I’m one of those ‘Half-Life guys’. You know the ones I mean. Fans who always held out hope the series would continue, be it Half-Life 2 Episode 3, or a fully-fledged Half-Life 3. I’m one of those guys who shouted at other gamers, telling them to be quiet. “Valve are working on it!” we’d say. We had no idea if it was true or not. But 12 years after the release of Half-Life Episode 2 and not a whisper.
Over time I started to realise that I was getting laughed at, the other fans had given up and started playing something else. What was worse is ‘Half-Life guys’ were now being seen in the same light as ‘Aerith guys’. The delusional people who even after twenty years, still can’t accept that a character in Final Fantasy 7 was shockingly killed off. They’re still out there, arguing with other fans on social media and forums on the internet. Bizarrely clinging to the notion that the developers made a way to save her and that we’ve just not found it yet. Okay guys. Let’s see what happens when the remake appears.
It may be the healthiest thing to do, after all do we need another entry? We’ve made it this far without one. The Orange Box was a triumph and so were the Portal games. Even Left 4 Dead gave us a stripped-down zombie blaster that borrowed some elements from Half-Life.
But still no Half-Life 3. Half-Life 2 Episode 3 was probably dead in the water years ago. But Half-Life 3, could, maybe, on day, make an appearance. The question is now, should it? Would people still care or have the fan base moved on? Or is it time to face reality and forget about Half-Life.
Enter Half-Life Alyx, a VR game set in the HL universe and all of a sudden, the Half-Life guys are out in force again. Although this isn’t Half-Life 3 it’s a VR game just in the same universe. It’s nice that Valve have made another game, but this isn’t what anyone asked for.
Until Alyx was announced I had just presumed Valve had no more interest in the series, but apparently, they do. If that’s the case, then why this? Why not HL3 or at least finish Episode 3. Maybe Valve are testing the water, seeing if interest in Half-Life is still there, I’m sure it is but it’s likely to have dissipated somewhat over the years.
If you’re looking forward to it then fantastic, I hope it’s fun and you enjoy it. Maybe it’s the start of something special? But until then, you’ll forgive me if I curb my enthusiasm and go play something else. That’s served me well since Half-Life 2.