pieces at the bottom of this article.
Half-Life 3 is the greatest mystery in PC gaming. More intriguing than the actual magic that makes your GPU work, and more elusive than a good movie tie-in game, Valve’s third game in the seminal shooter series has been missing in action for a decade now. With every passing year that Valve conspicuously fails to mention it, the mystery deepens.
We’re convinced it’s really out there, though. At least in some form or another. If you’ve been keeping your ears close to the ground, you’ll have discovered enough tidbits to keep the candle of hope burning yourself.
It’s not a bright light, admittedly, but there’s certainly a flame flickering in the darkness. As series fanatics we’re keen to keep that flame alive.
What is Half-Life 3? That might sound like a stupid question, but over the years there have been two quite different answers. It’s either a collection of three short, episodic games – two of which have already been released – or it’s a full-length sequel to both Half-Life 2 and its expansions.
Half-Life 3: the story so far
Back in 2006, as Half-Life 2: Episode One released, Valve boss Gabe Newell referred to Episodes 1-3 as being Half-Life 3. “Probably a better name for it would have been Half Life 3: Episode One,” he admitted during an interview with Eurogamer. He went on to explain that after the six year wait for Half-Life 2, Valve didn’t want players to go through another similar experience. Instead, the next game in the saga was to span three smaller episodes that would be released with far higher frequency.
“This is what we’re trying instead of the large monolithic release. Let’s take what we would ordinarily do and break it up into three pieces and see,” Newell said.
Let’s take what we would ordinarily do and break it up into pieces
And the format worked, almost. Half-Life 2: Episode One suffered a delay, but released just two years after Half-Life 2’s 2004 debut. Episode Two promptly arrived the following year in 2007. And now, a decade on, we’re still waiting for Episode Three. It certainly puts the six year wait for Half-Life 2 into perspective.
During that time the general opinion on Episode Three has changed. If Valve has been working on a Half-Life game all this time, it’s logical to presume that Episode Three is no more, and a full-size Half-Life 3 game is now what to expect. Valve couldn’t possibly release a four-hour episode to an audience that’s spent almost a decade in waiting, could it?
To make the guessing game still more difficult, Valve has become increasingly quiet. The dialogue coming out of the company is entirely focused on its multiplayer games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and the upcoming Artifact, while the words ‘Half-Life’ appear to have been banned from the lips of Valve employees for over half a decade. The video above shows Newell’s change in approach to discussing Half-Life 3, with his 2007 enthusiasm having apparently completely evaporated three years later in 2010.
Half-Life 3 concept art
Not that the radio silence has kept the world devoid of any Half-Life 3 evidence at all. 2012 saw the leak of a series of concept art images reportedly drawn for Half-Life 2: Episode Three. Among them were various drawings of Alyx Vance, men wearing cold weather gear, and a return to Xen. The art was acquired by the fan website ValveTime, who claimed the images were from a 2008 project. If they are indeed real concept sketches created by Valve, they suggest that work was certainly underway on Episode Three. Concept art is generally part of the pre-production process however, so it’s not an indication that the third episode ever even reached a greybox build. Is that work continuing today? It seems no one outside of Valve’s inner sanctum knows the answer.
Half-Life 2: Episode Four – Return to Ravenholm
While the concept art leak helps keep the candle of hope burning, the story of Return to Ravenholm offers an opposite viewpoint. Between 2006 and 2008 Arkane, the studio behind Dishonored 2, was developing Half-Life 2: Episode Four. Entitled ‘Return to Ravenholm’, it was to put the player in control of a new character and revisit the zombie-infested titular town during a period before Episode Two’s conclusion.
Valve pulled the plug on it, though. A report from ValveTime explains that the company felt the episode couldn’t introduce anything new due to the setting constraints, but is this cancellation part of a larger picture? Have all Half-Life projects been abandoned?
“There’s no such thing as Half-Life 3”
In the opening month of 2017, Game Informer recorded a podcast and published an article containing some revealing information from a single, anonymous source within Valve. By this point in the story you won’t be too surprised to read the words “There is no such thing as Half-Life 3,” but that’s exactly what was said by GI’s informant.
Every time a Half-Life project collapses, it becomes harder for the next one to start up
Valve has a ‘flat’ structure, meaning there’s no real management, just a few influencing personalities. Among them is company co-founder and president Gabe Newell. Game Informer’s source seems to suggest that Newell is not interested in making Half-Life 3.
“Every time a Half-Life project gets some gravity and then collapses, it becomes harder for the next one to start up,” said the informant.
Over the years there have been some Half-Life 3 prototypes, and the source says they have been more inventive than you’d imagine. According to the Game Informer podcast, one was an RTS, while another was a riff on adventure games, done with live-action actors.
But those projects appear to be a thing of the past now. Game Informer’s executive editor Andrew Reiner said on the podcast “I reached out to ten to 15 people who worked for the company and they just didn’t want to talk about it all. Dead end after dead end after dead end.” He suggested that Valve is now fed up of being asked about it.
