Sorry to have so many poll questions about HL3 lately, but the modding scene is a little quiet at the moment.
We all have our pet peeves; things that drive us crazy and with the recent leaks of supposedly HL3 stuff in lines of code, the anticipation has reached new heights.
With anticipation comes disappointment and not just from delays but from not getting what we expected, so this week’s poll question tries to address that exact idea.
For you, what’s the worst thing that could happen in HL3?
I could live with no new weapons, enemies, or vehicles – although I don’t think for a moment that Valve would release HL3 without those things.
I could even live with a main character dying if the story needed it. Hell, I could even live with Gordon finally speaking but I would rather he didn’t.
What I couldn’t live with is a big change to the gameplay mechanics and dynamics. I play HL games because of the setting and shooting, if you took the shooting away I wouldn’t be interested.
What about you?
What is the worst thing that could happen in HL3?
- Open world roleplay (41%, 48 Votes)
- No new vehicles (1%, 1 Votes)
- No new enemies (7%, 8 Votes)
- No new weapons (7%, 8 Votes)
- Gordon, Alyx or Barney dies (13%, 15 Votes)
- Gordon Speaks (31%, 36 Votes)
Total Voters: 116
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Gordon speaking would be the absolute worse and I’m still concerned about it when you consider they almost had Chell say ‘Yes’ in Portal 2.
Gordon is mute, he CANNOT speak.
Chell chooses not to speak.
Was a dumb checky box honestly, considering it would break his entire character, and the lore of the games.
I thought Gordon being mute was just a placeholder until we got a real explanation.
Neither of them have spoken but it’s clear by the sound files that both *can* speak. The fact that they’re both the trope of “silent protagonist” is a side effect, not the focal point of the character. GLaDOS calls Chell a ‘mute lunatic’ so I’m far more inclined to say she has more issues than Gordon in that regard. Alyx’s jibes ‘Man of few words’ and later ‘I’ll handle this (re: Judith)’ are meant more to give the player a chuckle, rather than to define that he’s unable to speak.
dont forget the start of Portal 2 where Wheatly wants you to say apple but you jump 🙂
I’m the most concerned about the areas. If Hl3 takes place in the arctic, what would the areas be like? mostly snow deserts and maybe some concrete buildings and the borealis presumably. That, to me, would be abit dull and not much like really half-life is. the enemies except the combine(probably) would be very scattered around in small groups or not even exist, because i doubt that any rebels would flee to the arctic and so with creatures. Unless we meet some new actic-liking aliens.
I always imagined that only the first 3rd of the game or something like that will be in the arctic. After all the Borealis had some crazy teleportation technology, so they could do whatever the hell they want afterwards. Maybe a visit to Xen, the Combine World or whatever.
Well, the leaked concept art did show a very trippy Xen, so I think you’re right on the money.
Arctic and tundra. Just think about possiblities! So many!
I’m very surprised about people worried about open world rpg? What the hell guys? Don’t you believe in Valve? For me this formula is they key for succes. Think about replayability value. And don’t take Ubi games as an example.
I would love if HL3 would be something like Stalker/Deus Ex – partly open world with great plot and different possiblities to achieve goals. Those games have great plot/atmosphere/replay value.
And locations?
Old soviet military bases, big underground facilities, locked down years ago.
Vast tundra areas with rebels and local eskimo people, with they old believes and maybe ruins of old temples of north gods that keep some secrets.
Caves, glaciers, mountains. Arcit Combine architecture.
Also ziplines ^^
Don’t forget first Half-Life took place mostly in a middle of a desert 😉
Other games (such as Skyrim, which also took place in a frozen tundra) also proved they can be interesting despite the basic setting. I agree with @Crowbar, I think H-L3 will take us to various different worlds (if it comes out, that is)
I voted ‘Gordon/Barney/Alyx dies’ because I think it would be a remarkably cheap shot to have done what happened at the end of episode 2, while also not having Barney in the episode at all, to kill off one of the main and highly recognized characters.
