HL3: Episode 2

I know the actual title is HL2: Ep2, but even Gabe has said they consider it HL3.

Anyway, there have been several upgrades for this next epsisode. Dynamic lighting so that models now self shadow. Cinematic physics, so that environments are more destructable. Higher res textures, updated models, new enemies and weapons. Yadda, yadda and the proverbial yadda.

There are several sites with vids. 3DGamers has all of them together for convenience, but Filefront and others have them to. Definately worth checking out.

If they consider it HL3, they should of called it HL3. It's just extra chapters of HL2 though. Having the name Half Life 3 would of probably sold more copies, so i don't know why they didn't go with that. HL3 will probably be a whole different story, so maybe that's why these are just extra little bonus episodes.

Nah, interview with Gabe indicated it's actually HL3.

There will not be anything else in this universe after Episode 3.
They are going to answer everything.

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Originally Posted by Terry

Nah, interview with Gabe indicated it's actually HL3.

There will not be anything else in this universe after Episode 3.
They are going to answer everything.

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Whoa, whoa, whoa....so they're going to wrap-up the ENTIRE Half-Life universe storyline within the next 12-15 hours of gameplay (i.e. Ep2 and Ep3)???

I guess it can be done, but it seems so.....anticlimactic. Don't you guys agree? The original Half Life came out in 1998 and truly revolutionized the genre and really gaming in general in alot of ways. Then we waited 6 long years for a sequel that was superb but that answered nothing (if anything it created more questions), and now it is ALL going to be wrapped up in 3 meager expansion packs (yes, sorry Gabe, but thats basically what they are) with 5-7 hours of gameplay each?

I guess I just figured as a Half Life fan, that the series started with such a huge bang, and there was so much hype and expectation surronding the sequel, that I figured the series would finally go out as tremendously as it came in....not with the release of a couple "Episodic content packs", and suddenly be over.

Wow. Now I'm kinda bummed.

Yeh I am bummed too, I figured the expansions would solve the HL 2 story but leave off on a slight cliffhanger that would get wrapped by HL 3 a few years later.

I doubt anything is final yet. I wouldn't just say there will never be Half Life 3...nor would i say Half Life 2: Episodes 1, 2, and 3 are actually Half Life 3. If they were Half Life 3, they'd be called Half Life 3. That's my stance on it. I don't care what Gabe thinks =p

If the series were to end at the end of these episodes it would be a shame, but i really don't see it happening. Wouldn't be the worst thing in the world though, I thought the first Ep was done very well. The 3 episodes in a whole will probably be quite satisfying. Valve is really great at what they do.

Ep2 is longer than Ep1
And if Ep3 is longer than Ep2 then the whole 3 episodes will be larger than HL1 and HL2 combined.

I would say that would sum up and solve the whole story pretty well.

I've also heard that Valve intend to end the Half-Life series with these three episodes, but then we've all heard similar statements / rumours from other studios before (e.g. Westwood, RIP, stated there would be NO sequel to C&C: Red Alert. We all know how that turned out :D ). So I'll first, wait and see how episode 3 ends before coming to any conclusions.

It has been stated that Valve that they consider episodes 1-3 to be Half-Life 3. They released it this way so that there wouldn't be another 5-6 year wait before "Half Life 3."

Either way, I'd like to see the series continue. After all it does have one of the most engaging "worlds" ever created for a computer game, or for that matter any media form.

HL2 - Episode 3 will not be the last Half-Life. Unless Gordon somehow dies at the end. Then hopefully we'll get HL3 starring Lamarr!

What are the basic storylines that go along with each Episode? I will probably never play them because I don't have time. But I don't want to spoil other people looking forward to playing them so perhaps there is some link I could read about them if no one feels like divulging it themselves?

guess it all comes down to if they think they can make money off of it... if they can they'll do more.. if not.. byee

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Originally Posted by DJBeanPole17

What are the basic storylines that go along with each Episode? I will probably never play them because I don't have time. But I don't want to spoil other people looking forward to playing them so perhaps there is some link I could read about them if no one feels like divulging it themselves?

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Why not just read an FAQ at GameFAQs.com. You can probably figure out most of it through that.

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Originally Posted by DJBeanPole17

What are the basic storylines that go along with each Episode? I will probably never play them because I don't have time. But I don't want to spoil other people looking forward to playing them so perhaps there is some link I could read about them if no one feels like divulging it themselves?

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The first episode chronicles the escape from City 17. If anyone knows anything futher than this please mark it with a spoiler because I would not like to see it :)

And play it, it only takes a few hours and it develops the characters better than most RPGs these days.

