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Valvevery famously cant count to three.
Counter-Strikehas also only had twonumberedentries, but Counter-Strike 2 is generally considered the fifth iteration.
It can be hard to see things end in video games because they so rarely do.
That wouldn’t happen with Half-Life because Valve is Valve.
It doesn’t belong to a publisher that needs to worry about important IP lying fallow.
Even if it never makes a game again, itll do just fine.
It makes me wish we could see more conclusions in games.
Games tended to be greeted with “what’s next?”
The goodAssassin’s Creedlays the foundation for the great Assassin’s Creed 2.
The janky but cool Uncharted sets the table for the universally beloved Uncharted 2.
The best Zelda (perMetacritic, and per five-year-old me) arrived 12 years in.
Theactual best Zeldaarrived 21 years in.
This is an iterative medium, and getting to greatness tends to involve making some okay stuff first.
So, if you’re Larian circa 2013, I’m not talking to you.
Keep going and make those games everybody loves.
But Valve isn’t Larian.
It knocked it out of the park with its first at-bat.
Half-Life was an instant classic, and many of its games since have enjoyed similarly revered status.
When you’re that successful, that early on, it’s okay to let things end.
Not just lay fallow, as so many game series do between entries, but actually end.
If Valve is really wrapping Half-Life up, I applaud it.
Now do Portal 3.
Naughty Dog’s masterpiece built on the foundation Valve’s classic FPS established.
