Half-Life 2 Episode 3

[Kajjy]

I dunno if anyone around here is a fan of the Half-Life series, but if you are, you may want to check this out.

 

Marc Laidlaw, the author of Half-Life's stories throughout each game has released a possible story for Half-Life 2 Episode 3 on his blog and honestly I never thought I would see this day.

 

Check it out here: http://www.marclaidlaw.com/epistle-3

 

And here is a version with the code names of key characters replaced with their Half-Life counterparts: https://github.com/Jackathan/MarcLaidlaw-Epistle3/blob/master/Epistle3_Corrected.md

 

Keep in mind that Laidlaw is no longer working with Valve and this possibly shouldn't be accepted as fully cannon, but its still a great read and could be the closest thing to an ending that we will ever see.

Edited August 25, 2017 by Kajjy

[Gummy]

The writing is pretty much what we expect from a Half-Life title, the sequel.

 

It's been nearly (in 2 months) 10 years since the last proper Half-Life game and what do we get from Valve? A f*cking card game.

[chronic lumbago]

The first link doesn't work, to me at least.

After 10 years of hype, I doubt Valve would still dare to do it. People would be disappointed no matter what. It's just too late. We're two generations later now and yes, there have been better games than Half Life. Unless HL3 will be the best game of all time, people would be disappointed.

 

But anyways, is that second article really written by Laidlaw? How do I know it isn't fake? The fact that it's written in Freeman's perspective makes me think it's kinda fake because he normally didn't say a word. I know it's a letter but it's still weird.

 

Could be just fanfiction.

Edited August 25, 2017 by fashion

[Kajjy]

I think that this at least goes to show that Marc truly cared about the story and the fans of his creation. He knew that we were yearning to hear something, anything about Gordon and the rest of the characters and, with the end of his NDA this year, decided to let us know what his idea for a third part may have of been. This is honestly a very bitter-sweet day for me, haha.

The first link doesn't work, to me at least.
After 10 years of hype, I doubt Valve would still dare to do it. People would be disappointed no matter what. It's just too late. We're two generations later now and yes, there have been better games than Half Life. Unless HL3 will be the best game of all time, people would be disappointed.

But anyways, is that second article really written by Laidlaw? How do I know it isn't fake? The fact that it's written in Freeman's perspective makes me think it's kinda fake because he normally didn't say a word.

Could be just fanfiction.

It is genuine from Marc, his blog has just either been taken down by Valve's legal team or is being swamped by all the people flocking to see this. Here's the video by Valve News Network about it:

[chronic lumbago]

Alright, I'm almost convinced. Gotta watch that video later.

I literally just woke up and can't quite get it into my head that HL3 just got leaked. I gave up on HL3 a long time ago.

[RedDagger]

Honestly, this is all people had really asked for, knowing a summary of Episode 3...as expected, it doesn't end the story, but it's something.

[Matrelith]

 

 

Honestly at this point I just want to know how the story continues after episode 2. I know some people's expectations are high and if Valve doesn't make ''the best game ever'' with Episode 3 that they'll be disappointed, but I don't see myself as part of that crowd. Hell, I would be fine with it if they use the same engine as HL2 and the episodes with the same gameplay. It's the story that intrigues me, and after episode 2's cliffhanger there are so many questions I want answers to.

 

 

It seems like this is the best we'll get in terms of episode 3. Damn shame.... damn shame.

Edited August 25, 2017 by Matrelith

[Igor Bogdanoff]

 

Let's not forget Gaben's reactions to question "HL2ep3/HL3"

[MGgames100]

Yesterday​was one of the best days in my life, today it's one of the worst ones...

 

They've chosen this over the Half-Life.

[HaythamKenway]

The craziest and saddest thing is, that based on this brief synopsis, this would be one of those long-delayed, belated continuations to live up to the hype. Spacetime warping, sliding through timelines and dimensions, a Dyson sphere, futility of the mankind's plight, exciting betrayals and cliffhangers, oh my. Valve was sitting on a golden egg and they let it go to waste.

 

I wonder just how far Ep3 got in the production before being shelved - or through how many iterations it went through, how well developed and thought out the story really was, whether all of this was mostly Laidlaw's basic conceptual outline, or they really started building the actual game based on this framework. Particulary the abstract stuff in the latter half of the summary - the Borealis dropping in and out of dimensions, universes colliding, space compressing, time itself going haywire, sounds very ambitious and not something I'd expect the old Source to do real justice.

Edited August 25, 2017 by HaythamKenway

[ikt]

Yeah but card games and crates tho

[chronic lumbago]

Valve f*cking sucks now. Holy sh*t.

 

Their complete lack of empathy and concern for HL fans and their hubris of this whole thing is despeciable. The Valve we once knew and loved is dead and long gone. That's what happens when you get Steam and settle for mediocrity.

Couldn't agree more. While the series honestly isn't among my favorites anymore, going out like that is absolutely unacceptable. Other franchises end due to being already overproduced with +-10 entries or due to financial difficulties. But Half Life? It's unbelievable they end one of the greatest franchises of all time with an unexplained cliffanger with NO REASON.

