Leaked Portal 2 Achievement Ignites Episode 3 Rumors

[beema]

I had completely forgot about the Borealis scene in EP2... man maybe I should play it again.

I don't think this means anything. The connection is a giant stretch as it is, and more than anything it feels like Valve blowing us a raspberry from their giant Scrooge McDuck swimming pools full of money. I'm more or less convinced at this point that EP3 has been scrapped and they are just going to release HL3 in some new fashion.

 

[night_tiger9]

God, I hope they dont postpone Portal 2... I think fans (myself included) would go to the headquarters of valve and demand their game.

I just hope we can get past the Sentry Guns...

 

[klaynexas3]

As much as VALVe games have quality, that quality is pretty old by todays standards, I mean seriously, Source needs an update. So there is no excuse for why Episode 3 is taking so long.
In fact Episodic titles are supposed to be shorter, sold for less and take less time to make, VALVe has the first 2 but what about 3? I can't wait for their excuse to be "It's only been 4 years."

well it could be that they're making a new engine all together for episode 3. and it's also possible that it's not an episode, but a half life 3. if so, i can completely understand why there is such a long wait. i mean, let's look at fallout 3, which came out like 10 or so years after the 2nd one, it wouldn't have been as amazing as it was if we hadn't waited for so long to get it. it's not entirely like they're just jerking around in the office, they may have been making like a 20 hour long game for all we know. i won't start bitching until i see the next half life game

 

[The Wykydtron]

Valve only when you give me a release date will i care for your Episode 3 shenanigans.

Until then would you kindly GTFO nOOb!

Hell there should be an apology note included with every copy of Episode 3

 

[Bling1907]

VALVE was always a ***** when it becomes announcing their projects.

 

[Danpascooch]

SNIP

I don't even care anymore, they don't release the episodes frequently enough for Half-Life to stay relevant.

Although, considering these Half Life episodes aren't big enough to justify a single console release (which is why they were put in Orange Box) what if this means that Half Life Episode 3 is being released as a PART OF PORTAL 2!? As in, it will be on the disc along with Portal 2.

Who the fuck knows with Valve, I think it's a possibility.

 

[Chronologist]

Yeah, there are a lot of ways that Episode 3 could end... at this point I really don't care. It would be interesting if episode 3 had a co-op mode where the new Chell and Gordon Freeman had to work together using portals and the gravity gun to solve physics puzzles, if that hasn't already been modded into existence already.

Given Valve's penchant for bittersweet endings, I'm pretty sure it's not going to be as simple as "Time travel to the experiment at Black Mesa and stop the accident from ever happening". My guess?

Gordon gets to the Borealis, finds the new Chell who is unconscious on the ground. Neither talks, since the new Chell is in a coma, but she has the Portal gun and instructions she wrote that say that there's a time machine deep inside the Borealis. Gordon goes and uses the machine to go back in time... and the temporal rift CAUSES the accident at Black Mesa in the first place. The original Gordon Freeman from that time DIES because of the accident, and the Freeman from the future has to take his place.

Why is Freeman so skilled at combat? Because he's been fighting the same war for an infinite period of time. Why can't he die? Because he never has, and he never will. Why does he keep doing the same thing? For the same reason he never talks - he's F***ing INSANE from being in an infinite regression loop.

I know this makes no sense, but still, it's something that Valve would do.

 

[Kris015]

It has been so long that i've forgotten what the Borealis is..

 

[aiusepsi]

Also, does anyone seriously believe we'll be playing Portal 2 this April?

Valve doesn't start taking preorders for games on Steam until they're locked in for launch. Portal 2 at this point is basically in the can, with a lead time so that they can get it certified and ready to go on the 360 and PS3.

And Valve are certainly a lot better than they used to be; they've released about a game a year every year since 2007. Sure, Episode 3 has gone kinda dark, but it's still nowhere near the level of dark that TF2 went, nor for nearly as long. And there's always a reason; maybe their initial plan for what Ep3 would be turned out to actually suck, maybe as a project it's massively grown in scope. TF2 went through two or three different gameplay concepts before they found one that worked.

Who the hell knows? The point is that it's not arrived because while they probably could have cranked it out in a year, it probably wouldn't be a game with the kind of quality we expect from a Valve game.

Personally, I'm looking forward to playing Episode 3 when it emerges. But I know I'm dying to play Portal 2 right now a lot more. Ep 3 will come.

In the meantime, the well-known author Neil Gaiman has some illuminating notes on entitlement issues: http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/05/entitlement-issues.html

 

[fix-the-spade]

In the meantime, the well-known author Neil Gaiman has some illuminating notes on entitlement issues: http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/05/entitlement-issues.html

Excuse me?

It's worth noting that Valve's game a year have been (respectively), The Orange Box released almost a year after originally dated (althought technically it's components were three, three and nine years in development), Left 4 Dead was almost a year after it's original date (although buying out Turtle Rock created most of the delay), then Left 4 Dead 2 which arrived almost on time but was shipped Counter Strike style in that it contained a working technical ground work and a (relatively speaking) small amount of content, but has been progressively added to over time. Worth noting that to date not a single Valve title has hit it's original release date.

I still don't believe anyone will actually play Portal 2 on the published release day, this is Valve, they have a very strong history of this kind of thing.

 

[Captain Booyah]

Gordon Freeman's dead body.
Calling it now.

