As “Half-Life 2: Episode Two” approaches its 10-year anniversary, fed-up “Half-Life” fans are taking their long-simmering aggression out on one of Valve’s other games, “Dota 2.” PCGamesN was among the first to notice the review bombing this weekend, with many users blaming “Dota” and its continued existence for distracting Valve from making more HL games.
Fans lament over not seeing HL3
Last week, former Valve writer Marc Laidlaw revealed the synopsis of the “HL 2: Episode 3” story he had planned out before the developer stopped creating more games for the series.
In an odd turn of events, Laidlaw’s post spurred some of the newfound backlashes against Valve. Fans aren’t taking the news well, so Valve's getting the brunt of their ire.
Quotes from the game’s Steam page include the following: “Roses are red, violets are blue, DOTA 2 sucks, and so does the fact that Episode 3 isn't happening ever”, “Rise and shine Mr. Freeman. Rise and shine”, “Thanks to this game, HL 2: Episode 3 is dead”, “RIP Valve, Dota 2 is the only thing they care about” and “This game ruined my life. I'm waiting for HL3 to make me feel good again.”
Fans still want ‘Half-Life 3’
“Half-Life 3” was supposed to be the next episode in the “Half-Life 2” story. Originally intended to come out a year after the release of “Half-Life 2: Episode 2,” Valve's plans changed, and the project was caught in development hell.
Recently at “Dota 2’s” International Championships, Valve had revealed “Artifact,” a “Dota” spinoff that’s a card game. With quite a huge crowd in attendance, their honest reactions to the gameplay teaser showed just how much of a bummer it was to reveal it’s a digital card cash-in on a popular existing product.
Elsewhere online, you can’t deny that the majority of the reaction is well… disappointment and this reaction have been brought over to “Dota 2’s” Steam page well.
To be clear, the “Half-Life” series went cold long before “Dota 2” came out, but it seems like fans are upset that the game's success (and draw on resources to keep it running and relevant) appears to be taking all of Valve's attention. In other words, they think that if “Dota 2” didn't exist, they'd probably be playing HL3 by now.
Some fans have been hitting back though. They've posted positive reviews in response, stating that “Half-Life” wasn't as good as the fans remember and that “Dota 2 is the new king of Valve's hill. Although this is a bit of harmless protesting, how do you feel about the whole HL saga over the past decade?
