Marc Laidlaw reveals Half-Life 2 Episode 3's story synopsis
- Thread starter dex3108
- Start date
Uhhh they will take like 10 years.
torre_avenue
Banned
I can't wait for the next Valve AMA on reddit. It's just going to be inundated with questions about this and Artifact and other sore spots.
Brat-Sampson
Member
Oh, and to the defense crew saying the artists and designers at valve should be free to do what they want... They did.
They left.
They left.
I'm not a really big Half-Life fan, but I think most would be happy with Episode 3 releasing than not, even if it was a 6/10 game. You can scream 'expectations are too high' all you want, but it'd still make people happy. I'm not saying it would have been, but people deserve closure on it. Does this provide that? In some small way it does, but to most it will never be playable, so it doesn't really exist.
I'm not sure why Valve has distanced itself from what made it famous, great single player games while also focusing on service games and a platform that have to be making them a lot of money annually, certainly enough to make a whole slew of Half-Life games IF they wanted to. But they don't. Given Valve's initiative on Steam over the last 2-3 years, on top of their lack of games, I have to wonder if they're mentally checked out of the video game industry at this point. There's simply a lack of passion there. Where did it start? I'm not sure, but ultimately this story, true or not, it probably is, shows there's not much left at Valve that made them who they are anymore.
I'm not sure why Valve has distanced itself from what made it famous, great single player games while also focusing on service games and a platform that have to be making them a lot of money annually, certainly enough to make a whole slew of Half-Life games IF they wanted to. But they don't. Given Valve's initiative on Steam over the last 2-3 years, on top of their lack of games, I have to wonder if they're mentally checked out of the video game industry at this point. There's simply a lack of passion there. Where did it start? I'm not sure, but ultimately this story, true or not, it probably is, shows there's not much left at Valve that made them who they are anymore.
Muppet of a Man
Member
When money goes to your head and makes you a shit company.
Oh, phew.
disappeared
Banned
oh
fake news
Unknown Soldier
Member
This kind of explains why Half-Life always ended with cliffhangers. They don't ever come up with story until it's needed.
Daffy Duck
Member
And now we wait for the Black Mesa guys to build the game based off the synopsis.
That's fine at least I know they'll still finish it.
The point is, if you don't want to write new installments of your long running series that's OK. It might be sad, but eh. But only after you fulfilled the pact you've made with your audience when you decided not to released self-contained entries but episodes, part of a bigger project. You demanded a certain investment on your audience's part, and in turn you should do whatever you can to complete your work.
Otherwise there's no point to invest time and money in serial or episodic forms of storytelling, as the author could at any point refuse to complete its work.
Of course nobody signed a contract with Valve or George RR Martin. They can legally stop to release a new Half Life Episode or book. Doing so they would show a total lack of respect towards their audience.
SirNinja
Member
He certainly has a lot more faith in Valve's desire to do that than I do.
This was a nice, unexpected bit of closure. I don't expect any more than this will ever come from Valve or its ex-employees.
Star Orpheus
Member
Valve wouldn't get nearly the amount of crap they do if they just came out and said "It's not happening." Fans would be pissef but we would move on. I know we're probably not getting Viewtiful Joe 3, and I've accepted that. But when you keep teasing around the fans for years with false hope people are going to be bitter that you didn't finish the story.
You can only keep the cats attention with the string for so long before it gets bored. If they know there not getting a treat there not going to play.
You can only keep the cats attention with the string for so long before it gets bored. If they know there not getting a treat there not going to play.
Fans should not have to make Valve's own games for them.
IrishNinja
Member
as a shenmoo fan: we went through this stage too y'all
stay strong
stay strong
Funyarinpa
Member
There's simply nothing to give further context to that in Episodes 1 & 2.
The ending sounds far more grim than I expected, but I suppose a denouement for the whole saga couldn't reasonably be given in a single Episode's length.
eyeball_kid
Member
Not a very satisfying conclusion, mostly just kicking the ball down the field, and the major emotional arc with Alyx left undiscussed.
