Where the hell is Half-Life 2: Episode 3?

It's been over 26 months since Episode Two was released on PC and Xbox 360. With next to no information about Half-Life 2: Episode Three New Game Network takes at a look at the possible reasons for the delay and when we might see the first person shooter released. Over five years have passed since the release of Half-Life 2.

[Pandam0bile]

It's gonna be hard to come up with a suiting ending for what is widely praised as the best game of all time.

If Valve need the time to get it done, give them the time. The last thing anyone wants is a rushed ending to a Half-Life game.

[Genesis5]

Well I'm waiting patiently. I have been playing through the Orange box over the holidays. It's only my second play through. First on PC though. I have played alot of games in my life but Half Life is something special. I don't think any other game has captivated me as much as the HL series.

[qface64]

20 bucks says they release a Left 4 Dead 3 or a Team Fortress 3 or something along those lines before episode 3 is even announced

[snake_eater]

in order to finish l4d2 in 1 year they had to sacrifice something, most of the half life team (and maybe other teams) moved over to l4d2.

maybe this is microshaft fault too, i dont know...

On the other hand i hope that valve is already working on HL3, i dont want to wait another 4/5 years for f**k sakes.

[Charmers]

I have to disagree with you here Pandam0bile I think Valve have had plenty of time to get episode 3 done. This is now the 3rd year we are waiting for a "6 hour expansion pack". If we were waiting for Half Life 3 I would say "yeah they probably need a bit more time" but this isn't a new game.

Everything is pretty much there for the game so there really is no excuse for there to be 3 years between episodes. I know you like Valve and I will admit I like steam but sorry in this case "give them time" doesn't cut it, they have had 3 years so far.

[DeadlyFire]

Its possible. Could make Ep 3 a standalone expansion with a new game engine. Its not the first time something like that has been done. Would be awesome if so. Either way I am sure it will be great, but I don't expect it to be released alone. Something is likely to be bundled with it.

[jmd749]

it better have 10 plus hours worth of gameplay, unlike ep1and2 which only had 5hrs a piece. They were supposed to be episodic and most importantly FREQUENT in their releases!!!

[darthv72]

it is being reworked for natal support. haven't you guys seen the vid already?

[hate_me]

With the amount of time between Half-Life 2 and the announcement of Half-Life 3,I think episode 3 is going to be Half-Life 3. If they bring out Episode 3, there will most likely be a year (or more) before releasing Half-Life 3 because Valve does take their sweet time with games.

[Rock Bottom]

Here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[Charmers]

Nah that can't be Episode 3 the source engine doesn't look like good :-p

[Maddens Raiders]

easy there cowboy - you're getting a little too wrapped up in your own game love / obsession / hype.

[Theonik]

I really think Valve has really messed up on the idea of episodic gaming. The whole point of this was to give us shorter and cheaper games at shorter intervals.

Shorter games - Check
Cheaper - Check
Regular intervals - not check

What is the point of making shorter games when it still takes them forever to finish each one?

[ReservoirDog316]

I'm guessing it's gonna be announced at this E3.

It seems like a good enough time.

I hope anyways (see my bio).

[tdrules]

for anyone whoever questions where a VALVe game is, I give you:
VALVE TIME

http://developer.valvesoftw...

[Raf1k1]

Didn't they say they went with episodic content so they could bring us something every 18 months or so instead of having to wait years for a sequal?

edit: "It’s easier on the team. They have more fun; they can feel like they’re getting things out to customers sooner, so it’s actually an easier project for us than, say, the five years that we went through on Half-Life 2." from paragraph 6 in http://www.bravenewgamer.co... (sorry, couldn't find the 18 month quote)

Don't get me wrong, I love Valve games too but hasn't it been 5 years since the release of HL2? We've had 2 episodes so far and still no news on the third. I was really hyped for the third after the way the second ended and the tie-in with Portal so I am dissappointed that theres no news on it yet but I'm still pretty excited for when the next one is released.

