Half-Life has enjoyed legendary status for basically twenty years now. The original was a benchmark in FPS gameplay, and Half-Life 2 topped it not too long after when it launched in 2004 thanks to its advancements in game physics and immediately iconic characters. It’s also helped that the series ended on a cliffhanger, one fans have been begging Valve to pick up from ever since. Now we can all celebrate that legendary game with a brand new look at what could have been.

To the surprise and delight of many Half-Life fans, Valve recently released the “Half-Life 2:20th Anniversary Documentary,” which includes all sorts of new insights into one of the games that defined PC gaming in the early 2000’s. It’s got all kinds of cool information, but the best part is a look at never-before-seen footage from what would have been Half- Life 2: Episode 3.

For one, we learn that it would, in fact, have been set in the arctic and been based around the Borealis (the Aperture Inc. ship mentioned in Portal 2), confirming a years-spanning popular fan theory. There would have been at least one new enemy type, called “Blobs.” These would have been shape-shifting masses that could pass through grates and split into smaller blobs when shot. There also would have been an “ice gun” to play around with, which would have allowed players to build up walls and other temporary stuctures.

The Ice Gun also apparently would have had a “Silver Surfer” mode, which would have let players shoot ice in front of themselves to run along and cross gaps. As for why it got cancelled, it was apparently a combination of the team not being able to come up with enough new stuff to make it as big as they thought it should be and many team members’ desire to make multiplayer games instead.

Even if it did miss the proverbial moment back in the day, interest in a potential Half-Life 3 is just as strong as ever. Fans are once again feeling hopeful too. Due to the way Half- Life: Alyx ended and now this very high-effort documentary, speculation is once more hopeful that fans will indeed one day get the most anticipated sequel in all of gaming.

---

Are you a Half-Life fan? How do you feel about HL2: Episode 3’s cancellation? Do you think fans should finally give up on Half-Life 3?

Image from the Half-Life 2 Steam page