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Half-Life 2: Episode Three

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Not to be confused with Half-Life 3.

Half-Life 2: Episode Three
Concept art depicting the Borealis
Developer(s)Valve Corporation
Publisher(s)Valve Corporation
Writer(s)Marc Laidlaw
SeriesHalf-Life
EngineSource
ReleaseCanceled
Genre(s)First-person shooter
Mode(s)Single-player

Half-Life 2: Episode Three is a canceled first-person shooter game developed by Valve. It was planned as the last in a trilogy of episodic games continuing the story of Half-Life 2 (2004). Valve announced Episode Three in May 2006, with a release planned for 2007. Following the cliffhanger ending of Episode Two (2007), it was widely anticipated.

Episode Three was to be set in the Arctic and introduce elements such as an ice gun and a blob-like enemy. Marc Laidlaw, the writer for the Half-Life series, said he intended it to end the Half-Life 2 story arc. Valve released little information over the following years, and in 2011 Wired described it as vaporware. Valve eventually canceled it, citing a lack of direction and the limitations of the episodic format. They delayed development of a new Half-Life until their new game engine, Source 2, was complete.

Laidlaw left Valve in 2016. In 2017, he released a short story that journalists speculated was a summary of the Episode Three plot. It followed the Half-Life protagonist, Gordon Freeman, as he journeyed to the Arctic and boarded the Borealis, an experimental vessel created by Aperture Science. After Laidlaw posted the story, fans launched several projects attempting to recreate Episode Three. After canceling several further Half-Life games, Valve released a virtual reality game, Half-Life: Alyx, in 2020.

Premise

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Episode Three was to be the last in a trilogy of episodic games that would continue the story of the 2004 first-person shooter game Half-Life 2.[1] Episode One was released in 2006, followed by Episode Two in 2007.[2][3] Valve's president, Gabe Newell, said he considered the trilogy the equivalent of Half-Life 3.[4]

Episode Three would be set in the Arctic and focus on the missing Borealis ship mentioned in previous games.[5] The team experimented with a weapon that created barriers and ramps from ice, and a blob-like enemy that could divide itself, consume other enemies and pass through grates.[6][7]

According to Newell, whereas the original Half-Life (1998) saw the mysterious G-Man transform the protagonist, Gordon Freeman, into his tool, and Half-Life 2 saw Freeman being used by G-Man, the episodes would see G-Man lose control.[4] Marc Laidlaw, the writer for the Half-Life series, later said he had intended Episode Three to end the Half-Life 2 story arc, at which point he would "step away from it and leave it to the next generation". He planned an ending similar to previous games, with the player character, Gordon Freeman, left in "an indeterminate space, on hold ... So one cliffhanger after another ... I expected every installment would end without resolution, for ever and ever."[8]

Development

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See also: Unreleased Half-Life games
Valve president Gabe Newell in 2018

Valve announced Episode Three in May 2006, planning to release it by Christmas 2007.[1] Concept art surfaced in 2008.[9][10][11] Valve released little information in the following years; though Valve still discussed Half-Life, there was no clarity on whether further games were coming.[12] In 2009, reports surfaced that Valve was working with sign language and on a deaf character. Newell said that Gordon's companion, Alyx Vance, had programmed her pet robot, Dog, to use sign language, inspired by a deaf person she had a crush on.[13]

In March 2010, Newell spoke of "broadening the emotional palette" of the Half-Life series, and said the next game may return to "genuinely scaring the player".[14] In 2011, he said: "We went through the episodes phase, and now we're going towards shorter and even shorter cycles ... For me, 'entertainment as a service' is a clear distillation of the episodic content model."[15] That year, Wired described Episode Three as vaporware.[16] In 2017, Business Insider described it as "the world's most anticipated game", but that it had become a "farce".[17]

Valve eventually abandoned episodic development, as they wanted to create more ambitious games. According to the level designer Dario Casali, "We found ourselves creeping ever forward towards, 'Well, let's just keep putting more and more, and more, and more stuff in this game because we want to make it as good as we can,' and then we realized these episodes are turning more into sequels."[18]

The team became fatigued with Half-Life and struggled to discover new gameplay mechanics. The designer Robin Walker said Valve used Half-Life games to "solve some interesting collision of technology and art that had reared itself". Working on Episode Three, they failed to find a unifying idea that provided a sense of "wonderment, or opening, or expansion".[19] Additionally, Valve had started developing a new game engine, Source 2. As developing Half-Life 2 and the original Source engine simultaneously had created problems, Valve delayed development of a new Half-Life until Source 2 was complete.[18]

