Dota 2 Receives Bad Reviews Because It “Killed” Half-Life 3

Dota 2 did what?

Dota 2 and Half-Life have little in common gameplay and story-wise. However, recent news indicates that the renowned MOBA actually contributed to Half-Life’s demise. We’re talking about Half-Life 3, by the way. Marc Laidlaw, a former Valve writer who used to work on Half-Life before becoming the lead writer for Dota 2, has written a blog post that sparked quite a bit of controversy. In the post, he details what Half-Life 2: Episode 3 might have been like, and while his website crumbled under the weight of too much traffic, the post was copied and posted on Pastebin for posterity.

Regarding the traffic spike that caused his website to go now, Marc stated the following:

“I guess fanfic is popular, even a gender-swapped snapshot of a dream I had many years ago.”

Nobody knows for sure if this Epistle 3 was ever a base for Half-Life 3’s storyline. Laidlaw said that he was just “planting seeds,” and that there were no actual explanations for some of the game’s mysteries.

Negative review spree

Dota 2 has been receiving negative reviews from fans who believe that it distracted Valve from finishing the Half-Life series. Examples include “This game is very good. But Half-Life is better,” or “Negative review in memory of Half -Life 3.” In return, some fans have taken to defending their favorite MOBA, “urging” disappointed Half-Life fans to move on. Episode 3 was one of the most anticipated games ever. However, since it was never released, it turned into one of the biggest disappointments in the gaming industry.

Sure enough, this whole negative review spree will fade. It does show that people still care deeply about Half-Life, though. I for one still hope that Valve will do the series justice one day.