Half Life 2 Tech Demo - E3 2003

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backdraft's picture
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After 15 years this game still looks good. 

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phanto's picture

I remember being amazed by this when it was first released. There was nothing close to that back then. It's probably one of the reasons why they don't want to release an HL3. Each game had been a huge leap forward and I don't know how they could leap that far again.

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Dhagon's picture

God damn this brings back memories. I still remember being 12 or 13 in middle school and checking Planet Half-Life daily for every scrap of HL2 related news available; seeing a handycam-recorded tech demo posted was like Christmas. As far as what ^ Phanto said about HL3, I doubt that. There have been giant leaps forward since 2004 and all it really takes is a dedicated developer to actually give a shit about the final product rather than financial dickbaggery such as DLC and microtransactions. Hell, indie developers have worked wonders with tiny teams and equally small budgets ie. Endnight, Unknown Worlds(The Forest, Subnautica). CD Projekt Red is another prime example and is, in my opinion, the *new* Valve as they both seemingly care about their games, gamers, and also own GOG(kind of like that other game distribution platform run by Valve...).

 

According to everything I've read, the fact is that HL3 just wouldn't make the amount of money needed to justify production when compared to current revenue streams from CS:GO, DOTA2, and Steam sales alone. It would be a lot of effort while risking a near impeccable reputation for fan closure and small profit(when compared to current corporate plan); Valve already earned their stripes as a great developer and went through that phase, they don't really need to do it again and from a business standpoint, it's a smart play.

 

Sadly this is the closest any of us is going to get to HL3, https://www.spikednation.com/videos/project-borealis-teaser. However if Crowbar Collective's excellent "Black Mesa" is any indication then yes, indie studios can successfully recreate the magic that was Half-Life, albeit in an unofficial capacity.

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sli0701948's picture

I was so exited when a leaked version of this particuliar demo got into our hands. I've never felt anything like that about a videogame after. I was a big player of Counter-Strike from Beta 1 to CS 1.6.

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Dhagon's picture

Oh man getting a leaked copy was like the Holy Grail. I remember shortly after the 2003 leak, there were pictures on the net of hard copies of the Beta being sold in Russia and the Ukraine at stores. Around the same time my Mom was visiting family in Eastern Europe and spent a couple days in St. Petersburg; I begged her to quickly stop by a computer store and see if she could get me a copy of the Wundergame but she wasn't having it haha. Good times, I don't think that level of hype and anticipation has ever been surpassed.

 

Damn, Beta 1, that's old school. Think I started around 1.4, on good ol' WON Network. I was more of a HL mod guy and still kinda am. Spent a lot of time on Natural Selection from Beta, The Specialists, Firearms, and my fav Sven Coop.

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