After completing other projects, such as the multiplayer game Left 4 Dead (2008), the team felt the opportunity to create Episode Three had passed. The engineer David Speyrer said later: "That just seems in hindsight so wrong. We could've definitely gone back and spent two years to make Episode Three."[20] Newell felt completing Episode Three just to continue the story would have been a "copout", and said: "The failure, my personal failure, was being stumped. I couldn't figure out why doing Episode Three was pushing anything forward."[20]

Short story by Laidlaw

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Marc Laidlaw, the writer of the Half-Life games until 2016

Laidlaw left Valve in 2016. He said later that he had tired of the first-person shooter genre and had become "less interested in trying to solve the story problems inherent in a Half-Life style of narrative".[21] In 2017, Laidlaw posted a short story titled "Epistle 3" on his website, describing it as "a snapshot of a dream I had many years ago".[17] It features characters with names similar to Half-Life characters, such as Gertie Fremont for Gordon Freeman.[22] Journalists interpreted the story as a synopsis of what could have been the plot for Episode Three, or for Borealis, another canceled project led by Laidlaw.[23]

Substituting the characters and locations with their Half-Life counterparts, "Epistle 3" has Freeman and the Lambda Resistance travel to the Arctic to board the Borealis, a ship that travels erratically through time and space, where they confront alternative versions of themselves.[22] The group seizes control of the Borealis and sets it on a collision course with the heart of the Combine empire. They rig it to self-destruct upon impact, annihilating the Combine's home planet and crippling their forces, but the explosion is not sufficient to destroy the Combine or their Dyson Sphere. Alyx is abducted by the G-Man. Just before the Borealis explodes, Gordon is rescued by the Vortigaunts and transported into the far future, with most of the Resistance dead and the success of their uprising left uncertain.[24][22]

Walker denied that the story had been Valve's plan for Episode Three, and said that it was likely just one of many ideas by Laidlaw.[25] In a 2023 interview, Laidlaw said it was not representative of Episode Three, as "all the real story development can only happen in the crucible of developing the game". He said he regretted publishing it, as it had created problems for his former colleagues at Valve, and that he had been "deranged" and "completely out of touch" at the time.[26]

Legacy

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Laidlaw's "Epistle 3" story triggered a backlash from fans who took it as evidence that Valve had abandoned the Half-Life series. Some review bombed Valve's game Dota 2 on Steam.[27] Project Borealis, a fangame based on "Epistle 3", was announced in November 2018.[28][29][30] The team decided to switch to Unreal Engine due to the lack of updates to Source.[31] Another team began development of Boreal Alyph, which did not follow "Epistle 3" as closely. They stated their commitment to using the Source engine, describing it as a "constant fight" to modernize the graphics due to the engine's lack of user-friendliness or documentation.[31]

