half-life 2
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Rumor: Half-Life 2 announcement teased by 'Freeman' art [update]
There's a substantial number of games we've been hoping to see unveiled at E3 later this month, but our desire for the announcement of one game in particular easily overshadows all others: Half-Life 2: Episode 3. We've tempered our expectations for such an announcement after being disappointed at trade shows for like, a decade -- but if the teaser image posted after the jump is legit, our wait might just be coming to an end in a little over a week. The image features the Half-Life Lambda symbol, the word "Freeman," a barely visible watermark of what appears to be G-Man's face, and a mention of June 14 -- the original date for the (rather humorously) canceled Portal 2 event. We're still worried about playing the Charlie Brown to Valve's Lucy -- Rock, Paper, Shotgun claims the image is a fake, but doesn't provide the source for that information. We've contacted Valve about the teaser's authenticity, though we're finding it awfully hard to type out an email when all of our fingers are crossed. Update: Reader Jake Handy pinged Valve's Gabe Newell about this, and Newell's response couldn't have been clearer -- or more terse: "Fake."
Phoenix Wright, Half Life 2, and Chocobo Panic available now
Here's some quick hits on a few big name releases across Apple platforms. First up, the funny and addictive DS hit Phoenix Wright has made its way to the iPhone, and you can pick it up for US $4.99. While it's kept the two-screen gameplay from Nintendo's handheld, it's still a great time. Square Enix has released another original title for the iPad; Chocobo Panic is a cute little puzzle/action game in which you grab and release the Final Fantasy-famous birds. Those expecting anything deeper will be disappointed, but if you want a fun touchscreen game with the slimmest of Final Fantasy ties, I hear it's fun. Finally, as announced yesterday, Half Life 2 is now available for the Mac via Steam. And it tuns out that Episodes 1 and 2 have been released as well. The game itself is a jaw-dropping $7, and you can get the two add-ons for $5.59 each. If you already own them on Steam, they're all available via Steam Play, so that means you already own them on the Mac, too; just head into Steam and download away. AAA companies releasing games natively on Apple platforms? Man, it's a great time to be a Mac gamer.
Steam for Mac adds Half-Life 2 with cross-platform Steam Cloud support
The Mac Steam release list is a bit thin in terms of quantity this week, but the additions are pretty substantial. As promised, Half-Life 2 is now available for Mac and -- as we dearly, dearly hoped -- Episode One and Episode Two are also available. All three Half-Life 2 games feature cross-platform Steam Cloud support, meaning that players' games are saved on Steam's servers and can be opened from any computer, PC or Mac. Additionally, Half-Life 2 and Episode One have been updated with over 40 new achievements. All three titles are currently 30 percent off: HL2 for 7 bucks; and Eps. 1 & 2 for $5.59 apiece. The complete Orange Box collection (with cross-platform Steam Cloud support across all games) is also currently discounted ($21), with the Team Fortress 2 for Mac release promised soon. Finally, EVE Online: Tyrannis will launch for both PC and Mac later today, making it Steam's first game to launch simultaneously on both platforms.
Valve celebrates Half-Life 2 for OS X with a nod to Apple's '1984'
Apple's "1984" commercial has become the stuff of legend -- a symbol of breaking free from what was then an IBM-dominated market. But in a stroke of irony, Valve has released its own parody of the ad to celebrate the launch of Half-Life 2 on OS X (praise be to Steam), about five and a half years after the highly acclaimed game originally debuted on PC. Better late than never, we suppose, and like always, Valve's marketing hits just the right pitch. Video after the break, along with Apple's original and another parody near and dear to our hearts.
Half Life 2 out on Mac tomorrow
The always impressive folks at Valve have released the trailer above, which will be familiar if you've ever seen a very popular Apple commercial before. And at the end, you'll also see why they've done this: Half Life 2 is coming to the Mac tomorrow, May 26, 2010. That's pretty much all we have to say -- the first-person shooter is one of the best-reviewed and best-selling games of all time, and it'll be running natively on the Mac thanks to the Steam for Mac release from a few weeks ago. If you've never played Half-Life 2, you're in for a treat, even if you never played the classic first title in the series. We haven't yet heard about a price (the PC version is currently at $20, though Valve has a history of dropping prices unexpectedly -- Portal was free for its Mac release), and while a few outlets are saying the two episodic followups to the game will be out tomorrow as well, we don't yet know that for sure. Stay tuned, as one of the biggest classics in PC gaming finally arrives on the Mac.
