Half-Life 2: Episode Two

You can stop holding your breath for a Half Life 3 announcement anytime soon. This week, Valve issued a definitive statement to fans denouncing its role in the recent crop of Half Life 3 rumors, and cautioning Gordon Freeman groupies to beware of trolls...

The “are they or aren't they” debate surrounding Valve's development of Half Life 3 has been stoked once more with the discovery of a Half Life 3 t-shirt reportedly worn in public by a Valve employee. We don't use italics lightly folks, this is a big deal.

The shirt was spotted at a recent industry gala by Uber Entertainment rep Chandana “Ekanaut” Ekanayake, who shared his findings last night, tweeting, “All I'm saying is I saw this at a local game developer event worn by a Valve employee.”

It's been over 13 years since Gordon Freeman first exited Black Mesa's Transit System for Sector C Test Labs, kicking off one of the worst work shifts in videogame history. In honor of that iconic opening scene, the makers of the fan-film Beyond Black Mesa have spliced together a new live action flick depicting the moments leading up to Freeman's classic tale of Combine invasions, crowbars, and headcrabs...

Yesterday we highlighted the YouTube exploits of one ambitious gamer looking to score the least. Today, I bring you a fan-film that I'm not afraid to say, will compel you to watch from beginning to end. Shot completely in the first-person perspective, Half-Life: Singularity Collapse doesn't showcase the exploits of Gordon Freeman, but rather a hapless denizen of a Combine controlled city. Things quickly escalate from bad to worse after routine searches and - well - you'll see what happens next.

The Cinematic Mod (CM) is a Half-Life 2 modification, that adds more details and a darker look to the original Half-Life 2 series.

Our sci-fi spod friends over at the world's best sci-fi mag SFX have produced a definitive list of the 21 ultimate sci-fi games. It's good.

If, like half the GamesRadar team, you're into the Mass Effects and Deus Exes of the game world you should probably check it out. And then argue. Either with us, or them. Go, on what have they missed?

Here are the first two entries...

From the dystopian corridors of BioShock's subterranean paradise to the Strogg-infested space stations found throughout the Quake franchise, First Person Shooters have found countless ways to establish themselves as rich, enjoyable experiences, capturing the hearts and trigger fingers of gamers worldwide. Even if it's just blasting away wave after wave of demons in Blood, or perhaps saving mankind from itself as you traverse Half-Life 2's City 17, the FPS genre has proven itself time and time again.

Eurogamer Said: Valve has said it will definitely be making more Portal, confirming plans to add significantly more than just a bunch of new puzzles. Speaking to Eurogamer, spokesperson Doug Lombardi said it was less a matter of if and more a matter of what and when. There'll be more Portal, for sure. But the details of that, to be honest, we're still working out, he said. The only smart thing we did for Portal was to hire those seven kids and give them the support they needed to make the game. Unsurprisingly Valve is reluctant to be rushed by a release schedule. It's adopting the same policy for Half-Life 2 finale Episode Three. Gordon is our number one guy, said Lombardi. In Episode One I think we left people with some big questions. After Episode Two people saw it was going somewhere. With Episode Three we want to live up to the promise of where we are taking things to; there's a lot of work being done to make sure we deliver on that promise. He added, Exact details on what's next for Gordon are a way off; probably months not weeks.

Kotaku writes: I am a man who enjoys Half-Life 2. I am also a man who enjoys Spaghetti Westerns. To cap it all off, I am a man (perhaps the only man) who enjoyed Lucasart's Outlaws. So you can see, this project sets my heart aflutter. It's called Fistful of Frags, and is a multiplayer mod for Half-Life 2. Sure, it may not look like much, but Sergio Leone fans should note (in case, you know, it's not obvious by both the map's and mod's name) that one of the maps is an attempt at a faithful recreation of Fistful of Dollars' El Paso. Including the bank. A beta build's just been released, you can grab the link below.

As if The Orange Box weren't already the best value in gaming, those who have yet to make the $50 plunge can get an even better deal through Valve's Steam service. For a mere $75 gamers can purchase Orange Box and 19 additional titles. If you already have The Orange Box then you can still get some more Half-Life goodness by downloading the game's main tune, Still Alive by Jonathan Coultan at Amazon.com. The entire album is discounted by about $2, available at Amazon for $7.99.