TheHalf-Lifefranchise has inspired many PC gamers since it started in 1998, but the writer behind most of the plot has expressed regrets about the story and how he shared the story ofEpisode 3. ManyHalf-Lifefans have anticipated therelease ofHalf-Life 3, while others still hope forEpisode 3, and details about the franchise’s development continue to emerge several years later.
Half-Lifewriter Marc Laidlaw was recently interviewed by Rock Paper Shotgun, and he gave his perspective on the storytelling of theHalf-Lifeseries and howEpisode 3was handled. Although it didn’t scratch the itch of all theHalf-Lifefans hoping for a new game when it was released in 2020,Half-Life: Alyxroughly continued the series' plot and introduced it to virtual reality. For theHalf-Lifeplayers that feltAlyxwasn’t enough, Marc Laidlaw has posted theEpisode 3story to his website which is something he now finds “deranged.”
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Marc Laidlaw only imaginedtheHalf-Lifeseriesgoing untilHalf-Life 2: Episode 3, but the third part never came out which inspired him to post an outline of the story online shortly into his retirement. Laidlaw speculated that this public drop of theHalf-Life 2: Episode 3story caused friends in the industry some trouble and “made their lives harder,” but it also tied together a lot of loose threads for fans of the franchise as well. Though some fans walked away from theEpisode 3outline shared by Laidlaw with satisfaction, the writer also stated that “what people got wasn’tEpisode 3at all” because it was detached from the full game development process.
Because Marc Laidlaw had already left Valve before posting theEpisode 3outline to his website, there was little recourse fortheHalf-Lifedevelopment studio. Laidlaw also reflects on some issues in the earlier games, stating that he was “appalled” at himself when he went back later to discover that he drew so much inspiration for theHalf-LifeKarras broadcasts fromThief. One of the reasons that the writer left the studio in 2016 was because he grew tired of the FPS genre’s limitations, and he suggested that his interest in solving narrative problems that are “inherent in aHalf-Lifestyle” story faded.
Based on Marc Laidlaw’s take on theHalf-Life 2: Episode 3story controversy, it seems that he’d do things differently if it were today as he was left feeling “embarrassed.” ConsideringHalf-Life: Alyxrenewed the franchisewith a modern audience, the fans wishing forHalf-Life 3may still have something to hold onto with what’s left of the story to be told based on theEpisode 3outline from Laidlaw.
