• neidu2@feddit.nl
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    7 months ago

    It wouldn’t surprise me if Portal 3 is released at some point. I’m skeptical, but I’m not outruling it. The game is whacky enough that there are probably a lot of interesting and cool things that can be implemented into a worthy successor.

    I am, on the other hand, utterly convinced that HL3 is not going to happen. The previous two were groundbreaking, stretching limits of what one can do with a physics engine. I’m having a hard time imagining that it can be pulled off a 3rd time, simply because I am unable to imagine any sory of content that would all: a) fit with the series so that it still feels like a HL game
    b) interesting enough to allow for the innovation that the previous two games had
    c) good enough to justify a new game rather than just a tech demo

    I sincerely hope that my opinion on the matter is simply a matter of failure of imagine, and that a good HL successor is released at some point, but sadly I think I’m right on this one.

    • GoodbyeBlueMonday@startrek.website
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      7 months ago

      Half-Life: Alyx is mostly what I hoped we’d get from HL3, inasmuch as it hits your points a & b for sure, and IMHO c (though I know that’s not agreed on by everyone). It had great action and expository setpieces (avoiding spoilers), and the (albeit relatively simple) puzzles definitely added something to Half-Life that really worked for me.

      Unfortunately it didn’t solve all VR issues (melee being an obvious one), and not least of which the cost. I played it on a cheap (~$100), janky old WMR headset, but not everyone can do that without vomiting, so a great PC and good headset are a hefty price, which is probably the biggest hurdle for a full-scale 3 in VR. Especially considering there just aren’t many other games worth making that investment in, IMHO. I played the hell out of Alyx, a little of a few other games…but Alyx was the pinnacle of what VR could do for me.

      • CleoTheWizard@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Alyx did what most Valve games do, it advanced the industry. It is absolutely a half life game and it fits but it isn’t HL3. It isn’t that grandiose.

        For people who accuse it of being a glorified tech demo, well, that’s exactly what Half Life 1 and 2 are. The sole reason for the existence of HL2 is just to sell the source engine to devs and to push Steam forward. It is a tech demo. Its puzzles are tech demos.

        What Alyx did is implement proper gunplay and looting mechanics and really showcased how possible it is to tell a story in VR without taking your POV from you. I’d argue that there still isn’t a single VR game that nails one of the foundational pillars of Alyx as much as Valve did.

      • A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        IIRC, Valve pretty much admitted that they really have no interest in making games anymore, unless they have a interesting technology to play with and learn, and the game is an excuse for that.

        Thats why Alyx got made, cause they wanted to play with VR.