Valve's Doug Lombardi told CVG today that Half-Life 2: Episode Two's release has slipped from Q1 2007 back to summer 2007.
Lombardi told us that the super developer is "now targeting summer 2007" for a release. This obviously affects Team Fortress 2 and Portal, which all form part of mouth-watering Episode Two package.
The title was originally expected to hit at the end of 2006, with Valve confirming back in August it had changed its mind and was instead gunning for Q1 2007, maybe February.
The reason for the further delay to summer 2007 hasn't been given, but we imagine it's simply the case of Episode Two, TF2 and Portal being massive, and requiring extra development time.
I thought that the whole point of episodic gaming was we got one every few months, not over a year between each.
I probably won't buy it anyway, half life 2 left me really disapointed with it, and episode 1 was no better. They went the route of adding loads of vechicle levels to make up for a pretty average FPS.
Playing Half-life 2 was for me like being inside a thoroughbred action film such as die hard, where in one scene you are left feeling eerily lonesome and in charge of your own fate whilst crawling through air ducts, then in the next scene you feel the oppression of a bounty which hangs over your head and here everything feels beyond your control. Its tension and release in beautiful synergy.
I just don't see how a human being cannot enjoy this.
I can. It was dull and uninspired and really a travesty to be in anyway linked to the original. If HL2 was a FPS in it's own right and nothing to do with the Half Life universe, it would be nothing more than a good FPS. Not ground-breaking or genre-defining or indeed great; just good. FPS games before and since have done a better job.
Having said that, I have to agree with Maugrim. If Episodic gaming means charging us £20 for something that comes out every 12 months rather when all of it could have been put in a sequel and cost us less, I really don't see the point in it any more. The engine is there, the models are there, what's taking so frickin' long?
I agree fuzz, I loved Half-Life 2. It's such a well made game. It wowed me contantly from start to finish.
As for the delays... Really looking forward to TF2 and Portal. Episode 2, surprisingly not so much, but I do like the fact that you are now outside and stuff. Episode 1's only fault in my eyes was that you were in the citadel for the whole bloody game, one of my least enjoyed sections of Half-Life 2. Then I hop on the trian thinking "Finally, going to a new area! ...oh... wait... What? Already?! Damn."
Best part of Episode 1 is still the beginning I think. All the way from being rescued from under the rocks up until where DOG throws you in the van, and the rollercoaster that follows. Just amazing.
Half Life 2 was/still is a superb game - still for me the best game released in the past 5 years. Production values were superb, that is what the extra time will be spent on. And we can't really whinge that it is going to take a year after the release of Episode1 - who knew we would end up with 3 titles to look forward to instead of 1 at the end of Episode1?
Valve are right up there with Bungie for me - take as much time as you need lads, we all know it will be great.
Playing Half-life 2 was for me like being inside a thoroughbred action film such as die hard, where in one scene you are left feeling eerily lonesome and in charge of your own fate whilst crawling through air ducts, then in the next scene you feel the oppression of a bounty which hangs over your head and here everything feels beyond your control. Its tension and release in beautiful synergy.
I just don't see how a human being cannot enjoy this.
I have to agree with you on this. It was just the other night I was thinking what game i would be buying and i was thinkning crap i cant think of anything worth my while ; now you have to understand i wasnt thinking of the future half life stuff as it is a must buy i just finished Dark Messiah and thoroughly enjoyed it!
So, to the point yes im disappointed that they arent coming out on time but surely that can only mean they'll get better.
Or because the console conversions are slightly probmatic and they want to release them all at the same time, damn Sony
Mmmmm. Thats a good theory. I got HL2 for the PC when it first came out. But I'm waiting for the Xbox 360 version now to play the game again, the episodic content and Portal. It's a shame it's been put back again. I'll have to wait even longer now.
Hal Life 2 is an amazing game, as is episode one. Forget what you're playing and become immersed and it's one of the more deep and exciting games ever.
These delays though..annoy me. I'm getting a new computer next year, episode 2 was right at the top of my "to-play" list
Is this really that much of a surprise. I mean I love the games and look forward to this latest instalment, but to be blunt this is about as predictable as EA trying to screw its customers over.
