Half-Life 3 Might Finally Be Real, But I Hope It’s Not

There are always rumors of an immanent Half-Life 3 release, but this time it feels different. This time, there might actually be a continuation of the story that left us hanging so many years ago with Half-Life 2: Episode 2. The thing is, the more I think about it, do I actually want this game to come out?

The Real Half-Life 3 Can Never Live Up to Our Imaginations

There are a few games in the history of game development that spent an eternity in so-called development “hell.” Duke Nukem Forever Is probably the most infamous one, but there’s a long list of games that everyone thought would never come out. In the case of Duke Nukem Forever, the end result wasn’t the worst game by any stretch, but it also wasn’t exactly great. It doesn’t matter how good the game was though, it could have been the best boomer shooter in history, and it still would not have lived up to the expectations of fans who’d been waiting, well, forever.

I think the same fate would befall Half-Life 3 should it ever arrive on Steam as per the latest rumors. It will undoubtedly be an excellent game, since Valve rarely misses, but it will only be a game. Most of us remember Half-Life 2 as being better than it actually is, just due to rose-tinted glasses alone. Again, these are some of the best games ever made, but if you replay them now and then like I do, the shine isn’t quite so bright in retrospect.

The problem is that we’ll be evaluating Half-Life 3 against the game we imagine it should be, rather than the game it ends up being. That will always be a recipe for disappointment, and although it’s not fair to the game, it’s likely to be how it’s seen.

The Half-Life Universe Can Expand in Other Ways

You don’t need to slap a “3” at the end of a Half-Life game to continue the story. Half-Life: Alyx is a phenomenal game and if that’s any indication of what a mainline AAA Half-Life game would be like today, I’m all for it. However, it might be better to frame games set after the events of Episode 2 as something other than direct sequels. Perhaps most importantly, we don’t have to play as Gordon Freeman in order to further the story of the series. A new protagonist coming from a different angle would be a great way to get us back into a modern rendition of Half-Life, which doesn’t require the game to be framed as a direct sequel.

The Valve That Made Half-Life 2 Doesn’t Really Exist Anymore

You can’t cross the same river twice, as the saying goes, and even if some of the same people are working on Half-Life 3, the Valve that made Episode 2 is long gone. Not only was that company a games developer, compared to modern Valve which is mainly a digital marketplace company, the world of game development has moved on.

Try to make it true to the point where the last episode left off, and you’re essentially making a retro-style game. Make it according to modern game development standards, and it amounts to a spiritual successor. There is such a thing as a zeitgeist for video games, and a 17-year combo-breaker isn’t going to preserve that particular magic.

The Real Half-Life 3 Is the Friends We Made Along the Way

Honestly, the main reason I don’t really want Half-Life 3 to ever happen is because it’s so much more fun as a meme than as a game. There’s almost two decades of gaming culture built up around the idea of Half-Life 3. It’s done more for the mythos of Half-Life than the games at this point. The whole appeal of the Third Coming of Half-Life is the anticipation, so the actual arrival at this point would be a little anticlimactic. I definitely want more Half-Life in my life, maybe not the one with a big “3” after the name.