Half Life thread - Discussions about Valve's FPS magnum opus(es) and any related content (spin offs, expansions and etc)

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HL 3...is it still happening?

  • No and anyone that still thinks that it will is delusional

    Votes: 289 45.6%

  • Yes, they just need a few more years to perfect it so it can another game changer in the industry

    Votes: 187 29.5%

  • Shouldnt it be called "Two Lives and a half" instead?

    Votes: 101 15.9%

  • Half life is overrated, you neckbeard homos

    Votes: 57 9.0%
  • Total voters
    634
I think Half Life Alyx 2 is the most likely thing to be announced for the new hardware. There's a VR headset as part of their steam machine lineup, they could listen to feedback and make the sequel playable in non VR source 2, and it let's them continue their pattern of abandoning franchises after the second game as Alyx 3 will never happen.
 
thhrang said:
Are you aware of what Half-Life Alyx's post-credit scene ending a few years ago was?
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I know
still the game was a spin off and i treated at such
a (very good) gimmick based game that im not even sure is even totally cannon
i feel like people had motivation of "look at all the cool things we can do with vr" instead of "or we need to continue the story"
 
HopiumHL3.gif
 
DefinitelyNotMe said:
still the game was a spin off and i treated at such
a (very good) gimmick based game that im not even sure is even totally cannon
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'I'm not sure if the last officially released Valve-written Half-Life game is canon'
lol (it is)
 
DefinitelyNotMe said:
I know
still the game was a spin off and i treated at such
a (very good) gimmick based game that im not even sure is even totally cannon
i feel like people had motivation of "look at all the cool things we can do with vr" instead of "or we need to continue the story"
Click to expand...
Half life was always the ’look at all the cool things we can do with our technology’ franchise.

Story came secondary. Always.
 
Dead Lion said:
Half life was always the ’look at all the cool things we can do with our technology’ franchise.
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I don't get why people keep saying that when most HL games aren't revolutionary by any means.
Only one game was impressive on a technical level and that was Half-Life 2. The first Half-Life ran on GoldSrc and didn't really do anything impressive tech wise, in 1998 it already looked worse than Quake II released in 1997 and in 1998 it had to compete with Unreal that was actually praised for its' tech. Half-Life Alyx wasn't revolutionary either because it was released after BONEWORKS which did everything that Alyx did, except 3 months earlier.
 
