According to comments made by Valve Software's Doug Lombardi, the eagerly awaited (and
delayed) Aftermath expansion pack will be the first in a series of episodes extending the original Half-Life 2 storyline.
Lombardi revealed that the Aftermath expansion pack has been renamed Half-Life 2: Episode One, indicating that the franchise is moving towards episodic content. We are expecting Half-Life 2: Episode One to be released
in April, but nothing is confirmed until we see the game on the shelves.
While Valve has given no details on how the Half-Life 2 franchise will become episodic, the company's marketing director
went on to say that the content is likely to become more frequent. As a consequence, there will be less content in each
release.
Whether that is good or bad is a matter of personal preference. The high quality of Valve's games is something that will be welcomed on a more frequent basis. Based on the rumours that each of the SiN 2 episodes
will have around 6 hours of gameplay, we can expect the same from the Half-Life 2 episodes.
We also expect new content to turn appear every 9-12 months - far more frequently than the time between Half-Life and Half-Life 2. We're expecting the
episodes to cost around £10-15 each and they will be distributed via Steam. It's not clear whether Half-Life 2: Episode One will make an appearance in retail stores as we reported earlier, due to the fact that the SiN 2 episodes will only be available via Steam.
Are you looking forward to more frequent appearances from
our very own Haz? Let us know your thoughts
in the forums.
Want to comment? Please log in.