So... Half Life 3...

[Bobic]

Half Life Opposing Force and Blue Shift never get any love. I enjoyed them, especially being able to play the security guard at the beginning of the tram ride from HL.

Not made (entirely) by Valve, though - I pointed out the Valve releases from the HL franchise.

And yes, I did like them both. A lot. Even Blue Shift

Not made (entirely) by Valve, though - I pointed out the Valve releases from the HL franchise.

And yes, I did like them both. A lot. Even Blue Shift

I can't believe it never occurred to me to look up the behind-the-scenes info on Blue Shift and Opposing Force until now, thanks to you . You're supposed to be Barney in Blue Shift? I learn the weirdest/coolest things every time I get onto the forums here. That's like being able to play a Star Wars game as Wedge, which I think would have made a good inside joke for fans.

Well, prepare to have your mind blown again, but you spent a great deal of Rogue Squadron 2 and 3 playing as Wedge.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Rogue_Squadron_II:_Rogue_Leader

Ah, Wedge, the only guy who was in all three of the original trilogy that couldn't be named by anyone with just a passing interest in Star Wars.

 

[Frezzato]

Half Life Opposing Force and Blue Shift never get any love. I enjoyed them, especially being able to play the security guard at the beginning of the tram ride from HL.

Not made (entirely) by Valve, though - I pointed out the Valve releases from the HL franchise.

And yes, I did like them both. A lot. Even Blue Shift

Not made (entirely) by Valve, though - I pointed out the Valve releases from the HL franchise.

And yes, I did like them both. A lot. Even Blue Shift

I can't believe it never occurred to me to look up the behind-the-scenes info on Blue Shift and Opposing Force until now, thanks to you . You're supposed to be Barney in Blue Shift? I learn the weirdest/coolest things every time I get onto the forums here. That's like being able to play a Star Wars game as Wedge, which I think would have made a good inside joke for fans.

Well, prepare to have your mind blown again, but you spent a great deal of Rogue Squadron 2 and 3 playing as Wedge.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Rogue_Squadron_II:_Rogue_Leader

Ah, Wedge, the only guy who was in all three of the original trilogy that couldn't be named by anyone with just a passing interest in Star Wars.

This...this is my punishment for never having bought a Game Cube, the only console of the last 15 years that I don't own. Sure, I've played sections of Rogue Squadron in the past on my friend's Cube, but I never got to actually play them.

I found out about KOTOR only after you could buy it used ("That's silly, why would you want to queue your fighting moves beforehand?" --me 5 years ago) and yesterday [user]Rooster Cogburn[/user] tells me that there's been dedicated racing elements in Halo since #3, something I was wishing for since custom racing maps showed up in Far Cry Instincts on Xbox. And I've played Halo 3 but not online. My mind is indeed blown to smithereens. You win, The Escapist, this time [sub] and like the fifteen times before that [/sub].

 

[Frezzato]

So, discussion: what are your ideas regarding the series, and what are your expectations considering the long wait for the next installment of said series?

My apologies for derailing the thread. I expect the next Half Life installment to be called either Episode 3 or just Half Life 3. Beyond the simple semantics, I expect a lot of action on the alien home world, wherever that may be. Also, I doubt there will be a crossover in terms of game play with the Portal universe, despite the inside jokes you get once in a while from both HL and Portal. Maybe, perhaps, they will allow a portal gun, but I really doubt Valve would cross those streams. Wow, it's late. Time for bed.

 

[Xman490]

Source 2 is seriously in development, with Ricochet 2 allegedly kicking it off. The Episodes are part of a "trilogy of games" (as far as I know), so that also holds open the possibility of HL3 being the next in the series. And finally, 10 years sounds like a solid waiting period from HL2 to HL3, considering that HL3 will be a similar technological achievement to HL2.

Also, GabeN is getting too old to troll us.

 

[Souplex]

Spoiler: Bear with me, as I am going to go a little conspiracy-nut here, but it's either this, or people actually enjoy Half Life 2 (and Episodes, 1 was fine) and that would just be crazy. No, this is the only sane answer.

