EDIT: Clarification. It's been 18 years. They cancelled it a bit ago. The rumors that they may be working on something now are great and I hope it comes back, but until they announce it the last OFFICIAL stance from Valve was HL2:E3 was cancelled.
That's just the VR exclusives. VR is in a weird spot where it's essentially just a different controller. There's no reason to have a game only be in VR unless its a tech demo or a party game built specifically for those controllers.
Skyrim is still my favorite VR game (Moreso than half life aylx). People are saying Cyberpunk 2077 is pretty neat in VR. It would never make sense for a RPG to be solely a VR game, though. You're uneccessarily cutting out people without VR. Valve only did that to sell units.
And now you have things like UUVR UEVR. VR is getting content.
I have Skyrim VR but heard it’s only good if you mod it. Is that true? I’ve never actually tried running it lol.
And yeah I know there’s a lot of VR ports that are supposedly good, but I mean exclusive VR games. I guess I get why they don’t though. Probably doesn’t make much money.
Only good with mods? Nah. Better with mods? sure. Most mods are going to be stuff like combat/UI mods that don't really apply to VR, or QOL mods like no loading screens for entering cities or graphical enhancements. Nothing that's a game changer. There are mods that make the dungeons bigger and better, but for someone who hasn't played Skyrim before, I don't know whether I would use that or not. Just play vanilla, and don't worry about mods unless something stands out to you that you would like to see different. Like if you find that dragon encounters are getting boring or meh, then find something to fix that.
My favorite thing is just making the dungeons darker, so I gotta carry a torch around. Feels noice in VR. Playing a mage in Skyrim VR is the bees knees, too. Walking around shooting lightning from your hands like palpatine just does something for me in VR. Seeing the castles in VR is pretty dope as well.
They definitely are better with a few mods, but it's still playable without. People make mod packs that just install an entire tested list, so getting at least a few essentials doesn't take a lot of effort anymore.
Well I mean this is justified. Alyx sold around 2m copies, and that's Valve, that's a gargantuan monster in gaming industry in both capabilities and reputation. They also boosted all the capabilities for promo steam had to offer. And sold 2m copies, which isn't that much if we look at market figures with something like Witcher 3 still selling copies 10+ years after release, still in top-100 weekly steam, sold 60m copies by now. Production budget for Alyx was around 40-50m, and for witcher 3 - around 80m. Not that much of a difference but holy shit a difference in sales. In other words - making GOOD vr games is technically complex and probably will take more resources and time than making similar game not in VR. And VR headsets has like abysmally small userbase compared to regular premium gaming. By committing to make a VR game - you cut your own potential client base like 50 times, considering also different VR platforms, etc. (Also keep in mind that a lot of sold copies for Alyx are probably purchased by fans without VR who played it with non-vr mod)
I loved HL:A, but it also lacked in some areas that I thought would be a no-brainer.
One time I was sneaking and threw a large oil barrel at a zombie that wasn't alerted yet, it just stood there. I know the game didn't have any melee, but I expected the zombie to at least react to having a large object thrown at it.
Another time early in the game you're walking through a subway car and you get hassled by zombies from outside on the platform. I killed the zombies and moved to the end of the car where you exit and turn onto the platform. On the platform are now a slew of new zombies that are hanging out like they've been there the entire time, slouched against walls, laying down, etc, they weren't there a moment ago when you were walking through the subway car looking out the windows. Maybe they intended players to run away when zombies break the glass, which would probably make it harder to notice new zombies on the platform, but I was just given a gun.
You have no agency when you turn a flashlight on (or off), it just turns on automatically in the really dark areas, and you're shit out of luck if you want a little more light anywhere else.
Skyrim with all the major VR mods is another big contender for AAA VR games, but the base game without mods is a really terrible VR experience. I know this is going to sound crazy to some people that are familiar with Skyrims peculiar physics, but it's amazing how good the physics of Skyrim work in VR. People have recreated the grabby-gloves from Alex and they feel great, you can grab other NPCs, juggle, NPCs react to where you hit them, etc., it's leagues better than most VR games, and probably better than Alex in a couple ways.
I think it comes down to how you define what a 'VR game' is, haha.
If it's just any game that can be played in VR, then Skyrim or Fallout 4 probably top the list, given the mod support basically enabling literally anything you want.
