No Half-Life 2: Episode 3 until 2011?

The time between Half-Life 2 and Half-Life was very long. But look at the status Half-Life 2 has today. With little luck episode 3 will be as awe inspiring and Half-Life 2 was

maybe HL2E3 and HL3 will come out in 2011 so that both would be on the orange box 2?

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half life 2 was one of the biggest games especially on pc, its seems so weird how valve put their biggest franchise on the back burner for so long, I'm such a fan of the series, but its been so long I think even hardcore fans are starting to lose interest. Of course I'll get it when it finally comes, but episode 2 left on such a cliffhanger, why did valve kill that momentum.

i hope they fine-tune the vehicle portions they were crap in the last ones

The Source engine is definitely showing its age and no amount of tweaking is going to change that. It needs a complete overhaul. I suspect Episode 3 and HL3 won't be released until the next xbox3/720 as a AAA introductory title for that system and will be completely dx11, hopefully with no more backwards compatibility for dx9. It's time for game developers to stop supporting dx9 and winxp.

I do no longer long for further adventures of Gordon Freeman Ph.D. I'm really done with the Half Life games. Yeah, go ahead... 'Thumb-Down' me, if you please.

I don't think there's a big enough change in pc hardware capacity to motivate Valve to create a new engine for the pc. The new engine wouldn't be able to look much better on xbox either. But it wouldn't be surprising if they are upgrading the Source engine to a larger extent.

Wow 2011 ... actually i'm happy to know when it's even going to come out, i have been waiting for so long for some news on that game hehe ! Since it's coming out so late ... i assume the game will be on a new engine, like the one they would use for HL3 (if they're planning on making one that is...) peace

sounds good to me, i hope they skip episode 3 and bring out half life 3 with a new engine and a new CS

WE NEED YOU GORDON! COME BACK !

@DaGamingDude Damn, I didn't even think about that. I remember playing the first one, and I thought that it was great, but I thought they didn't make anymore until I realized a year ago that they made a sequel for Xbox with episodes. Thanks for not saying something smart because too many nerds on here hide behind the computer, much respect to you, and yes after I read my comment, it does read very ignorant and bias, but that was not my intention.

@DM2438 well the story is fantastic :D

Half-life...people are still interested in this

People complain about quick turnaround because the game ends up being a "1.5" version. Then, we complain when great companies take their time to give us their work. I'd like to play Ep 3 right now, but Valve has given me plenty to occupy myself until 3 drops.

like the real 3d at movie ... of Avatar patience ...

Only the games industry can get away with constant delays, broken promises and mismanagement like this. Whatever Valve.

If your going to sport a new Source 3.0 engine and a whole new 3rd installment, by all meens take your time. It'l be worth it all I'm sure.

Let me know when it happens.

Valve no need to hurry up, i dont want you to make the game bad :( I want the coolest experince ever again :D

Take your time Valve, I will wait for the Freeman.

Gordon Freeman is still alive! And while you're dying he'll be still alive! And when you're dead he will be still alive! Still alive!

Please release it!

@edhc44 Thanks for correcting me.

I don't care about it being "graphically competitive" Valve. Unless you want to team up with FakeFactory and do something to help out. Its still a great game and some of us just want the story to end....until Half Life 3. ~hint~ ~hint~ Your still on my sh*t list until it comes out though.

@Everyone BUT alex19589 Dude says stuff. You should listen. (Man, aside from "it's 'sold', not 'selled'", I have NOTHING to add to your comment neither to say on this matter)

I don't see why they need to be graphically competetive. A great game doesn't need to rest purely on graphics and there's FAR too much emphasis on graphics over gameplay. Just because it was made two years ago doesn't mean that Episode 2 was a bad game, by any means. I've replayed HL2 and Ep.1 and 2 several times and will never get tired of them. I'd just like to see this chapter in the Half-Life series closed. Then, they can start working on Half-Life 3 and blow our minds all over again.

Man, I hope it's sooner

That long to wait for an episode? How long for an actual sequel? 2021?

Eh, if you're going to re-do the whole engine, probably best to just call it HalfLife 3 -- and to release it on all platforms, please!

