I'm inclined to say that the era of massive single player games is over and that we'll probably never see it. A MMO in the HL3 universe is a possibility, but it will be hard to replicate the feel of an individual player or small group running around in a city totally dominated by combine. Both Half Life and HL2 had a survival aspect that would be difficult to really capture in a MMO. Of course, now that i think about it, so did L4D, which was a minimally multiplayer game. Also, HL was always a rail shooter and I just can't see a non-sandbox game in this day an age. All that being said, I'd like it to happen and would almost certainly buy it.
I always felt Half Life was more about the story, sure, when HL2 came out, it was a technical masterpiece but the story was also great. I certainly hope that the age of single player isn't gone, as I enjoy SP as much if not more than MP. Despite the fact that HL2 really was a very narrow corridor gameplay wise, I never really get that feeling when playing it, I certainly didn't the first time anyway. I sincerely hope that it is being worked on and that we will see it. I can't believe with the following that Half Life has got, and it's position in gaming history, that valve would just drop it never to be seen again. If they do, I'll have my pitchfork out ready to join the mob,
I agree with all of that, but I hate all of it too. It irritates me that devs have decided by committee that all games 'have' to have a sandbox/exploration component, that they must either involve hundreds of fellow players (MMOs) or have hundreds of AI teammates turning the thing into a Broadway musical production (CoD-likes). I hate that there are puzzle games and action games but so few action games with puzzles in them (only Portal has dared to dream lately, since the failure of Prey). Single-player corridor campaigns do still exist, but they've become fantastically dumb, predictable Michael Bay movies. I can't remember a linear FPS since HL2:E2 that actually made me think. I wouldn't necessarily even want it to be HL3, come to that. I was getting tired of that universe (the characters and plot had been pretty much exhausted). But a linear FPS with similarly intelligent, inspired design - the kind of production quality and thought we've seen in third-person action games like Tomb Raider - would be amazing. edit- That had a lot to do with Valve's uniquely intense emphasis on play-testing. They rigorously play-tested every level to iron out all points where the player got lost, confused, or felt cramped and bored. Put simply - they made a ****ing effort. Something which most devs only allow their multiplayer teams to do now.
I'm torn on this one. I think a rail shooter like HL or HL2 would feel very limiting in this day and age. After playing Stalker SOC, going back to having just one path to follow, no matter how beautifully rendered and made to not look like a path it is, would feel constricting. I think there is plenty of room in the HL universe for a MMO, especially at this point in the storyline. With the fall of City 17, I can see factions of humans popping up to combat the combine and eachother over resources, as well as a significant PVE element. Will Valve do it? I would guess not. I've always said I wanted to see a Stalker MMO, but sadly that's probably not coming either.
I refuse to believe that, The way they left Episode 2, they've got to finish the story, they've just got to. With regards to the Sandbox thing, a lot of it comes down to personal preference really, I never got into Stalker, even though it looks awesome, and I would like to have been able to play it all the way through, it just felt too hard for me, and didn't give me enough pointers on where to go/what to do. Although, the games like Just Cause 2 and GTA etc, with big sandboxes but a simple to follow main quest, only last the length of the main story, then I sort of loose interest, as everything that's left is basically the same, take over this base, take over this village etc in JC2. I agree on the Tomb Raider point with boiled_elephant, TR was a game I thoroughly enjoyed, open enough to give you some choices, but not so open that you're constantly trying to find your way back to the right path. I think I just wet myself!!! That does look very good, kind of like a Black Mesa for HL2, although if we use Black Mesa as an example, HL3 will probably arrive before they finish porting it to UDK,
I personally always look for decent single player campaigns. I like trying to solve the challenges set by the developers. Dishonored was an excellent game as was the latest Splinter Cell but not much else in the last couple of years. And don't even get me started on Bioshock Infinite. We REALLY want to tell you this big story and be controversial about it because of the racism etc etc Then they forgot to make a decent game to go with it. Open cabinet, cash register, draw, picture for food, money etc...BORING!
I too feel it probably won't happen either. It has a legacy that can't be equalled by any other game in my opinion. I don't want to see another Duke Nukem Forever. The era of the single player game as popular and successful campaigns are probably over really. There's assassin's creed and the Elder scrolls games among a few others, but they'll never reach the kind of popularity and pure sensation that has been reached with the FPS and the MMO. I mean, I can see many games for the next decade being like Titanfall and purely focusing on multi-player. They make more money and with microtransactions and DLCs, they can just keep lining their pockets endlessly. Yeah, there will be a new Metro which a few million will buy and enjoy, but it will never be as popular as what EA churns out every year. What bothers me is that the Hardcore days are also over. I can play Dark Souls and get a kick out of the challenge, but nothing else will equal that at the moment. Even on the hardest modes they still make it easy enough that players will complete it and feel the challenge and not be put off, so that they'll buy the next installment. However, while there are people that will play single player games only, like me; there will always be new games for those people to play because the market is still there. But a HL3? I can never see it happening.
I hope too see it, being a old school gamer for me it would be closure. I have also found myself drifting back to single player games now. I think their day will come again
I think their day will come as well. I like to think single player games will have their renaissance soon. I'm sick of boring and soulless multiplayer games.
I never went away from Single Player games. The only multiplayer game I have ever really played is the original Half Life and still play it today. MOH Airborne is a cracking oldie that still looks good if you missed it 1st time around. Also, Thief Deadly Shadows.
I still (naively) believe that Valve will release it some day. It's Valve, so there's bound to be some people there who want to spend their time creating it. I can't believe that wouldn't be the case in a company which exists for a large part of people who already were huge HL1 fans before joining. Still, I have the feeling that I can wait (though those UE4 screenshots did make me salivate a little). I'd rather have them work out the F-STOP prototype, originally developed as Portal 2, which was apparently mind-blowingly amazing, but "didn't feel like Portal". (though one might ask why they didn't do anything with it if it was so amazing... (...Maybe because it has become part of HL3 ) )
Remember when TF2 was going to be released in 2003 and it was going to grittier and more realistic than TFC had been? I remember. When Half Life 3 comes (and it will) it will abruptly drop from the sky and be compeltely unexpected, since I never though TF2 would come out looking like it did, nor did I ever expect L4D to happen.
