It has been two years since a very impressive and detailed documentary appeared on the Noclip YouTube channel, which tells the story of Arkane studio, in which classics such as disgracedmining or Dark messiah of sword and magic. It has been known for many years that in Arkan, they also worked on a special episode for some time Half life 2which was sometimes called the game Return to Ravenholm, and sometimes clearly the fourth episode of Half-Life 2. But only thanks to Noclip we were able to see this project in full parade, under a simple name Ravenholm and using a few minutes of footage from an unfinished version of the game.
Source: ValveGhost town from Half-Life 2 looks nice in Unreal Engine 4
Frames of Ravenholm, whose development was ultimately canceled by Valve without explanation., as is the case with a number of other projects, fans of the Half-Life series have naturally met with enthusiasm. Especially for those fans who devour every piece of content that has been cut, canceled or reworked. The developers of Arkane even mentioned after the release that if the community shows enough interest, they will try to convince Valve to publish everything they have been working on.. Modders would certainly work wonders with something like this, so various petitions immediately appeared, but unfortunately, none of them came out to this day.
We thank Arkane, Valve and Bethesda for bringing us to their past, and the Half-Life community for their patience.
Gaining access to this kind of material is a responsibility that we take very seriously. We are happy to finally present the game in all its unfinished glory. pic.twitter.com/UC4ev7r2fE
– Noclip (@noclipvideo) May 4, 2022
But now we can at least take a look at Ravenholm. less than an hour of footage filmed by Danny O’Dwyer and his team while filming the documentary.. The two-year release appears to have come about with an agreement with Valve, Arkane Studios, and Bethesda as the current owner of Arkane, so after being able to play the game in person, this is undoubtedly the second best scenario we’ve seen in this game. case. In any case, in the game we had to return to the city of Ravenholm, famous for its unforgettable level of horror in Half-Life 2. Father Gregory was also supposed to return from the second part.who started injecting headcrab extract into his veins to keep him immune. Which, of course, did not turn out well.
Although we see in the frames the sleeves of the HEV suit, which evoke associations with Gordon Freeman, the playable hero was supposed to be Adrian Shepherddata disk protagonist Half-Life: Opposing Force 1999, for which the creators are responsible Borderlands from the gearbox software. That’s why some YouTubers called Ravenholm Half-Life: Opposing Force 2 after the release of the Noclip document. But this name was primarily an attempt at clickbait, because the game clearly shouldn’t be a direct sequel to the popular data disc.
The shots from Noclip are sometimes interspersed with clips in which O’Dwyer approaches the context of what we see in connection with Ravenholm. He also repeatedly points out that this is actually footage from an unfinished game, specifically from the version they put together in arcana to convince valve that it makes sense to keep developingto a complete stop. Therefore, it can be seen in many places. incomplete or even missing models, textures or effectsas well as not-so-optimal game performance.
And the sound system is often quite improvisedincluding dubbing. Therefore, Gregory alternately addresses the player with at least two different voices. An Unexpected Curiosity – Use of the soundtrack from the film Batman Begins or from rpg Deus Ex: The Invisible Warbut in some places you can hear the musical accompaniment composed directly for the game.
more like crowdfunded Half-Life documentaries
– Noclip (@noclipvideo) May 5, 2022
But first of all we got look at a number of interesting and distinctive game mechanicswhich we would look in vain for in Half-Life 2 and in both of the Valve episodes that, of course, Ravenholm was based on. These are, for example, melee attacks cut from the Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, the ability of enemies to take an object in the environment and use it as a weapon, possibly mutated opponents resembling apes. One of the most significant innovations was also to be games and puzzles with electricity, to which new weapons are adapted. Thanks to them, you can even create wonderful traps.
While we can’t see it directly, it looks like they were planning on Arcana as well. mechanics, due to which zombie enemies after a while could tear off their limbsif you attach them to the wall or floor behind it. So they can keep chasing you. So the footage might be an unwelcome reminder of what we might have experienced if the project hadn’t been cancelled, but either way it’s a fascinating piece of Half-Life history that every fan of the series and titles has built on the Source engine. worth a look, as well as the work of Valve and Arkane Studios.
Source :Indian TV