So back in 98, Valve released Half Life 1. It was good.
Many years passed, and gaming moved on, but one day, Half Life 2 was released. It played like something out of the 90's in the worst possible sense, the only notable new feature was a gimmick-weapon that amounted to nothing more than a glorified grab/throw button, and you were given the worst sidekick in gaming history.
The critics were about to declare it a five-year-old re-heated turd, when they realized, that doing so would not be punishment enough for Valve. They would work together, with all their followers to pretend they enjoyed the game, make it sell well, and make everything seem hunky-dory.
Then, when the series final installment was released, they would dump pig's blood on Gabe Newell.
But Newell was crafty. He knew nobody would like a game that average that much, and figured out the gaming community's plans. He postponed finishing the franchise indefinitely, first with episodic content, and now with indefinite waiting.
But we will outlast.

 

[Karoshi]

Valve said several times, that G-Man is going to have a bigger role. I would love to see Freeman actively try to break away from him and not just stare blankly as the space bureaucrat teleports him away.

I am quite thrilled to see how they are going to merge the Portal and Half-life universe in one piece. It's hell of a work and there are thousand ways in which it could fail. Still, I remain hopeful.

 

[Karoshi]

Valve said several times, that G-Man is going to have a bigger role. I would love to see Freeman actively try to break away from him and not just stare blankly as the space bureaucrat teleports him away.

I am quite thrilled to see how they are going to merge the Portal and Half-life universe in one piece. It's hell of a work and there are thousand ways in which it could fail. Still, I remain hopeful.

The Vortigaunts broke G-Mans grip on Freeman in Episode 2, remember?

Or am I forgetting something?

Yes, but do you really think that G-Man gives up that easy? Besides, Vortigaunts can't babysit Freeman all day long - as the incident with Alyx has shown us.

Gordon gotta find his own way to deal with G-Man. Being his puppet may work for some time and even bring some minor victories, but as long as G-Man is pulling the strings, the war isn't going to end in our favour.

 

[Syzygy23]

I'm hoping we'll get to see Corporal Shephard, or if he going be a playable character in the next game.

Pretty sure that guy was promoted to commander and then saved the galaxy from the reapers, I don't see him returning any time soon.

 

[Olas]

I don't get it, what the hell happened anyway? It's obvious they were planning to make either an episode 3 or Half Life 3. I think they even said so outright. But then they just didn't for some reason. Simply nothing happened and now we've been stuck on a cliffhanger for 5 years.

So what happened that suddenly put a halt to everything? Did someone accidentally drop their plans for HL3 into a volcano? You'd think the least they could do is explain WHY everything's been put on hold.

 

[bafrali]

Valve is off making the entire world a better place for video games, innovating the shit out of everything and making all of our lives easier, increasing communication and experience, and still people ask for the third installment to something they did in '98.

They're smart cookies, those Valve folks. They see what happened to Duke Nukem Forever. You will never get Half-Life 3 until the IP is sold to someone else.

Valve doesn't innovate shit. You might argue that they're good to their customers, but the only game Valve actually made was Half Life (and I guess half life 2) the other games were either modders who were picked up and given the means to polish their ideas or smaller companies that Valve outright purchased because they were already working on a game that they liked.

,

Oh boy here we go again. Look it was Valve who made Portal what it is today. L4D, Valve, TF2 Valve again. It was their programmers, composers, writers and designers who made it all possible. So yes they innovated some shit. They made a puzzle game that got praised for its story besides its gameplay. They made an extremely polished multiplayer game and added tons and tons of personality as a bonus. They took a genre as rotten as zombie shooter and reworked it with strong atmosphere, sound design fine-pacing and strong characterization, not to mention the AI director.

Please Think harder before dissmissing lots of people's work on a whim.

 

[MPerce]

Valve is off making the entire world a better place for video games, innovating the shit out of everything and making all of our lives easier, increasing communication and experience, and still people ask for the third installment to something they did in '98.

They're smart cookies, those Valve folks. They see what happened to Duke Nukem Forever. You will never get Half-Life 3 until the IP is sold to someone else.

Valve doesn't innovate shit. You might argue that they're good to their customers, but the only game Valve actually made was Half Life (and I guess half life 2) the other games were either modders who were picked up and given the means to polish their ideas or smaller companies that Valve outright purchased because they were already working on a game that they liked.

..."i guess half life 2?" That's a pretty big game to say "i guess" to, considering what it did to the FPS landscape. A lot of companies are just now catching up with HL2's character animations.

 

[bafrali]

snip

Oh i get it. You are one of those people who confuses his opinions for facts. Nothing for me to say here. Moving on.

