'Half-Life 2' Nearly Got a Full-On Horror Sequel

It's a sad day for fans of horror games but a happy one for fans starved for anything Half-Life-related as we just got to see some juicy gameplay of a sadly canceled attempt at a Half-Life horror title. In the wake of Valve's apparent reawakening as a game-maker, we just got to see a lot of Ravenholm, a canceled title by Arkane Studios, the people behind Dishonored, and Deathloop. Ok, we know that even though some elements of base Half-Life are pretty scary already, it's only natural that there could be some doubt as to whether this could translate to a full-on horror game. About that, we'll just remind our readers that they could have just used Valve's Left 4 Dead, one of the greatest horror games of all time, as a blueprint for easy success.

Set entirely in the town of Ravenholm that we visited in Half-Life 2 nearly two goddamn decades ago, this canceled project saw Arkane getting full control over the fleshing out of both father Grigori and his surroundings. Below is an hour-long video dedicated mostly to showcasing the game's sadly ill-fated development and gameplay. 

What the hell is up with horror reimaginings getting canceled? Everyone is ok with established video game series going “gritty”, but when it's full-on horror, everyone gets scared. So weird. It's pretty sad that Half-Life joins Tomb Raider in the list of series that could've totally pulled off a horror entry and didn't. Either way, fans shouldn't lose hope, as Gabe Newell, Valve's final big boss has recently stated that he has many other games in the works. Boy, it will be so great if even one of them gets past the finish line.

Top Image: Valve