Yeah, that comment doesn't even make sense on it's own.
I'm one of the Half-Life-lovers/Valve-haters. Love their games, hate the company. This delay p**ses all over the whole principle of "episodic gaming". So far the only company to embrace episodic gaming and get their schedules right is Telltale with the new Sam & Max series, pretty much one a month - and they've still buggered up the Bone schedule.
Half Life 2 was/still is a superb game - still for me the best game released in the past 5 years. Production values were superb, that is what the extra time will be spent on. And we can't really whinge that it is going to take a year after the release of Episode1 - who knew we would end up with 3 titles to look forward to instead of 1 at the end of Episode1?
Valve are right up there with Bungie for me - take as much time as you need lads, we all know it will be great.
Before i even read the rest of the comments, HELL YEAH to the guy above and fallout - hell...f**king...yeah!
Love it or hate, wait for it or want it now, none of this really matters per se. It's just the whole 'episodic' line of crap we were fed that really stinks.
Personally I would rather pay 8 to 10 quid for each title and have them when they are individually ready.
Trying to give us a 'WOW' factor by saying we will get another Half Life episode and Portal and TF2 worked, but it has soon lost its shine due to the delays and long wait (now even longer).
Episodic, could be good if it comes quick and regular. It doesn't have to be too ground breaking as the whole purpose is 'just more of the same' but regularly.
People don't want Half Life 3 until Half Life 3 is ready, new, groundbreaking and 'the next step'.
Episodic Half Life 2 is supposed to be 'just more Half Life 2'. We like it, so keep it coming, when its stale and played out, give us Half Life 3, don't try to give us Half Life 3 as part of episodic half life 2
I don't like the way that that HL2 sycophancy up there got 'featured'. It just makes me dislike HL2 even more. X(
Sycophancy? I was just stating my opinion and because I justify it this is not servile or over-zealous. But I do agree it was a strange choice for a featured comment on this story.
Besides, if all this makes you dislike HL2 even more it says to me that you aren't being objective, cos lets face it, this discussion has no effect on the quality of Half-life 2.
I don't really care if you like HL2 to be honest, but do you have to be bitter?
I've never had any faith in episodic gaming and that seems to be justified. Maybe they want to get in on DX10, who knows?
Waste of time, waste of money. There's more than enough games available on CD/DVD for £20-£30 from my local retailer to keep me going. I've already bought enough games in the last month to keep me going for a very long time...Dark Messiah, Company of Heroes, Galactic Civ II, DoW Dark Crusade, NWN2, Beyond Good & Evil and even BF2142. There's still FM2007, Guild Wars part III and I'll be getting a Wii on 8th December.
Not bothered about HL2 ep II at all although TF2 looked like fun.
I'll stick with what's available game wise and technology wise for the time being. A mail order DVD tends to be about the same price as a digital download (unless it's from EA) and arrives on day of release. Not only that but it's a nice, hardcopy. There'll always be more shelf room that HDD room.
Playing Half-life 2 was for me like being inside a thoroughbred action film such as die hard, where in one scene you are left feeling eerily lonesome and in charge of your own fate whilst crawling through air ducts, then in the next scene you feel the oppression of a bounty which hangs over your head and here everything feels beyond your control. Its tension and release in beautiful synergy.
I just don't see how a human being cannot enjoy this.
It's not that great, some bits are plain annoying (that helo thing dropping bombs on your boat/hovercraft thing) and others are just plain boring. Also, the source engine has never really 'wowed' be. It's textures look like a cheap movie set and the constant loading every 3-4 minutes, even with 2Gb ram just take the shine off of a decent storyline.
I'm not sure if I'm the only person here who feels this way, maybe I'm just immature or odd, but I actually don't like feeling 'eerily lonesome'. I don't like bleak, oppressive worlds, especially ones that feel so much like real life.
The real world is depressing. We all know it. I am one of those people who plays videogames in order to get AWAY from the real world. However, when I started my first game of Half-Life 2, it seemed to me that this game world was even MORE depressing than reality!
