TITLE
Half-Life 3: The complete history of the greatest game never made
AUTHOR
Rick Lane
PUBLICATION
PC Gamer
YEAR
2023
ARTICLE TYPE
Article
FROM THE ARTICLE
Half-Life 2 was a phenomenon, a game so good one of the few complaints levelled against it was that it didn’t go on forever. “I want to bemoan the fact that it had to end at all,” Rossignol wrote. As time regrettably stopped for Gordon atop City 17’s Citadel, the question on everyone’s lips was, “What’s next?” Surely Valve wouldn’t leave Alyx stranded beside an exploding portal. Surely Gordon wouldn’t remain trapped in the G-Man’s limbo. Valve had followed-up the most celebrated shooter of its day with something even better. Surely it would do it again.Valve’s answer was unexpected, and has only grown stranger as the years turned to decades. Two expansions, a VR prequel, a host of aborted spinoffs, and a rumour-mill so productive that it became a running joke. But never the one thing Valve fans have craved more than anything else, that trio of magical words, Half-Life 3.
Valve’s evasion of its most famous series baffled players for years. But it isn’t 2010 anymore, where the only clues to Half-Life 3’s whereabouts were a few cryptic allusions from Gabe Newell and a few cruelly staged internet hoaxes. There are answers to be had. Dig through the interviews, the news stories, the rumours and the leaks that have stemmed from and revolved around Valve for the last 20 years, and it’s possible to build a surprisingly complete picture of Half-Life’s history during its long absence. We can confidently answer the two most important questions—what happened to Half-Life 3? And why didn’t Valve make it?
COMPANIES MENTIONED
Valve
GAMES MENTIONED
Half-Life 2
Half-Life 3
TOPICS MENTIONED
Canceled Games
PRINT AVAILABILITY
August 2023 (Issue 387)