I would also have voted that if it listed Judith, Kleiner, or even Magnussen. We’ve got few enough ‘actually cast’ main characters, and honestly having lost one of those characters AND another’s voice actor in the real world… I’d rather have the rest close at hand.
It surprises me how many people think that somehow, an open-world installment would be so terrible. I don’t consider it to be a bad idea, though I wouldn’t suggest it for episode 3 / hl3. I’d say more something beyond the end of the story line as it exists.
Personally, the idea of Gordon speaking doesn’t bother me, but they’d have to be extremely picky about the voice. LOL now I’m imagining a casting call and literally every voice actor, male and female alike, showing up to contribute. They can all say ‘I voiced Gordon Freeman!’
As far as vehicles, enemies, or weapons, I don’t care about any of that. The requisites for me are: grabbity gun, crowbar, shotty. I can’t drive worth a darn in these games so the vehicle thing is moot anyway. Enemies, I can see them expanding to the logical climates or environments, but having roughly the same sorts of beasts. I’d love to see the return of houndeyes or even their unused catlike counterparts (which might make more sense in an arctic environment).
the worst thing that could happen is that it looses the subtle but brilliant story telling and word building of Marc Laidlaw.
Another terrible thing would be if the sound design isn’t spot on and so unique as in the current games.
Both Marc Laidlaw and Kelly Bailey don’t work at Valve anymore.
Actually, Kelly Bailey’s back at Valve.
source?
He is not listed on the Valve site as an employee. Also he has been working on some VR game outside of Valve.
I voted for Open World Roleplay, but I also think that if Gordon speaks, the whole experience would be ruined too. Honestly, if HL3 turns out to be open world, I wouldn’t be so sure if I would actually buy it.
Gordon speaking would be a total suicide for the franchise.
Btw, have people seen the movie Hardcore Henry? It “is” basically what could be an HL movie : FP view from beginning to the end, silent/mute protagonist, action bloodshot chaos…
It would be interesting now to see a HL movie, now that we know that it is possible to do it, and to do it well (the movie is really good)
I don’t think a movie like that is appealing to a big audience. Gamers like it of course, but even in that group a lot of people got motion sickness and stuff from that movie. Besides the movie has nothing in common with Half-Life, except that it’s from first person, so basically every FPS.
You forgot one option: Another. Goddamned. Cliffhanger.
Seriously, if Half-Life 3 doesn’t end with the conclusion of the story so far, I will be so pissed. The game could be the best thing ever made in the history of Humanity and I still would hate it if it didn’t give us any closure.
That said, since it isn’t an option, I’m going with open-world roleplay. I could always see a Borderlands-esque RPG/roleplay hybrid Half-Life game, but it would have to be a spin-off. Not that Half-Life 3 has to play exactly like 1 and 2, it can and should take chances, but the story as it is doesn’t really allow for the sort of exploration you’d get in an open-world game. Gordon’s a man on a mission and that mission is single-minded.
Konami turning it into a pachinko machine.
lel
none of the above …. VR is the worse thing that could happen ….vr is good but it would ruin the franchise …..
personally enhanced graphics and a different control system would be nice …however whatever happens will be contreversal since its been such a long time since hl2 and any changes will be so noticable
lets wait and see
The worst thing that could happen in Half-Life 3 is that if there’s no Half-Life 3 at all!
I’ve seen too many good ideas ruined by “open world” gameplay.
To me, all off the things listed would be really bad decisions by Valve with the exception of the open world RPG and even still, this would be a giant thing to pull off and i guarantee you that even if it was done well and it was amazing, a lot of people would hate it for the changes it made to the the Half Life series.
The worst thing that could happen would be Valve not tying up loose ends. Things like the story (obviously) tonnes of unanswered questions form the previous games and the G-man. Now the G-man is an interesting one because I am all in favor of keeping him a mystery but I believe more of his motives should be made clearer if you know what i mean.
we need a spy in valve …..any ex cia,mi5 or kgb operatives avalible for some important work !