After canceling several further Half-Life games, Valve released a VR game, Half-Life: Alyx, in 2020.[32] Walker said the team saw VR as a way to return to the series.[33] Phil Iwaunik of PCGamesN wrote in 2021 that the cancelation of Episode Three may have benefited the legacy of Half-Life 2, citing the lack of cultural impact of Alyx and the "mystery, speculation and melancholy" of an unfinished sequel.[34] In 2024, Valve released footage and concept art of Episode Three as part of a documentary about the making of Half-Life 2.[20]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Half-Life 2: Episode One gold, Two dated, Three announced". GameSpot. 24 May 2006. Archived from the original on 25 November 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2007.
  2. ^ "Half-Life: Episode One on Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  3. ^ "Half-Life 2: Episode Two". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 23 February 2010. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  4. ^ a b Bramwell, Tom (6 June 2006). "Opening the Valve". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 15 February 2012. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  5. ^ Zwiezen, Zack (15 November 2024). "Valve reveals early gameplay of canceled Half-Life 2 Episode 3 and why it never got finished". Kotaku. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  6. ^ Wilde, Tyler (16 November 2024). "Half-Life 2: Episode 3 would've included an ice gun with 'kind of like a Silver Surfer mode,' and Valve just released footage". PC Gamer. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  7. ^ Bailey, Kat (16 November 2024). "Never-before-seen Half-Life 2: Episode 3 gameplay footage and ice gun revealed in new documentary". IGN. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  8. ^ "Marc Laidlaw (Valve) - Interview". Arcade Attack. 17 July 2017. Archived from the original on 12 October 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  9. ^ Ted Backman; Jeremy Bennett; Tristan Reidford (9 July 2008). "Advisor". Into the Pixel. Archived from the original on 2 October 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2008.
  10. ^ Decker, Logan (10 July 2008). "The first concept art from Half-Life 2: Episode Three". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 14 July 2008.
  11. ^ Chris_D (27 June 2012). "EXCLUSIVE: Half-Life 2: Episode 3 Concept Art". ValveTime. Archived from the original on 4 August 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  12. ^ "Whatever happened to Half-Life 3? The complete saga so far". PCGamesN. 25 August 2017. Archived from the original on 21 October 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  13. ^ McWhertor, Michael (7 August 2009). "Valve Studying Sign Language For Deaf Half-Life Character". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 22 August 2009. Retrieved 23 August 2009.
  14. ^ Brian Warmoth (26 March 2010). "Valve Wants Their Next 'Half-Life' To Scare You". Archived from the original on 29 March 2010. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  15. ^ Rob Crossley (9 May 2011). "The Valve manifesto". Archived from the original on 9 July 2013. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  16. ^ Calore, Michael (3 January 2011). "Vaporware 2010: The Great White Duke". Wired. Archived from the original on 28 July 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  17. ^ a b Gilbert, Ben (25 August 2017). "The world's most anticipated game may never come out — so its writer leaked the story". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 25 August 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  18. ^ a b Marks, Tom (23 March 2020). "Valve explains why Half-Life 2: Episode 3 was never made". IGN. Archived from the original on 23 March 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  19. ^ "Why Valve Gave Up On 'Multiple' Half-Life 3s". Kotaku. 23 March 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  20. ^ a b c Wilde, Tyler (16 November 2024). "'My personal failure was being stumped': Gabe Newell says finishing Half-Life 2: Episode Three just to conclude the story would've been 'copping out of [Valve's] obligation to gamers'". PC Gamer. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  21. ^ Souppouris, Aaron (2 May 2017). "Valve has no more 'Half-Life' writers left". Engadget. Archived from the original on 29 August 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  22. ^ a b c Robertson, Adi (25 August 2017). "Marc Laidlaw's coded Half-Life 'fanfic' is probably the closest we'll get to Half-Life 3". The Verge. Archived from the original on 26 August 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  23. ^ Machkovech, Sam (9 July 2020). "Valve secrets spill over—including Half-Life 3—in new Steam documentary app". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 19 July 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  24. ^ Laidlaw, Marc (28 August 2017). "Epistle 3". marclaidlaw.com. Archived from the original on 28 August 2017. Retrieved 25 September 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  25. ^ Grayson, Nathan (23 March 2020). "Why Valve gave up on 'multiple' Half-Life 3s". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 26 March 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  26. ^ Peel, Jeremy (1 March 2023). "'The narrative had to be baked into the corridors': Marc Laidlaw on writing Half-Life". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on 2 March 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  27. ^ McWhertor, Michael (28 August 2017). "Steam users are attacking Dota 2 because there's no more Half-Life". Polygon. Archived from the original on 28 August 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  28. ^ Bailey, Dustin (4 October 2017). "Project Borealis aims to bring Half-Life 2: Episode 3 to life in Unreal". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on 28 December 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  29. ^ England, Rachel (28 December 2017). "'Half-Life 3' fan venture 'Project Borealis' is taking shape". Engadget. Archived from the original on 29 December 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  30. ^ Peel, Jeremy (19 November 2018). "Half-Life 3 is now in the hands of its community, in the form of Project Borealis". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on 19 November 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  31. ^ a b Reeves, Ben. "The Race To Create Half-Life 3". Game Informer. Archived from the original on 24 December 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  32. ^ McWhertor, Michael (21 November 2019). "Half-Life: Alyx is Valve's VR-exclusive, full-length prequel to Half-Life 2". Polygon. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  33. ^ Keighley, Geoff (21 November 2019). "The Final Hours of Half-Life: Alyx - Behind Closed Doors at Valve Interview". Archived from the original on 21 November 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2019 – via YouTube.
  34. ^ Iwaunik, Phil (27 November 2021). "What if: Half-Life 2: Episode 3 came out in 2007?". PCGamesN. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
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