Half-Life 2 for Mac hits Steam on May 26
Wait, isn't that ... tomorrow? Why yes it is! Turns out that the third week of Mac releases on Steam will include Gordon Freeman's second adventure against the Combine in Half-Life 2. Rather than simply release a press blurb about the game's forthcoming availability, Valve has created this parody of Apple's "1984" advertisement featuring Alyx Vance. It is, much like the original, rather impressive (especially if you're Half-Life dorks like we are). Valve has not revealed the price for Half-Life 2 for Mac nor confirmed if Episodes 1 & 2 will also be made available tomorrow. The PC version of HL2 for Steam is currently priced at $20.
PC Gamer's reader poll honors EVE as the #3 PC game of all time
Reader polls always tend to be an exercise in popularity, bucking conventional wisdom and surprise upsets -- and perhaps never so much as a recent annual PC Gamer poll that asked readers to rank the top 100 PC games of all time. EVE Online scored a surprising #3 spot on the list (falling from last year's #2 position), behind only Fallout 3 and Half-Life 2. This certainly is a testament to EVE's devoted and outspoken fans. Several other MMOs appeared in the top 100, including World of Warcraft (#10), WURM Online (#20), World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (#25), Lord of the Rings Online: The Mines of Moria (#31), Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar (#36), RuneScape (#45), Guild Wars (#72), World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (#97) and EverQuest (#100). Of course, reader polls should always be taken with a grain of salt (mmm... salty goodness), as large organizational efforts and promotion from one studio or group of fans is often enough to create a skewed result. Still, it's a decent list, and terrific to see so many MMOs given the top honors.
Gaming Heads to create lineup of collectibles based on Valve properties
It's as if millions of wallets cried out and were suddenly silenced, stripped of their precious cash money and left hollowed out and dead. We imagine that ringing in our ears has something to do with Valve and Gaming Heads, who just inked a deal to produce a line-up of collectibles based on hit Valve franchises. Pictured above is The Heavy, which will be the first in its Team Fortress 2 series -- available in Red and Blue varieties, of course. Gaming Heads will also produce statues based on other popular Valve properties, such as Half-Life 2 and Left 4 Dead 2. And if some decorative shelf or desk items aren't really your thing, there's the promise of "life-sized props," meaning there's a possibility you could actually own a Portal gun without having to make it yourself sometime in the future. Just imagine: you'll be the hit of the Halloween party! The Heavy will be available for pre-order on Monday, May 3. [Via Team Fortress 2 Blog]
Newell intent on 'scaring' players with next Half-Life
In a recent interview with CVG, Valve head honcho Gabe Newell responded to questions about the mood of future Half-Life installments with a decidedly spooky answer. "I feel like we've gotten away from genuinely scaring the player more than I'd like, and it's something we need to think about, in addition to broadening the emotional palette we can draw on," Newell explained. While he's probably referring to intense encounters like the the zombified village of Ravenholm from Half-Life 2, we personally can't think of a scarier development for the franchise than a loose 2015 release window for the franchise's next entry.
