Does anyone still remember Half-Life 1, the EP’s, 2, and the episodes? Of course you do. Anyone that was born in the 90’s, remembers playing the first Half-Life, and how it became a huge hit (even becoming Game of the Year).
And then happened Half-Life 2: Episode 2, and possibly the most depressing ending in modern video game history (the music captured it the best). Yet it also left one hell of a cliffhanger, that has lasted for over a decade of waiting ‘patiently’ for Episode 3 to at least be unveiled.
Valve said that it was “coming soon”, yet that’s all they did. Some theorized if this means “Half-Life 3 confirmed” (which started the meme that tried to keep our sanity (and hope) that there would be at least something). But as the years went by (and people noticed that Valve doesn’t need to make games anymore to get money (via Steam)), faith was being lost, yet this didn’t stop the meme.
Yesterday, it seems the wait is finally over. The main writer of the entire series (Mark Laidlaw) has released a transcript revealing what could’ve been Half-Life 2: Episode 3, through Gordon Freeman’s eyes.
Originally, this thing was on his blog, and he had it ‘encoded’ to change the genders and names of the characters (such as ‘Dr. Mass'(as Dr. Mossman), and ‘Elly Vaunt'(as Eli Vance). Some theorize he did this so Valve “wouldn’t see it” (and also to avoid legal trouble).
Others managed to easily decode the script, with one of them being the link I posted.
There’s a lot to be learned here, especially how he (as Gordon) explains what he saw while onboard the Borealis (and what happened to this strange ship able to transport through time and space, using portals). How it also showed the past, present and future at the same time. It’s all very interesting.
And just like the end of Episode 2, this also ends with a cliffhanger. However, not the way you would expect. He says he got flung into the future, and hardly anyone remembers him. And then he ends it stating: “this is my final episode.”
Since the release of this thing, theories began to emerge of it’s possible meaning (via Youtube videos). Though I could never understand why the hate people have for Valve to the point some say “we should boycott Steam”.
This didn’t come ’till a week later, when Youtuber ‘YongYea’ went over it as brief as he could, with his own theories. Having him staring at me, I feel helped me to finally understand the hate. As I just said, I never saw it (until now).
The ending of the transcript, where Mark says “I expect you know better than I the appropriate course of action, and I leave you to it.” (which was ‘backed up’ by a tweet made the day after posting the script), he’s basically saying he’s ‘passing the torch’ to anyone willing to either use his work to formerly ‘release’ Episode 3, or even make an unofficial non-canon version of Half-Life 3 (as Valve seems to not be interested).
That’s pretty sad. They’ve gone the route so many other companies have gone; greed first, customers never.
But, this news isn’t going to stop me from buying games on Steam. Valve only controls Steam, and gets a portion of the profits. However, they have no control over the developers willing to release their game on Steam (which is where the money is supposed to be going to). Of course, this means good games (not ones made in five minutes using Unity).
If they did, I’m pretty sure devs would simply stop using Steam. Since they have not, I’m not changing either.
In the closing of this blog post, kudos to Mark Laidlaw for posting this. You’re a good man, and God bless.
So, what about you? Do you feel the Half-Life series is dead, and has this also convinced you to stop using Steam (as a dev or as a consumer)? Let me know with an email.