It has been five years in the making, but the sequel to the hugely popular Half-Life game will be worth the wait, say its makers.
Valve say Half-Life 2 will do as well as the original, which won many awards and sold more than five million copies. "We"re confident that we haven"t wasted the last five years," said Valve"s Director of Marketing, Doug Lombardi. Valve says Half-Life 2 is due to be shipped by the end of September, despite rumours of a delay. Half-Life has been one of the most popular and widely acclaimed games of all time.
"Wildest dreams"
At the time of its release in 1998, it was praised for its strong plot, complex puzzles and the intelligence of the enemies in the game. The title went on to pick up more than 50 game-of-the-year awards and sell millions. It has stayed alive in the minds of gamers, thanks to add-on adventure packs such as Blue Shift and the popular multi-player game Counter-Strike. "After Half-Life 1 we had a lot of ideas about where we wanted to go," said Mr Lombardi. "The success of the game and add-ons like Counter-Strike allowed us to chase our wildest dreams." The team at Valve has five years working on Half-Life 2, with an average of 30 people working on the title at any one time.