The Final Hours of Half-Life: Alyx Reveals Surprising Details About Half-Life 3

Published: July 9, 2020 2:28 PM /

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The Final Hours of Half-Life: Alyx cover

After much anticipation, The Final Hours of Half-Life: Alyx has finally launched on Steam. This latest interactive documentary has a bunch of information on the development of Half-Life: Alyx, but that's not all — we also learn a bit about Half-Life 3.

The Final Hours of Half-Life: Alyx is a new interactive documentary from Geoff Keighley, the same man who brings us The Game Awards every year and, more recently, the Steam Game Festivals. He's been working in the industry for a pretty long time, and part of his work includes long-form coverage of some of the bigger releases.

Now, he's launched the latest in his line of interactive multimedia experiences. While we do get to learn a fair bit about Half-Life: Alyx, some of the more interesting stuff in there has to do with what happened with Half-Life 3.

The Final Hours of Half-Life Alyx slice

Half-Life 3 Details Revealed in The Final Hours of Half-Life: Alyx

Half-Life 3 would have been very different from what we had seen thus far in the franchise according to IGN. The most substantial version of the game used procedural generation to make it much more replayable then the games we've seen before.

This canceled Half-Life 3 project actually made some headway in the early 2010s; it was in development for roughly a year during 2013–2014. The developers even went as far as scanning Frank Sheldon, the man who served as the basis for G-Man. Unfortunately, this canceled Half-Life game made use of the then-unfinished Source 2 engine. The project ultimately never made it far and was subsequently dropped.

Half-Life 3 wasn't the only canceled project, mind. Valve also had worked on Left 4 Dead 3, but it too was canceled due to problems with the Source 2 engine. Other canceled games included the long-rumored Borealis and more than half-a-dozen VR games.

If you're curious about the history of Half-Life (including the latest game in the franchise), you can buy The Final Hours of Half-Life: Alyx on Steam for $9.99 or your regional equivalent. Be sure to check out Geoff Keighley's other interactive media experiences on Steam!

Are you disappointed that we never got Half-Life 3? What do you hope to see for the next Half-Life game? Let us know in the comments below!

Have a tip, or want to point out something we missed? Leave a Comment or e-mail us at tips@techraptor.net


A photograph of TechRaptor Senior Writer Robert N. Adams.
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One of my earliest memories is playing Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo Entertainment System. I've had a controller in my hand since I was 4 and I… More about Robert N