Half-Life 2: Episodes Two and Three confirmed
by Alan Rose 
{ May 25th 2006 at 8:25PM }
As we wait patiently for next week's release of Half-Life 2: Episode One, Valve has confirmed that Episode Two will ship by the end of the year, and will be the subject of a sneak peek included with the first expansion. Meanwhile, Episode Three is already in development and has been confirmed for a late 2007 release.
How many of you have purchased SiN Episodes: Emergence, or BioWare's Neverwinter Nights premium modules? What other franchises would you like to see deliver episodic content?
See also: HL2: Episode One site is up, with plot details, Half-Life 2 storyline cheat sheet
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Nintendo Kiddy @ May 25th 2006 8:31PM
This game was not so hot in my highly esteemed opinion. Feel free to agree.
SuiXide @ May 25th 2006 8:34PM
I personally can't wait for Episode One, Two, and Three. Half-Life 2 was an amazing singleplayer experience, and everyone hates cliffhanger endings.
MDJ @ May 25th 2006 8:38PM
You are wrong. Half Life 2 kicks much ass.
Nintendo Kiddy @ May 25th 2006 8:43PM
Dont be a fool. Everyone knows HL2 was a poor excuse for a sequel. HL1 was way better and more people play HL1 than HL2.
Maybe on the Wii it will be ok.
dead_red_eyes @ May 25th 2006 8:47PM
Half Life 2 is 7eh RoXXors. I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of this game. I hear some crazy stuff goes down about Alex .... something bad.
I think that Episodic content is good for those who are just too impatient to wait. Doug of Valve said something like, "Do you want to be able to play the game sooner, in episodic content ... or just wait another 6 years?"
I'll take the episodic content rather than waiting over half a decade.
Cyotik @ May 25th 2006 8:48PM
Half-Life 2 was amazing in my opinion. One of the best shooters in a time. I've got Episode 1 pre-ordered and loaded, waiting to go. Also bought SiN Episodes: Emergence but was a little dissapointed by it. Not much more than a generic shooter.
dead_red_eyes @ May 25th 2006 8:49PM
Nintendo Kiddy, you're just about as bad as this moron.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klerck
And BTW, this game isn't coming out on the Wii. What is your malfunction? Are you just another ignorant troll?
AndrewNeo @ May 25th 2006 9:12PM
Way to get your source from some news site when Valve said it themselves. http://www.steampowered.com/index.php?area=news&id=629 quote: "First in a trilogy that will conclude by Christmas 2007"
Personally I'm very excited at the episodic format: it means we get less time between releases, don't have to pay a lot all at once, and we get Steam-wide engine updates as their work on it progresses.
JPRacer @ May 25th 2006 10:06PM
"Episode 3 in late 2007". That's a long development time for somethething that already have an engine and offer only 5 hours of gameplay.
cringer8 @ May 25th 2006 10:19PM
That title could use some help. Maybe they should replace the number 2 with a word, like Halflife Continued: Episode II or Halflife Again: Episode I.
Right now it sounds like a magazine or encyclopedia (volume 2: issue 3).
Oh, and those weren't serious suggestions, so save yourself some typing and don't respond, "Oh, yeah, cringer8, you're such a marketing genius." (even though I am)
Eric @ May 25th 2006 10:55PM
@ #9
You've got to consider that Half-Life 2 isn't the only content that they're working on. They release new shiz for content for DoD:S, CS:S, and HL2:DM, work on fixing bugs and improving Source, develop for Xbox/Xbox 360, work on Steam, and likely work on their next engine and Half-Life 3.
They're definitely slow when it comes to releasing things, but they're one of those developers that are done when they're done and always deliver.
Fandel @ May 25th 2006 11:01PM
I bought Sin: Episode one last week directly off of steam. To be honest, I really like the game, considering that I paid less than 20 bucks. It's not perfect, as there are only three weapons, and no multiplayer.(Ritual has said that they will offer free multiplayer maps, ans other items free for download)
The game itself is surprisingly, longer than I expected, as I still haven't beaten the game yet. Also, I finally got the chance to play the original SIN that came out in 1998.