Valve teases Apple announcement of ... something [update]
We'd love to outright confirm that "OMG, yes, Steam is finally coming to Mac!" but that'd be a lie. Truth is, of the five images that Valve sent out to a handful of outlets (as seen in our gallery below) – each one depicting characters from separate Valve games in some form of faux Mac advertisement (from Half-Life to Left 4 Dead and everything in between) – none provide ironclad confirmation of our suspicion that the developer is likely porting Steam over to OS X. That said, given the presence of six dots at the bottom of each of the five images we've seen so far, suggesting an iTunes-like image gallery with six images, we're hoping for an actual news release in the not-too-distant future ... possibly via that sixth image. For now, we've put in a call to Valve and will be speculating wildly in the meantime. Check out the five screens so far in the gallery below and get to the speculating with us, won't you? Update: Valve kindly sent over the last image, which unfortunately doesn't "OMG confirmed!" our guesses. It is, however, the coolest (fake) ad yet. %Gallery-87236% [Thanks, Joe K]
Steam UI update beta now live; Half-Life 2 achievements spotted
Click image to take a tour of the new Steam. Active Steam users will likely find the first half of this post to be a bit on the old hat side, but we soldier on: Valve's flipped the switch on a new and improved beta version of Steam. If you've already got a Steam account, you can download the new version by hitting up this page. The beta adds all kinds of nifty stuff, like accessible lists of what games your friends have downloaded (along with their personal stats for each title) and some new ways for you to sort and organize game libraries. There's also cross-game achievement tracking -- and Valve's finally done away with Internet Explorer rendering, swapping it out for the friendlier open-source WebKit engine. But, that's not all! Our sister site Big Download was cruising around the new achievements interface and noticed that Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode One now have achievements listed under them. As you know, Half-Life 2 released right around the time achievements were finalized, so it never arrived on Steam with them. Sadly, there's no news other than the icons -- which look a lot like those found in the Orange Box on Xbox 360. We'll be sure to keep you posted. %Gallery-86401% Source - Half-Life 2 achievements spotted Source - Steam beta update news
Fable 3 'almost at its final edit' stage, says Molyneux
The head of MGS Europe assuredly has a few more things on his plate than the third game in a franchise he helped create, but in a recent feature on Peter Molyneux at Develop, the British creator calmly pronounced the game to be nearing its "final edit" stage of production. Whether he means "ready for submission to Microsoft" or "we haven't started polishing it yet" (or, heck, anywhere in between) remains unclear, though we'd certainly like to get our hands on the final product sooner rather than later. Additionally, Molyneux triple dips on his love for Valve, proclaiming Half-Life 2 as his "favourite" game ever (you crazy Brits!) as well as the game he would most like to have worked on, and also notes the developer as the one he most admires (get a room, you two!). And hey, if you've been hankering to know his "favourite" album, it's Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon." (Yep, we were kind of disappointed too.)
Game Informer: No Half-Life 2: Episode 3 for you in 2010
Now this is just demoralizing. According to a report in the rumors section of the Feb. 2010 issue of Game Informer (which doesn't name its source) there won't be "any game from the [Half-Life] franchise in 2010." As if that weren't crushing enough, the magazine says it's not even sure there will be a Half-Life 2: Episode 3, postulating that the next Gordon Freeman adventure might be Half-Life 3 proper. Alright, listen, Half-Life: You take as long as you need, but we know you're holding Portal 2 in there somewhere. Just let GLaDOS go unharmed and you can develop until 2020 for all we care. Please, if not for us, think of the preteens waiting to record painful cover versions of "I'm Still Alive (Again)" on YouTube.
Half-Life 2 PC updated with Episode 2 tech, longs for Xbox 360 parity
It's not often that console gamers get to brag to their PC gaming counterparts that their version of any given release is graphically superior; however, 2007's Xbox 360 release of Valve's Orange Box compilation included updated releases of both Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode One – rebuilt with Episode Two's fancy new Source engine tech – while the PC releases sputtered on, sans engine enhancements and sans Achievements. Well, that didn't sit right in one Mr. Filip Victor's craw, who grabbed his handy coding toolbelt and started hammering away on the original 2004 game adding things like HDR High Dynamic Range lighting (see above screengrab from the comparison video, posted after the break), updated models and textures and, of course, 32 Steam Achievements (demo video here). While the legality of this project is certainly dubious, the requirement of both Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode Two should assuage your piracy concerns. Now, whether or not that assuages Valve's possible concerns with this project remain to be seen. If you're interested you'd better find a download link in this forum thread, sooner than later. And, if you're keeping score, the Xbox 360 version still comes out on top with an updated version of Episode One, though Victor is apparently "working on the EP1 part now." Until that day of parity comes, enjoy the moment console gamers. [Via Rock, Paper, Shotgun]
