Half-Life: Alyx (formerly: Half Life 3 is coming??)

d22ontour

The_Valeyard

BlitzKrieg wrote: »

say that with a straight face to those who waited for duke nukem forever

And were severely disappointed by what game eventually appeared.

C14N

Zillah wrote: »

I desperately miss Half Life's unique combination of high production values, action gameplay, highly scripted and polished linear first person shooting, and awesome sci-fi storytelling.

Fuck Far Cry and its collect fifteen badgers and have the same fight fifty times gameplay. I'm totally sick of open worlds and their high-volume, low-quality content. The Half Life series (+the Portals) has been some of the best fun:time ratio gaming I've ever had. No need to try and find the diamond in the rough, it's all bloody great.

100 times this. I've really gotten fed up with Ubisoft Game and it's endless ticking of boxes that fill up the run time. "Hey, wasn't that sidequest mildly entertaining? I bet you'd like to do it exactly the same 17 more times but at various locations all over the map!"

It's just grind and busywork. You get your Half Life's or your Portals and you just never know what's around the next corner, it never feels like you could play for 2 hours and still be in more or less the same place as you started.

Mr.Buzz

The_Valeyard wrote: »

And were severely disappointed by what game eventually appeared.

I thought that we*'ve agreed never to speak of Duke Nukem again?

*the internet

brevity

Sorry.

http://www.tweaktown.com/news/43839/3s-keep-lining-up-half-life-3-rumors-hit-overdrive/index.html

As told to us by RagnarRox, Valve has set a press release aside for GDC at 3pm on the 3rd of march. Let me run that by you again - 3pm on 3/3.

What's even funnier? With GDC being held in San Francisco, San means three in Japanese - further adding to the madness of 3's. There has been numerous funny attempts to prove HL3's existence by the gaming public, becoming a meme-like process as seen with the popular Illuminati proof videos and articles you often see.

However this time the 3's have lined up in ridiculous fashion - could it be that Half-Life 3 is on the way?

Jet Black

Valve partnership to make a VR headset with HTC..

H=Half-Life
T=Three
C=Confirmed


Sorry.

Dair76

They really are just trolling us now.

The_Valeyard

Jet Black wrote: »

Valve partnership to make a VR headset with HTC..

H=Half-Life
T=Three
C=Confirmed


Sorry.

Aaahhh brilliant!!

CastorTroy

Guess the conference time is them having a laugh and will probably be for the VR/HTC partnership, Left 4 Dead 3 or Source 2.

Or maybe I'm completely wrong and it will be the announcement we're waiting for



DOTA 3

Zillah

brevity wrote: »

Sorry.

http://www.tweaktown.com/news/43839/3s-keep-lining-up-half-life-3-rumors-hit-overdrive/index.html

If this isn't it then they are definitely, deliberately making a game of fu*king with us now.

Cuddlesworth

Zillah wrote: »

If this isn't it then they are definitely, deliberately making a game of fu*king with us now.

I can't see why they would bother. Its so hyped at this point, it will simply tarnish their reputation because it will never match the build up.

Gbear

At this stage is there anything they can actually do with the game, other than something that's polished and fairly by the numbers?

Is there any drastic innovation left to be had in the FPS genre?

They can't innovate on story any more, especially with a silent protagonist.
They can't add RPG elements. It'd be nothing new and probably too large a departure.
Everthing's open world these days and HL1 and 2 were so on rails that they even made a joke about it so going that route would feel odd.

Another physics trinket would feel like retreading old ground.

Maybe one area could be a proper implementation of squadmates. I don't think I've ever seen good squad AI (I've heard that Elizabeth in Bioshock Infinite does a good job?).

If there's a way to seamlessly integrate Alex into the gameplay that doesn't feel contrived and isn't just a massive hindrance that might be a nice mechanic.
I don't think it'd be enough for a core mechanic though.

Personally, I've never been arsed about this all that much.
I love HL 1 and 2, but the IP isn't so gripping that I need more.

It's not like more expanded universes like Star Wars, Mass Effect or whatever - it doesn't feel like they've got a great story to tell or something worthwhile to explore.

I think games have become a lot less "gamey" since HL2 came out (probably largely due to the strides it made in the genre) and I wonder is the IP even relevant on it's own merits, or is the only thing sustaining it the momentum of hype that's built up?

Benzino

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

I can't see why they would bother. Its so hyped at this point, it will simply tarnish their reputation because it will never match the build up.

This is, IMO, exactly why they have not released it yet, or even confirmed it. The expectation for this game is huge, meeting that will be no easy feat, even for a dev like Valve.

Captain Chaos

Gbear wrote: »

- it doesn't feel like they've got a great story to tell or something worthwhile to explore.
?