WARREN SPECTOR’S LOST HALF-LIFE EPISODE
In March, website ValveTime released images from a leaked set of files that were made for the Half-Life 2 episodes. Among them were images of a snow-covered Ravenholm map that included puzzles, scripted sequences, and fights. ValveTime noted that this wintery level was not related to Arkane’s Episode Four, but was part of another cancelled episode that was being developed by Junction Point Studios in late 2005.
The map implies that the player would have crashed into a warehouse in a gondola. When awaking from the incident, two new characters – Duncan and Scooter – would have aided them. Rebels and Combine soldiers would be fighting in the streets. The episode would have included a new physics weapon – the Magnet Gun – and objects in the map have magnetic fields.
The kicker of this story is that Junction Point was headed up by legendary designer Warren Spector, the man behind Deus Ex. The now-closed studio was started by ex-Ion Storm employees, including Spector and Art Min. Alas, we can only guess at the kind of Half-Life game such minds would have made.
Half-Life 2: Episode 3’s cliffhanger
Valve’s long-term writer Marc Laidlaw left the company in January 2017. Several months after his departure he gave an interview to Arcade Attack. Discussing Half-Life 3, Laidlaw explained that the game would likely have ended on a mystery in much the same way as Episode 2. “I will say that I expected every instalment would end without resolution, forever and ever…” he said.
Half Life Universe Timeline Images
Discussing specifically Episode 3 (it would appear that internally Valve was still considering the next game as part of the Half-Life 2 saga and not a fresh game), Laidlaw said: “My intention was that Ep3 would simply tie up the plot threads that were particular to HL2. But it would still end like HL1 and HL2, with Gordon in an indeterminate space, on hold, waiting for the next game to begin. So one cliffhanger after another.”
Half-Life 2: Episode 3 story revealed
A few months after taking part in the Arcade Attack interview, Marc Laidlaw published a short story on his blog in the guise of fanfiction. Told from the point of view of “Gertie Fremont” and featuring gender-switched versions of the Half-Life 2 cast, it’s a tongue-in-cheek method of revealing Laidlaw’s story for Episode 3.
So what would have happened after Episode 2? Alyx and Gordon bury Eli Vance, and along with Dr. Mossman head to Antarctica via seaplane in search of the Borealis. After being shot down and spending time traversing the icy wastes, the team finally discovers the time-and-dimension shifting ship. They manage to board it, and fight their way through the decks as the entire ship phases through several realities. These include the Seven Hour War, the far future of the Half-Life universe, and even a glimpse of the Combine homeworld.
With the ship captured, a fight breaks out between Alyx and Mossman. Alyx intends to use the Borealis as a makeshift time-missile battering ram, while Mossman believes it will be useful for the Resistance. The argument results in Alyx killing Mossman, and so Gordon goes along with the battering ram idea. The plan is a suicide mission, and as the Borealis is about to collide with what is clearly an indestructible Dyson Sphere that it will have zero effect on, the G-Man shows up, saves Alyx, and leaves Gordon to his doom. Thankfully the Vortigaunts have other plans, and lift Gordon out of time and space, only to dump him back in the Half-Life timeline many years into the future.
Not only is this game a miserable bore, it killed Valve's creativity
It sounds incredibly Half-Life, with sequences like the Borealis fight appearing akin to Titanfall 2’s Effect and Cause mission, albeit devised years before. It’s easy to see why, back in 2008, this could have been considered a technical challenge too far. Its publication also feels like an admission that Episode 3 will never happen. It’s nice to know what we missed out on, though.
Perhaps not entirely surprisingly, fans didn’t take the news well, with Valve getting the brunt of their ire. Some people took to Dota 2’s user reviews to express their displeasure that Valve ‘killed’ Half-Life 3 in exchange for their highly successful MOBA. Comments from negative reviewers on the Dota 2 Steam page added in the days after Laidlaw’s blog post include: “This game is very good. But Half-Life is better,” “Negative review in memory of half life 3,” “Not only is this game a miserable bore, it killed Valve’s creativity and eliminated any need to finish the Half-Life series. Thanks Gabe!”
Is Half-Life 3 even possible?
There’s an even more pressing question than if any Half-Life projects are being worked on, though. Is Half-Life 3 even possible anymore? The Valve we know today is a very different company to the one that released Half-Life 2. In an interview with Develop in 2011, Newell said: “With episodes, I think we accelerated the model and shortened development cycles with it. If you look at Team Fortress 2, that’s what we now think is the best model for what we’ve been doing. Our updates and release model keeps on getting shorter and shorter.”
That’s an update system well suited to the likes of multiplayer games CS:GO and Dota 2. But what about narrative campaigns? It’s difficult to envision how an update and patch-based approach could work.