[Jamescagney]

Yeah that's what I thought as well, I understand they want to make sure it's going to be top notch but this goes against what the point of episodic content was going to be about. It's been 5 years since HL2 came out, and as much as I liked the first 2 episodes the amount of time waiting for the episodes to appear is the amount of time most full games take to be made, which is frankly ridiculous.

[Raf1k1]

Well, when it is released there'll be a lot of people expecting it to be absolutely amazing considering the amount of time they'll have been waiting.

[peeps]

tbh it would make sense to release an orange box type thing or at least games near each other i.e. episode 3, tf3, new counterstrike, new dod? etc obv making use of the new engine (i assume it's a new engine and not source for 3 :p)

[Raf1k1]

I'm not so sure about the new engine. It would be great if they do have a completely new engine as Source was amazing when it was first debuted but the point in Source was so that it would continue to evolve and stand the test of time.

[bjornbear]

quite a let down...feels almost as if they moved onto do other things like L4D instead...not that i mind

but EP 3 better be a full game, or something, no way am i rebuying HL2 just to play EP 3 unless its HUGE.

[Ocelot525]

gabe newell is too busy eating cake and chocolate, and crying about the fact that the PS3 isn't doomed anymore

[Perjoss]

must have taken you ages to think that one up

[Captain Tuttle]

heh

[t850]

its more like gabe is celebrating all the profits steam has been making and an end to another successful year.

while at the ps3 camp sony must be closing their books with another year in losses lol. Hopeing they can recoup these losses, for even more losses for when the ps4 launchs if that ever comes around.

[tdrules]

it must hurt inside to know not everyone wants to work on the PS3 eh.

[Ocelot525]

"it must hurt inside to know not everyone wants to work on the PS3"

gabe should have shut his mouth if he didn't want to work with the PS3, instead of dissing the whole PS3 community with his shortsighted comments.

[tdrules]

you sound like a jilted lover who still wants their ex back.
enjoy the PS3 exclusives we get, and if you really want to play VALVe games swallow your damn pride and get em on PC.
hate gets you nowhere

[sikbeta]

Stop right there, if you have a PC, why in HELL you need H-L on PS3

[Ocelot525]

@tdrules

I don't have the hardware to run these games(€1000 HP laptop with geforce 8400m)

[tdrules]

wow I'm pretty sure you can run anything from The Orange Box on something like that, it is a 5 year old engine after all.
seeing as you have an nvidia graphics chip, download this and see how it runs: http://www.steampowered.com...
hope I helped.

[Ocelot525]

I already downloaded the demo's a year ago, but I really had to run it on low-medium to achieve 30FPS, but I suspect that HP underclocked my GPU secretly to prevent it from overheating, a serious problem with the mobile geforce 8 series.

so I bought it for the PS3

[mcgrawgamer]

if most console games run at 30 frames per second why is it so hard to play a pc game at 30 frames per second?

It doesn't make the game an unpleasant experience does it?

[BonhamZ0S0]

Valve is working on L4D 3, it's not about quality anymore, but money.

[Kazu0 Hirai]

Left 4 Dead 2 is way better than the first and a worthy sequel. I only wish my console, the Sony Playstation 3, had the hardware to run it. Unfortunately, people who own my console have to buy a Microsoft Xbox 360 if they want to play Left 4 Dead 2.

[mastiffchild]

But they shouldn't do that. L4D1 and2 are like TOB on PS3 AND 360(though the EA port to PS3 is much worse the 360 version is still pretty crappy and I've got both and the PC version!)-lazy and crappy compared to Valve'#s work on PC.

I love Valve and I like L4D just fine too-but only on PC. To me the extra(double in my case) I paid for it on 360 really hurts coming from Valve. The quality is worse than other PC/360 games on console in both looks and framerate but the killer is the lack of community support for it-why no mods? they're what make a game like L4D last more than a week or two for most PC gamers and the lazy ports and lack of support suggest, to me anyway, that Valve are just using 360 gamers for a quick and easy buck. i suppose if you don't know how much better it is on PC you might not care but if you do, as I do, it really wrankles that they've cashed in in such a crass,. lazy fashion to the point I'm starting to think they just hate consoles full stop and all the PS3 stuff is to take away attention from their poor work on the 360 as it ingratiates them to the noisier 360 fans among us!

