It's the old joke – Valve can't count to three. Left 4 Dead, Portal, Dota, and of course Half-Life, they've all been left wanting for full sequels and follow-ups. Half-Life 3 especially has become a kind of shorthand for all the dashed dreams and unfulfilled hype of PC players everywhere. But the show's not over, as the community around Steam's tentpole Half-Life Alyx that looks and plays so well it could be made by Valve itself.
Free to on Steam, Half-Life Alyx: Re-Education follows the eponymous adventurer as she travels to a safehouse on the outskirts of City 17. Forced off of her train, Alyx must make her way through an abandoned school, a seemingly simple task that soon takes a turn for the worse – and a lot of physics-based puzzles.
With full voice acting, superb visuals, and a focus on environmental storytelling that you would expect from the Half-Life series, Re-Education is like an official Half-Life Alyx DLC. It's slower-paced than the mainline game, featuring more exploration and ambient narrative than action or shooting. But there are still a couple of good combat sections, and the imitations of both Alyx and Russell are spot-on. You can see it in action below.
Head over to Entropy Zero, a pseudo Half-Life 2 sequel focusing on a rogue member of the Combine's Civil Protection.
Alternatively, check out some other great what happened to Half-Life 3, but don't get disheartened – one day, one day, it will be real.