I've fallen in love with this idea. Now, we can either trade -- I have cookies -- or I am stealing it.

OT: At first I was a little "OMG-" but then I realised this was Valve, and a good technique is to forget they even exist, until appropriate. (Then you can be like "OH MY GOD, there's a SEQUEL to PORTAL? And it's coming out TOMORROW? I never knew! How fantastic!") As for Episode 3, I'm not believing jack shit until I see evidence of the concrete variety.

 

[thatstheguy]

It'd actually be pretty cool if there was a co-op mode where one person plays as Chell and the other as Gordon. Chell would have only the portal gun to create portals and pick up and throw objects. Gordon would have all the weapons he already has in his disposal. Both still be necessary to complete the game and could combine their abilities to use portals and guns in combat.

Just some wishful thinking.

 

[Outright Villainy]

Gordon Freeman's dead body.
Calling it now.

You know what, that'd be the most brilliantly creepy easter egg ever, if it were added.

It wouldn't even have to be too obvious, just a skeleton in that same HEV suit. Enough cause for alarm, but still not concrete.

People would go nuts.

I still don't believe anyone will actually play Portal 2 on the published release day, this is Valve, they have a very strong history of this kind of thing.

Except it was originally supposed to come out last year. [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/portal-2-due-out-this-christmas]

Should be fine.

 

[Squaseghost]

Yeah, there are a lot of ways that Episode 3 could end... at this point I really don't care. It would be interesting if episode 3 had a co-op mode where the new Chell and Gordon Freeman had to work together using portals and the gravity gun to solve physics puzzles, if that hasn't already been modded into existence already.

Given Valve's penchant for bittersweet endings, I'm pretty sure it's not going to be as simple as "Time travel to the experiment at Black Mesa and stop the accident from ever happening". My guess?

Gordon gets to the Borealis, finds the new Chell who is unconscious on the ground. Neither talks, since the new Chell is in a coma, but she has the Portal gun and instructions she wrote that say that there's a time machine deep inside the Borealis. Gordon goes and uses the machine to go back in time... and the temporal rift CAUSES the accident at Black Mesa in the first place. The original Gordon Freeman from that time DIES because of the accident, and the Freeman from the future has to take his place.

Why is Freeman so skilled at combat? Because he's been fighting the same war for an infinite period of time. Why can't he die? Because he never has, and he never will. Why does he keep doing the same thing? For the same reason he never talks - he's F***ing INSANE from being in an infinite regression loop.

I know this makes no sense, but still, it's something that Valve would do.

I'm sorry, I'm too lazy to find out how to post images right now.
http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/111/0/0/Citizen_Kane_Clap_by_FlyingBrickAnimation.gif

 

[joe the janitor]

Gabe Newell
- Video Game Developer
- Professional Troll

 

[Lizmichi]

I'll get excited when Gabe Newell him self tells us that Episode 3 is almost done and has a date set. We know it will get pushed back but it's better then the cock tease we've been getting.

However, if they give us L4D3 I will rage.

 

[Chronologist]

Yeah, there are a lot of ways that Episode 3 could end... at this point I really don't care. It would be interesting if episode 3 had a co-op mode where the new Chell and Gordon Freeman had to work together using portals and the gravity gun to solve physics puzzles, if that hasn't already been modded into existence already.

Given Valve's penchant for bittersweet endings, I'm pretty sure it's not going to be as simple as "Time travel to the experiment at Black Mesa and stop the accident from ever happening". My guess?

Gordon gets to the Borealis, finds the new Chell who is unconscious on the ground. Neither talks, since the new Chell is in a coma, but she has the Portal gun and instructions she wrote that say that there's a time machine deep inside the Borealis. Gordon goes and uses the machine to go back in time... and the temporal rift CAUSES the accident at Black Mesa in the first place. The original Gordon Freeman from that time DIES because of the accident, and the Freeman from the future has to take his place.

Why is Freeman so skilled at combat? Because he's been fighting the same war for an infinite period of time. Why can't he die? Because he never has, and he never will. Why does he keep doing the same thing? For the same reason he never talks - he's F***ing INSANE from being in an infinite regression loop.

I know this makes no sense, but still, it's something that Valve would do.

I'm sorry, I'm too lazy to find out how to post images right now.
http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/111/0/0/Citizen_Kane_Clap_by_FlyingBrickAnimation.gif

Thanks? I guess?

I mean, it makes sense, in a nonsensical way, right? In a universe with dimensional breaches, gravity manipulating hardware and portable wormhole machines, what's a little time travel paradox in the grand scheme of things? We already know the G-man can stop time, what if he exists as a non-linear temporal being, and all his conversations with Freeman seems strange because the're really just out of order? Maybe the Combine aren't from an alternate dimension at all, maybe they are the future of humanity itself.

I know it's a crackpot theory, but it explains a lot. I'm no expert about Half Life, I only played 2 and the episodes, so maybe this makes no sense, but I've got a feeling that every aspect of the game's been planned out from the very beginning, that Half Life and Portal are related, and that it's all one huge loop. On the other hand, maybe the fact that I haven't slept in 3 days has something to do with this idea.

 

[Whoracle]

Seriously, it's not coming. Someone wake me when an actual release date is announced, not when some circumstantial evidence MAY have surfaced.
I remember the "evidence" in the MAC Steam clients pointing at an Linux native client, and look what came of this...