Seriously, if they were giving PS3 something closer to the PC game then fine, be very jealous-but not if they would omnly manage the slap dash 360 effort cos at the price we're expected to pay it's just the worst value of anything I've bought this generation on any platform. Don't get me wrong-it's still a good game but compared to the cheaper PC version it's so poor it's not worth playing and not worth paying full price for in any way. I still feel ripped off so much that i won't even trade it in as I wouldn't want to feel I was conning someone else down the line! Or maybe I'm just still pi55ed that it cost me twice what the better version that i play to this day did on Steam!

As for EP3 I just think it's L4D being so successful for Valve that's holding it up AND because they released it all on console now and there are two other markets waiting for it there's possibly behind the scenes talks about what platforms will get it and when and made by whom-esp seeing as Gabe , at least, managed to be embarrassed by the EA PS3 port of TOB(though, imo, he should be asham4ed of other console offerings that Valve actually had more of a hand in!). We'll see but I can't imagine EA wanting all those console gamers missing out on the next HL installment. Can anyone? Seriously, there may be a minefield behind this development cycle that we know very little of outside of Gamesradar reckoning they saw something amazing running at #Valve's offices last year!

[rawrockkillz]

I think I might go play some Half-Life 2 now.

[chak_]

honnestly HL2 is getting graphically old, and waiting 2 years for a 4 hours sequel is just way too much.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE (LOOOOOOOVE) HL2, i've played it multiple times, vanilla, cinematic mod, or a lot of other maps/mods, but this is just getting ridiculous.

Just drop it, and make ep3 something like HL3, new engine, and a real campaign.

[Charmers]

I personally think people have the right to complain about this. As the article states we are now entering the 3rd year waiting for what amounts to a 6 hour expansion pack. There really is no excuse why Valve couldn't have got episode 3 out long before now.

I keep seeing how Valve is the saviour of PC gaming, well I don't actually consider them the "saviour" I don't think they are any different to any other developer out there. It isn't about quality with valve any more it is about the quick buck. I mean other than a few TF2 updates and L4D Valve has done sod all on the PC since Episode 2. That doesn't sound like the actions of a PC "saviour".

Ah well sod all we can do about it, I don't expect to see Episode 3 this year. They may get around to doing it by the end of 2011 I guess it depends on whether Valve can be bothered or not.

[kwyjibo]

They're the saviour of PC gaming because of Steam.

"Other than a few TF2 updates and L4D..."
So aside from pretty much rewriting TF2, and coming out with 2 games, they've done sod all?

"It isn't about quality with valve any more it is about the quick buck."
If it's about the quick buck, then why isn't it out yet? Oh, there you go, your argument contradicts the thing you're actually arguing for.

[Charmers]

Steam has been around for donkey's years it is time people stopped harping on about steam. Yeah it's good I use it it is also 7 bloody years old now quit harping on about it.

As for Left 4 Dead correct me if I am wrong but Valve didn't even develop the game. It was actually developed by Turtle Rock Studios whom Valve bought. So technically we can exclude L4D 1 and 2 as a game developed by Valve because they just bought the studio that made the game.

As for my argument being flawed and that if they were after the money they would rush out Episode 3. Perhaps I should have been clearer it isn't just about the money it is about doing as little work as possible for the money. It seems to me as if Valve are quite content to just sit around and rake it in from steam sales and sales of L4D. You will probably find Episode 3 is just too much effort for them.

I cannot believe there are people defending Valve over this. We are talking about a 6 hour expansion pack here and they still haven't produced the goods after nearly 3 years. I am beginning to think PS3 users were actually on the money and Valve is lazy, it certainly looks like that to me when you consider they have done pretty much sod all on the PC since Episode 2.