Although I voted “Open World RPG”, I think that doesn’t quite encapsulate the “worst” thing that could happen, which in my mind is if HL3 went the 3rd-person route. (“Lengthy and meaningless cut-scenes” would have been my top negative choice.)
I would actually welcome a story-based open-world experience, as long as it is authentic. By which I mean, let me have a choice in what Gordon can accomplish. Maybe he needs to bring down 4 Combine points to open a rift to Xen. Let me choose which one to tackle first, and maybe one or two are harder so it makes sense to build up my support and forces before tackling those. But don’t tack on the “fluff” open-world missions, like you see in the Elder Scrolls games (pick 3 of these, FedEx quests, etc.) — make it something that realistically fits into the overall narrative and goal.
Honestly, I’m getting quite bored of linear FPS games. I’d like HL3 to open it up a bit, give me some license, maybe make use of Gordon’s supposed MIT education to do something outside the norm and find a different path to my objective.
Also, I hope HL3 isn’t a full-blown VR game.
When Gordon speaks. Yeah, I personally find the silence of Gordon one of the ‘golden’ rules in the HL series : P
Speaking about the ‘Gordon, Alyx or Barney dies’ – scenario; as far as I’m concerned, this already happened at the end of EP2 when the two Advisors decided to crash the party. Gordons brain got fried due to psychological attacks from the Advisors, resulting in his death. See it as some form of personal closure ’cause EP3/HL3 ain’t gonna happen I’m afraid … !
Well the worst thing would be a a rehash of what was in Leon’s “The Closure”, the arctic area where the Borealis was cut open. I’ve done that in a few mods now so I want HL3 to have some new environment to offer. Something like a Martian base with low gravity physics throughout that part of the story. Or a zero-g level on board a Combine space station derelict? Some thing within the HL universe but new enough to bring a smile to a jaded HL player.
I want to see who the Combine are and answering questions like, why are they only soldiers on Earth? Are there civilians in the Combine? Are they one race? etc…
New weapons and some new vehicles would be nice.
And Gordon Freeman singing “My way” to finish the story… 😀
In a huge long cut-scene 😀
Gordon speaks. 100% the worst thing they could possibly do.
Open world RPG would be my absolute favourite thing. I’m surprised to see it get so many votes. I love open world RPGs and I reckon Valve could absolutely nail it.
With the other options, I’m OK with characters dying if it works with their arc. Episode Two’s ending absolutely blew my mind and actually filled me with hate for the combine. Sadly, the wait has been so long that the emotion I felt has completely gone. Shame really.
The absolute worst thing I can think of that isn’t listed here (for some reason) is that HL3 goes VR exclusive… but I do believe that it’s already been stated by Valve that they wouldn’t do that.
My major concern is that the game is never made, or that by the time it arrives I can’t play any more!
Focus on multiplayer.
Excellent point.
To me HL2 and Episodes are quintessence of atmosphere. This is created by dialogues, story, pacing, introduction of new locations/characters/weapons/enemies, consistent “theme” in various locations across all maps (e.g. the eastern European city feel in all city based maps) – all of those give me impression that this game is “complete”, that everything fits perfectly. HL2 to me is prime example that game can be consistent at every point (I was amazed by HL2’s atmosphere so much that even though I had a legit copy of HL2 registered on Steam I played a torrented version of the game, as Steam would crash all the time on my PC – I loved this game so much back then). None of this is present in multiplayer which focuses on completely different goals. What I expect from HL2+Episodes’ maps/mods (and from HL3) is that unique feel and developement of story (if exists) or just course of action (in case it is a single map) and I will never get this in multiplayer. In my opinion multiplayer focus is the worst thing that could happen to HL3. There will be no atmosphere – just mindless fragfest, and that’s not what I am looking for.
I want to dive into the world of this game like I drowned in HL2 universe.
In my POV. open world. That would be just horrible man!