I agree with alex19589. Valve is notorious for remaining closed mouth about any new games until the game is ready for release. Lets not forget the Game Informer is a gaming magazine interested in selling subscriptions and mags so they probably cooked up this story just to sell a few extra mags knowing that there was no way anyone would be able to confirm or refute the claim.

This game isn't worth waiting this long for, its getting OTT now

Even though I have enjoyed the HL series, I believe their episodic content is a bad decision. It has kept them developing on a dated engine. Instead they could have created HL3 on a shiny new graphical engine, made tons of money off a sequel and leased their engine to other development teams to supliment their income. How much money has the Unreal engine made?

Damn! We all should have played Ep3 a long time ago.

If the graphics are too old to compete in today's market, it's because they've taken SO LONG in releasing this!

Muhaha.... sorry. Actually I think Half Life 2 is one of the most overrated games in history. I can't understand why people like it so much. My brother is a shooter maniac and he loved all Half Life games but recently he played Mass Effect 2 and he told me, "ME2 is my favourite single player game!".

uff great they gaved me some time to finally make a full half-life marathon,but its not that great rly...

And one more thing.If they released L4D2 in late 2009 with the source engine heavily modified, and the game sold very well, what makes you think that Valve would make a new engine just for the final episode in the trilogy? Isn't it more logic to make Ep 3 on the L4D2 version of the Source and develop a new engine for the next Half-Life title? And for those who don't know, Valve said that the three episodes together make HL3. And most important, I repeat , nothing is official.Not even the devil himself knows what happens behind closed doors at Valve.How could anybody know that Ep 3 will not come out this year.I think that it will, because Valve finished focusing on L4D(although they have different teams for each game) and I expect Ep 3 sometime in november, and a trailer maybe in August. Untill I hear Gabe saying with his own words that there is no new HL this year, I see no reason to believe what those guys from Game Informer say.

now half life needs a ground moving tech..literally

I´m with drangel_jam. L4D is actually pretty "gimmicky" for me compared to HL. That was real innovation.

I can´t see how L4D has priority over this. Maybe it actually doesn´t, and as it´s using Source, it´s just easier to churn out L4D games than it is to make HL3 with a new engine. If they´re worried about focussing on co-op gameplay, I´m sure they could include it in HL3. There´re enough characters to make a 4 player team.

Oh c'mon, Gordon Freeman is gonna be a senior citizen by the time they get it done!! It's only been what, 3 years? Yeeesh. How bloody long does it take?? Especially considering half life is one of the biggest gaming franchises out there. It should be at the top of Valves priority list. Anywho, Hope it comes out soon. This is just gettin sad.

This makes absolutely no sense, the game engine already exists, its inexcusable that we don't have episode 3, there must be underlying problems. Bethesda has churned out 5 Fallout 3 episodes in no time. Come on Valve know where your loyalties lie and sack off L4D!

What happened Valve? Scared of some competition. Why? Don't be. Whatever greatness today's FPS may have achieved Half Life will never be forgotten. Come on, this Episode should have released WAY Back and they should have started their works on HALF LIFE 3. Damn!

It is still kinda odd that they first promise people to have the episodes shipped out soon after one another. So it is still sad to see that we are still not able to finally close the episodes. as to everyone wonders ofc how the serie's will end. This also gives a bad idea about how long we will have to wait then for HL3 to come out.

They really shouldn't have promised them as regular episodes. This looks really bad right now, but I know they are just perfecting the game

Maybe there just so good

Don't get me wrong, the episodes are awesome and high quality. But c'mon, why has it taken this long just for 2/3 expansions in 5 hours length? I would've figured HL3 would've been out by now back in 2004 when HL2 came out, hell even 2008,2009!

I don't see why they cant release an Episode 3 on a new engine.

...let me restate that, valve has always been about "limited" innovation- the same gameplay mechanics that have been in use since the original half-life have remain almost completely unchanged in all games developed by them. at this point they would really have to branch off in one of two directions to make half-life 3 relevant amid a sea of similar fps titles: either make the game with a new engine to make these 'familiar' gameplay mechanics new again (like HL2) or simply re-invigorate the genre with fresh mechanics that change the way first person shooters are played (unlikely).