Give me worlds that are as unrealistic and fantastical as possible: give me Tron 2.0, give me XIII, give me Painkiller, give me games that are immersive, empowering and, most importantly, have that light seasoning of wonderful reckless abandon!
It is easier to create a fancy escapist fiction than to imitate human civilisation.
I can see how some people like games to be fantasy realms, but for me it is the opposite. I like the stark emotional charge of a world where the evil isnt a villain with horns but an emotionally cold movement of human ignorance. It really chills me to the bone. It IS reality. But it is far from depressing. We can either be disappointed at life or understand that there is no one to be disappointed at. The world is full of overgrown kids. Noone is older than 120 years old but we live in a civilisation sophisticated beyond thousands of years. That thought alone is liberating to me and I get exhiliration from this sense of alienation and the crisis of authority. Ok I understand a lot of this atmosphere is brought to a game such as HL2 by the individual player and therefore it is highly subjective. I am just sticking up for the attention to zeitgeist and period detail that I believe is the essence of Half-life and why I think it is far greater than an "average" FPS as some have claimed. Episode 2 can take as long as it wants. There should be no such obligations for episodic games.
A very admirable view, FuzzMunky. I only hope this helps people who haven't bought Half-Life 2 yet. I don't dispute that the game is a masterpiece, but a masterpiece of realist art rather than escapist fantasy.
How long before an RPG like Oblivion gives you one major city and part of the countryside, enough for 20 hours of gaming, and says 'that'll be £39.99 thank you' and then each of a dozen cities being released in an 'episodic' format for £19.99 a pop! Making the game the same 60 hour beauty, but at a price of £200+ total?
A heck of a lot of "full" games give you considerably less than 20 hours of game time. Quake 4 and F.E.A.R. spring immediately to mind.
If you want to complain about something, I'd suggest complaining about that.
Episodes do not cost £40 nor, I suspect, will they ever cost that much. £20 - £30 is much more realistic.
Based on that, 50 hours of episodic content would cost you £60 - £90. 45 hours of "full" game content would require at least three games if not more, totalling at least £120. This makes episodic content *better* value for money, not worse.
Of course, I'm mainly reffering to the FPS genre here. These types of game are almost always utter rip-offs compared to most other genres. Whether the FPS comes in episodes is irrelevant, because it's still going be far worse value for money than a decent RPG or strategy game.
hmmm...just wondering how the negative aspects of blu-rays 'larger storage' medium holds out on this augument...i personally think it would be nice to get all of those 'alternates' on one disk
I thought that the whole point of episodic gaming was we got one every few months, not over a year between each.
I probably won't buy it anyway, half life 2 left me really disapointed with it, and episode 1 was no better. They went the route of adding loads of vechicle levels to make up for a pretty average FPS. undefined
I thought that the whole point of episodic gaming was we got one every few months, not over a year between each.
I probably won't buy it anyway, half life 2 left me really disapointed with it, and episode 1 was no better. They went the route of adding loads of vechicle levels to make up for a pretty average FPS. undefined
I am actually torn about the hl2 subject. I enjoyed the game as it was pretty fun to play. I enjoyed the flow of the game as well and when "barney" made his wise cracks or threw me my crowbar i was lol. overall the game was simply fun. However not to sure how many of you saw the video clip prior to the source code being stolen showing what the hl2 platform would look like and what it was supposed to do. I remember from the video a bunch of guys sitting around a pc showing us how everything in the environment was supposed to be manipulated and a stryder crashing threw an archway in a street, not to mention the incredible ai that was shown in this video. This brings me to my point, hl2 was a complete let down after playing the release having seen what the original source code did. Hell hl2 was delayed so long why not delay it even further to do what was set out to do. Makes me wonder if valve is keeping what i saw for a hl3 raising the question who really stole the source code in the 1st place.
Copyright 2006 - 2009 Future Publishing Limited, Beauford Court, 30 Monmouth Street, Bath, UK BA1 2BW England and Wales company registration number 2008885
so what do you expect 
.
undefined