P.S: That game, has one of the best lines I have ever heard in a video game. It occurs near the beginning or the game. your partner, Jessica, has rescued you, and is driving away. She is stopped at a checkpoint.
Checkpoint Solder: Where are you going??
Jessica: I an going to the avenue south of F**K and YOU!
She then drives off, running over the checkpoint.
Tykin @ May 25th 2006 11:09PM
I already have it pre-loaded and paid for.
In fact, I've been playing through half-life 2, blueshift, and opposing force for fun. I would play through all of HL1, but it's so long, and I don't care what people say, I really don't see a plot in the first one.
Rob @ May 25th 2006 11:26PM
I love the idea of Episodic Content.
Its hard to finish games nowadays with working 40 hour weeks and such. I like the idea of a complete experience in the smaller dosage. I never finished Far Cry or Doom3...I did finish HL2 but that was a rare thing for me.
As us gamers (in their 20s) are getting older and becoming "adults" or whatever, I think this idea of smaller serving gaming experiences is great. As long as it nicely mixes the 'the you-get-what-you-pay-for' and 'bang-for-your-buck' cliches, im all for it.
Ameen @ May 26th 2006 12:14AM
Episodic content will actually be the choice by many Game developers. Now, that all the consoles have Online connectivity and the 'next-gen' of games will certainly have episodic content and it is one of the greatest untapped markets, You get that addiction that you have to play it to know what's going to happen.
Brock @ May 26th 2006 12:54AM
Anybody that can seriously say that Half Life 2 sux as a game in general... is not a serious gamer. To improve on what they invented and what so many other games have copied poorly is a monumental achievement... The game is simply good
DaveKap @ May 26th 2006 1:11AM
Nintendo Kiddy is actually a Sony fanboy who purposely posts stupid things in order to plant a seed in your head that Nintendo fanboys are all idiots. He's a fake Ninty fanboy, in other words.
I, for one, welcome our over-charging under-gaming episodic content overlords. But releasing the game in pieces is not going to help give us the next leap in engine technology and Source 2.0.
Unlike Me @ May 26th 2006 7:27AM
I prefered Half Life 1. The only amazing thing about Half Life 2 was the pysics, which were the best at the time it was launched, now, Oblivion takes the pysics trophey. Meh, modded Half life 2 online games were pretty fun though, hopefully Episode 1, 2 and 3 will be good, to redeem itself.
thomas_h @ May 26th 2006 8:44AM
cant wait for episode 1,2 and 3... i LOVED HL2. i think its the best fps ive ever played.
bring it on!!! =D
Dork @ May 26th 2006 9:25AM
HL2 was way too short and buggy, IMO. This Episode 1, 2, 3 should be included for free as the game itself was just... lacking. Sure it looked great, but that only gets you so far.
And the physics stunks, half the time people got stuck on everything, or the car flipped over when you hit a pebble.
KilgoreTrout XL @ May 26th 2006 9:42AM
Surprised to see a lot of HL2 bashing, at least bashing that isn't in the form of "it's never coming out" kinda stuff.
Nintendo Kiddy has been begging for that negative.
Stumper @ May 26th 2006 12:36PM
HL2 is the best fps EVER made. Both in terms of single player content (far superior to something like Halo1/2) and multiplayer content (Counter Strike at one time had a larger playing community than EVERY other multiplayer fps community COMBINED). The game was nearly perfect...I'm psyched for the new episodes
Mr. RX99 @ May 26th 2006 5:16PM
HL2 is by far one of the top games I have ever played. Remember the airboat sequence? Ravenholm? Running around with an army of those alien ant things? The final level where you got to kick some serious ass with the gravity gun? nuf said. I also have to say that I never really ran into any bugs. Any game that huge and complex will have bugs because... well, just read this: http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,1781895,00.html
Personally, I'd rather have them take their time and create something that is truely awesome, thus showing that the episodic content idea is something that can make for good gameplay, and making the idea valid.
