The Half-Life series is finally returning, but it won’t involve Gordan Freeman being awoken by the G-Man for another adventure, as Valve has officially announced that the next entry in the series will be a VR title called Half-Life: Alyx. The Half-Life series has been dormant since 2007 with the release of Half-Life: Episode Two, even though Gabe Newell loves to tease Half-Life 3 despite the fact that there has never been any real indication that the game is in development.
Valve’s main concern has shifted to running Steam and it seems that there was little interest in continuing the Half-Life series, as a real third entry could never live up to the myth that had built up around it. This isn’t to say that the series has been totally forgotten, as Half-Life 2 is still receiving updates on Steam, but the notion of there being a new Half-Life game seemed unlikely for a long time.
There have been rumors circulating over the past few months about a VR Half-Life game that is being developed by Valve and it seems that they were on the money, as Valve’s Twitter account has revealed the existence of Half-Life: Alyx, which is an upcoming VR game set in the Half-Life universe. Valve has only revealed the name of Half-Life: Alyx, but more information about the game will be revealed on Thursday at 10:00 am Pacific Time.
Valve revealed in 2018 that it was developing games again and it was speculated that a new Half-Life game was on the agenda. The failure of Artifact to gather an audience may have helped to hasten this process along and prompted the company to go back to its familiar roots, even if the series will be going in a new direction. Virtual reality gaming has badly needed a flagship game to help sell the concept to the mainstream audience and a new Half-Life game developed by Valve has the potential to do just that.
Half-Life: Alyx might not be the true sequel that fans have been asking for, but it could lead to a revival of the series and a real version of Half-Life 3. We live in a world where Shenmue 3 has been announced and is coming soon. Shenmue III is being released in 2019 and there is a good chance that the mythical third Half-Life game won’t be far behind, which means that the dreams of yesteryear’s gamers are finally being made a reality.
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Half-Life: Alyx will be presented in greater detail on November 21 at 10:00 am Pacific Time.
Source: Valve
