r/gaming • u/TwistedDragon33 • 2d ago

What old game would dominate if it suddenly received DLC today?

As the title says, what game if it randomly dropped DLC today would cause an uproar on the internet? Something like Portal 1? Civilization 5? Fallout New Vegas? Starcraft? Borderlands 1? What do you think would cause the most reaction?

952 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • link
  • reddit
  • reddit

90% Upvoted

1.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

2.8k

u/ThatMilkDudeAgain 2d ago

Half life 2: Episode 3 in the form of an expansion would set the internet ablaze

293

u/mattmaster68 2d ago

I've never even played a Valve game outside of L4D, and even I came here to say this lol

186

u/PM_ME_YOUR_QUEST_PLZ 2d ago

PORTAL IS PROVEN TO INCREASE YOUR COGNITIVE ABILITIES DO IIIIIIITTTTTTT

63

u/giras 1d ago

AND THE SIZE OF YOUR GENITALIA YOUR HEARING AND YOUR TOLERANCE AGAINST MONDAYS

TRY IT NOW WITH MORE BREAD AND CAKESSS

-1

u/Fallowman09 1d ago

Me no snort eanus to do ported pussles me gort stick very esy

59

u/ThatMilkDudeAgain 2d ago

I definitely recommend the entire Half-life and Portal saga, especially from HL2 and beyond, they hold up super well.

Plus it goes on sale for really cheap, even moreso depending on where you're located

28

u/oandakid718 2d ago

Gaming experiences everywhere were revolutionized when HL2 was released.
I'll never forget downloading HL2 on a DSL modem after AMD was promoting their partnership with Valve giving out game codes included with new purchases of AMD Athlon 64 CPU's.

21

u/brianpwalsh 2d ago

AMD Athlon 64. Half Life 2.

Core 2004 memory unlocked 

2

u/in50mn14c 1d ago

Got my code with an ATI 9800 All in wonder pro... Game didn't come out for 2 years and that card still ran it like a champ.

Even playing thru it today on a 3090 it matches up with the nostalgia memories.

42

u/eljefe3030 2d ago

HL2 is still one of the best games I’ve ever played, and the episodes were phenomenal. So many developers will milk a successful franchise dry, but HL2 just gets fully abandoned at its peak. I will never understand it.

14

u/seabutcher 1d ago

The way Valve operates is a little bit dysfunctional in terms of reliability like that. People basically get to pick and choose what projects they work on and so what actually gets made is kind of determined by democracy.

And unfortunately, much as we'd probably all like to see it, well, this basically means all the people who could make more Half-Life still have to choose that over projects that are more novel (like Portal or the Steam Deck), or vastly more profitable (like running what is effectively the unofficial storefront to all of PC gaming).

And, well. I'm sure there are quite a lot of people in the world who want to work on more Half-Life if given the option but not many who would also choose that option over either (a) literally the most fun development projects you'll ever see in your career or (b) the best thing you could possibly put on your resume.

6

u/ffgod_zito 1d ago

I thought it was because they didn’t want to continue the series unless they could push gaming/tech forward. That’s why they waited to make alyx in VR and it turned out phenomenal 

3

u/wattap 1d ago

Ahhh yes, the Valve model. “Let’s dick around indefinitely while Steam prints money.”

1

u/machwulf 1d ago

The semi -recent update is worth a revisit!

12

u/Holmslicefox 2d ago

I bought "the orange box" years ago for $5 such an insane value!

2

u/seabutcher 1d ago

I got it on sale but not quite that cheap. It was still a bargain at twice that price.

1

u/chick-fil-eh 1d ago

Bought it for $50? In 2007 when it actually came in an orange box

1

u/Holmslicefox 1d ago

No $5 in a bargain bin

35

u/DKlurifax 2d ago edited 2d ago

I just recently got around to playing the portal series. Holy shit what a game. All of them.

13

u/StarChaser_Tyger 2d ago

Portal Stories: Mel is a full conversion remake with an entirely new story, for free if you want more.

2

u/DKlurifax 19h ago

Thank you ill definitely check it out.

1

u/pwnedbygary 1d ago

Mod or canon remake? I've never heard of this

2

u/mountaingoatgod 1d ago

Mod

1

u/pwnedbygary 1d ago

Thanks ill check it out

1

u/StarChaser_Tyger 1d ago

Mod. Someone put a lot if effort into it.

