This isn’t a news story but a why not. Considering the average World War 2 shooter idea has been done to death over the past decade with the Call of Duty, Brothers in Arms, Medal of Honor series and many more covering the same ground why not mix things up a little? Granted we have been getting for the last few years a number of alternate timeline versions of WW2 to play about with why not just join together Portal and the WW2 shooter format?

It’s not as crazy as it sounds. Imagine running down a beach being shoot at from a high cliff face by MG emplacements with dozens of your guys waiting behind in a support craft for you to get close enough to a fire on a nearby wall up there an portal exit. Then the action begins with all your men pouring out right behind the enemy taking them out in a stunning attack. It sound’s good when you think of it that way, so why not use the idea? After all wormhole combat was possible in Prey to a lesser degree.

For that matter why not a naval battle version where portals are turned into weapons allowing a giant one to be generated at the front of a battleship allowing the ship to pass to another location. Submarine games would be more interesting but there would have to be a few balancing conditions like a once per five minute usage to allow the generator to charge.

Then you have a racing title. While not as exciting how about adding the ability to call up a portal so you end up in the pit lane when your tyres are flat? It’s better than the current alternative in racing games where you have to drive at 5mph all the way round the lap to get there.

Strategy games and space simulations however already implement the portal initiative and have done so for quite some years. Traversing wormholes in space games is common and quick movement generators are also in some strategy titles. In this realisation perhaps we would not find portals all that shocking if used in other games genres. Food for thought.

With the race for awesome graphics having finally rested, developers are coming up with some really innovative titles at last! Probably spurred by Portal, EA will be doing Mirror’s Edge and Ubisoft will do I Am Alive. What is so innovative about that, you ask? Well, I Am Alive will put you in your own disaster movie as you will have to use real-life skills and techniques to save yourself from an earthquake.

It looks like Ubisoft is all ready to turn the game into a franchise already. This is a pretty weird trend I’ve been noticing lately, with developers starting franchises before the completion of the first game (Mass Effect, Crysis being examples). Well, it’s not bad, so who’s complaining?

It is no genius guess that in the potential sequels, we may have our hero facing other objects of natural fury: floods, tsunamis, tornados, storms, maybe volcanos. In any case, you just know that if I Am Alive’s style can be used on earthquakes, further iterations are inevitable. Oh well, guess the franchise idea wasn’t that far off either!

Also, the first trailer of the game was rather mysterious in itself. Perhaps the events of I Am Alive aren’t as natural as you think. Of course, we, who have been raised on the X-Files will be first to theorise this being part of some global conspiracy, alien invasion or some test created by our alien benefactors. So Ubisoft is going to have to come up with something more original in the story department.

Another question is if the game will at all work. I’m not saying that non-violent games don’t have a chance, but Portal was a work of utter genius, and I’d be shocked if we get a Portal every year. I Am Alive will focus largely on character interactions and problem-solving. Now that we mention it, I’m starting to think that a zombie survival game along the same vein would be awesome…

Hmm, I hope Ubisoft is listening.

It’s one of the worst kept secrets in gaming after a few months ago a casting sheet came around. Portal: Still Alive has now been announced by Microsoft in their E3 press statements as coming to the 360 Arcade later this year. This seems to be somewhat accelerated against the prior statements made by Valve that they would not release any time soon more Portal as it would allow for greater anticipation from gamers as they count the days to the sequel.

Still Alive will hold the original game plus some more advanced challenges. Thats as much as we know for now. Without presenting a spoiler the name of the extended version can be greatly explinaed in The Orange Box soundtrack, of which the original version Portal is a part of. What this means for you? Giving more money to Valve for a great game. Let’s face it, that’s not unexpected.

Hungry for more cake? Valve says it’s ready for more servings! Talking to Eurogamer, Valve’s Doug Lombardi confirmed rather vaguely that there will be more Portal, although of course, he said nothing more about that.

If you remember, we also talked to Doug Lombardi previously, and managed to extract the fact that there will be more Half-Life after Episode Three. Doug also says that he loves Eurogamer, which has sent the StuffWeLike spiralling into a depression.

Still, I bet you want more on the news itself. Hit the jump and find out!

Continue Reading

[Update #2]

We would like to mention here that “Half-Life 3″ is speculation, as we only have confirmation that Half-Life 2: Episode 3 will not be the last Half-Life game. It has been confirmed previously that Episode 3 will end the current Half-Life story arc, but not the franchise, nor the episodic medium.

There is perfect chance that there will be a series of episodic Half-Life games after Episode 3 (but unconnected to the current story arc). Then again, we cannot deny the possibility of a full-fledged title like Half-Life 3. Hell, for all we know, it might even be a prequel!

[Update]

We have had a number of comments wanting a confirmation of our sources. While this should not be required, the writing credits of the StuffWeLike.com staff can be confirmed. The writer of this piece Ted Stokes is the main game reviewer for Ireland’s main PC magazine PC Live! In the magazine’s current issue he has an interview with Assassin’s Creed Producer Jade Raymond.

The Founder and Editor of StuffWeLike.com, David Rodriguez, is known for his contributions to the independent video game community with his indie game publisher Packom Interactive. He has distributed several titles such as Ethereal Darkness Interactive’s Morning’s Wrath and Wadjet Eye Games‘ The Blackwell Legacy.

StuffWeLike.com was created back in 2002 as a website that dissects and entertains the internet generation.

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[Original Post]

In an exclusive interview we at StuffWeLike.com have had official confirmation that there will be a Half Life 3.We are not talking about Half Life 2: Episode 3 but a Half Life title after that one.

Our confirmation comes after taking with Doug Lombardi the guy responsible for all those PR pieces you have seen and read recently about Half Life 2: Episode 2. While discussing the game mechanics that run the Orange Box Portal game the topics of future games came up. These interview pieces are below and we do have permission from Valve to release it to you guys. Even though its not much in terms of details even getting a confirmation that there will be another game is a first!

TS-SWL: With the ending of Episode 2 going directly to help the feeling of “must play Episode 3 now” could you give the current estimated date for Episode 3’s release?

DL: We haven’t announced a date for Ep Three just yet.

TS-SWL: Are there any current plans after Episode 3 to have a Half Life 3?

DL: We haven’t announced anything specific, but Half-Life won’t end at Episode Three – hang on to your crowbars!

TS-SWL: For Portal, can you explain in layman’s terms how the engine allows the mechanics to make it so you can go from one point to another? Does it duplicate the room after a portal location is selected or is it something else?

DL: A portal is two planar rectangles in 3D space. When both portals are placed we build a mathematical formula that converts position and angle values from one portal to the other. Rendering the portal is done in a separate pass where we use that formula to covert the player’s view position and angles to the view they see through the portal.

We also generate special collision data to represent the portal hole by grabbing collision data near each portal, combining them, and carving a rectangular whole through the center. When the player is near the portal they use this collision data instead of the standard data, allowing them to pass through the wall. We then use the conversion formula to teleport the player to the proper position after they’ve gone more than halfway through the portal.

It’s of course a lot more complex than that, but that’s the basic idea.

[Extra Reading]

• Portal’s Appeal, and Why we need more games like Portal

• No Half-Life 2: Episode Three at E3!