'My personal failure was being stumped': Gabe Newell says finishing Half-Life 2: Episode 3 just to conclude the story would've been 'copping out of [Valve's] obligation to gamers'
'My personal failure was being stumped': Gabe Newell says finishing Half-Life 2: Episode 3 just to conclude the story would've been 'copping out of [Valve's] obligation to gamers'
Half-Life 2: Episode 3 never happened because Newell "couldn't figure out why doing Episode 3 was pushing anything forward."
!['My personal failure was being stumped': Gabe Newell says finishing Half-Life 2: Episode 3 just to conclude the story would've been 'copping out of [Valve's] obligation to gamers'](https://sh.itjust.works/pictrs/image/c1202be2-0c19-4085-9e0a-dcaa41a4bfa0.png?format=webp&thumbnail=256)
Gabe is absolutely right on this. If it doesn't completely recenter the first person shooter genre, it's not really a half life game.
Valve really only releases things that shake the industry up. I've been playing through Alyx for the first time this weekend and oh my god is it good.
Valve buys up dev teams that are about to shake the industry up. Valve hasn't actually been the ones to make something new in a long time. TFC, CS, Portal, DoD, L4D, Alien Swarm, Dota 2... were all made by outside dev teams that Valve absorbed and put their name on. The only things Valve have actually made, themselves, in the last 5 years are Alyx and CS2, neither of which brought anything new to the industry (although they are wonderfully-executed games).
Personally, I'm not a fan of this practice, because I feel like Valve inadvertently stifles these studios after they bring them onboard. For instance, the team from DigiPen that Valve bought for their Portal tech? Imagine if they were still able to make games. Imagine if they were still able to stretch their creativity and create new tech and ideas. Instead, their intellectual properties are all tied up at Valve and they got to release two whole games in the last 20 years. Who knows what we could be missing out on from these guys if they were able to actually still make stuff.
Episodes 1 and 2 were fun but they in no way “recentered the first person shooter genre.”
I wish they didn't feel this pressure to push forward the industry with EP3. Full Half Life 3, maybe, but I would have preferred a closing chapter with the tech and features available.
This is such an irrational bar to surpass
Episode 1 and 2 had small improvements. Episode 3 was scheduled to have an ice gun. Seems inline to me.
If it worked anything like the GLOO Cannon from Prey, I would have been satisfied even if it were the only major innovation in the episode.
STFU Gabe, It's been 15 years.