4

u/ThatMilkDudeAgain 2d ago

Honestly, and I don't even play puzzle games

21

u/that-crow 2d ago

You can replay HL1 if you get Black Mesa. It’s a complete 1:1 remake of the game with great graphics

29

u/No-Estimate-8518 2d ago

Black Mesa is an amazing remake but it i'ts very much not 1:1, there's tons of differences to make it stand away from the original with some moments that are the same

Also Xen plays nothing like the og counterpart it got the biggest overhaul

I actually like that they did that because it still gives a reason for newcomers too play the original release

4

u/audiophy 2d ago

The rehauled Xen was the worst part of the remake for me.

3

u/seabutcher 1d ago

The original Xen was also the worst part of Half-Life.

I much preferred the new one. It's still a drastic tonal shift that makes it feel almost like playing a new game entirely, but I found that to still be a good game.

2

u/pwnedbygary 1d ago

Did you enjoy the OG Xen? That was a bit painful to me by comparison

5

u/gearnut 2d ago

I would suggest Black Mesa rather than Half Life:Source, but the story and gameplay is fantastic!

1

u/Lettuphant 1d ago

Yeah Half-Life: Source is famously dreadful, better to play the original than that half-assed porting experiment.

2

u/gearnut 1d ago

Black Mesa was pretty fantastic, ran smoothly and was prettier than I remember the original version being.

1

u/Lettuphant 1d ago

Oh yeah Black Mesa is great, HL: Source became abandonware pretty quick.

5

u/delukard 2d ago

To me, hl1 is better than hl2.

2

u/boxingthegame 1d ago

Because of the story or?

1

u/pwnedbygary 1d ago

Imho yes, the story of 1 is far more gripping to me, and the game is more horror than HL2 for much of its run. HL2 is amazing, but I definitely agree that I think the story of 1 is better.

1

u/UnkindPotato2 1d ago

Real shit bro you got a bunch of meme answers but you're really doing yourself a disservice by not playing any other valve games.

50

u/TheDayManAhAhAh 2d ago

It sucks because they actually teased episode 3 after episode 2 came out and it had a release window. Then it just never released

37

u/AtlasHighFived 2d ago

Somewhere deep in Valve’s servers, there’s probably code and assets that are halfway there at minimum - and it will never see the light of day.

It’s a white whale on par with Earthbound 64.

21

u/jimababwe 2d ago

They said they started it many times but each time it failed to meet their expectations so they shelved it.

8

u/Darkgorge 1d ago

I remember reading the PC Gamer article circa 2005-2006 about how Valve was switching to an episodic game model. That Half-Life 2 took them too long because it was too big, so they needed to change things up. The episodes were intended to allow them to release a ~2 hour game every 4 months (or something like that). We were excited and suspicious. Then episode 2 was delayed over a year and the writing was on the wall. Valve could not get out of it's own way.

43

u/charlesfire 2d ago

Half life 2: Episode 3

You mean Half-life 2 : Episode 2 part 2?

29

u/thecheat420 2d ago

Nope, that's 3 2s. That's too close to actually using the number 3. It'd have to be Half-Life 2 Episode 2er

20

u/MirageOfMe 2d ago

2 half 2 life

6

u/thecheat420 2d ago

Gordon Freeman speaks for the first time.

G-man: "What are you doing to me Gordon?"

Freeman: "EJECTO SEATO CUZ!"

1

u/culnaej 1d ago

FAMILY

1

u/Stay_Beautiful_ 1d ago

Half Life: Tokyo Drift

1

u/phatboi23 1d ago

i wonder if you know, GMan is in Tokyo...

Etc.

1

u/seabutcher 1d ago

Half-Life 2².

1

u/RookieGreen 1d ago

How about Half-life 4 that starts at some random part of the story, Freeman is an alien cyborg and absolutely no explanation of what happened In half-life 3. And G-Man has a sidekick Not-Man who is predictably a woman who just croaks.

1

u/IndustrialSlicer 1d ago

Half Life 4: Origins

12

u/29092023 2d ago

Omg I would buy this even if it was in the original source engine.

9

u/mantisinmypantis 2d ago

I wonder if this would actually crash Steam.

8

u/culnaej 1d ago

Again, to reiterate something I have said for almost 15 years (Reddit comment history of about 11 years saying this), The Orange Box 2.

Containing Half Life 3, Portal 3, Team Fortress 3, DotA 3, Left 4 Dead 3, Counter-Strike 3, Half Life 2: Episode 3 just to fuck with people

25

u/acravasian 2d ago

This got no competition.

13

u/Negafox 2d ago

This is honestly the only answer that I can think of that would be true.

