THE UN-HISTORY OF HALF-LIFE 3

The complete story of the greatest game never made

-  Rick Lane

"SELL YOUR GRANDMOTHER, REMORTGAGE THE CAT, DO WHATEVER YOU HAVE TO DO. JUST DON'T MISS OUT." SO READS THE FINAL LINE OF PC GAMER'S REVIEW OF HALF-LIFE 2.

ALMOST TWO DECADES SINCE ITS RELEASE, THE GENIUS OF VALVE'S SEQUEL HAS BEEN EXHAUSTIVELY DISCUSSED. BUT THE EXPLOSIVE IMPACT OF ITS DESIGN IS PRESERVED IN THE BREATHLESS WORDS OF ITS REVIEWS.

JIM ROSSIGNOL GAVE IT A SCORE OF 96 IN PC GAMER, CALLING IT "A NEAR PERFECT SEQUEL".

THE LONG-DEFUNCT PCZONE WENT ONE POINT HIGHER, AND SAID "GAMES MAY NEVER BE THIS GOOD AGAIN".

IGN MATCHED ZONE'S SCORE ON A DECIMAL SCALE, AWARDING IT 9.7.

EUROGAMER BROUGHT OUT THE PERFECT 10.

MOST REMARKABLY OF ALL, SO DID EDGE, MAKING HALF-LIFE 2 ONLY THE FIFTH GAME TO RECEIVE THE AWARD, ONE OF JUST 24 "REVOLUTIONARY" GAMES RATED SO TO DATE.

Half-Life 2 was a phenomenon, a game so good one of the few complaints levelled against it was that it didn’t go on forever. “I want to bemoan the fact that it had to end at all,” Rossignol wrote. As time regrettably stopped for Gordon atop City 17’s Citadel, the question on everyone’s lips was, “What’s next?” Surely Valve wouldn’t leave Alyx stranded beside an exploding portal. Surely Gordon wouldn’t remain trapped in the G-Man’s limbo. Valve had followed-up the most celebrated shooter of its day with something even better. Surely it would do it again.