 

Even R* not doing singleplayer dlc and settling for shark cards isn't even half as bad. I lost all respect for valve years ago, Portal 2 was the last thing I've bought from them. Even if I had a modern PC I wouldn't settle with steam lol.

Edited August 25, 2017 by fashion

[Gummy]

If Valve wants to release the next Half-Life title, it NEEDS to be the best game ever. It needs to win game of the decade or win tons of game of the year awards in order to compensate for the hype, the wait, and to follow the achievements garnered by the previous main Half-Life titles.

[Uncle Sikee Atric]

If you read between the lines and start to decode the tale, this is one 'possible' story, but the time and dimension slipping would be too much for the old Source Engine.

 

The concept of understanding regarding the scale and power of the Combine in their dimension is sobering and a show of real power, but something tells me that the idea of Gordon retiring to some tropical beach somewhere, or another hidden lab, and hiding out his final days seems too far fetched. Plus, Alyx and G-Man.... Alyx has been used as a subliminal messenger for G-Man, but she hates being manipulated and is a free spirit (her earlier actions and conversation pieces define this). Alyx in this letter is cold, embittered and wanting revenge, a complete contrast to what Alyx is really like. Either the death of her father has totally affected her judgement, or this story doesn't ring 100% accurate.

 

....Besides, if she knew what G-Man had done to both her father and Gordon, she'd be filling his brain full of lead quicker than she did it to Judith.

 

The rumors of a possible Half Life 3 will never die and this makes for an entertaining possibility, but this story is just 'too final'. Maybe Valve did want to finish HL2 when this 'possible' timeline was written, but I'm not fully convinced by it, anyway they make too much notoriety for themselves by leaving things hanging. We'll probably never get a true story line from Valve or anyone associated with them, unless Valve actually release a game.

 

I'm not holding my breath though.... At least the new System Shock material is confirmed and incoming in the next few years and that has been hanging longer, if the devs get all that right maybe that might spike Valve's interest in giving us the answers we have being seeking for a decade.

Edited August 25, 2017 by Uncle Sikee Atric

[DangerZ0neX]

What you're seeing now is AAA story-driven titles being left to rot while companies milk microtransaction-infested multiplayer games for literal years, maybe even over a decade as evident by how shallow and scummy TF2 and CS:GO are nowadays.

 

Mark my words when I say that this is just the beggining; the next GTA title will be an Online-only game that makes people argue countless times that their Donut Steel is better than other peoples' Donut Steels.

 

It's all about maximum profit now, and none of the quality matters.

[Misumi]

When I saw the thread title.

 

When I read the thread

[Matrelith]

 

 

''The last thing you wrote. The first time you spoke.''

Edited August 25, 2017 by Matrelith

[Creed Bratton]

Do most people truly care about Half-Life at this point, or is everyone just pretending for the fun of it? All I care about from Valve is Panorama UI update for CSGO and their de_dust2 remake.

 

I think that Valve wants to make a real AAA VR shooter with HL3. And that's why we're not seeing anything about it yet. Every shooter made for VR has either been shallow and sh*tty or the VR implementation wasn't as good as it should be. HL3 VR isn't just necessary for HL3 to be a smashing success, it would also show people that VR is more than a passing gimmick for silly games. That it's a new revolution in gaming industry.

Edited August 25, 2017 by The Yokel

[RedDagger]

I think most people wanted closure on the cliffhanger that was Episode 2; there was this explicit immediate importance with the Borealis along with the death of Eli, and this pretty much wraps those up. Sure, it introduces more questions, but they're more general and befitting to the conclusion of a full game, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

The only other thing would be to see if Valve could create something revolutionary again, but I don't think that was as important.

[DOUGL4S1]

Remember when Valve was cool? I remember when Valve was cool.

[Matrelith]

Do most people truly care about Half-Life at this point, or is everyone just pretending for the fun of it? All I care about from Valve is Panorama UI update for CSGO and their de_dust2 remake.

 

I think that Valve wants to make a real AAA VR shooter with HL3. And that's why we're not seeing anything about it yet. Every shooter made for VR has either been shallow and sh*tty or the VR implementation wasn't as good as it should be. HL3 VR isn't just necessary for HL3 to be a smashing success, it would also show people that VR is more than a passing gimmick for silly games. That it's a new revolution in gaming industry.

Half Life to this day is still regarded as one of the best FPS's out there and back in 1998 it was a pioneer of combining gameplay and storytelling. It continued this trend in its sequels. Some people have given up hope for a next game long ago and just joke around with stuff like ''zomg, 2+1 = 3 -> Half Life 3 confirmed!'' and whatnot, but a majority of the people genuinely wanted episode 3 or even Half Life 3. This is mostly because Valve promised on multiple occassions that more episodes would be released than that we currently have, plus on the fact that episode 2 ended on what is probably the biggest cliffhanger in gaming.

