Poll: Should Half-life 3 radically change the story?

[Varanfan9]

So if you are a fan of Half-life you should know just how greatly the story changed between Half-life 1 and 2. You went from fighting an alien invasion while escaping black mesa. Half-life 2 has you fighting against an oppressive government run by post humans under the control of a different alien invasion. So should Half-life 3 do the same? I think it would be interesting. Go farther in the future and see the out come of Freeman's actions.

 

[Smooth Operator]

They possibly could, but I haveto stress there is HL2 still wide open and that needs closure first.
So if HL2 ends on a similar "well we did all the exciting shit for now" they could easily skip ahead to the next big chapter.
Let's say when hummies clean up the Combine, figure out some of the Combine tech and start planing a counter attack to their world "Red Letter Day 2.0"
Hell they would be open to do a whole new galaxy.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

I say yes. When you compare HL1 to HL2, the core elements are still there, but the shift is immense. You go from Alien Invasion of an underground lab to a decimated earth run by a totalitarian dictatorship with armed resistance groups.

 

[BreakfastMan]

No, I don't think so. Why do you ask? Well, they already have a bunch of plot-lines running. If they were to abandon those, the series just would not work. Half Life ended pretty decisively, and all the plot lines that were still open could possibly be completed satisfactorily at a later date. Not so with ep 2, what with the combine still on earth, the death of that one major character, the Borealis all still needing resolution. Finish those, then it might work.

 

[coolbeans21]

I dont know, I have a bad taste in my from other attempts to end epic trilogies....

I say pop out hl2 ep3 to tie up that storyline, then work on HL3 and change the pace, tone, setting.

 

[scarecrow350]

I actually had an idea to do with this about a month ago
essentially my idea was that valve intertwine portal 3 and half life 3, around the setting of the borealis (i think thats the name), making half the game puzzle sections with chell and the other shooty bang bang fun with gordon (this can also be switched around, like using lasers to kill combine or whatever). they could also have the two protagonists occasionally glimpse each other, like if your playing as gordon and you just see something fly through the air in an orange jumpsuit.
tl,dr: portal 3 and HL3 are the same game

 

[exobook]

possibly you could have a shift in setting while continuing with the story, shifting from combine earth to dimension jumping across combine conquered worlds seeking a way to stop them coming back to earth, all the while trying to discover the true motives of the G-man.

would be a big shift from the first two with more of a focus on fantastical landscapes and alien civilisations.

 

[scarecrow350]

essentially my idea was that valve intertwine portal 3 and half life 3, around the setting of the borealis (i think thats the name), making half the game puzzle sections with chell and the other shooty bang bang fun with gordon (this can also be switched around, like using lasers to kill combine or whatever). they could also have the two protagonists occasionally glimpse each other, like if your playing as gordon and you just see something fly through the air in an orange jumpsuit.
tl,dr: portal 3 and HL3 are the same game

I dunno, it was just an idea

 

[black_knight1337]

Whoah buddy. Don't get ahead of yourself. We still haven't got Half Life 2 Episode Three yet.

 

[scarecrow350]

essentially my idea was that valve intertwine portal 3 and half life 3, around the setting of the borealis (i think thats the name), making half the game puzzle sections with chell and the other shooty bang bang fun with gordon (this can also be switched around, like using lasers to kill combine or whatever). they could also have the two protagonists occasionally glimpse each other, like if your playing as gordon and you just see something fly through the air in an orange jumpsuit.
tl,dr: portal 3 and HL3 are the same game

I dunno, it was just an idea

Sorry, I didnt mean to hate. Let me clarify.

Gordon Freeman running around with a Portal gun could work. It would be significantly different from all the other games, but hey, thats what Valve like to do with Half Life games. Portal and Half Life are linked, so on paper, it could work.

The problem is that both games have a completely different tone. You couldnt combine the two without sacrificing either Half Life's gritty setting or Portal's sharp humor. It just does not mix well. And thats why I think its a bad idea.

ahh i see what you mean
i think i sort of grasped it from a mechanical standpoint, i just thought it would be cool to beat the crap out of combines with momentum filled boxes

 

[Pinkamena]

I think that the way it is now works well. And before they try something new, we need a closure to the story.

 

[karloss01]

I can't see Half-life 3 happening without either;

A - finishing half-life 2's story with episode 3
or
B - continuing where Half-life 2 left off.

 

[Dondonalien44]

If Portal 2 taught me anything, it's that Valve has no problem retconning things for the sake of gameplay. All the vagueness of the series thus far will probably be manipulated or ignored in an epic, super-QA'd fashion. No matter what they do, it will be entertaining.
The way things are getting drawn out, there's no way Valve can live up to most people's impossibly high expectations. They've written themselves into a corner, but I trust them to find a way out. Even in 2's episodes, they were struggling to find new things to do with the scenarios and writing. Valve will innovate as they always do. Be patient, people.
All I ask is that they deliver a long, challenging shooter that finally answers who or what G-man is, and what his motives are, and brings the series to a satisfying end. Any part of the story they need to change to do that is fine by me. And it kind of has to be a full-fledged sequel rather than an episode. Evolution of the story should be expected.

 

[SajuukKhar]

If Portal 2 taught me anything, it's that Valve has no problem retconning things for the sake of gameplay. All the vagueness of the series thus far will probably be manipulated or ignored in an epic, super-QA'd fashion. No matter what they do, it will be entertaining.
The way things are getting drawn out, there's no way Valve can live up to most people's impossibly high expectations. They've written themselves into a corner, but I trust them to find a way out. Even in 2's episodes, they were struggling to find new things to do with the scenarios and writing. Valve will innovate as they always do. Be patient, people.
All I ask is that they deliver a long, challenging shooter that finally answers who or what G-man is, and what his motives are, and brings the series to a satisfying end. Any part of the story they need to change to do that is fine by me. And it kind of has to be a full-fledged sequel rather than an episode. Evolution of the story should be expected.

Portal 2 didn't retcon anything.

 

[Bobic]

If the episodes had never come out and our last game ending was that of half life 2 I'd say yes. Given the open nature (and I don't mean open ended like the Italian Job or even the first season of prison break, I mean they were clearly just halfway through a story) of the ending of episode 2 it would be pretty jarring and disappointing for them to drop that and do something completely irrelevant. Of course, it could still be a great game, but people would just be left thinking 'yeah, that was good and all, but what the hell happened to all that other stuff'.

Although, there may be ways for valve to work around it. Perhaps you go to the borealis and through some weird teleportation mess get sent to the alien homeworld (everyone loved xen right?) and wage war there or something. Could lead to some interesting gameplay developments, more freaky aliens, a set of non-standard weapons (let's face it, most of HL2's weapons were pretty generic) or something.

I'd be happy enough if I just get to get some revenge on those freaky giant psychic maggot things.