Poll: Half Life 3: Do You Still Think It's Ever Coming?

[CriticalMiss]

First of all, why would you start a topic like that If you don't believe it will be released?

Forum badges?

On topic: I don't think that interest in Half Life is waning, it's just that the game is becoming less of an anticipated title and more of a joke now that Duke Nukem Forever has seen it's release. I think Valve would be fools to not make another HL title but at this point they would need to do something rather spectacular for it to live up to the hype that fans have created for it. And as others have said, I would expect a new Half Life title (not necessarily Episode 3 or Half Life 3) to come out on a new engine.

I also reckon that Valve will troll fans by calling it Half Life/Episode 4. That way they could deny working on Half Life/Episode 3 and be telling the truth.

 

[Xanadu84]

Valve are one of the last remaining bastions of developers releasing gamed based on when it is done

Blizzard is on this too. And between Diablo 3 and Heart of the Swarm I couldn't be more disappointed.

The problems with those 2 games were not related to long development cycles. However, the good aspects of those games probably ARE related to long development cycles.

 

[CityofTreez]

Either way, it will never live up to the hype. A portion of gamers still sees it as perfect and the "Citizen Kane" of gaming, so they'll be disappointed.

I hope we get it, simply because I like playing good video games.

 

[Auron225]

I'm somewhat lucky in that I only played HL2 and its episodes last year so I haven't been waiting for years, I've been waiting for months. At the same time, I know it's pointless to get my hopes up that it'll come out. So when irrefuteable evidence surfaces that it will be out soon, then I'll get excited. Until then I'm not even considering that they will do it. I'll just forget it ever existed until one day I decide to play it again and I'll lie to myself that it is a finished product.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

Who knows? Valve might, but they've never announced it officially so on that basis I think it's unreasonable to moan that it's taking too long. It's perfectly fine to criticise them for taking so long to release HL2 Episodes when their entire purpose was to speed development times. But HL3 hasn't been announced and as such is not a valid cause for complaint.

To add to the discussion, with Valve's unique internal structure (or lack thereof) being what it is, if HL3 *is* in development (let us assume that it is) then it could be being worked on by a single developer, a small team, a huge team or the entire company for all we know.

Add to this Valve's preference (and my own) for games to remain unreleased until they're ready, if HL3 is in development it's better that it comes when it comes and is incredible, than to ship sooner with less content, polish or quality. For one thing, after the first two games and their legendary status, to make an equally good or better game capable of meeting (or exceeding) player expectations is a monumental and unenviable challenge.

Lastly, I personally prefer fewer, quality, well-supported games than the EA/Activision style of re-releasing the same, identical game annually with and incremented number and new maps, double the cost of excluded content to be nickel-and-dimed back in over 11 months and the same boring, bland and uninspired gameplay that I don't spend a penny on anyway. A quality addition to a well-loved franchise has to strike a balance between "more of the same", new and interesting and expanding on what's come before. Better to have fewer, better games than more rushed identical ones. Still HL3 has been an awfully long time in coming. I think 3 years is about right to aim for, 4 to really nail it. More than that is missed opportunity.

Imagine how many good games could have/would have been great games if they'd been released when ready, and not before? Alpha Protocol, KotOR2 and VTM: Bloodlines for starters. Better to wait, no need to announce things early, raise expectations and hype then fail to deliver. Quality beats quantity any day.

 

[Parakeettheprawn]

Honestly? I don't even care at this point. HL2 has not aged well IMO, and while I do still love HL1, it just doesn't matter anymore. I've got Dead Space, Bioshock... and half a dozen other franchises with actual new game releases that I'm enjoying now. Waiting on Valve... not my idea of fun.

 

[Omega500]

I just don't care anymore.

I loved Half-Life and it's games. I played through HL Ep2 and was left absolutely speechless by the giant "fuck you" cliff hanger. Then I waited with giddy anticipation for HL Ep3...

...and waited
...and waited
...and waited

I just don't care anymore. I'm tired and jaded at Valve for this and I just plain don't care anymore. I will no longer purchase any story games from Valve after this kind of treatment.

So come on out Episode 3 or whatever you want to call yourself. Or don't come out. I don't care anymore. You've crushed the love I've had of your series out of me with this wait.

Sorta how i feel i do think that if it comes (i voted for i doubt it) i will be old and not care for it

 

[Mausthemighty]

Yes. It will come. In this life, or the next.

 

[Proverbial Jon]

I love the way we've all given up on calling it Episode 3 now.

It's their flagship title, both Half Life and Half Life 2 won a bunch of awards and they're always received with critical acclaim. There's no way Valve would simply abandon a franchise like that.

We just gotta be patient guys. It'll come and when it does... it will be glorious.

 

[Zeraki]

If it ever does, people are going to hate it. It's been far too long and people have their expectations built up so ridiculously high that even if the game is good, it won't live up to the huge gap in time. I really don't care much for the Half-Life games, but I've seen this happen countless times with other games.

If a game spends too long in development hell, it will almost certainly disappoint.

 

[TIMESWORDSMAN]

My guess is it's been shelved out of lack of interest. Not from fans, but from the devs. We've seen how Valve's company structure works, employees just roll up and start work on something if it interests them, and that's granted us with some great titles. (Along with, if someone did some number crunching, the most official DLC for one game in gaming history.) This is the reason for Valve Time.
So, if nobody in the company is working on Half-Life-ey things, then there's no game. We'll probably get one someday, but I wouldn't start naming dates, or even whether or not it'll continue after that. Valve's creative process is more fluid than any other major developer, and it's made them one of the top dogs in the industry with some of the best games under their belt.
Fluid Process, Fluid Schedule.

 

[Olas]

You know it's funny, everybody says that if and when it does come out it won't live up to the hype, yet nowhere in any of these threads do I see much actual hype. Perhaps this is all part of Valve's plan, let the previous games age, and the fanbase cool down before shoving anything new at us.

Anyway, I tend to give Valve the benefit of the doubt since if they were willing to release a mediocre sequel they could have done so by now.

 

[unindexedsearchengine]

Part of me hopes that it won't. After all this time, no matter what they do, it will be a moderate to massive disappointment to all parties involved.

 

[lord canti]

I believe the better question is how many people actually care at this point?

 

[NightmareExpress]

Don't you guys recall that they're working on Source V2?
That's when I expect number three to come to be. But when that is, I have no clue and can only expect it to come out of the blue.

 

[Lovely Mixture]

Here's my prediction: it will be released, but if Episodes 1-2, and Portal 2 are anything to go by then it will be so playtested to death that you will be able to complete it in less than seven hours. It will be fun and will be and not necessarily short....but incredibly easy which will make it short.

 

[AT God]

Since they announced they are making Source 2, it will be a while before anything new comes out. My guess is that if Valve still has the means to make video games, they will make a Half-Life 3. However if Source 2 takes a couple years, Valve might not be around to make a Half-Life 3. But yes, if they are still in business Half-Life 3 will be made.

 

[mateushac]

Gaben must be grinding his brains off trying to find a way to make F2P work for SP games before releasing HL3.
You heard it here first, folks!