Will Half Life 3 Be As Successful As It's Predecessors?

M

Mr. 13

Well-known member
So, as usual Valve has decided to postpone making Half Life 3 in favor of different games (Dota 2, Now Counter Strike: GO) which left me sort of wondering about the half life franchise itself. When Half Life (original) was released it revolutionized the game world with radical new features. Now, these features which once took the gaming world by surprise now are common features in every other game on the market.

Obviously, it didn't stop there. Half Life 2 introduced the world famous Source Engine, voice synching, 3d cinematics, etc... However these too have become commonplace. The Source Engine is now horribly outdated, and surpassed in ease of use and graphical horsepower by other more convenient engines. This doesn't make the games they produced any less fun, don't misunderstand, however the Source Engine is simply showing its age.

Think about Duke Nukem Forever, which got HORRIBLE reviews. If that game had been released 1 year after the release of Half Life 2 the reviews would have probably been phenomenal. The thing is gamers are expecting MORE from video games. They want better graphics, better online play, unlockables, achievements, etc...

Looking at the running Half Life saga, the only new thing to be added so far is new story (not that I'm complaining, I love the Half Life story). There's been next to NO new weapon's updates, little graphics updates (Source Engine Ep2 still looks like the Source Engine, with bells and whistles).

Which leads me to believe that Valve is either going to release Episode 3 with the same style as the previous episodes, which would result in mediocre reviews from game companies who expect more, or they need to revolutionize the Half Life series and perhaps ruin the series altogether with new gameplay.

So maybe it's too late for Half Life 3 to be a world-shaking game release? Maybe Valve has actually missed a mark on a game?

 
Half Life 2 Episode 3 I understand, they haven't said anything about it because there's nothing to say about it; which is to say that they are coming up with both story elements that will live up to everyone's expectations (Will Freeman defeat the Combine? What of the unresolved romantic tension between Alyx and Gordon? What of G-Man? What of Civilized humanity? Etc.) and technical innovations set to wow the populace. In this day and age those are quite high expectations to live up to, and thus I would think they are within their right to take their time about it.

 
Mr. 13 You are right about few things. Yes, source engine is living to its age, but It still beats lots of new game engines. Best example is Portal 2. It uses Source engine, but still, it has Very good graphics. Now about half life 3 (or ep3). I think they are postponing it not because of the fact that they want to make it better so they need more time (i think they could make it in 1 year if they wanted to), But in my opinion the real reason is that this is the last part of HL so if they release HL 3, they will end worlds best game series, which made them famous. They would lose lots of players after hl3 because most of valve fans are fans of Hl series, and not of hl mods like cs tf and others. So Valve does, what they can do best. They feed us with small releases like Dota2 and CS:GO, to make some money and show that they have other good games, not just hl, before they can give us a Cake (hl3). I hope youll get what I wanted to say. SORRY for my bad enghlis, I know, I suck at it...

 
I'd guess it's not the final Half Life installment, whatever it is. Valve knows they have a series that many people love and hasn't worn out it's welcome. I doubt they'd just end it for no reason.

 
I'd guess it's not the final Half Life installment, whatever it is. Valve knows they have a series that many people love and hasn't worn out it's welcome. I doubt they'd just end it for no reason.
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But you cant make like 10 more games based on story. Everybody thinks that this is the last part of the story. I personally hope that there will be atleast 2 more parts of hl, because there are tons of misterys left, which would be to much in one game part.

 
I'd guess it's not the final Half Life installment, whatever it is. Valve knows they have a series that many people love and hasn't worn out it's welcome. I doubt they'd just end it for no reason.
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But you cant make like 10 more games based on story. Everybody thinks that this is the last part of the story.
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Well, this would be the third complete installment in the series, not the tenth. And who is everybody? I've never heard rumor or speculation that HL3 will be the last game. It's probably just cause it's taking a while to make, everyone gets the (probably incorrect) feeling that it's some big finale.

 
I'd guess it's not the final Half Life installment, whatever it is. Valve knows they have a series that many people love and hasn't worn out it's welcome. I doubt they'd just end it for no reason.
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But you cant make like 10 more games based on story. Everybody thinks that this is the last part of the story.
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Well, this would be the third complete installment in the series, not the tenth. And who is everybody? I've never heard rumor or speculation that HL3 will be the last game. It's probably just cause it's taking a while to make, everyone gets the (probably incorrect) feeling that it's some big finale.
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Well I saw tons of rumors about hl3 beeing the last part. It might sound strange, but I personally as one of the biggest fans of HL series would like it to be the last part ( or one of the last parts). Yeah, its sounds very dumb. But lets take an example. Need For Speed series. There are like 20 games with that tittle,but only the first ones were good, and respected by nfs fans. The ones that are coming out are beeing criticized by most of nfs and racing game fans. I dont want it to happen to HL series. I think its better to end it sooner then latter.

 
Well, this would be the third complete installment in the series, not the tenth. And who is everybody? I've never heard rumor or speculation that HL3 will be the last game. It's probably just cause it's taking a while to make, everyone gets the (probably incorrect) feeling that it's some big finale.
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big finale
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I have not...come this far...to die now.

 
HL3 wont be the end of the series, the series will probably keep going until Valve gets bored of it or fans stop caring.

 
Newell is asked about the possibility of a direct crossover between Portal and Half-Life, as both games are set in the same continuity. Newell did not directly confirm such a crossover will take place, but he did say that setting both games in the same universe has a purpose.

"When you're thinking about games, you sort of want to think about how characters collide. In their current forms, Chell and Gordon are very similar characters. in terms of the phenomenology of their experiences. ... In terms of having these people coexist at same time and same place, that's ... part of the reason Portal and Half-Life are in the same universe."

valve is also turning to single player plus

Single-player is great, but we also have to recognize that you have friends and wanted to have that connected as well.

It's not about giving up on single-player at all. It's saying we actually think there are a bunch of features and capabilities that we need to add into our single-player games to recognize the socially connected gamer. Every gamer has instant messaging, every gamer has a Facebook account. If you pretend that that doesn't exist, you're ignoring the problems that you're taking on.

It's single-player plus, not ‘no more single-player.'

with this i think half life 3 will be as successful.

 
Even if HL3 came out using the Source engine, heck I'd still buy it. I bought Portal 2 even if it used the Source engine.

 
Half Life has had multiplayer since the very beginning of the series, all single player "plus" means is that they'll integrate the MP into the game in a similar fashion to Portal 2's co-op mode.

 
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