Half-Life 3 release date
Until the words ‘Half-Life 3 confirmed’ stop being a meme, a release date for the game is nothing but a pipe dream.
You could have an educated guess, however. 2018 marks the 20th anniversary of the original Half-Life’s release, and right now would be an ideal window to release a long-awaited sequel. But by that same logic, 2028 would be an equally suitable date. When better to celebrate three decades of Gordon Freeman than with a third game?
Half Life 3
The other logical answer is ‘never’. In an interview with journalist and presenter Geoff Keighley, Gabe Newell said: “The only reason we’d go back and do like a super classic kind of product is if a whole bunch of people just internally at Valve said they wanted to do it and had a reasonable explanation for why [they did].”
“But you know if you want to do another Half-Life game and you want to ignore everything we’ve learned in shipping Portal 2 and in shipping all the updates on the multiplayer side, that seems like a bad choice. So we’ll keep moving forward. But that doesn’t necessarily always mean what people are worried that it might mean.”
Half-Life 3 VR
Each Half-Life has seen something revolutionary introduced into gaming. The first title offered previously unseen levels of narrative immersion, while the sequel pioneered realistic physical object behaviour, empowering the player to use physics as a puzzle-solving device and a weapon. Following that pattern, it seems plausible that Half-Life 3 could be developed for VR.
Valve was heavily involved in the development of the HTC Vive, which is now pretty much the Steam VR headset in all but name. Such dedication to the platform suggests Valve has big ideas for VR. Could they involve Black Mesa?
Possibly. Back in 2015, HTC told the BBC that it was “co-operating with Half-Life.” Later the company went on to clarify that it meant Valve rather than Half-Life, but perhaps it was just covering up a slip of the tongue.
More recent reports from UploadVR suggest that Valve is working on its own VR headset – to be bundled with a Half-Life prequel built for the platform. If that’s true, the game would likely show off Valve’s Knuckles controllers, which track the movements of every individual finger. Ever wanted to swear at a Vortigaunt? This might be your chance.
Half-Life 3 story
Birth Of The Universe Timeline
Episode Two ended on a cliffhanger for the ages. After destroying the Combine’s super portal, Gordon, Alyx, and Eli plan to seek out the Borealis: an Aperture Science research vessel that mysteriously disappeared. Before the trio can board a helicopter and embark on their search, a pair of Combine Advisors attack them and kill Eli. The screen fades to black as Alyx sobs into her father’s corpse.
Half-Life 3 would presumably continue Gordon and Alyx’s quest to find the Borealis. The footage of the ship seen in Episode Two was flecked with snowflakes, suggesting an arctic location. The leaked concept art backs this up, with images of a crashed helicopter on a frozen landscape, and drawings of various characters in cold weather gear.
With the Borealis being an Aperture Science ship, it would seem that Half-Life 3 would explore the connections between the Half-Life and Portal games. Easter eggs aplenty seem likely.
The art also contains a few paintings of alien-like imagery, suggesting the story may take Gordon back to Xen. Hopefully the final boss will be more exciting than a giant floating baby this time around.
Half-Life 3 gameplay
With no official information released by Valve, there’s no way we can comment on what Half-Life 3’s gameplay will be like. It would seem logical to expect a big new innovation on the scale of the Gravity Gun, and that’s backed up by Gabe Newell’s own comments. “There’s stuff [in Episode Three] that’s visually never been in games before, and there’s certainly a bunch of game elements on the order of Portal that have never been done before,” he said in an interview with Geoff Keighley in February 2008. He went on to hint that Valve had created something more innovative than the Portal Gun.
At this point, though, we’d hesitate to even say it will definitely be an FPS. Half-Life 3 could genuinely be anything.
The only real word on the internet regarding how the game will play comes from a Pastebin document, shared in January 2016. The anonymous user who posted the document suggests that they are part of the game’s development team, and reveals a few tidbits.
“The game is fabricated to be VERY reactive to player choice and decision making,” the file reads.
“There are no forced cutscenes that break the pace of the game and put you to a stop. Instead you can still freely do as you please and fully interact with everything that goes on story wise and cinematically.”
The last point seems fairly obvious, as the series has never made use of cutscenes. Descargar avast cleanup premium gratis windows 10. Combined with the slightly iffy sentence construction, it feels as if this is a hoax. If not, though, we’re told to expect optional physics puzzles that are generated based on your decisions.
And that’s the Half-Life 3 story so far. As each year goes by, a sequel to arguably the most iconic FPS in videogaming seems less and less likely. Yet, despite that, the appetite for a new Half-Life never seems to diminish, so its commercial prospects will always be strong.
Want more Half-Life celebrations? We have you covered with a check in on the team behind Project Borealis, and a rundown of the studios we’d like to build Half-Life 3. We’re still holding out hope that some day, in some form, we’ll play… something. We’re terrible romantics, though.
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- Half-Life 3: the entire story
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- Half-Life 3 is now Project Borealis