One of the best video games of 2020 was the return of one of the most beloved and award-winning sagas in the history of video games, Half-Life. Valve’s newest game in the franchise, Half-Life Alyx, is a great game and a very strong proof of the power of VR in gaming. The ending left fans shocked, and now Valve has talked about it. Relax, no spoilers.
The ending of the game changes a lot about the history of the franchise and opens the door to an uncertain and interesting future, but this is something that Valve has sought with intention. In an interview in The Gamer with Robin Walker, head of the Half-Life Alyx project, the creative explained that they did not want the fans to continue in narrative limbo and that they are aware of the importance of the story.
As for the endgame, Walker has said that they realized it “had to be something that mattered, ” and so they worked hard on the narrative. “The story can’t be something you can just ignore and move on to next. We also knew that Half-Life fans have been stuck in a kind of narrative limbo for a long time, and we wanted that to change. “
Half-Life 2 also ends in a very striking way and Valve is aware of its legacy; with Alyx they wanted to do something similar. “We gave [the player] a red herring where you think you know how he’s going to end up with a completely plausible ending and then we subverted it, ” Walker explained.
New Valve games
These words from Robin Walker do not confirm that there is a new game in the saga in development, but it is true that it could happen. In fact, in early 2021, Gabe Newell, Valve’s president, stated in an interview that the company is preparing new single-player video games following the success of Alyx.