Half Life 3 is in Safe Hands

[GoaThief]

I have to wonder if Valve actually cancelled this game a long time ago, but knows they'll be in for a massive shit storm if they ever actually revealed it.

I wouldn't be surprised at all if this was the case.

Indeed, the longer the game is left the higher expectations people will have. Duke Nukem Forever is a good example, the game was going to be hated regardless (it wasn't great but not awful by any stretch of the imagination). I could see Valve revisiting the series in a decade or so as a bit of "revival" if technology is radically different enough to allow some game-changers like the graphics and physics in HL2 over the original, but otherwise nothing. Releasing HL3 now would be suicide in my honest opinion, not enough has changed - we're still on the same console generation after all - I'd happily play it for what it is and enjoy the experience, although I'm sure online communities would erupt in mass rage.

Left 4 Dead 3 would be very nice instead!

 

[Arina Love]

I just don't care any more about valve and Half-Life franchise. It's been to long and i've lost all interest.

 

[teebeeohh]

just stop waiting actively
there are enough great games every year to keep me busy and when valve decides to release HL3 it will be great and fun and i will love without having become bitter.

 

[Don Savik]

Oh because its been so long that clearly means they've been working on it every day since the last game.....

oh wait....

 

[ReinWeisserRitter]

I'd say I want the game to come out just so you people will stop freaking talking about it, but then you'll just pick up things speculating about Half Life 4, because you just can't let sleeping dogs lie.

 

[Bertylicious]

I think it could go either way to be honest. The thing that struck me about HL2 was the engine. I had a pretty old computer at that point yet I could run it on max settings because the Source engine is so well put together and efficent.

The game itself didn't have the same impact on me as HL1 though, for obvious reasons.

I wouldn't be surprised if Valve were building a new engine and were planning on launching HL3 as the flagship product to advertise it so they can flog it to 3rd parties.

 

[ChildishLegacy]

There is NO WAY in hell that HL3 will live up to expectations after the amount of rumours and delays and hype that it's been through. No way at all. People have just talked about it so much that VALVe would literally have to make THE perfect game that ultimately destroyed the video game industry as nobody would play anything else for HL3 to live up to it's expectations.

Also, HL2 isn't that perfect immersion filled game that you described through your rose tinted nostalgia/first time playthrough goggles, by todays standards it's a pretty average game, so they're going to really have to do something different with HL3, because if they release something on par with HL2, it's really not going to be that impressive.

 

[DeadlyYellow]

I have yet to find a game I'd qualify as "worth the wait."

 

[pilouuuu]

It's in very safe hands. So safe in fact that they won't even let us know anything about the bloody game. And it's so safe that they won't let us put our hands in the game.

The only way it's going to be worth the wait is if it is an extremely amazing next-gen game unless anything we previously played.

 

[GoaThief]

I have yet to find a game I'd qualify as "worth the wait."

The only way it's going to be worth the wait is if it is an extremely amazing next-gen game unless anything we previously played.

Thanks for neatly demonstrating the points many of us have brought up above, you two.

I'd say that the problem certainly lies with the consumer if no game in the known universe is worth waiting for at all.

 

[Erttheking]

I'm not a half life fan, but unless half life turns out to be a portal crossover this will end with disappointment for many methinks.

Capacha: get over it..huh

 

[Still Life]

Is that all? I thought you had some info about the game, not just a "well hold on guys" post

I know. That's the only reason I entered this thread.

Like I needed anymore disappointment with HL related news.

 

[krazykidd]

It won't be worth the wait, it will be crushed under the weight of expectations! SOme will love it, more will ***** about it (the forums here will be flooded with "Half Life 3 and why it sucks because I hate it" threads)

This.

Remember what happened to DNF? It's gonna be like that , but 10x worst . Why? Because so many people love half-life , and have been waiting for this game for too long . Valve shot themselves in the foot here .

 

[Nero18]

It won't be worth the wait, it will be crushed under the weight of expectations! SOme will love it, more will ***** about it (the forums here will be flooded with "Half Life 3 and why it sucks because I hate it" threads)

This.

Remember what happened to DNF? It's gonna be like that , but 10x worst . Why? Because so many people love half-life , and have been waiting for this game for too long . Valve shot themselves in the foot here .

DNF became a joke amongst the community, how many seriously thought it would be a good game? I do agree though with you when it comes to the expectations part. Im not a fan really but a lot of respect to Valve if they pull it off.

 

[gigastar]

First of all, Valve has dropped the idea of episodic games - the next HL is HL3, a full sized ending chapter of HL trilogy. Secondly, Valve is not taking this long just to piss you off - quite the opposite, because they want to make sure that the game will fully satisfy its fans, and make up for the time it took to finish it. Of course, you can hate them for it, and refuse to buy their games, but personally I think that Valve's approach to game development is brilliant, and their games are more than worth the wait.

Not that I don't believe you but do you have a source on the episodic thing? I've seen news pieces [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/108821-Valve-Says-Hang-In-There-For-Half-Life-2-Episode-3] on this very site that talked about Episode 3 and HL3 as two separate beings. I suppose it really doesn't affect much (unless they decided to just drop the whole "What is going to happen after the MASSIVE cliffhanger).

This might just be my own taste (in fact, I can almost guarantee that I'm going to be with a very small minority) but I would take Activision's "Let's release the series once every year and drive it into the ground" over what Valve is doing. At least this way we could see what the hell happened.

...actually, you know what? If you do show me something that shows that Valve hasn't just abandoned the damn project (something concrete, not these "We're totally working on it Guys" [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114889-Half-Life-3-Logo-Appears-on-Mystery-Website]-quotes from Gabe that they seem to release once every six months. I'm starting to wonder when we'll start to see "Gabe Newell is about to make you his *****" [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daikatana] campaign), I will take back my "not buying" stance. Frankly, the sitting here while Valve pretends to throw a ball and laughs at us while we look around for it is what has soured me so much on Valve.

When it comes to it, the terms "Episode 3" and "Half Life 3" are like two different brands of tea. People have thier preferences but they are almost exactly the same thing. At least until Valve actually announces anything Half-Life and we all have to go with that terminology for it.

 

[teh_gunslinger]

No, it will not be worth the wait. I'd like them to finish the series that they are on before they decide to make the next one.

Maybe I'm abnormal but I couldn't give a flying fuck about Gordon Freeman anymore. Vale ends the ir game on an "Empire Strikes Back"-level of giant cliffhangers and decide that they have more important things to do than to finish the game series that they started.

It's been five years....five years for their "Episodic" game to come out and no release in site.

Piss off Valve, I'm out. I'm done playing your waiting game and will hopefully have the willpower to not purchase it when it does come out in 2057.

First of all, Valve has dropped the idea of episodic games - the next HL is HL3, a full sized ending chapter of HL trilogy. Secondly, Valve is not taking this long just to piss you off - quite the opposite, because they want to make sure that the game will fully satisfy its fans, and make up for the time it took to finish it. Of course, you can hate them for it, and refuse to buy their games, but personally I think that Valve's approach to game development is brilliant, and their games are more than worth the wait.

[Citation needed]

Seriously, can you back any of that up at all? Valve have kept well shut about anything HL related for years and the only thing there is to substantiate the claim that they've ditched Ep 3 in favour of HL3 is speculation and wishful thinking from desperate fans. It's the same as with the fabled kill switch on Steam that removes DRM from the games when Valve goes under. It doesn't exist but blinkered fans have convinced themselves it does.