I was a stan. In 2007 I got The Orange Box and it added a plethora of games to my all time favorites list.
Then they launched 2008's Left 4 Dead and I was hooked again. The premise was classic, but the co-op gameplay against hordes was different. The locales were plump with adventurous chase and atmosphere. It was excellent.
At a rapid pace, Left 4 Dead 2 came in 2009 (and the entire Left 4 Dead 1 campaign became available to download so all could be played in one place). It upped the polish with new melee and enemies, shifted to more character nuance, and changed the locale.
Things were quiet for a couple years as Portal 2 made its way to release in 2011. A bigger, bolder narrative led the player through more incredible labs. It was a hit in reception and sales, selling millions.
Then it was over.
That was the last wide release campaign they made. They dabbled in spreading CS:GO but it was botched on some platforms, dying out in support much like their abandoned Team Fortress 2 on consoles. They have since only released PC service titles and small demo projects.
Two rumors flying around are that they still have chosen to abandon the Half Life story despite the long ago announced Episode 3, and will instead do a VR promo via a Half Life prequel about Alyx. The other rumor is that the Campo Santo team's project In the Valley of the Gods has been shelved, as they removed links to it from the team's website, and some devs specifically removed it from their social media bios. In response tweets, one of the devs didn't deny this despite taking issue with tweets pointing it out.
I'm sure some people are tired of hearing about Valve's abandonment of AAA campaigns and console titles. And for some reason some of them will come in here and maybe even post about Artifact or one of those other messy service titles.
But in the wake of new rumors this month, it is just stinging again that this company with lots of resources and talent has lost goodwill and relevance to many of their players. I'm sure they are doing what's best for them, as corporations do. I'm sure some PC players are still enjoying their years-old service games.
I shudder at the thought of Bungie switching to a MOBA and cardgames after Halo 2.
Then they launched 2008's Left 4 Dead and I was hooked again. The premise was classic, but the co-op gameplay against hordes was different. The locales were plump with adventurous chase and atmosphere. It was excellent.
At a rapid pace, Left 4 Dead 2 came in 2009 (and the entire Left 4 Dead 1 campaign became available to download so all could be played in one place). It upped the polish with new melee and enemies, shifted to more character nuance, and changed the locale.
Things were quiet for a couple years as Portal 2 made its way to release in 2011. A bigger, bolder narrative led the player through more incredible labs. It was a hit in reception and sales, selling millions.
Then it was over.
That was the last wide release campaign they made. They dabbled in spreading CS:GO but it was botched on some platforms, dying out in support much like their abandoned Team Fortress 2 on consoles. They have since only released PC service titles and small demo projects.
Two rumors flying around are that they still have chosen to abandon the Half Life story despite the long ago announced Episode 3, and will instead do a VR promo via a Half Life prequel about Alyx. The other rumor is that the Campo Santo team's project In the Valley of the Gods has been shelved, as they removed links to it from the team's website, and some devs specifically removed it from their social media bios. In response tweets, one of the devs didn't deny this despite taking issue with tweets pointing it out.
I'm sure some people are tired of hearing about Valve's abandonment of AAA campaigns and console titles. And for some reason some of them will come in here and maybe even post about Artifact or one of those other messy service titles.
But in the wake of new rumors this month, it is just stinging again that this company with lots of resources and talent has lost goodwill and relevance to many of their players. I'm sure they are doing what's best for them, as corporations do. I'm sure some PC players are still enjoying their years-old service games.
I shudder at the thought of Bungie switching to a MOBA and cardgames after Halo 2.