Still, would've been better than all these years of nothing.
Still, would've been better than all these years of nothing.
Even though I've come to accept the fact that Half-Life is dead and that Valve has changed as a company and doesn't care about it's original HL/singleplayer fans, I'm incredibly thankful and glad to read EP3:s plot, knowing that Marc Laidlaw really cared to the point of "leaking" the plot to us fans.
Reading this really made it very clear that Valve isn't the same anymore and that he maybe even felt disenfranchised there before leaving the company, which is sad.
Reading this really made it very clear that Valve isn't the same anymore and that he maybe even felt disenfranchised there before leaving the company, which is sad.
waveuponwave
Member
Never played a Half-Life game and didn't want to start as long as it ends on a cliffhanger
Would you say it's worth it now that there' some amount of closure, even if it's just a blog post?
Would you say it's worth it now that there' some amount of closure, even if it's just a blog post?
butzopower
proud of his butz
Expecting to see a similar thread regarding ASoIaF in OT within the next 10 years.
nekkid
It doesn't matter who we are, what matters is our plan.
You had a 5 paragraph synopsis...
Auto-Reply
Member
Oh boy this is nuts.
I almost don't want to read it to not spoil myself which is dumb as fuck I know
Go for it, If you paid attention to the ending of Episode 2 there is barely anything surprising here. The most interesting aspect is the meta context regarding Valve.
true, but it also massively blows out the visual scope of the story with the "unstuck" nature of the borealis. we would have gotten flashes of the seven hour war and other visuals of future and maybe alternate timelines! not to mention the final set piece.
regarding alyx, i feel like incidental npc dialogue from her would have really delved in to the loss of eli.
It would've setup Half-Life 3 if that's the way Episode 3 was going to end. But now all we've got is a little piece of paper basically saying 'Valve quit.'
If I had Valve's blessing I'd 100% fund a small team of modders to work on HL3.
Hard to say how I would react to it if I would have finished Episode 2 just a few days ago.
For me it was years of uncertainty and now I am here having lots of things to think about. But I have that feeling in my stomach that I would describe as "I am sad that it's over" - so I guess it was a closure to me.
Doctor Ironic
Member
There is no "pact" dude, that's psycho talk. "Lack of respect?"
You've bought entirely into the hype train. Artists don't owe their audiences jack shit except the stuff that the audience has already paid for. You literally care more about canon than artistic integrity.
Are you reading the things I'm saying or are you just shitposting with a "Lol." at the end?
You'd have Valve's blessing if signed a contract that'd allow them to sell it on Steam for $59.99 (plus tax).
Valve must do this themselves. Fans cannot, nor should they.
KnightimeX_Legacy
Banned
Plot twist: That was the old story. So they publicly released it.
SolVanderlyn
Thanos acquires the fully powered Infinity Gauntlet in The Avengers: Infinity War, but loses when all the superheroes team up together to stop him.
That sounds cool as hell and exactly what we all wanted from Episode 3. That brutal finality of the last line is like a bullet to the heart. At the same time, hearing Gordon's inner voice for the first time is a poetic way to end the series, if certainly less than ideal. R.I.P, Half-life.
I doubt it. Took a lot of work to get them on board with Black Mesa. If it was possible I'm sure they would've outsourced the game to a legitimate team a long time ago, but I have a feeling they're holding on to it for when VR matures (purely conjecture based on conversations I've had with people from the industry)
No they don't.
i appreciate it as an artistic device, its like the internal monologue of myself in the shoes of freeman experienceing the events of the story. the perspective he chose for such a brief summary really inserts the reader, much like an fps with a silent protagonist (to me).
John_Videogames
Member
It's sad to think "what could have been" - although I would have liked to find out more about the G-Man, or to end Alyx's story on a clear note, that was never Valve's style.
It's time for us all to move on, and I hope Valve see the positive reaction to this communication about Half Life and decide to say once and for all that Half Life is gone.
It's time for us all to move on, and I hope Valve see the positive reaction to this communication about Half Life and decide to say once and for all that Half Life is gone.