No More Half-Life 2: Aftermath

[WooFerPPK]

Zips wrote..

And an episode per month? Come on. Maybe one every 6 months, if that. They're expansions. Expansions are episodes. Probably 10 hour long games at a fraction of the cost.

Well normally i wouldn’t mind one or two expansions for a game, but if valve decides to do what EA did with The Sims, making 11ty billion expansions I’m strongly against that.



Also to go on topic the new name does sound stupid because Half-Life 2 itself would have to be episode one, unless they call the expansion "Half-Life 2: Aftermath - Episode one" Half-Life episode 1 just does not work for me.

[ChinesesRubdown]

wow u guys get really angry about video game news. especially news as lame as a name change...

[Andeak]

I like the idea of episodes because:



1) Episodes will be realesed faster: entirely via steam.

2) Episodes will be cheeper: no packaging or ordering costs.



I don't like the idea of episodic because



1) It doesn't link in: Half-Life, Half-Life 2, Half-Life: Episode One

Tell me that sounds right!

2) Episode One sounds tacky and star-wars like

3) Episodes imply that the game story is finite. Not fun.



AndyC

[WooFerPPK]

Andeak wrote..

3) Episodes imply that the game story is finite. Not fun.

how so?

[-:Nighthawk:-]

Does HL2: Episode 1 sound stupid? Yes. Will I buy it anyway and enjoy the gameplay? Yes, assuming the price is reasonable. Last time I checked, the title of a game didn't change whether it was fun to play or not. Price will be the main issue here: $60 bought me HL2 silver, which includes more games than I care to name at the moment.



Something that only contains some additional HL2 singleplayer content really will come across as comparitively ridiculously overpriced if they try to charge much above the $20 mark. That said... I wouldn't be even remotely surprised to see a $25-30 price mark on this, because VALVe is a company, and all companies like making money.

FLeK0 wrote..

You don't want to play more than HL2 offered in every single year? If they manage to create 3 or 4 5-6 hour long episodes a year, that would be awesome.

skankuser wrote..

I agree with the people that think this is stupid. You'd rather play a yearly 5-6 hours? Well, I would rather play a very deep 20 hour single player game that kicks ass instead of playing something shorter than fucking Half-Life: Blueshift.

This year's "I can't read!" award goes to... skankuser! Releasing 4 episodes that were 6 hours each would result in 24 hours of yearly playtime. If you want to pull an all-nighter and do that straight, rather than in shorter segments... just wait a bit longer, and then buy a couple episodes and play through them all.

Dangki wrote..

You obviously must not be talking about HL1 & 2 then. I doubt they even added up to 20 hours together.

Hahahaha did you actually play these games? Or are you just trying to brag about how fast you can complete levels and avoid actually enjoying the experience?

obsidianelite6 wrote..

As long as one 30 dollar expansion doesn't become 3 20 dollar episodes. Given their pricing strategy of "screwing everyone who didn't buy HL2 silver when they had the chance", I wouldn't be too suprised.

Funny because it smacks of truth.

kerosine99 wrote..

Also -- you only have to be online ONCE before you can put Steam into Offline mode and play all your Singleplayer games to your heart's content.

While I generally agree with this point of view... offline mode is pretty buggy for me, and I often have it tell me "you cannot play this game in offline mode" which occasionally screws me over at LANs, or when I just want some SP action while my broadband's down.

Antinous-ODY wrote..

It's been awhile since I read about it but are they releasing a HL3 or are these expansions just going to keep going until the game is resolved?

A while back it was stated they were beginning work on HL3, and why should they not? The name "Half-Life 2" will eventually start to sound outdated, episodic or not.

Jobbeh wrote..

Will there be a demo? or something?

There is already a HL2 demo, so we already know what the game is like... it'd be pointless to give even more free content.

Gpig wrote..

I'M STILL GOING TO BREAK SOMETHING

meowmeow's neck sounds like the best alternative thus far.

Vlux wrote..

Wow, this seems like one of the most controversial changes VALVe has made. Maybe someone can put all of it together and create a documentary.

Somebody wasn't around for the 1.4 jumping change, apparently. Oh, the memories...