The more than two decades since Half-Life 2’s release have been filled with plenty of rumors and hints about Half-Life 3, ranging from the official-ish to the thin to the downright misleading. As we head into 2025, though, we’re approaching something close to a critical mass of rumors and leaks suggesting that Half-Life 3 is really in the works this time, and could be officially announced in the coming months.

The latest tease came just before the end of 2024 via a New Year’s Eve social media video from G-Man voice actor Mike Shapiro. In the voice of the mysterious in-game bureaucrat, Shapiro expresses hopes that “the next quarter century [will] deliver as many unexpected surprises as did the millennium’s first (emphasis added)… See you in the new year.”

On its own, a single in-character post from a voice actor would probably be a bit too cryptic to excite Half-Life fans who have seen their sequel hopes dashed so often over the last two decades. But the unexpected tease comes amid a wave of leaks and rumors surrounding “HLX,” an internal Valve project that has been referenced in a number of other Source 2 engine game files recently.

  • Grass
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    4 days ago

    IIRC there is a non vr mod for the game, but no idea how enjoyable it would be

    • ampersandrew@lemmy.world
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      4 days ago

      Having played the game in VR, I think what feels like an appropriate scale for a firefight in VR would feel underwhelming and small in non-VR.

      • frezik@midwest.social
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        4 days ago

        Agreed. They really limit how many enemies you face at once in that game. Any more would be unplayably difficult.

        • vividspecter@lemm.ee
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          3 days ago

          As a beginner? Sure, but having played the HL2 VR mod you get used to it, and it has left me wishing Alyx was a bit more challenging.

    • Admiral Patrick@dubvee.orgOP
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      4 days ago

      Yeah, I recall hearing about that a good while back, but like you said, dunno how enjoyable it would be. From my understanding, much of the game mechanics are designed for VR.