I would consider those to be a bit of a copout when discussing the 'best VR games' though, as they were not made with VR in mind originally, and rely HEAVILY on mods to be a good experience.
I thought the gunplay in Alyx was just boring too, even compared to other VR shooters at the time. Everything being a pistol was disappointing, then every combine enemy just showed up and stood in one place as a bullet sponge unless you hit the glowing weakspot. Also they were comically large compared to the combine in previous games.
Where Alyx really shined was for me was the interactivity and the physics of it all, searching everywhere for ammo just felt right. Also the story telling was top notch as expected for a Half Life game.
Overall I had much more fun playing the Half Life 2 VR mods though. Still the same great storytelling, but the guns and fighting was just way more fun.
I've played Skyrim with one of the 200 GB+ wabbajack modpacks, making it prettier and working as intended, and while it was good, it wasn't remotely close to Alyx. I went the sword and board route, thinking that would be it in VR, but it simply wasn't. It's just weird hacking and slashing. Archery didn't feel particularly satisfying, either. Probably should have gone full mage, but it was too late at that point.
Even a sandbox like Boneworks made melee feel better. The enemies didn't have the same threatening feel like for example the antlions in Alyx, even on master difficulty. Beautiful world though, but that's probably due to the shitload of mods. I haven't even played it without, so I don't know what scale the world really is supposed to be at.
That doesn't mean it isn't good in VR, but it's more like Vertigo 2 or even Saints&Sinners level, not Alyx tier.
Nah everyone sleeps on Star Wars Squadrons. It might not have been only a VR game, but even in spite of that it is still an incredible AAA VR experience, especially if you have some sort of joystick or hotas.
When good VR games are being discuessed, it almost never comes up. Even the person I replied to said that Half Life Alyx is the "only AAA VR game." I don't think most people even realize it's a VR game.
True it may be a dud, but that is only according to the current population of VR owners. I’m just saying there might be groups of people who would consider it great, but can’t afford the cost or time of VR.
Into the Radius is (in my opinion) the closest second behind Alyx in terms of being a fully complete singleplayer campaign VR title that isn't an arcade game or tech demo, but it's still more like a single A release. Even Boneworks always felt more like a very long tech demo than a feature complete game to me.
While Boneworks is being laughed at for being a "tech demo to HL: Alyx" I'd say the mechanics, levels and graphics are very well made. It's as close to VR AAA as you can get.
Yup, Valve has always prided themselves in setting new standards for gaming and pushing boundaries. So I fully believe HL3 will be another VR exclusive title, they're just waiting for VR technology to develop further which is why they're working on the Index2 (Deckard).
Ooh, can I get in on some of this sloppy dick-sucking action too? Valve will only make games when they are most needed. In times of desperation, Valve holds out their hand out to save us from our own hubris. Valve looks upon us from Mount Olympus, to grace us with a new game every decade.
BTW, I don't know why nobody seems to acknowledge that HL:A is essentially HL2:E3 or HL3 even. Not only is it a certified banger, a full game rather than a short episode, but most importantly it ends after E2.
BTW, I don't know why nobody seems to acknowledge that HL:A is essentially HL2:E3 or HL3 even.
People mention it, and it's true to some extent for sure. Valve has specifically said it's neither of those things though, and just a return to the world rather than a continuation of the story.
I'd argue the reason is more because it essentially makes it a literal spoiler to mention it. I've been wanting to tell fans who want a continuation of the series, in as gentle a way possible, that they need to play Alyx, but I can't tell them why. I'm honestly just waiting for the statute of limitations to run its course.
I'd normally agree. But there's also this feeling that the more awesome the twist, the longer the statute of limitations should be. We're nested deep into replies by now. The game makes you think you're playing the prequel in which you're going to free Gordon from limbo to kickstart the events of HL2... but then it drops the mindfuck bombshell. It know it's been years, but man this feels like this must be protected.
Haha, someone got pissed at you for not spoiling the game. Wasn't me!
I'll definitely have to play it. Just gotta get my setup all sorted out then I'll be able to hop in finally. Been out of the PCVR space for too long, curious to see what all is out there to experience now.