I Love HL2 @ Jun 2nd 2006 2:47PM
I've just finished HL2: Episode one, and I did notice a bug. When i shot a "combine" he just fell through a fence, and the floor. (He landed on the floor beneath, though.. ;) ) Thats about it. I also experienced some lag after each loading, wich lasted for about five seconds. That would probably be my computer shouting out: "I need more memory, dumbass..!" ;)
Anyway, the episodic content of HL2 really seems like a great thing to me. Just think about Valve's possibility of releasing new graphics more often. (Because thats the point, right?)
They also have more time to fine-tune the plot of the story in the next episodes, maybe adding something more that they didn't come up with at first.
Also, if you see the concept of Counter-Strike, which is the most played online game in the world, you see that CS has a pretty high update frequency. Without such possibility's, CS would not be such a popular game.
My point is, that in a Single Player game such possibilitys are quite limited, so a release of episodes for a smaller amount of cash will make both developers and consumers happier.
I have played lots of FPS's, and by far, HL2 is the best. Halo comes second to me, because of the plot.
Doom3 has a great plot, but i was too scared to finish it... ;)
And now I'll stop writing, because i could go on and on and on and on..believe me.
Musicman @ Jun 2nd 2006 10:15PM
Everyone is entitled to their opionion of course, mine being that HL2 is the best FPS I've ever spent my time, and more importantly money, on. I believe that no one can honestly deny that the story is one of epic proportions, the gameplay is spectactular, and the AI and character models are the best ever seen in a FPS. I for one can appreciate a good story, and all the work that Valve put into the detatil that made HL2 and especially Episode One an amazing game experience.
Don't get me wrong, I love Doom 3, GRAW, Halo, etc. but the Half Life series takes the cake of PC Shooters.
And you people that say HL2 has bugs may need to update your system or something....;)
UNHchabo @ Jun 5th 2006 2:24PM
As far as the engine goes, Valve is releasing updates as they develop the game. When they released Lost Coast, that introduced HDR to the Source Engine, and now they're going back and adding it to maps that were released before they implemented it. The maps in CS are a good example. So now every product they release has HDR in it, from DOD:S, to new CS:S maps, and now with HL2:E1.
With HL2:E1, Valve has also released another upgrade to the source engine. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find a changelog of upgrades (the Steam News only listed "upgrades to the Source Engine"), but one telling sign is that my default graphics settings are up. I have an AGP 6600GT with a P4 2.8, and normally my settings include "Reflect World" for water, no antialiasing, and Trilinear Filtering. For HL2:E1, the defaults are now at "Reflect All", 2X AA, and 4X AF.
Will @ Aug 10th 2006 3:43PM
I can't stand Half life 2. I'm sorry but the combat AI which is all that matters in a SHOOTER is completely non existent. They aren't tactically aware like Halo, they don't even bother to be elusive like FEAR. THey just stand there and shoot back with poor accuracy unless they are a sniper in which case they don't miss. The team AI is sad, they stand when a combine soldier threw a grenade at them.
The Graphics engine and PHysics engine are impressive, nothing to brag about. The visual assests were a joke, compare the difficulty of photoshoping the color onto the flat walls of half life to the millions of trees in farcry or the complex monsters of DOOM 3. The visuals were no better than any comparable FPS. The Physics were great, and i won't take that away from it, it made the game and really the gravity gun was unbelievable.
But thats the one bright spot for me. Everything else about the game, including gun sound effects, and feel of weapons, to the fighting, to the repeated puzzles from HL1 and the gimmicky mess of minigames were all drawn out way too long...
Boy thats a lot of bashing for a game i would give 9/10 for but the fact is, I consider it absolutely overated due to the PC fan boy support for it. Best game ever? Not even close. In fact, even though everyone loves to Bash halo, i wouldn't ever rank Half-life 2 to be as good as the Original Halo. (Halo 2 is a different story). The original Halo was truely revolutionary to the FPS genre, for its open landscape fighting and combat AI to brough tactical game play to fast paced action shooters. It changed the FPS genre. I won't go into further detail though cause i'm sick of writing.
Anyways, HL2 is great but completely overrated.