Half-Life 2 talk soaks the 'Net

Undoubtedly the biggest new for gamers in the last two days has been the announcements for the sequel to the critically acclaimed FPS "Half-Life", "Half-Life 2". When it was released in November 1998, "Half-Life" redefined the action gaming genre by combining fast-paced action and an intelligent, intense story. Players quickly began clamoring for a sequel, but developer Valve Software responded with silence. Five years later, the call for that sequel is as loud as ever.

Later this year, it will finally be answered.

What is known about this game, and what are rumors are hard to separate, but here is what is known so far about HL2.

HL2 is scheduled for Release on September 30th of this year. Wither Sierra makes that date or not, only time will tell.
The story picks up on Gordon leaving to go work for the "G-Man"
The game is programmed using a new engine known as "Source Engine", which is supposedly built for modding (CS2, DOD2, here we come)
Barney is back, but has a much improved AI, as do all of the games characters -- Instead of running in guns blazing, Barney will assess the situation and do what is the most non-suicidal
Minimum system requirements state that HL2 will support a 700Mhz processor and a TNT2 video card, although GeForce4 or an equivalent ATI card and a 2GHz processor are recommended
Scripted sequences will be more interactive
HL2 takes place in Europe
The crowbar will return
ATI will have a demo of HL2 running at their booth at E3, thus squashing any rumors of an nVidia only game
Team Fortress 2 is also under development
Half-Life 3 is planned (of course this all depends on HL2 sales)