Half Life 2 - maybe here in September, but a month after Doom 3?

[Paul Adams]

http://uk.special.reserve.co.uk/n_3111-news.html

New DOOM 3 and Half-Life 2 dates

Retail and Newell give hints about the (new) estimated release dates of the PC's most anticipated titles...
It's going to be a titanic battle. Not only which will be the best shooter, but which of Half-Life 2 and DOOM 3 will hit store shelves first. When that'll eventually happen no-one can be sure of, but there have been a couple of hints dropped over the last few days...

In an interview with Gabe Newell, the head of Valve Software said that Half-Life 2 is "in great shape," and that he anticipated shipping it to Vivendi in August. Add the turn-around time for replication and the like, and we could be being Gordon Freeman in late August or early September.

id's game hasn't had any official statements about its release date, but some large US retailers have the game down for release on August 3rd. That would beat HL2 by around a month, and give both titles a bit of breathing room that they'd surely benefit from.

Not long left to wait now...

I must admit, I think I'm looking forward to HL2 more than Doom 3 - not so much the claimed "unscripted" aspect of it, but the more realistic physics.
The Doom 3 graphics are pretty, but it still seemed a little stilted and not quite as fluid as the HL2 demo - last time I saw them, at least.
Maybe I'll be in for a surprise.

[Romanov]

Up until 2 days before sept 30th they were saying they were on schedule then and that was last year, he only admitted it was delayed a "day before release", which is was the stupidest thing Ive seen yet. It is cool they are porting Day of Defeat etc over that is very good and Im not anti Valve but heck they couldve handled it all much better than they have.

[Noxis]

Up until 2 days before sept 30th they were saying they were on schedule then and that was last year, he only admitted it was delayed a "day before release", which is was the stupidest thing Ive seen yet. It is cool they are porting Day of Defeat etc over that is very good and Im not anti Valve but heck they couldve handled it all much better than they have.

More importantly they ported CS over. Saw a DAMN nice Aztec2 on the new engine in one of their videos.

[directhex]

on reflection, much as doom 3 isn't doom for me (doom was hudreds of enemies vs a chaingun, much like serious sam today), at least it will have a linux client - which is moe than can be said for hl2

[Romanov]

Linix support does seem to be dripping away and now Epics unreal has been bought by Microsoft thats gonna go as well. But yep the ports of the mods look very good , Day of Defeat is still a big fave of mine and no other WW2 shotter has really taken over apart from the horrible CoD which on multiplay is rubbish, single is good tho.

[blockers]

Wont be confident that either will get their assumed release dates until people have them in their hands.

I am looking forward to them both equally, and they are going to cost me far more than retail price. Have to a r9800 pro, xp2500-m, 2x512mb pc3200.....september is really going to hurt my wallet.

[unrealrocks]

and now Epics unreal has been bought by Microsoft thats gonna go as well.

What what what what?

You mean bought as in they've bought a licence to use it or bought as in bought out Epic?

Personally I think Half Life 2 has missed the boat - everyone was hyped about it, prerelease sales we're good, they had second to none GFX and all was good. Now almost a year on, there are other games with GFX just as good and I think they've missed there best chance. I will probably still buy it although we'll see

[Ferral]

HL2 I have lost virtually all interest in now. At least with Doom 3 they have kept a realistic timescale and release when it is ready but with HL2 lord only knows.

Game I am really looking forward to however is STALKER.

Out of HL2 and Doom 3 it has to be Doom all the way. I wasnt a massive fan of HL at the time. Yeah it was groundbreaking with visuals and story but nothing overly new (I did play it through start to finish, and actually quite enjoyed xen !). Unreal had a massive story and didn't play by levels and that was out before HL. Out the 2 to this day I prefer playing Unreal rather than HL.

Going to be an interestingh summer if all 3 titles get released within weeks of each other

[Stoo]

What what what what?

You mean bought as in they've bought a licence to use it or bought as in bought out Epic?

Personally I think Half Life 2 has missed the boat - everyone was hyped about it, prerelease sales we're good, they had second to none GFX and all was good. Now almost a year on, there are other games with GFX just as good and I think they've missed there best chance. I will probably still buy it although we'll see

Someone's got hold of the wrong end of the stick..

Tonight at X03, Microsoft announced a partnership with Epic Games, developers of the legendary Unreal series of games and the Unreal Engine. Epic Games and its recently-formed Scion Studios will develop several new games exclusively for Xbox and Windows. The to-be-announced products will be published by Microsoft Game Studios.

"We're looking forward to working with Epic, one of the industry's most respected and successful games developers," said Ed Fries, vice president of Xbox game content. "Their games have thrilled millions of gamers around the world. Epic and Microsoft have technology leadership in common - the titles they are developing for Xbox will use the power of the console to deliver cutting-edge gaming experiences."

"We're delighted to be working with Microsoft " said Jay Wilbur, Vice President Business Affairs (and Spiritual Advisor), Epic Games, "We feel strongly that, in partnership with Microsoft, Epic Games and Scion Studios will provide gamers with spectacular entertainment on Xbox and Windows platforms."

Founded 12 years ago by Tim Sweeney and Mark Rein, industry veterans who continue to bring experience and leadership to the company, Epic is a technology leader and one of the top independent game development studios in the world. To date more than 10 million games based on the Unreal Engine, which uses state-of-the-art 3D technology, have been shipped.

[Grey M@a]

The one problem Valve made was to keep flashing screenshots and movies and putting the date back all the time, they have over hyped the game way to much and I think most people will turn out to be dissapointed with it. In the case of Doom 3 Carmack and iD have been clever, released the odd snippet to keep the user guessing. Both games will do well but I think we will see Doom hit the shelves first.

[killgORE]

Ya.. I thought valve were gonna be great when they apparently sat on the story of a sequel for so long. Then about 3 months before the original release started leaking out videos and little tit-bits for us gamers to get all gooey over.

Then they went and spoiled it all...

Don't think my computer will be up for doom3...

[ed^chigliak]

Game I am really looking forward to however is STALKER.

Ditto... STALKER environments looks sweet with a capital SWEE. A FPS game inspired by ELITE with a trading system and NPC's you can make deals with to accomplish tasks co-operatively. Non-linear gameplay in a dynamic living world you can drop into.... got my interest.

[Spud1]

the ports of the mods look very good , Day of Defeat is still a big fave of mine and no other WW2 shotter has really taken over apart from the horrible CoD which on multiplay is rubbish, single is good tho.

Well said =)

Maybe more ppl will play dod when its running on the source engine so it looks good, then they will realise how pants 'games' like BF1942 are in comparison

[Pete]

sounds good...any links?
Pete

[Spud1]

meh i pre-orederd the Doom 3 special edition from gameplay now =) hope it is here in august

was gonna pre order HL2 aswell...but..well i want to know what ATI are gonna give me first. Tho i still mite just order teh HL2 special edition anyway...

[ERU]

Would it be good marketing to release this for the christmas period tho?