SIMON THE PIEMAN said:
I don't get why people keep saying that when most HL games aren't revolutionary by any means.
Only one game was impressive on a technical level and that was Half-Life 2. The first Half-Life ran on GoldSrc and didn't really do anything impressive tech wise, in 1998 it already looked worse than Quake II released in 1997 and in 1998 it had to compete with Unreal that was actually praised for its' tech.
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Dead Lion:
Half life was always the ’look at all the cool things we can do with our technology’ franchise.
Story came secondary. Always.
Click to expand...
I still see Half-Life 1 & 2 as revolutionary games, not in it's tech, but mostly in it's push towards narrative structuring in FPS games. And how it made it's world feel truly alive, and not revolve mainly just around the player. Scientists and Security Guards made Black Mesa more than just a fancy scenery piece. Xenian lifeforms had dynamic interactions with other lifeforms, and in some cases, their environment. Grunts and Combine Soldiers yelled into their radios, ran for cover, threw grenades, gave out commands out to their allies, called for backup, and pushed the enemy when need be. Rebels gave out health, supplies, support and morale for the long road ahead.
The Enemies and Allies in the game had a real presence in the world and made it feel so much more believable than any game could before it. I'd compare it to DOOM. Where, yes, the demons still have insanely good designs, AI, and acted as reinforcement for the player as the Doom Marine.
But what it didn't have was the heavy feeling that these demons from hell weren't the only thing so insanely special about the world. Doom was originally going to have more story, before Tom Hall was fired from ID (referenced in Masters of Doom). Then, Carmack and Romeo along with the rest of the team, put most of their effort into gameplay. Neglecting the story. You don't necessarily need to have a great story to have a great game. In DOOM I & II, The player never truly got to learn what the UAC really was, or why hell was even invading Earth and Mars. But this is what most FPS' were at the time, gameplay over the world. But there were some FPS' in the 90s that had a pretty good story. Like System Shock, Marathon, and Strife.
Half-Life changed how most future FPS games were structured. Changing them from relatively maze-like level sets with little to no story. To a linear narrative structure that was defined by the player's actions.
Half Life threw everything at Gordon Freeman. The HECU, Black Ops, Vortiguants, Headcrabs, Barnacles, Bullsquids, Houndeyes, Ichthyosaurs, Tentacles, Nihilanth. And in two, half the same lineup, along with Antlions, Rebel Allies, and the Combine Empire, along with their Hunter Choppers, APCs, Gunships, Striders, and Hunters.
And not just the beings of life you encounter, but the world too. The post-resonance cascade Black Mesa facility with it's broken down sectors, pools of electrified water, radioactive waste, crushing and steaming industrial machinery, deep treacherous waters with Ichthyosaurs, the deep red rock canyons of New Mexico, experimental labortories hiding secrets from the human world. The void in the Xen borderworld, and it's insect like architecture. And in 2, A dystopian surviellance state city, which will soon be torn apart by a civil war. A ghost town filled with the reanimated dead. The drained oceans, and near it, the coastal outskirts whose sand is home to Antlions deep below.
And above it all, the mysterious G-Man. Who comes to you during critical points in your story, to influence your further actions. And to remind you of the effect your choices have, consequences.
In 2, it advanced the idea of a FPS narrative shooter. The characters truly mattered, and aren't just mindlessly ignored for player convience. They helped flesh out the world, influence the player's actions, and could make a real lasting impact on them.
And one cannot forget the settings, City 17 and it's outskirts, Black Mesa, Xen, White Forest. Which all have their own character to them. It truly felt like a real disaster action survival scenario, particulary in the first. And in the second, a true badass fight for humanity against a tyrannical alien power.
And all of this, is added along with the player's role within the world. Their actions they take to complete their journey will have consequences. Each bullet you shoot affects the world. Holes appear in concrete walls, barrels explode with metal shrapnel flying out, crates shatter, glass too, and don't forget the enemies who fall to your arsenal. Plus, the several advantages you have at your disposal. You could use turrets for deadly firepower, your trusty Gravity Gun, the traps in Ravenholm, laser guided rockets, Antlions, armed vehicles to wreak havoc upon those who dare face you. Each and every one of these actions helped keep you alive, and as a consequence, push the story forward.
And for really one of the very few times in gaming, actually allowed you to partake in cutscenes, and not just be frozen in place to hear characters talk. You could feel like you're actually there. This unfortunately would not be as commonly picked up later on in the genre, as was it's other defining features.
But this is what defined Half-Life more than anything. The world, your actions, and its consequences. And I must give credit to other games which came around during the same time, like Halo: CE which came out in 2001, and it's sequel the same year as HL2, 2004. Both heavily advanced narrative structure. With it's developers wanting to make the cinematics in 2, feel like you're watching an actual movie. And Max Payne 1 & 2, which are the king and queen in terms of a melachonic but meaningful story, and John-Woo/Hong Kong Action gameplay. Max Payne came out in 2001, and 2 in 2003. What a short and amazing span that was.
There are few games like these three... Three? It seems that number can never escape any of us. But my point still stands. Half-Life is revolutionary, just not in the way people immediately assume. It's not just about the fancy tech. It's about the game too. story and gameplay, can work together, not always against.
 
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Just tried HL Alyx for the first time and after picking up and throwing a barrel I tried to kick it, and ending up kicking a table :story:
 
Blackstar said:
Just tried HL Alyx for the first time and after picking up and throwing a barrel I tried to kick it, and ending up kicking a table :story:
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Playing half life alyx ruined me for a year because I kept forgetting the grabbity gloves only existed in game and kept doing the gesture like a dumbass irl.
 
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