[Rubberlegs]

A few TF2 updates? Do you even play TF2? There has mass load of updates since the day its came out towards all the classes, new maps, and a number of bugs/fixes. I'd say its one of the most supported shooters on the PC. I only wish they could have done with TFC back in the day.

Yeah it does suck that nothing on Episode 3 has be released yet. I'm a huge fan of Half-Life series but one thing Valve always had a problem with is its release dates. They always say its gonna come out in this amount of time but it never happens.
You gotta remember though Portal and TF2 came out of nowhere. TF2 had a huge delay for a long time and then all of the sudden a new version finally came out, same with Portal. None of that was intended in the first place and did held back the Episode content. I'm sure Valve is gonna attempt to release another Orange Box or something just like it and I'll still be waiting for it.

[SoX FireBlade]

they should do a new box

with portal 2, new counter strike and half-life ep 3

[Ed Wood]

I was a HUGE Valve supporter but good old Gabe has turned me around. Fanboyism for any system is a joke but when developers do (and are so overt about it) I dismiss them as quick a fanboy.

[Xi]

then you'd know they're not console fanboys. Honestly, it seems like you might be the fanboy.

Valve always put their products and fans first, so when it comes down to developing a game they try to do everything in house, to ensure quality. When they don't have the resources, or the experience on a platform the shy away from it for several reasons:

1. it takes time and money, and as we all know, time is money, and valve time is extremely expensive.

2. they get shat on by every playstation fanboy (such as yourself) who thinks that they made the orange box. would you go back?

3. they don't want a rehap with the orange box, and so they'd rather just not develop for the console instead of having it done elsewhere.

I hate this Valve are fanboys nonsense. You don't see people calling insomniac fanboys just because they don't make 360 games.

[mcgrawgamer]

Gabe turned you around because he doesn't support the playstation platform? That's like me disliking Insomniac for only supporting playstation when it's their preference. LOL too funny.

Tell you what you go right ahead and turn your back on one of the few teams out there that really supports their games. What's really funny is most of the ps3 community hates Valve yet most of their fav devs naughty dog, insomniac, guerrilla games, etc, all have gaming pc's in the office and play TF2 and L4D in their spare time. Had an article about it in OPM.

[ironcreed]

It takes this long just to make an episode? What has it been, 6 years now since Half-Life 2? Yet, you guys praise Valve like they are gods of gaming and all they have managed to squirt out in regards to the series they are known best for is a couple of expansions. Hey Valve, how about giving us a proper sequel in Half-Life 3?

Again, I love Half-Life as much as the next Joe, but it is what it is. Valve is simply not as great as some of you make them out to be. Else, we would have had Half-Life 3 a long time ago. Meanwhile, here we are waiting for not a long over due sequel...but a another 'episode' expansion of Milk-Life 2 instead.

Disagree all you want, you cannot argue with the reality of the situation. Half-Life is a great series, but Valve are simply not all they are cracked up to be and I think the proof is in the pudding. Just calling a spade a spade here.

[Xi]

look at tf2, and the tf2 blog, few if any games get that type of support 3 years into their life.

AFAIK valve is currently looking at incorporating new means of communication for their games, including sign language for deaf people. I don't think you understand how involved a process like that might be.

They also continuously update their engine, and provide the largest library of tutorials and documentation for any engine so that people can make the best mods they can.

along with all of this they also work on other things, like the largest pc gaming platform, steam, which is probably one of the only reasons why pc gaming still exists today. Games like l4d, tf2, portal, counter-strike, day of defeat, etc.

I hate this blame valve stuff, we don't do the same things with other developers like Blizzard, who's last game was released 5 years ago. 5 YEARS.

[ironcreed]

Team Fortress is great as well, but we are discussing Half-Life here.
Sorry, I do not see much "dedication" in not being able to get out a proper sequel for one of the best games ever in 6 years time. Any other developer would have released 2 more games in the series by now. Instead, all Valve has managed to squirt out is 2 'episodes' that is still running on the great, yet dated Source engine. It is what it is, man.

