The iconic Half-Life really influenced the industry — but, as it turned out, not in everything. One of its authors, Mark Laidlaw, admitted that he expected a much wider spread of the key technique of the game — continuous storytelling without cutscenes.
In an interview, he noted that there were noticeably fewer such projects than he had expected. According to him, the idea of full immersion, where the player does not “drop out” of what is happening for a second, turned out to be too risky for most developers. This format requires confidence: if the story doesn’t work, the team doesn’t have the opportunity to “back up” with individual videos or editing.
Nevertheless, Valve’s influence is still being felt. Laidlaw noted that some elements of this approach can be seen in series such as Medal of Honor and Call of Duty. But it’s more about fragments: dynamic game scenes still alternate with non-interactive expositions, which destroys the effect of a complete narrative.
That’s why Half-Life remains unique in its own way. She offered a way to tell a story right through gameplay, without pauses and breaks — and so far, few people have dared to repeat it in full.
Interest in the series has not disappeared. She still has a huge audience, and many players continue to wait for Valve to return to a full-fledged new installment — not in VR format, but a classic sequel. In the meantime, fans are taking the initiative: modders from Project Borealis have already shown their developments in Episode 3, trying to continue the story where the developers once left it.
And there is a slight irony in this: an idea that could become an industry standard is really alive today in the community rather than in major releases.
