From 2005 to 2008 the French studio Arkane – which we know today as the team behind it dishonored and death loop– worked on a half-life Game. We knew thatand even saw the game before, but today we got one real well check it out
Back in 2020, the documentary series no clip contained an episode about the history of Arkaneand as part of that, they showed some footage of what was known internally at Arkane as Raven Holma half-life Spin-off game that is just like everything else half-life-connected for the better part of 15 years, eventually got canceled and never saw the light of day. Now, two years later, they’re showing a ton more footage of the game.
Set in…Ravenholm, a dark, almost horror game section that can be seen briefly half-life 2, it played a bigger role for that region’s mad, gun-wielding priest Father Grigori. It would have allowed us to fully explore the area, absorb new points of interest, meet new people, use new weapons, and face a different set of enemies, with many of Ravenholm’s denizens being human zombies rather than weapon-wielding Combine soldiers.
As Noclip’s Danny O’Dwyer explains in the hour-plus video, this isn’t and wasn’t a finished game, so nothing you see here comes even remotely close to what we could/should have enjoyed if we did had ever seen the light of day. Animations are not finished yet, voice acting is placeholder, textures and models are a work in progress. One of the new weapons is so crude it might as well be hand-drawn, with a note pasted on it that reads “WEAPON GOES HERE”.
What is great! i fuck love Watch games in this state. Video games are an overly secretive business, and it’s rare that we see something like this in development, so let’s enjoy it whenever we get the chance. And despite all the rough edges, it’s cool to see Arkane’s signature moves such as death loop), occur.
You can see the full video below, which runs through a series of stages/levels in the game, each punctuated by a little explainer by O’Dwyer that provides some context and information on what you have just seen or are about to see.