Kam, I would definitely love to make an attempt at playing it, but being a fulltime student while working about a 12hr/day job doesn't leave me much freetime :( [+BONUS!!!!!!!!!! = GIRLFRIEND]

I will google for it when I have time :p

I don't understand you guys. Here is how it goes down.

1. They finish driving out the aliens.
2. The reproductive dampening field goes away and people start breeding like rabbits again.
3. Gordon and Alex get hitched.
4. Alex gets fat and cuts her hair, and then spends the rest of her life making Gordon miserable...just like any other marriage.

See, they could easily wrap that up in a 6-8 hour episode. :D :p

i think the graphical improvements in the expansions/episodes does make it more HL3 than anything else. when episode three comes out, it will still graphically rival any brand new game, whereas HL2 out the box is already a bit dated.

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Originally Posted by brblx

i think the graphical improvements in the expansions/episodes does make it more HL3 than anything else. when episode three comes out, it will still graphically rival any brand new game, whereas HL2 out the box is already a bit dated.

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If they are going to make this title stand out through sheer graphical power, they have a lot of stuff on their plate to deal with.

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Originally Posted by Spaceman Spiff

...now it is ALL going to be wrapped up in 3 meager expansion packs (yes, sorry Gabe, but thats basically what they are) with 5-7 hours of gameplay each?

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The tone of it seems a little wrong, finishing off the storyline in 3 little expansions, but as far as playtime, remember that that is 15-21 hours total; That right there is longer than most games in the first place. Add in HL1 and HL2, and that's a pretty good sized story.

Hold on there. The Episodes are NOT the end of the HL story line. There are at least three interviews that clearly support this.

A quote from a Game Informer Interview with Doug

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GI: But if Episode Three is ending the trilogy…

Lombardi: But not ending Half-Life. Just the trilogy.

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Quote from Eurogamer:

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Eurogamer: So far you've announced three episodes - is that all? Any more planned beyond that?

Gabe Newell: There are three that are in this arc. (italics mine)

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The trilogy was entended to be HL3, but because Ep1 started exactly where HL2 left off, and they were going to be experimenting with episodic content, they decided it would be safer to make them extensions of HL2. There were also some distribution factors dealing with stuff that had already been printed.

Anyway, HL3 (HL4, whatever) has not been officially confirmed but Gabe has stated that after the episodes the next chapter of the HL story could be outsourced (Similar to Gearbox with Op4) and Valve would start work on another project they have been wanting to do for awhile.

I'm still bitter about how poorly HL2 ep1 ran on my comp. :mad:

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Originally Posted by r'aggro

I'm still bitter about how poorly HL2 ep1 ran on my comp. :mad:

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It ran great on mine, you try turning off AA?

Naw, it wasn't about frames at all. The issue was load freezes, looping sound crash, ect. Saw lots of *****ing about it on Steampowered, so I know I wasn't the only one. You either got lucky or didn't.

Unfortunately those problems were around before Ep1. Don't know if they were indicative to a certain chipset or graphics driver, but yes... many reported problems with them.

I still get the looping sound problem in HL2DM occasionally, but alt-tabbing usually solves it. It also helped to add the command line perameter " -heapsize 102400" to the game's shortcut. Set the amount @ half your RAM, i.e. for a gig it would look like " -heapsize 512000" (minus quotes); also do not forget the space before the dash at the beginning or it will not work. Lastly, increase Steam and the game to "high" priority in XP. These things have almost wiped the problem for me.

If you need any help just PM me.

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Originally Posted by Sinnersis

I've also heard that Valve intend to end the Half-Life series with these three episodes, but then we've all heard similar statements / rumours from other studios before (e.g. Westwood, RIP, stated there would be NO sequel to C&C: Red Alert. We all know how that turned out :D ). So I'll first, wait and see how episode 3 ends before coming to any conclusions.

It has been stated that Valve that they consider episodes 1-3 to be Half-Life 3. They released it this way so that there wouldn't be another 5-6 year wait before "Half Life 3."

Either way, I'd like to see the series continue. After all it does have one of the most engaging "worlds" ever created for a computer game, or for that matter any media form.

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The reason we got a red alert 2 was because EA bought westwood and wanted to milk the franchise for cash (no im not bitter).

I highly doubt valve gets bought out or ends up in financial trouble any time soon so there is a pretty good chance they will stick with it.

I hope they do finish the story in these episodes, everyone always drags series out forever trying to get cash out of them and not respecting the story. it seems from the features they are adding to episode 2 its got a good chance of being a lot bigger than episode 1 was and able to cover more story.

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Originally Posted by Sadai

The reason we got a red alert 2 was because EA bought westwood and wanted to milk the franchise for cash (no im not bitter).

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That was more or less my point. Regardless of what is said, as long as there is money in it we're likely to, eventually, see a "sequel" of some sort to almost any franchise.