[Xi]

Blizzards last game was released 5 years ago. Why aren't you moaning about them? I bet it's only because valve develops on the 360 but not the ps3.

when was the last starcraft game released? When was the last diablo released? Why not make the same argument against them? Hell, in 5 yeas blizzard has produced 2 expansions for wow. How is that any different then valve and making 2 expansions for hl2 in 6 years?

Upon the release of episode 2(2007), valve has also produced, l4d, l4d2, tf2, portal, and provide maintenance for steam.

and as for the 'source is dated' argument.

http://www.moddb.com/mods/r...

Looks just fine to me.

[Charmers]

I also think it is reprehensible that Blizzard has done so little on the PC for close to five years. However to compare Blizzard's situation to Valve's is silly. We are currently waiting for Episode 3 from Valve, all Episode 3 is, is "expansion pack" the game engine is already there (and has been there for 5 years).

However Blizzard are developing new engines for their games, they are not using the old starcraft engine for Starcraft 2. So in a way Blizzard does have an excuse for the 5 year gap. I imagine once starcraft 2 is out it won't be such a long wait between titles because the engine will be done.

The situation with Valve is ridiculous, when Episode 2 came out the source engine was already showing it's age. Now 3 years later we are still waiting for the final episode which will be using the source engine. Just imagine if Blizzard tried to release starcraft 2 using the old starcraft engine, they would be quite rightly be ridiculed to death for it.

[ironcreed]

Yes, Blizzard takes forever, yet they are kings of the MMO market with WOW as well. Which is where they see most of their profits and is where most of their attention is foucused.

As far as Valve goes, I am not saying they suck. What I am saying is that they are not as god-like as many claim them to be. I do not care what you say, there is no excuse for not having a Half-Life 3 in 6 years time. Instead of making a sequel for one of the best games ever, they chose to focus on other projects, while milking Half-Life 2 over the course of 6 years. Valve fanboys will not admit it, but that does not change the reality of the situation.

[kraze07]

???

[deshon09]

kojimas house

[Ashriel]

I'd rather have a quality product than a rushed product, Valve has never dissapointed me since Half Life, so I will just play other games until the next Half Life episode comes out.

I have enough games to keep me entertained through 2010 :3

[kraze07]

I know what you mean, but they've had more than enough time to make an Episode 3.

[Scudd]

Why bother with an Episode 3, why not just jump straight to Half-Life 3 with an updated graphics engine, i think the source engine is getting a little dated compared to the current generation of games. If Valve want the half-life series to continue to draw attention they will either have to release Episode 3 soon or just create Half-Life 3 which could continue the story.

[CAPT IRISH]

i dont even care anymore

[Stevo35]

It's Valve! nuf said!

[Jackel2072]

I dont think Left 4 dead had anything to do with Episode three's delay. I think it morphing into something else...something bigger. we all know the idea of putting the portal gun into half life was heavily hinted at in EP2. I like to think and maybe im crazy, but i like to think they have just decided to make Half Life 3 instead. or episode 3 is going to be longer then 6 hours. i mean why not make the final chapter bigger and better!?

[fuckitimout]

at the grocerie store buying butter to smooth that framerate

[Picnic]

If Valve are more a George Lucas than a Steven Speilberg in terms of amount of output, they're still George Lucas and that's better than many (pretend you're a Star Wars fan for the sake of my analogy).

I haven't played much of Episode 1 and it doesn't seem quite so great but Episode 2 seems great like Half Life 2.

[The_Nameless_One]

Gabe Newell probably ate it.

[AngryTypingGuy]

I've loved the whole HL2 experience so far. I wish they'd make Episode 3 already!

[Lykon]

under the massive pile of dohnuts gabe newel is working his way through, poor guy is so morbidly obese now that he can't leave valve headquaters and he needs a nurse to wipe his ass after he farts, also version 172 of M$ Basic game development kit hasn't yet been released.

[Rooted_Dust]

Valve is listed on the GDC homepage as attending as an exhibitor....

As long as their not there to only show an expansion for L4D2, maybe we'll get to see something.