'Half-Life 3' news: Valve reportedly worked on various prototypes of the game

For years now, gamers have been joking about how "Valve can't count to 3" because they have never released a third installment for "Half-Life," "Portal" and "Left 4 Dead." Those titles are immensely popular, so people have been wondering why they have never attempted to make another game in those series. Well, it looks like Valve may have tried to make another "Half-Life" game after all.

During a recent episode of the Game Informer Podcast (transcribed by PC Games Network), the publication's executive editor, Andrew Reiner, shared some interesting tidbits about "Half-Life 3." He revealed that he had actually spoken to a developer who worked on the project, and this person told him that it was a "hot mess."

"There were so many different prototypes that were small teams — four or five people working on them — that just never got off the ground. They said two of the directions they were going in ... one was going to be an RTS game for Half-Life 3 or Episode Three, whatever they were going to call it. The other one involved live actors, and it was going to be a new kind of adventure action game with actual actors ... Apparently they were working on these things," Reiner stated.

He also said he tried reaching out to other people who are involved with the project, but they refused to talk about it.

Well, development has obviously hit a snag since then. A "Half-Life" real-time strategy (RTS) game would have been interesting since the previous games have been first-person shooters (FPS). An action adventure game involving real actors sounds intriguing as well. Just imagine a live actor playing Gordon Freeman.

Reports have repeatedly said that "Half-Life 3" has been in development since 2004, but so far, there hasn't been any concrete evidence that Valve is still working on it. Gamers have waited patiently for the game for over a decade now, but it looks like they will have to wait even longer.