Livestream: HL- Rise and fall of a video gaming legend

Released in 1998 by Seattle-based game development studio Valve, Half-Life is considered by millions as the Holy Grail of FPS or first person shooters.

And we are talking about a time 20 years before PUBG turned ordinary office goers into trigger happy mercenaries. In 2004, Valve, founded by a group of ex-Microsoft veterans released a sequel to Half-Life, which once again went on to redefine the way computer games were conceived and executed. As of 2004, it has sold more than 8 million copies and had bagged hundreds of Game of the Year Awards.

The games which were successors to industry benchmarks like Doom and Quake, had spawned a whole new generation of independent computer game developers – thanks to the culture of mods or modifications that most of these games allowed within the gaming environment. The birth and subsequent explosion of e-sports is largely a bi-product of the manner in which Counter Strike, a Half-Life mod took gaming to the mainstream. Valve, which was under immense pressure to deliver a top notch game, which could be a worthy successor to Half-Life 2, chose to take the episodic way out – releasing two mini games in instalments of sorts – like a novella, if you may. Valve had also founded an online distribution platform called Steam – which more or less made the idea of game discs redundant.

That was in 2007, and gamers were still on the lookout for the next instalment of Half-Life, which never came. Almost 12 years later, the writer of the original game, drove the final nail in the coffin of any lingering hopes for a return to the HL universe, through a blog post which said the project may never be revived. And that inspired this documentary – to set out on a journey to understand the genesis of what makes a pop cultural phenomenon and the forces that it takes to keep an industry alive. Strap in and get set for a blast.

Title: Unforeseen Consequences: A Half-Life Documentary

Source: YouTube

Creator: Noclip

Synopsis: What happens when one of the most revolutionary series in video games suddenly goes dark? To celebrate its 20th anniversary, Noclip hits the road to investigate the legacy of Half-Life and the incredible community working to keep the dream alive. The documentary features interviews with Geoff Keighley (The Game Awards), Cory Barlog (God of War), Vince Zampella (Titanfall / Call of Duty), Randy Pitchford (Borderlands), Laura Michet, Scott Smith and Robert Yang.