One of gaming’s most anticipated titles, Half-Life 2: Episode 3, never arrived.
Lets not forget that long train ride into work, either.
This was no ordinary job, to say the least.
Its one of the most influential games ever developed.
Oh, and it sold well, too.
That said, its admittedly sudden ending left fans wanting.
But then Valve embarked on a series of episodic adventures.
Three were expected, to this date two have arrived.
There are three that are in this arc.
This would suggest that after the third episode, there could be another three, followed by additionalHalf-Lifecontent.
Were going to try and do something pretty ambitious for that project.
We dont want to over commit.
Thats really an artefact of making a trailer for a product thats still in heavy production.
You just dont know where youre going to end up.
We were all set to play the final episode at Christmas of the same year, but would we?
No, we wouldnt.Christmas of 2007 came and went, withEpisode Threenowhere to be seen.
There was no announcement or a delay, the game simply didnt show up.
2008
The mystery ofEpisode Threes absence was at the forefront of fans minds.
Some thought this was a blatant attempt to divert attention, however.
Valve threw fuel on the fire by announcing thatEpisode Threewould miss 2008s E3.
Doug Lombari promised more information on the game by the end of the year, but guess what?
2009
Not a great deal happened in 2009 with regard toEpisode Three.
Petitions were penned, and there was much anger thrown around.
Left 4 Dead 2went ahead anyway, and it was very good.
A petition called Call for Communication hit its goal of attaining 1,000 signatures.
This was sent to Valve, but the petition garnered no response.
Comically, Peter Molyneux even wheeled his son onto the camera to ask Valve for answers.
This rumor was strengthened somewhat as moreEpisode Threecontent was found withinPortal 2s SDK.
Fans shook with fear.
Its not about giving up on single-player at all.
It was quickly debunked by Valve employee Chet Faliszek, who said any mention ofEpisode ThreeorHL3was simply coincidence.
Some thought a lot of the coverage was an elaborate ARG (Alternate Reality Game).
Once again, Faliszek jumped in to debunk these reports as nothing but trolling.
His post on theValve Forumswas precise, and to the point.
You are being trolled.
There is no ARG.
Wheatleys speech was set inPortal 2fiction that is all.
There has been no directive from Gabe to leak anything.
That is all false.
I just want to say this so there is no confusion.
This is the community trolling the community nothing more.
While it is nice to see people excited about anythingHL, I hate seeing people be trolled like this.
2012
Gabe Newell partly broke Valves silence during aninterview with Develop.
Newell talked about a game calledRicochet 2, which was clearly code forHalf-Life 3.
Even worse,Half-Life 3was advertised as being present at Gamescom.
It wasnt, and Valve revealed this was simply a mistake, and a false listing.
Valve remained stoic and silent.
This seemed to point toLeft 4 Deadhaving a much larger focus, withHalf-Life 3only having a small presence.
This included former Valve employees, designer Adam Foster and Kelly Bailey.
2014
Not much occurred of any real note during 2014.
He mentioned this during aninterview with goRGNtv.
He said it wouldnt surprise him if they were working on it.
Within an important dll file (model_editor.dll), users found a command with some apparently telling parameters.
This read physics_testbed.exe -game hl3 -open.
This leak was followed by another much later.
Several files were found within the Source 2 version of Hammer,the engines level editor.
One of these files was hl3.txt.
This contained information relating to portingHalf-Life 2code to Source 2, along with quest systems and AI changes.
Is Valve purposely waiting ten years before we see anything related to the game?
Is the game being worked on?
What I can say, however, is thatHalf-Life 3is coming.
How can it not?
Valve is one of the most business-savvy games companies out there.
A lot of time, sure, but time nonetheless.
