Sometimes it really helps who you know, and there is always some element of luck in making it. Having a great team certainly made that game what it was. It was interesting how they balance realism and fun.
Its always interesting how things get made.
DYKG recently did a video about Ken Sugimori (the Pokemon guy). He is an overly harsh critic of his own skills, but I think there is a kernel of truth in this insight:
"It's kind of embarrassing to admit actually - but [video games were] a brand new industry back then, and standards were lower than in other fields..."
I think this is the benefit of not being a public company. They’ve pivoted over and over and over. They’re still in the same space (video games) and the breadth of the areas they’re in are immense!
Back to HL2 - it's the 2nd game I've ever finished twice (FF VII being the other), still love the story, the very cool physics gun, the incredible dystopian narrative and setting, and it holds up today wonderfully 19 years later.
It's a shame we'll likely never see an HL3. There are so many talented development firms they could outsource it to, with current engines like UE5, it would be fantastic with the proper writers. Maybe even the original ones. Alright, done gushing here.
Or is that maybe why? The weight of expectation is too great to live up to
And the leaked storyline for Episode Three looking really strong as well.
I hold out hope that the Crowbar Collective (the group that remade Half-Life with the Source engine and called it Black Mesa) have been secretly working on implementing the Episode Three storyline in Source. Though, now that Source2 is out who knows? This is all my speculation anyway.