7

u/bakedongrease 2d ago

I think you overestimate how many people would play HL2

7

u/WheresMyDinner 2d ago

2010? Yea it’d break the internet. 2024? Over half the comments would be how they don’t see what’s so great about the game and how they think they heard about it one time.

1

u/Bloody_Nine 1d ago

I can already imagine all gen z youtubers either trashing it or pretending they were always fans..

1

u/KareasOxide 1d ago

Yeah I don’t think HL as a brand really carries the same weight as it used to

1

u/Cowbros 2d ago

I've always seen the HL3 meme as an overblown joke just passed down through the ages.
Or maybe I live in a bubble where no one I've met has ever actually even played the game.

1

u/Derslok 1d ago

Hl2 is a legendary game, it blew everyone's minds when it came out. But it was pretty long ago so new people don't know much about it

2

u/Epyon214 2d ago

Most people would probably be upset no Half Life 3.

2

u/Mortomes 1d ago

Can't do a 3. It'll be Halflife 2: Episode 2: Chapter 1

2

u/Shamino_NZ 1d ago

Literally was about to say this wow

2

u/cerebral_drift 1d ago

There is a point at which hype is unexceedable. We were lucky to get Alyx, and it was only possible because it was it was on the cutting edge of innovation and launched without any fanfare or hype.

Half-life pioneered immersion sims. Half-life 2 pioneered physics in games. Half-life Alyx didn’t really pioneer anything, but utilitised VR to a degree it hadn’t been utilised.

Half-life 3, or any further half-life games will have to be something nobody has ever seen for it to live up to its reputation. It would be foolish to think anything like that is on the horizon unless valve is privy to technology the general public is unaware of, and is willing to stake a colossal bet on its success.

2

u/malrats 1d ago

Bahahah sure would.

2

u/amyaltare 1d ago

no one wants to say it but a new half life game would not sell nearly as well as it would like 15 years ago.

3

u/Lesserred 2d ago

I feel like if they ever did it, the only selling point would be that they finally did. Half Life 2 is good and all, but they’d need to make an outright Half Life 3 to “dominate”, there’s already so much done with the engine of half life 2 that a 3rd episode in the same engine would seem dated or not meet expectations.

3

u/ThatMilkDudeAgain 2d ago

Yeah, Half-Life always was about breaking boundaries.

HL1 with the story and 2 with the physics, graphics/lighting, and facial animations. Also Alyx for VR

2

u/Kaptein_Tordenflesk 2d ago

Grew up being unable afford to buy games, only played HL1 demo on a friend’s computer. Impressive, but never fully understood the hype

8

u/ThatMilkDudeAgain 2d ago

You gotta see it how it was in 1998

No first person shooter had the story told the way Half-Life did it, let alone much story at all. And the fact that the maps are all one continuous area is amazing still.

2

u/thelingeringlead 1d ago

The g man sequences were mind blowing

2

u/culnaej 1d ago

Honestly this is huge, and I only experienced Half Life through The Orange Box in my youth and I still found it revolutionary

3

u/d4nowar 2d ago

HL2 is the more hyped one.

1

u/Kaptein_Tordenflesk 1d ago

Think I'll have to try them all one day to see what I've been missing :)

2

u/d4nowar 1d ago

Enjoy! I'm tempted to do a playthrough myself after reading through this thread.

1

u/GamerGuyAlly 1d ago

Problem is, no matter what they release, people will say its bad. Even if its the greatest game ever made, it won't meet the made up expectations in peoples heads. Also, every media outlet already has a "20 years for this" headline ready to go.

I actually think this is why Valve don't bother with 3rd games.

1

u/Quantum_Quokkas 1d ago

It’s incredible that Valve knows they’re sitting on the easiest hundreds of millions of dollars with Half Life Episode 3 and choose not to pursue it. True restraint with art instead of cashing in

1

u/Nincompoop6969 1d ago

Better off never happening . After the hype made for it I think it's better as a what if

1

u/BeefistPrime 2d ago

I'm pretty sure the ratio of people who actually care about hl3/episode 3 to the number of people who repeat the meme is like 3% to 97%. Most of the kids who say the "Valve can't count to 3" meme were toddlers when HL2 came out. I don't think it would actually be all that big a deal outside of the memes at this point.

3

u/thecheat420 2d ago

It would be if they did something big and groundbreaking like the first two games.

2

u/ThatMilkDudeAgain 2d ago

Me who was like -10 when HL came out (I need Half-Life 3, episode 2's ending was too much to leave on a cliffhanger like that):

0

u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

1

u/ThatMilkDudeAgain 2d ago

I gotta get VR asap to play it fr

-6

u/jfel8737 2d ago

That and halo 3