 

People just wanted answers, which were promised to them but were not delivered. Even 10 years after episode 2 people still just want to know what happens next.

[Alexander]

Woke up to this Ep3 nonsense and almost choke on my breakfast before realizing what it was. Fun read either way, Marc Liadlaw is the one true MVP go to hell gaben

 

 

I think most people wanted closure on the cliffhanger that was Episode 2

 

Basically, this. That was one hell of a cliffhanger, I'm ok with Half-Life's ending, but HL2:EP2's was just a clusterf*ck (that's how it felt back then at least). Do you destroy the Borealis or not? Do you even get there before the Combine? What's G-Man up to now? Is Earth safe with the portals destroyed or not? All along with, of course, Eli getting killed.

 

I don't think they can pull off such a cool game, in terms of narrative, considering all writers that once worked with HL/Portal already left. They are now the company that makes muh Dota2 and CSGO (soon Artifact yay), so I'll be playing their games either way. Still, sucks. Half-Life was hella fun.

[Slonitram]

It was obvious that HL3 was not happening when Laidlaw left Valve. This is just the final shot to the head to let everyone know that HL3 really isn't happening and the only way we'll see this series end is in the now released .pdf form. I'm not really all that surprised, but it's a damn shame that Valve chose hiding from fans rather than admitting their mistake and leaving it to the writer of the series to let everyone know that the game isn't happening. But hey, who's so excited for that one card game?! I'm not.

[Jonesizzle]

Do most people truly care about Half-Life at this point, or is everyone just pretending for the fun of it? All I care about from Valve is Panorama UI update for CSGO and their de_dust2 remake.

 

I think that Valve wants to make a real AAA VR shooter with HL3. And that's why we're not seeing anything about it yet. Every shooter made for VR has either been shallow and sh*tty or the VR implementation wasn't as good as it should be. HL3 VR isn't just necessary for HL3 to be a smashing success, it would also show people that VR is more than a passing gimmick for silly games. That it's a new revolution in gaming industry.

I was like 7-8 when me and my dad played half life, so it hold a special spot in my heart as we plowed through Half Life and it's expansions together. I absolutely loved what Marc wrote, it feels like appropriate closure to something that has been needing closure for a decade.

[Spider-Vice]

I like how the last paragraph of the story was basically a f*ck you to Valve. This is very bittersweet. Half Life brought Steam to be what it is today. Everyone and their mothers who bought HL2 back then had to install Steam and use it to play and update the game. Ironically, now we don't have Episode 3/HL3... because of Steam. Because Valve prefers to be publishing card games and raking in Steam sales and microtransaction sales instead of making actual triple-A quality games. No wonder so many people left. "Flat hierarchy".

[dice]

Elly dying would be really dissapointing for me. Then again if thats an actual leak then I'm sure Valve will change the whole storyline to circumvent it, like they did in the past

[DOUGL4S1]

Maybe it's some strategy for fans to lose hope and suddenly, HL3!

 

OK, let's stop being so positive. At least someone will make a fan game based on this story.

[Ruin]

Thanks, Mark.

 

 

Sure, it introduces more questions

Does it though? Half-Life games have always been open ended and Laidlaw himself said the games would always be so. This Epistle wrapped the entire franchise up in a Lovecraftian bow; the combine are immeasurably more powerful than we can comprehend (they have a friggin dyson sphere) and understand, and the G-Man works in ways we are not meant to understand. He just wanted us to ensure Alyx until the time was right. Gordon is left where no harm will come to him and he can no longer interrupt any powers' plans. His role in the universe is done, as are we, the player.

 

 

All I care about from Valve is Panorama UI update for CSGO and their de_dust2 remake.

 

2.6k hours in GO and I would never touch any CS title again and give my entire inventory away if it meant they would work on a new HL title.

Edited August 26, 2017 by Ruin

[RedDagger]

Does it though? Half-Life games have always been open ended and Laidlaw himself said the games would always be so. This Epistle wrapped the entire franchise up in a Lovecraftian bow; the combine are immeasurably more powerful than we can comprehend (they have a friggin dyson sphere) and understand, and the G-Man works in ways we are not meant to understand. He just wanted us to ensure Alyx until the time was right. Gordon is left where no harm will come to him and he can no longer interrupt any powers' plans. His role in the universe is done, as are we, the player.

There's been a fair bit of interpretation and the folks over at facepunch have brought up quite a lot, ranging from it being this depressing all-for-nothing ending to Gordon Freeman single-handedly saves the multiverse; the series has been fairly open in that regard, and it helps having the mystery of the G-man in terms of his intentions and powers. The optimistic Freeman-saves-all includes stuff like how the combine only has inter-dimensional teleportation, and not only do humanity have trans-universe teleportation but also the capability of the bootstrap device, able to teleport anywhere in space and time. It kind of got destroyed, but there's a lot of wiggle room for interpretation in what the previous half life games mean and what the future could hold.

[mr quick]

If nothing else, there's some closure in this. Easier to stop wondering what might've been.