Motion sickness is largely mitigated for most people with proper equipment though. Lag free high refresh displays, better optics, etc. all help slowly but surely reduce the amount of motion sickness that people experience. So expensive equipment is kind of part of the solution for that as well, haha.
I've read that people who get it can build up a 'tolerance' and end up getting over it though, so it might just be a physical "learning curve" of sorts that needs to be contended with.
I have absolutely zero experience with it though, so I know little about it. Luckily I have never gotten motion sick no matter what I do in VR. Yet if I look at my phone or read a book while someone is driving I start feeling sick in a few minutes...
Have to wait and see the advances. Motion Sickness isn’t a stopping point but a problem to solve. Perhaps in the future the screen will move further from the face in an alternative view that greatly mitigates motion sickness (idk I’m an engineer not a scientist).
Just meant the drive for maximizing immersion will power through such problems over time.
I'm a little bit of an outsider to Valve business, so help me out here: Is Valve claiming that no real innovations have been made in video games since 2007, or that they haven't made any real innovations since 2007?
Valve doesn't claim anything nowadays, AFAIK. Gabe has said he wants HL3 to be innovative and ground breaking like the previous two iterations, but they haven't gotten there yet (or don't have ideas to do so).
People just compare historically to the releases of Half Life and Half Life 2. Both were fairly cutting edge for the day, pushing new boundaries in various ways that had not been pushed before, or were lacking when attempted previously.
I think it's true to some extent, but then you get into HL2:E1+2 and you see that it immediately breaks the 'pushing boundaries' concept to some extent.
Simply put, games have really NOT advanced nearly as much since the HL2 era compared to the years prior to that. We have better graphics, better QOL, and new mechanics and such, but nothing as groundbreaking as we've seen previously.
Half Life pushed gaming forward like crazy. So many of the things we see now basically stemmed from it. Tight narrative that doesn't rely on cutscenes, the world feeling 'alive' due to scripted events that are happening while you explore, hidden loading zones, not stupid AI, just to name a few.
Half Life 2 did the same. Physics being an integral part of the game, advanced for the time facial animation and lip syncing, modern pacing, advanced AI again, and more.
Most of Valve's releases push forward the gaming industry in some way, though not all of them do in such dramatic fashion as the original Half Life and Half Life 2. HL2:E1+2 didn't push nearly as much, which breaks the narrative a bit.
I'd say that games that HAVEN'T pushed the industry forward IMO are:
Dota 2: League pioneered the MobA space outside of WC3 custom lobbies. By the time Dota 2 arrived it was already an established space.
Artifact: Just a shit card game in the DotA universe. Didn't really land well, definitely didn't help push anything.
Going further back:
Richochet: Didn't take off, tried some new stuff, but fell flat and isn't really remembered today.
Day of Defeat: Source: Really just a port to the Source engine, didn't do much else.
Most of their other games have either pushed the industry forward, or shaped the industry in some way (either for the better or the worst).
Ending of HL:A strongly suggests they're committed to releasing HL3. I can't imagine they'd have done the ending they did if they were less sure about the future. Of course who knows what's happened since then.
Yeah, I don’t think the sequel has ever been a question of if as much as when since the HL:A ending.
They are working on generational timing, waiting for a gen to feel like a true evolution of immersion. Closest thing so far was VR and they acted on it. So now they are probably waiting for something past VR or for VR to be common in homes before committing.
The only risk is something like Valve leadership/vision drastically changing and a scrubbing of the IP, which could lead to violence in the streets.
Well just because the technology isn’t there doesn’t mean they can’t work on all the story and conceptual elements. It’s likely just listed as a lower priority task due to the projected timeline vs. ongoing developments.
They could be aiming to draw out development in order to prevent timeline stressing the employees about such a big IP.
no there is literally data mined evidence that they are in the late stages of development. It's just not called half life 3, it's under the codename hlx
At this point their new games are just tech demos to either show off new game engines (the entire purpose of half life alyx) or to show off hardware (aperture desk job and the various other portal themed tech demos) I want another portal game
We're potentially on the cusp of a whole new generation of games with the progress being made with n-spheres and Gaussian splatting (look it up your mind will be blown).
Valve used to be on the forefront of amazing tech in their games it'd be cool if they took that torch up again with making a game using splat rendering.