WoW in the running for Game of the Decade
2009 is coming to a close, and with it, "the aughts," which means we're about to get flooded with list after list of the best of the decade. It's been a raucous ten years for gaming (some, including me, might call it the best ten years in gaming so far), and Crispy Gamer is the first to step up and try to pick the best games we've seen so far. In their Game of the Decade showdown, World of Warcraft is still in the running, up against Bioware's legendary Knights of the Old Republic RPG, as the latest post has readers trying to pick the final four choices. If you think our game is more deserving than KotOR (note that this isn't the MMO, it's the old RPG with your friendly meatbag hater droid, HK-47), you can vote for WoW over on this page until Tuesday at 6pm. KotOR is a great game, but as a decade-defining game, I'd have to think WoW will pull that one off. After that, though, there's some tough competition: BioShock and Half-Life 2 are up against each other, Halo and Left 4 Dead are facing off in another bracket, and Super Smash Brothers Melee and Shadow of the Colossus (which I guess I need to go play now) are the challengers in the third. I have to say -- as a "Game of the Decade," BioShock and Half-Life 2 are definitely in competition, but if you want to pick a game which has really defined both the online and casual gaming movements of the last ten years? We'll have to see what the readers choose, but I'd have to think World of Warcraft is your game. [ via BlizzPlanet and kyleorl ]
'Half-Contra' explores NES Contra as done by Half-Life 2
Machinima user M0rtanius has created another video that mashes up a classic Konami title with Half-Life 2. His original piece placed Half-Life's protagonist into the world of Castlevania, whereas this latest one features Contra. The attention to the level design is pretty neat in both, and the music is lifted straight from the NES games, but it's just not the same without the Contra arsenal and Simon's whip. Also, we're not seeing any Konami code being entered, which means a quick end could not be far behind. Check out both clips after the break.
Castlevania Half-Life 2 mod brings Belmont to the Source
Man, is this National Awesome Half-Life 2 Mod Weekend, or what? Machinima.com user (and assumed Source engine guru) m0rtanius recently made a 3D adaptation of the first level of Castlevania, which you can view in the video after the jump. Before you pass judgment on this mod, we suggest you view this clip from Castlevania 64. We've come a long way, baby. [Via GoNintendo]
There's a game that exists which has Nazi Dinosaurs in it
Okay -- Time Gentlemen, Please featured a number of Hitler-Heiling prehistoric lizards, so we guess there's now two games out there which feature Nazi Dinosaurs. Still, the more recent title to boast the hybrid, a Half-Life 2 mod titled Dino D-Day, actually allows you to go toe to talon with with these fanged, scaly members of the Third Reich. You can check out an overwhelmingly patriotic trailer for the mod over on ModDB -- or, if you're in the mood to massacre some Nazi Dinos right now, the mod is also available to download. (To be fair, the dinosaurs featured in Dino D-Day are unable to speak, so it's difficult to know whether they harbor the disturbing political and social beliefs of the Nazi party. However, they're affiliated with them in combat, so we've got no reservations about punching them repeatedly in their stupid dinosaur faces.)
Ico developer digs Half-Life 2, interested in making 'first-person games'
Though the Japanese aren't exactly known for their love affair with first-person shooters, Team Ico director Fumito Ueda can name at least one that he digs: Half-Life 2. Speaking to G4TV (through a translator), Ueda named the Valve-developed sequel when asked which games he has had an emotional reaction to."There was variation in terms [of] locations and also [in] the way of storytelling in the game. Usually, you have to incorporate storytelling with constraints, but the way [Valve] implemented constraints was something different that I enjoyed, compared to other games," observed Ueda. He's even considered making his own first-person game at some point, stating, "I have an interest in making first-person games."If Ueda's previous development cycle lengths are any indication, we tentatively expect to see a Ueda-developed first-person game by 2025 or so ... at the earliest. [Image credit: jeriaska]
Dude replaces Half-Life 2 sound effects with own voice
Behind the scenes at Joystiq, we have a lot of news we want to get to every day, and some stories just don't make the cut. We just want to take a moment to apologize to whatever story gets bumped so we can write about this particular item. If you're in anyway newsworthy at all it must come as quite a shock. But trust us, it's not you ... it's us. So, after the break, you'll find a video of a guy who made a mod that replaces the sound effects of Half-Life 2 with ones he made with his own voice. It's completely unimportant and utterly magical. [Via Giant Bomb]
