Half-Life: Alyx could be the start of a true Half-Life series revival. Though the Portal games are set in the same fictional universe, it's been more than 12 years since a full-on Half-Life game has come out, and fans could be forgiven for assuming they'd never get a chance to revisit its story of invading aliens and plucky human resistance. Valve revealed the first trailer for Half-Life: Alyx yesterday, and though it looks very much like the closest thing we'll get to Half-Life 3, further Half-Life games could follow in its wake.
Fans should indeed expect more after this, Valve programmer David Speyrer told The Verge.
"Yes. It’s probably no surprise that many people at Valve have been wanting to get back to the Half-Life universe for a long time, and this experience has only reinforced that," Speyrer said. "In the process of creating Half-Life: Alyx, we’ve had to explore new ways to tell stories with these characters and this world, and we’ve discovered a lot of new gameplay experiences that go beyond what we’ve been able to do before. Of course, we’ll have to wait and see how people react to Half-Life: Alyx once it’s out, but we’d love to continue pushing forward."
Wait, does that mean… actual Half-Life 3 might happen? I'm going to keep assuming that it's an impossibility, just so I have the chance to be pleasantly shocked if and when Valve decides to pick the story back up from the tragic ending of Half-Life 2: Episode 2. Speaking of which, Speyrer recommended players complete Episode 2 before starting Half-Life: Alyx. So even though it's a prequel, it looks like it will expand our understanding of the overall story.
That G-Man teaser at the end of the Alyx trailer makes me suspect we'll finally learn more about how the interdimensional bureaucrat interacts with people aside from Gordon Freeman (though I bet ol' Gordon will always be his favorite pawn). Half-Life: Alyx will come to VR-ready PCs in March 2020, so if you have the setup, you won't have to wait long to find out yourself.
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