What if Gearbox did Half Life 2's Sequels?

[Casual Shinji]

I hate to say this because it'll make me sound like a Valve fanboy which I'm not, but Valve is pretty much in a league of their own. They always have been.

Just as Nintendo has that "something" that makes their games quite unique, so too does Valve.

Gearbox does not.

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

No.

Gearbox might have got started this way, but at some point they lost that touch. Now they can't make a game without it feeling like Borderlands.

I second that!

Valve sure take their sweet time making games, but the end product is still mind-blowingly awesome and likely candidate or winner of x of the year.

 

[Ulquiorra4sama]

I say no (never even having played Half-Life) because if you think the bitching of fanboys is bad now just imagine what it'd be like if someone else touched their precious franchise.

Just look at what most this thread turned into just from a simple thought experiment...

 

[gigastar]

Given Gearbox's particular style on FPS's (not based on DNF) they wouldnt be able to make a good Half Life sequel.

Besides, don't they have borderlands 2 to work on?

They also have Aliens:Colonial Marine to do .

They also have Brothers in Arms: Furious 4 in the works. Makes me wonder if they arent overtaxing themselves on purpose.

 

[endtherapture]

I'd really like an...expansion to HL2 or 3 done by Gearbox, continuing G-Mans plans for Adrian Shepherd. They seem really good at military style stuff but also designing cool levels and stuff. I reckon it has a lot of potential.

Sadly I doubt Adrian Shepherd will ever be back.

 

[ACman]

They should do an Opposing Force 2. What happen to Adrian Shepard? Maybe he should be used by the G-man to infiltrate the Combine.

 

[The_Blue_Rider]

No.

Gearbox might have got started this way, but at some point they lost that touch. Now they can't make a game without it feeling like Borderlands.

What? The only game that Gearbox has made since Borderlands was Duke Nukem Forever, so its a little early to say all their games feel like Borderlands.

OT: I dont enjoy the Half Life series but its usually best if an IP is left in the hands of its original developer. Unless that developer is grossly incompetent.

 

[ResonanceGames]

No, because they work for a publisher.

Gearbox is just as independent as Valve. They work with whoever they want.

 

[Instant K4rma]

Is this Gearbox's new thing? They pick up a relatively successful series and make a mediocre installment to it? God, it's like Obsidian all over again.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Is this Gearbox's new thing? They pick up a relatively successful series and make a mediocre installment to it? God, it's like Obsidian all over again.

Umm, Gearbox's first game was Opposing Force. It's hardly new at all.

 

[Woodsey]

No, because they work for a publisher.

Gearbox is just as independent as Valve. They work with whoever they want.

Well, no. Valve work with themselves and then they pick someone to distribute physical copies (normally EA). Gearbox will have publisher pressure, even if they do pick who they work for.

OT: Then Half-Life 2 + episodes wouldn't have been as good as they are.

 

[Sizzle Montyjing]

Sure, why not?
It's not like they've fucked up a long-anticipated game which hasn't been released in years, right?

 

[Vivi22]

I'm going to have to go with no. Opposing Force was pretty decent but not as good as the original Half-Life. Blue Shift was utter garbage. In fact, the shift in quality between Opposing Force and Blue Shift is almost hard to believe. I've honestly not played anything they've done since except for Duke Nukem Forever, but I won't blame them for that. They got handed a turd there and it's no surprise that under a year later it was still a turd on release.

But to be honest, part of why I haven't played any of their stuff since then is because none of it looked particularly interesting. I've certainly read reviews and watched videos of everything they've done since, but they just don't make things that really reach out and grab me and make me think "hey, I have to go out and buy this game right now." The fact that I absolutely hated their marketing campaign for Borderlands and strongly dislike their CEO doesn't do them any favours either I suppose.

 

[Gorilla Gunk]

I don't think Gearbox should make it. Not because I don't think they'd make a great game - they would - but simply because fanboys would hate it before they saw a single screen.

Half Life (2 Episode) 3 has been hyped into oblivion and it hasn't even been announced yet. Hell, no one has even confirmed that it might possibly someday enter consideration for potentially existing eventually. If Valve, a company only slightly less popular among "core gamers" than self-diagnoses of asperger's syndrome, releases info on a Half Life 3 that isn't quite to everyone's liking, gamers might give them the benefit of the doubt. If Gearbox releases images of a Half Life 3 in which Gordon Freeman has two strands of hair out of place and a slightly longer beard, people would be screaming, crying, calling for boycotts and setting fire to copies of Borderlands within the hour.

I like Gearbox, I think they do great work. But Valve could release a "great" Half Life 3 and it would be declared the second coming of Christ in digital form before the dust settled at GameStop. Gearbox, on the other hand, could release an actual digital second coming of Christ under the name Half Life 3, and people would be declaring it Duke Nukem Forever 2 before the GameStop servers recovered from the mass exodus of pre-order money.

I want them to make it for this exact reason. God it would be fucking hilarious to see the Steam forums implode.

Plus if Gearbox made it it might actually get released and it would be a solid product. And they'd probably be able to release 2-4 good, sizable expansion packs in a timely manner.

 

[Reaper195]

No. Half-Life needs to not have any more, otherwise it will end up like DNF, irrelevant of who makes it.

 

[ResonanceGames]

No, because they work for a publisher.

Gearbox is just as independent as Valve. They work with whoever they want.

They don't self-publish. Bam.

Valve only self-publishes Steam releases (because why wouldn't they?). EA handles all of their retail publishing.

The point is, Gearbox is every bit as independent as Valve. If they wanted to do a Half-Life game (with Valve's approval) they would perfectly free to do so with no publisher interference if they so chose.

That doesn't mean that they would do as good a job as Valve, which is the problem with the idea.

 

[ShaneGunWolf]

IMO, Gearbox sucks hardcore.

Where the hell is the sequel to Hell's Highway? Instead, they decide to start working on some shit spin-off called "Furious 4". The fuck, Gearbox? And DNF is a disgrace to today's games.

The last good thing they did was Borderlands... I hope Borderlands 2 is just as fun as the first, if not MORE fun.