Wake up, Mr. Freeman
Half-Life 3 has 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 2 writer Marc Laidlaw recently had an interview with Arcade Attack where he talks about what his plans would have been for any sequels and how he would foresee the eventual Half-Life 3 to take place. Seeing as the man is no longer working at Valve, don’t take any of this to be official plans.
When questioned about whether or not Half-Life 3 would 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 an Episode 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 between HL2 and HL3 that was as dramatic as the shift between HL1 and HL2,” 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 for Half-Life 3, Laidlaw claims, “I never thought as far ahead as HL3, unless you were to say that HL3 and Episode 3 were 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 that Episode 3 would have ended Gordon Freeman’s story arc. Apparently that rumor is false. As Laidlaw puts it, “My intention was that Ep3 would simply tie up the plot threads that were particular to HL2. But it would still end like HL1 and HL2, 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 of Half-Life had the series not be unceremoniously shelved. I suppose Portal counts, as Valve fit it into the same universe, but we’re six years after the release of Portal 2, so even that series isn’t providing any kind of closure.
It seems that whatever happens with Half-Life, Gordon Freeman is never going to be at peace.
Marc Laidlaw (Valve) – Interview [Arcade Attack]
