Valve's Newell Talks Half-Life 3...I Think

[DoctorFinger]

This is Ricochet. No, I don't think this is what he's really talking about

It's one of the great mysteries of our age. Right up there with the final fate of the Roanoke colony and the secrets of the Voynich Manuscript. Where the hell is Half-Life 3 (or even Half-Life 2 episode 3)? We last got a taste of the Half-Life universe all the way back in 2007, which is a lifetime in gaming terms. Some gamers have been driven to increasingly needy protests to beg Valve for a new Half-Life. Well this past weekend Valve's Gabe Newell appeared on the Seven Day Cooldown podcast to talk about... Ricochet 2. The sequel to a modestly popular mod for the original Half-Life made by Valve. Except he really wasn't talking about Ricochet 2. It's pretty clear that he's talking about the next Half-Life.

So what gives? In five years we've seen nothing! While that may not have been the intent, it seems to be part of a new strategy Valve is employing where they don't talk about a game until they have something to actually say about it.

"In terms of Ricochet 2, we always have this problem that when we talk about things too far in advance"

Isn't that the way they should operate? Most of the 'Valve Time' jokes are a result of the company talking up a project too early in it's development, and getting burned when delays happen. We don't think of, say, Bioshock Infinite as being perpetually late since we only formally learned about it 18 months before it's release even though it's been in development about as long as HL3/Ep3. But we've known since shortly after Half-Life 1 was released that there would be a Half-Life 3 at some point, and the promised episodic extension of Half-Life 2 made things even worse for fans of Gordon Freeman.

So what does Gabe reveal about Half-Life 3 Ricochet 2? Almost nothing to be honest. He says that "[e]veryone who was working on Ricochet 2 continues to work on Ricochet 2". That alone is comforting, since many people theorized that the Half-Life team had been cannibalized to work on other projects, like DOTA 2. The project has gone through a lot of major changes over the years, which is the major reason why it hasn't been released yet. Again, that's something that's been rumored for a while; the game has undergone several radical rethinks and changes over the years.

There will be a new Half-Life project at some point - be it under the name Half-Life 3, HL2 Ep3, or something altogether new - but Valve won't talk about it until they're ready. Which is for the best if you think about it. And because I love watching hardcore HL fans regularly go insane thinking about a new installment.

Sources - Seven Day Cooldown (podcast); Develop; RPS

[drewmg]

Half-Life 2 was one of my favorite games of the past decade. I will patiently await a third installment.

[Reverant]

I think I say this every time we talk about Half-Life 3 these days, but I'm pretty bored of the wait. Half-Life was a good series, but the games aren't worth fight for every scrap new info that does (or does not) appear. They're not that exciting anymore. It's like celebrity gossip. Generally pointless unless either something massive happens (Tom Cruise detonates a suicide bomb) or your actual hobby is tracking gossip.

And this may sound weird, but Ricochet 2? That is something I'd be excited for. I'm dead serious. I loved Ricochet when it came out! I'm actually more excited about the possibility of a crazy Ricochet 2 (ala TF2) than I am about HL3.

[drewmg]

I haven't spent a lot of energy waiting for the game. When it comes out, I will happily play it. Until it does, I'll play other stuff.

[TheKeck]

Originally Posted by DoctorFinger

But we've known since shortly after Half-Life 1 was released that there would be a Half-Life 3 at some point

I'm a little confused by this comment.

[MosBen]

At this point I think it's very doubtful that we'll see HL2: Ep 3, but rather, that it'll be a full retail release with its own HL3 branding. It just doesn't make sense to tie your new product to something released so many years ago. It would just be confusing, especially to the millions of people that will play it, but didn't play HL2 or the episodes at all because they were too young.

Honestly, at this point I'm hoping that HL3 is a launch title for the next generation MS and Sony consoles, with a GOTY/Orange Box version a year later that would include HL1, HL2, Ep 1, Ep 2, and HL3 all with HL3 visuals. That'd give them (probably) a year and a half to finish up the game, and then a year just porting stuff.

[MosBen]

The Keck, agreed. I didn't understand why we'd know about HL3 after HL1, unless it was just based on HL1 being very popular.

[DoctorFinger]

after HL1 Valve was talking about it being the first in a trilogy. That's how long we've "known" there would be a HL3

[TheKeck]

Originally Posted by DoctorFinger

after HL1 Valve was talking about it being the first in a trilogy. That's how long we've "known" there would be a HL3

I see. Guess I missed that.

[drewmg]

I wouldn't mind some kind of a Half-Life/Portal fusion game. We know the stories are somewhat intermingled... why not bring some of the humor, and the Portal gun, into a Half-Life game proper?

Unannounced Half-Life Project is probably my most highly anticipated game at this point, but I'm not going to get worked about the wait. It'll come when it comes.

[Ink Asylum]

Originally Posted by drewmg

I wouldn't mind some kind of a Half-Life/Portal fusion game. We know the stories are somewhat intermingled... why not bring some of the humor, and the Portal gun, into a Half-Life game proper?

I think we'll get some tangential backstory about Aperture Science when we learn about what they were doing on the Borealis, but I doubt we'll be seeing or hearing from GLaDOS/Chell/Cave Johnson/Etc.

[drewmg]

I could see them bringing in Ellen McLain to do background GLaDOS vocals in a Half-Life game, maybe in such a context where GLaDOS hadn't gone insane yet, but it would likely be done with some subtlety.

[Ink Asylum]

According to an unofficial timeline, the Borealis disappeared the same year that GLaDOS was turned on-line, and five years before Half-Life 1.

[drewmg]

Well then. That's far more effort than I've ever put into understanding the story of Half-Life.

[Ink Asylum]

Originally Posted by drewmg

Well then. That's far more effort than I've ever put into understanding the story of Half-Life.

Considering Valve's pliable approach to the timelines in their games, it should be taken with a huge grain of salt. It's still a good read, though.

[Stmfuller]

Only thing(s) I need to know about a valve game:
1. It will be quality when it comes out and will almost never disapoint.
2. If you spend time charting and trying to figure out when it'll be released, you're going to be quite disapointed.
3. They're one of the good guys in the industry.

[National Kato]

4. It'll use an outdated engine.

[Stmfuller]

Originally Posted by National Kato

4. It'll use an outdated engine.

Honestly, I was more disapointed in the compression used for Portal 2's cutscenes than I was in the overal look of Portal 2.

[MagGnome]

Originally Posted by National Kato

4. It'll use an outdated engine.

I'd smack you if we were still in NYC. The Source engine still looks great. I'm glad they've made it work for so long.

Originally Posted by MosBen

I think special editions of previous HL content makes more sense, because it might be easier and/or something Valve could farm out to another studio while they continue work on HL3. Frankly, I just hate having game series that aren't all playable on the same system and/or which have wildly different graphics or mechanics. I want to be able to play through Mass Effect with the same controls and I want to be able to play through the HL trilogy with the same graphics.

Err, the entire Half-Life series is on the PC. It's easy to play the whole thing on one system. I can fire up Steam right now and play the entire series in order. Half-Life 1 was even ported into Source with nicer graphics. Dated by today's standards, but still totally playable.

The only two components of the Half-Life series that aren't playable in the Source engine are Opposing Force and Blue Shift, but those are still playable on the PC, and the graphics are serviceable.

[TheKeck]

Source was outdated when HL2 came out?