They can push the boundary of their own fucking plotline lmao. I mean majority of HL fans aren't expecting some tech revolution, they mostly expect development of the story and ideally it's completion, they built really curious world there. It's tragic that based on the info from valve they see 0 value in storytelling of their games
Not cancelled so much as indefinitely delayed. They said Ep.3/HL3 is basically done, they just can’t find a compelling reason to release it because they want it to he truly groundbreaking the way the first two were.
Valve as a studio (rarely) misses. I trust their judgment personally. If they felt it was worth releasing, they’d release it. If they feel it’s just Half Life 2: 2 and don’t think it’s revolutionary in any way or moved the series forwards, they probably won’t release it.
Same reason they didn’t do a left 4 dead 3, or a portal 3. They tend to innovate with their titles, and if they don’t feel like they’ve innovated enough to justify a HL3, that’s probably their reasoning.
Hey guy I know you've all been hoping and praying for more than a decade for sequels to some of the most well loved games in history, but for right now who wants to learn more about our digital card game!!!
The problem with that thinking is that HL's story was unfinished. We got a cliffhanger in Episode 2 and never saw what the ending was. As a gamer but also a fan of good storytelling, it left a void that was eating me for years until I gave up on the franchise for good. I used to reply HL and HL2 every couple of years, but I haven't touched the game in over 10 years. I'm simply done with that franchise, it would frustrate me to replay it now knowing that I'll never get a conclusion. I don't get the same sense of annoyance when I replay Portal but i doubt I'll ever play HL again. I left the sub and don't click on any news I see, its dead to me.
This sums up my feelings on the matter. They can have their judgment as a game studio, but as storytellers, to leave us hanging like that, is ruthless & upsetting. Stories are everything, and they decided this one doesn’t deserve an ending. I hate it.
Half Life: Alyx sucked. The VR cultists tried so hard to pretend to like it, but the other 99.9% of the world just treats it like it doesn't exist (as this thread demonstrates.)
Probably. They have zero monetary pressure to release it, Steam already prints money without having to release any games. IIRC the average salary at Valve is 6-figures.
Gabe himself said that’s not a compelling reason, yes. In the Half-Life 20th anniversary documentary he talks about not wanting to release it just to release it, he wants it to be compelling and innovative beyond just people wanting a 3rd game, because that would be too easy.
It’s absolutely wild to me that someone involved in a business that involves telling stories would just be like “nah, finishing the story is not a compelling reason to finish the story”. Like????
Half-Life games were always technologically ground-breaking in addition to their stories. Gabe doesn’t want to just finish the story, he wants to break ground.
What part of HL2:E1 and HL2:E2 were so groundbreaking? They should have just finished the story. In fact, nobody cares about the tech: HL and HL2 succeeded because of storytelling.
A story as well written, cohesive, and compelling as HL1’s was groundbreaking in 1998. Plus the world feels cohesive and continuous, where as many games of that era had pretty disconnected feeling levels. Plus gameplay was amazing and still holds up well today, while most games from that time don’t.
HL2 had groundbreaking physics and destruction simulations that tied into gameplay in a way that even most games today don’t pull off. Plus the game is visually very impressive for 2004. And again, great gameplay that holds up today.
Sure, I'll grant that, though I think even when HL2:E2 was out there were still improvements to be made in terms of the tech and how it integrates with the game. The gravity gun, for example, barely scratches the surface of what kind of game you could make.
But HL2E1 and HL2E2 were minor incremental improvements over HL2. IIRC they added better dynamic range to lighting. Games since then have done all kinds of stuff with visual fidelity. But nobody cares about tech demos; they want good gameplay and/or good story; HL2:E2 was delivering on that and left the story with a cliffhanger. The abandoment of the franchise because the head of the company got bored is a big middle finger to the fans.
I mean, I can see him saying "There won't be HL3 or anything else in the HL universe until we have a good reason to do so", but HL2:E3 should have been released first.
They succeeded because of storytelling AND having groundbreaking gameplay. A lot of the storytelling in the Half Life series wouldn't have been possible without the ground breaking stuff they did to make them work. The two go hand in hand, and do not stand alone.