 

[surg3n]

I think the best way to experience the original Half Life, is just to jump into Black Mesa, it's an awesome re-engineering of the game, it's free, and it sets you up for HL2 and HL3.

I'm glad, not so much because of HL3, I've been waiting for years, used to waiting for it and just kept thinking that the engine could do with an overhaul to get the most from what HL3 should be. I can be patient now, with high hopes for what HL3 can be, and what it will do to the FPS genre.

Besides, I was pretty disapointed with Ep.1, Ep2 was pretty good, I'd much rather see HL3 than Ep.3 - start fresh with some new tech and see how much ass can be kicked with it.

 

[Eggsnham]

...that would be like puting a random and meaningless ending to mass effect 3 that was full of plot holes.

I see what you did there...

 

[hermes]

I like to think I live in a world where the episodes didn't happen (in fact, neither did the crappy ending of HL2). In this world, no one expects a sequel to a game that will not come.

In other words, Valve know they put themselves between a rock and a hard place with the delay and the ending of episode 2; and they plan to leave it the best way they can: by ignoring it and letting water slide under the bridge. They know they can't make a 3rd game that lives to expectations, and they don't know how to resolve the cliffhanger they left after Episode 2. So they just won't-. They are just going to troll all the people that expect a game to actually exist and will continue on with their merry lives until the pool of cash they are swimming on dries out.

 

[Wolfhowl the shadow lurker]

...that would be like puting a random and meaningless ending to mass effect 3 that was full of plot holes.

I see what you did there...

Im over it now... over the bad ending... THAT FUCKING LOAD OF SHI- *this post has hit technical difficulties please try again later*

 

[SextusMaximus]

Opinions?

Half Life: Class game, great bit of fun! Aged well
Half Life 2: Horribly boring, repetitive, not half as fun as the first
Episode 1: Definitely an improvement on Half Life 2

FTR I played HL2 first.

Half Life 3?

Would buy it, not that interested though.

 

[Wolfhowl the shadow lurker]

I don't really mind what it is. As long as they give us it sometime, its kind of unfair to just leave it and not end it after all these games, that would be like puting a random and meaningless ending to mass effect 3 that was full of plot holes.

I am on your side with this. I have yet to play the HL2 episodes because HL2 at least is an ending that can stand alone and leave you with thoughts - do I really had any control over anything that happened? Was it my decision to help or did went it all like 'planed' from the very first second? And what is Gordon Freeman? Is he a thinking human who is trapped in a cycle he can't break out from or is he nothing more than a shell for us to jump in and control? Since the episodes catch up at the end of HL2 I'll wait with playing them untill HL3 is at least announced.

not in control no, but still an story being told about him and the world he lives in. I want to know where everything goes and where it ends all the games are good and i liked playing them, it seems odd to not put this game out when so many people want it, theres got to be money to be made there... but i guess they do not want money.

also the freemans thinking and wants are unknown but im pretty sure he does not want the world to be drained of its water and taken over by big flying lava. I hope everything is put togehter in a nice ending... unlike some games... nameing no names... mass ef-

 

[Treblaine]

Play Portal 1 and 2... apparently set in the same universe (both reference Black Mesa) and HL2 Episode 2 mentions aperture Science of Portal Series.

But it's interesting VALVE CANNOT DO A THIRD ITERATION OF ANYTHING!

Half Life
Half Life 2
HL2: Episode 1
HL2: episode 2
Portal
Portal 2
Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead 2
Team Fortress
Team Fortress 2

Demoman: "THREEE-DOM!"

 

[Eggsnham]

Valve said several times, that G-Man is going to have a bigger role. I would love to see Freeman actively try to break away from him and not just stare blankly as the space bureaucrat teleports him away.

I am quite thrilled to see how they are going to merge the Portal and Half-life universe in one piece. It's hell of a work and there are thousand ways in which it could fail. Still, I remain hopeful.

The Vortigaunts broke G-Mans grip on Freeman in Episode 2, remember?

Or am I forgetting something?

Spoiler: Spoiler'd on the off chance that somebody might not know anything about the HL storyline and be pissed at me for talking about it...

I thought it was in the end of Half Life 2 (or was it the beginning of episode 1?) that you see this short cutscene of G-man being a creepy bastard about Gordon, and suddenly the Vortigaunts get all religious over him and teleport you away, as well as Alyx I believe.

Granted, I haven't gotten around to finishing Episode 2 quite yet, so I may just be making myself look stupid.