It has loads of wide open mysteries IMO.
Who or what is the G man. What is his mission/agenda. Why is he helping and guiding Gordon Freeman. Why was he there the day the experiment went wrong opening up the flood gates for the Combine.

The link in with Portal 2 and the ship mentioned in HL Ep2 that Apature Science were running experiments on.

Lots of stuff to tie up right there.

Benzino

Gbear wrote: »

At this stage is there anything they can actually do with the game, other than something that's polished and fairly by the numbers?

Is there any drastic innovation left to be had in the FPS genre?

VR for one. Also, I hope they don't go open world for the sake of it, there is absolutely nothing wrong with on rails shooter. In fact, if you are trying to tell a decent story, I think having an open world negatively impacts the story.

"Oh, you need me to save poor Timmy who fell down a well? Sure thing...just after I collect 100 golden eagle eggs and become a world champion in the arena".

Personally, I'm not too concerned whether it does anything innovative or not, I just want to play another great FPS from Valve, doesn't have to be in the Half Life universe either, although I would like to know what the heck the G-Man is all about! I want a L4D 3 and a Portal 3. Valve have issues with the number 3 I think.

Skerries

don't leave us hanging, what happened to Timmy?

Zero-Cool

Skerries wrote: »

don't leave us hanging, what happened to Timmy?

You get to find out in the Day 1 DLC...

CiDeRmAn

sheehy83 wrote: »

You get to find out in the Day 1 DLC...

A 12 hour wait as the servers crash too.

So, Half Life 3, a WiiU exclusive?

Maximus Alexander

Gbear wrote: »

Is there any drastic innovation left to be had in the FPS genre?

As has been said, I'd settle for more of the same and I'd have a big smile on my face. But also, this question is unanswerable. We don't know what innovation might be made until someone makes it. It wouldn't be much of an innovation otherwise.

The_Valeyard

If they do not announce it at this conference. Then I suggest people remain, calm, cool, collected, logical.....and burn down the studios.

Maximus Alexander

The_Valeyard wrote: »

If they do not announce it at this conference. Then I suggest people remain, calm, cool, collected, logical.....and burn down the studios.

I feel like Valve enjoy a good troll, so I'm going to try and forget about this until I'm told otherwise. :pac:

shruikan2553

According to the PS+ thread we should be seeing it soon :P

Falthyron

As much as I want Half-life 3, as much as I need Half-life 3, a part of me can't help but admire Valve. In a period when a IP can be turned into a franchise, and exploited until it is bled dry, Valve choose not to. Call of Duty is a success and now we have the same stuff year after year. The same can be said for FIFA, Battlefield, Assassin's Creed, NBA, etc, etc. Even less 'franchise-able' series like Uncharted or GTA can turn to mediocrity.

Valve have a guaranteed cash-cow. They have something that will make more money than some of the biggest annual releases combined. They could release absolute garbage with Half-life 3 on the front cover and still sell more than GTAV (probably), but they don't. We can take whatever meaning from that, but at least we can't say they are milking stuff dry or are a one-franchise company.

Having said all that, could you imagine if Half-life 3 is demo'd tomorrow with this new tech? Internet meltdown. And at the end of the trailer, the mighty GabeN can unite all console peasants with one simple sentence: "Coming 2015, exclusively to PC"

Star Lord

Falthyron wrote: »

... And at the end of the trailer, the mighty GabeN can unite all console peasants with one simple sentence: "Coming 2015, exclusively to SteamOS"

FYI... Nothing would have gamers flocking from Windows to a Linux system like this would!

Falthyron

Star Lord wrote: »

FYI... Nothing would have gamers flocking from Windows to a Linux system like this would!

The PC Master Race's image in the face of console peasant anger at exclusivity:

Star Lord

Falthyron wrote: »

The PC Master Race's image in the face of console peasant anger at exclusivity:

:pac:

I've been pc gaming since 1991...

AlmightyCushion

Star Lord wrote: »

FYI... Nothing would have gamers flocking from Windows to a Linux system like this would!

Would they stay there is the real question. I know I'd dual boot it for HL3 but once I was done playing that I'd probably never touch it again. I imagine a lot of people would be the same.

Falthyron

Star Lord wrote: »

:pac:

I've been pc gaming since 1991...

I wasn't suggesting you were a peasant. It is very clear you are a member of the elite and not the Third Estate... :pac:

Noxin

Too... much... hype!!!

Started playing HL2 again. Hah. Forgot how much craic it is. The graphics are savage considering its age.

Cuddlesworth

Looks like HTC have half implied that 3 could be released as a VR game on valve's new headset. I feel like they are stirring **** though.