1 Like this is why episodic games don't work. eventually the developers just loses interest and quits
Half-Life 2: Episode 3 concept art surfaces
By
Brendan Sinclair, Senior Editor
Four-year-old images from Valve's apparently abandoned episodic first-person shooter series surface, depict apparent return to Xen.
Valve's years of unbroken silence about Half-Life 2: Episode 3 suggest the trilogy-capping installment of the developer's experiment in episodic gaming may never see the light of day, but that apparently hasn't kept some concept art for the game from surfacing. Valvetime.net has posted dozens of pictures to its Facebook account, saying the artwork was created for Episode 3 back in 2008.
Many of the pictures appear to show Half-Life 2's Alyx Vance and a man in a variety of outfits, while others focus on downed helicopters, each with a towering structure in the distance. Still others depict floating platforms with dangling tentacles and flowing creatures floating in the air, suggesting a return to the dimension of Xen showcased at the climax of the original Half-Life.
As of press time, Valve had not responded to GameSpot's request for comment. However, multiple volunteer moderators on the official Valve forums have confirmed the pics as authentic, albeit dated, concept art from an old project.
By
Brendan Sinclair, Senior Editor
Brendan Sinclair has been a games journalist since 1999. His tastes are eclectic, though he has a definite affinity for games with arcade roots. He's Canadian, but has also been at home in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, and San Francisco.
117 comments
1 Like 
These mother ****ers. Seriously they canceled it ? Just ask us how much you want and we'll give it to you to finish it.
1 Like It's a hell of a long time waiting !!! So Loooong that I even forgot that I was Waiting !! :D I really hope to see New Half-Life , But really I close Half-Life File a long time ago !! But stupidly I'm still hoping !
Never loose faith in Valve , I'm sure there will be HL 2 EP 3 or HL 3 , because this is the best video game ever made and it'll take time to be ready.
"Valve is not EA "
Unfortunately, there will never be another Half-Life. The franchise ended with HL2:ep2, but it's fun to think about a 3rd.
As far as i am concerned, there will be no episode 3, but it will be a part of HL3. Dont understand why you keep talking about episode 3, this will never happen.
1 Like I'm kinda happy they never released the thing, because that makes it all the more special...
meh
they dragged D3 for so long i just did not bother with it, same with duke nukem and many other games that just waited and waited andwaited andwaited adnwiitawnadoawotiawidwaited.................. release date 2020 !!!
no thanks... i will be playing mass effect 6 by then
5 Like @vadagar1 People said the same about HL2. Turns out it was even better than its predecessor.
Valve is not to be underestimated.
1 Like I have a hard time seeing valve not doing a new half life, if they can make money on a product they will do it, but it might take them some time if they want to do it with tech taht does not exist yet
4 Like If episode 3 is as long as episode 2 I will bash my head against something solid repeatedly
4 Like I'd just e happy if they just -finish- the story. It's like watching a great TV series that has you hooked. You watch it until the season finale and they end the season with a damn cliffhanger you have to wait for next season to see its conclusion except the series ends up getting cancelled. Oh I soooo hate that. I also find it odd that Valve allowed such a great money making series lay dormant for so long. Not many devs/pubs do that sort of thing. I know Valve has Steam to make their profits, but still.
@XIntoTheBlue Well just think how much profit they'll make when they do in fact release it, people from all over the world, millions of people will be pre-purchasing it at full price, look what happened with Starcraft 2, it took ages to be released, when it finally did it sold tons of copies within the first week, and same with diablo, and duke nukem forever (even though it was crap) it's just a smart business gesture, get people excited and let it simmer until it reaches boiling point
1 Like At this point I'd prefer if Valve made a new IP completely unrelated to HL, Portal, L4D and all the other crap. I feel like they're making it up too much as they go along. There is no true ending to the series. It's like Kingdom Hearts.
4 Like whenever I heard something about Half-Life 3, I'm getting a heart attack!! please Valve make it quick. End this longing..!
1 Like The second it goes gold; it will be leaked; and I will pirate the shit out of it. Take that Gabe!
5 Like Dear Valve: Just send the game out the door, so we can move on, and start waiting on the bigger and better Half Life 3!
I don't care how bad it is! You ended it at a huge cliffhanger, with huge unresolved plot points, and I want an ending, damn it!
5 Like As much as I enjoyed HL2, its value has irrevocably been tarnished by delays and ambivalence from the developers. There are franchises that have been entirely rebooted, or sequentially built upon, in the span of time it took these guys to script out a single expansion.
4 Like I sure hope Episode 3 is more like the original HL; where I'm "stranded" and on my own without stupid story-building characters forcing me to listen to their retarded dialogue. If I really want to hear what they have to say, I'll walk up to them and hit the 'use' button like I did back in 1998.
2 Like @blacksaibot Then why not just play COD if you don't care about story progression? The only thing I don't like about the HL series is the wait between installments, but it's always worth it in the end.
1 Like @timmy0001 OH LOOK! Another doofus who tells people to go play COD whenever there's a person who dislikes an aspect of any other FPS game.
6 Like @blacksaibot This is the kind of response and attitude I would expect from a 12 year old on Call of Duty.
1 Like @blacksaibot Dude no need to get all worked up over their comments just chill man...
1 Like @timmy0001 LOL LOOK AT YOUR PARAGRAPH REPLY! I struck a nerve. Why did you type so much? You think I'm going to read all your nerdy garble? You need a friend. Get off the internet. LOL U MAD!!!
5 Like @blacksaibot Look another doofus who complains about a game that tries to give a more in-depth exploration of a complex story! Yeah, maybe people do refer you to COD a lot, probably because if all you want is an FPS it's a better choice for you. The Half-Life series has always been about conveying a compelling story. If it seems like HL2 does it more than HL1 it's because they had more experience and took more time to include aspects they couldn't feasibly do before. I've got news for you, it's only going to get more involved, because Valve won't dumb down their game for you. So yes, if you want something that allows you to run and shoot without ever interrupting you to give you bits of story, see my previous comment.
1 Like @blacksaibot Call of Duty has a lot of story elements as well. Valve was very proud of their characters and wanted to truly pull at your emotional strings with Half Life 2. For some of us if it came off as slowing the game while others saw it as building a worthy emotional investment.
I myself am in the middle. I agree that the original half life that had Gordon completely alone except for the occasional Barney or Scientist had a lot more ambiance. Likewise half life 2s storytelling was definitely a league ahead of the competition at the time.
Dead and gone.
Just release a new Half Life already... we know it's coming, and they know people will be all over it, including myself. So what's the hold up Valve?
I wonder why they released these old pictures now. Is it to test the waters with regards to releasing somthing new to customers? See how much demand there really is for half life? Or is it that they are close to a big new release and this is a start to the hype build up? Or is it just that the pictures show a creative direction that valve have now abandoned and so there is no reason to keep these picture concepts a secret any more?
It creates more questions than it answers for me.
2 Like It's a well known fact that Valve are the biggest trolls in the industry lol I mean did you see their April Fool?s joke?
1 Like The best part of the Half Life games to me was that interactions & story took place in engine, in the game, while you played it. It was so much better than constantly being yanked from the game-play to watch a cut-scene like so many other games. Oh, and the story & characters were actually cool and interesting so I found it possible to care what was going on. Much better than defeating the latest batch of terrorists over and over again...
Maybe Valve will call it Full-Life. Either way, i'll be dead by the time they release it. I've already turn 100 waiting this long. Do enjoy it everyone.
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