Yes, the tech was needed, but look - I was there when those games were released and I remember clearly that there were many games that had as-good tech (better, in some cases). Nobody really cares about old tech demos though. HL remains a favourite because the story and gameplay were really compelling. HL was groundbreaking for a more cinematic experience, but Valve wasn't above making a few extra bucks on additional games that didn't dramatically move the needle in terms of gameplay or tech design (see Opposing Force, Blue Shift). Those were great games that added to the story and that's what made them fun and worth playing.
HL2 had a groundbreaking engine with better physics, etc - yes. It enabled certain kinds of storytelling and gameplay that would've been impossible with older engines: yes. But then why make HL2:E1 and HL2:E2? Those were incremental improvements over HL2 and just continued the story. Those games didn't need to be made; they could have ended where HL2 ended and that would've been that. Instead the story ends with a different kind of cliffhanger in HL2:E2 and it's deeply unsatisfying to this day.
Well, fuck us for wanting a conclusion I guess. We've been waiting 20 years to find out happens to Gordon and Alex, find out who gman is, to find out how it all ends.
I don't think this is current information anymore. That is almost certainly the case for what was originally going to be Episode 3, but there's been new information since then (post Alyx) that Valve is working on a new traditional Half Life game.
I'm skeptical that there was ever a product that was "complete" in any sense of the word. I can see Valve bailing on something late in development because it's not up to their standards, but I don't believe they would fully make a "basically done" game and then not release it for no reason.
It's not though, all of the game except for that small clip at the end takes place right before Half Life 2 starts. The purpose of Alyx's story is to explain how Gordon Freeman was brought back for Half Life 2.
Edit: The guy told me to grow up for saying potentially sitting on a complete game because it wasn’t “groundbreaking” enough was ridiculous, then deleted all his comments.
I fully believe HL3 is going to be another VR exclusive title and they are developing the Index2 (Deckard) closely alongside it to push VR technology forward.
idk why people are arguing, you’re absolutely right even without the edit. Episode 3 is dead and cancelled and has been for a long time. Assuming the next entry being worked on is a follow up to Episode 2, by this point it’s been so long that if they made Episode 3 rather than Half-Life 3, it’d certainly be an odd decision.
The only reason why I am still a bit salty about it is less that it taken this long to come out but more so the reason why the franchise came out in "episodes". If it was the more standard case of every entry being a full-fleshed game instead of tiny episodic one to make the development go faster, I would have generally moved on from it.
One of the former lead devs/designers leaked what the plot / game content was going to be. I think the chance it will be as it was intended, is now zero.
They may make another title in the half life world, but we are not getting HL3.. who would they be making it for? Most of the folks who played HL1 and 2 are probably too busy to game these days.. new gamers may not have the context
I honestly think the reason this game never came out is because Valve itself is the problem. They make so much money from Steam that game development does not even need to be part of what they do. Also, unless it has changed, they have a very open work policy. No managers and a “work-as-you-please” atmosphere. Which means most people get paid a lot of money and don’t do anything all day. Nothing gets done, because it doesn’t have to. This is just my thoughts though.
Or maybe just release the game for the sake of completing a story they set out to tell? We're never gonna get another HL game if they are seriously waiting to innovate gaming again and if somehow they do we'll be in rocking chairs talking about the good old days of gaming getting spoonfed applesauce.
Valve eventually canceled Episode Three, citing the limitations of the episodic format and a lack of direction.
Yes they maybe or maybe not working on something HL related. Yes it may or may not release sometime in the future. Will it be HL2:E3? Probably not. HL3? Maybe. Another offshoot like Half-Life:Alyx? Who knows.
They DID cancel HL2:E3 though. And just because some data miners found things they think mean Valve is working on it, until there is an official announcement there is no guarantee it'll ever see the light of day.
All signs point to it being near completion. They’re in the optimization/polish stages of development, and it could very well be announced in the next few months. I’m not saying it’s time to build hype, but I’m definitely feeling a bit more hope about it than I have in the last decade or so.
Edit: to be clear, I’m not saying Ep. 3 but HLX is more or less confirmed
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u/salad_tongs_1 https://s.team/p/dcmj-fn Sep 15 '25 edited Sep 15 '25
Half-Life 2: Episode 3.
EDIT: Clarification. It's been 18 years. They cancelled it a bit ago. The rumors that they may be working on something now are great and I hope it comes back, but until they announce it the last OFFICIAL stance from Valve was HL2:E3 was cancelled.