Wake up, Mr. Freeman
Half-Life 3has become a bit of a running gag in the video game industry. With either perpetual delays or work never being started, the fate of the series is completely unknown at this point. We basically could throw out ludicrous ideas and be at the same general position that Valve is.
Half-Life 2writer Marc Laidlaw recently had an interview withArcade Attackwhere he talks about what his plans would have been for any sequels and how he would foresee the eventualHalf-Life 3to take place. Seeing as the man isno longer working at Valve, don’t take any of this to be official plans.
When questioned about whether or notHalf-Life 3would ever see a release, Laidlaw pretty bluntly put it as, “No idea.” I bet even if you were Gabe Newell you wouldn’t have a clue. Following up that statement, Laidlaw did confirm he had ideas for anEpisode 3.
“They [the episodes] were all supposed to take the series to a point where I could step away from it and leave it to the next generation. I had hoped for a reset betweenHL2andHL3that was as dramatic as the shift betweenHL1andHL2,” Laidlaw states. “I honestly don’t know if anyone else shared this goal, but it seemed important to me to give ultimate freedom to whoever inherited the series, with my own personal set of loose ends tied up to my satisfaction.”
As for any plot specifics forHalf-Life 3, Laidlaw claims, “I never thought as far ahead asHL3, unless you were to say thatHL3andEpisode 3were the same thing. I will say that I expected every installment would end without resolution, forever and ever…”
There had been a rumor going around thatEpisode 3would have ended Gordon Freeman’s story arc. Apparently that rumor is false. As Laidlaw puts it, “My intention was thatEp3would simply tie up the plot threads that were particular toHL2. But it would still end likeHL1andHL2, with Gordon in an indeterminate space, on hold, waiting for the next game to begin. So one cliffhanger after another.”
As it sounds, we likely would still be waiting for some form ofHalf-Lifehad the series not be unceremoniously shelved. I supposePortalcounts, as Valve fit it into the same universe, but we’re six years after the release ofPortal 2, so even that series isn’t providing any kind of closure.
It seems that whatever happens withHalf-Life, Gordon Freeman is never going to be at peace.
