HL2: Aftermath teaser trailer

By Tom Bramwell Published 11 August, 2005

Expounds expansion a little bit.

Valve has started trailing Half-Life 2 expansion Aftermath ahead of its September release. The video is more of a teaser really, and hints at darker themes (and, as if to illustrate this, is also really quite dark and at points hard to make out).

We can see "stalkers", which seem to be rather unpleasant, and Alyx features heavily - including a shot of her putting down an Antlion, presumably an unfriendly one. It's an act that reminds us we haven't mentioned the Antlion Troopers Deuce mod yet. Now we have. Go Antlions!

Half-Life 2: Aftermath, of course, deals with the what-happens-after of City 17's Gordon Freeman-instigated downfall, picking up as the city starts to crumble. It's part of a larger canon of post-HL2 work that Valve's undertaking, which also includes Source Engine remakes of popular Half-Life 1 modifications like Day of Defeat and The Lost Coast, which reshapes a coastal section of Half-Life 2 using (more) advanced graphical techniques like High Dynamic Range (HDR).

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About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000. Follow him on Twitter.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (21) Latest comment 7 years ago

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  • tonynibbles #1 7 years ago

    I creamed myself when I saw this yesterday.

    SO EXCITED!

    There is a nice downloadable version off fileplanet btw. Video is a bit 'dark' though. Needs tweaking.

  • Artemus #2 7 years ago

    Can't wait.

    'Stalkers' eh?

  • CargoCult #3 7 years ago

    There's stalkers visible in the original game as well - they're the human slaves as processed by Nova Prospekt. Gonads excised, feet and hands replaced with metal pins, massive cranial implant in place of eyes, digestive tract removed and the whole metabolism converted to run on a nutrient-rich saline solution...

    The theme behind the original game was just plain *nasty*. And it looks like it's going to be continued with some impressive style - hooray!

  • Artemus #4 7 years ago

    ^ Nice

  • richardiox #5 7 years ago

    Do we know whether Aftermath is going to be available for free over Steam yet? Or will we have to buy at retail?

  • Freek #6 7 years ago

    I'm sure it'll be on Steam aswell but free? Probably not, this isn't just some level gimicky thing it's an expansion pack, they tend to cost money to get.

  • skillian #7 7 years ago

    It won't be free.

    No doubt they'll be pushing it through Steam but you'll be able to get it in the shops too.

  • kangarootoo #8 7 years ago

    I one again recommend this book to anyone who gets excited about HL2 stuff.

    http://tinyurl.com/8fjcs

    Especially to tonynibbles, as I would hate him to die of dehydration before Aftermath gets released ;)

  • tonynibbles #9 7 years ago

    :)

    Thanks. I've seen that book around and thought about getting it. I think I might having read those Amazon reviews.
    I'm *hoping* Lost Coast is out next week, but who knows what 'a few weeks' means to Valve these days.

  • Genji #10 7 years ago

    I hope there'll be some element of stealth to the expansion. I always thought Alyx would be a little sneakier than Freeman.

  • drumbaby #11 7 years ago

    Let's hope you can still pick up things and put them back down again.

  • Feanor #12 7 years ago

    Ooo, heresy. :)

  • Lost_in_Darkness #13 7 years ago

    man, valve will never change. they said they were releasing lost coast by july. it's now coming to bloody mid august and still nothing.
    don't expect Aftermath in september.
    i love their output, but you just can't trust their release dates.

  • CargoCult #14 7 years ago

    Stuff Wot I Have Learned:

    * You'll have to pay for it (it's a full-scale expansion pack).
    * It will be sold over Steam (includes soul-destroying Steam distribution).
    * It will also be sold at retail (includes soul-destroying EA distribution).
    * You'll play as Gordon Freeman.
    * It's set on a giant floating hamster named Bob (may not be true).

    So there!

  • tonynibbles #15 7 years ago

    Wasnt Bob a head crab once? I heard his obesity was down to the fact he ate to many heads. And he turned in to a hamster one day as thats where all hamsters come from. The devil and his chilren, head crabs who later become hamsters. Thats right.

    Damn hamsters. 'Ham crabs' in some parts.
    Edited by tonynibbles at 11/08/05 @ 17:54

  • CargoCult #16 7 years ago

    There's this version which is somewhat smaller, for non-broadband users:

    http://www.gametrailers.com/download.php?id=7133&type=mov&f=

    I think someone at Valve needs a THOROUGH EDUCATION IN HOW TO COMPRESS VIDEO! ;-]

  • kangarootoo #17 7 years ago

    " Let's hope you can still pick up things and put them back down again"

    lol

    "i love their output, but you just can't trust their release dates"

    I don't trust any of them particularly. Now I think it has been ages since I've paid attention to release dates, then you can never be disappointed.

    Though given the choice I would rather a game slip and benefit from the extra dev time than meet its predicted date and suffer for it.

  • Lost_in_Darkness #18 7 years ago

    "Though given the choice I would rather a game slip and benefit from the extra dev time than meet its predicted date and suffer for it."

    Oh, don't get me wrong, I agree with this completely. I'm just saying don't expect Aftermath in September, so no-one will be disappointed.

    though ofcourse there are cases when letting the game stew in its own juices just ain't the right thing to do, DNF anyone?
    no matter how good the game may be after it's 10 year dev time.

  • kangarootoo #19 7 years ago

    "there are cases when letting the game stew in its own juices just ain't the right thing to do, DNF anyone?"

    Haha, great example. Though I wonder if DNF has been stewing in anything oher than dust sheets for the last 5 years. I can see that game going two ways (well, three ways if you inlclude it never seeing the light of day, which has my money as a bet). It comes out but can't possiby meet the hype and dies (see Dai Katana) or it comes out and sells bucket loads because of the hype (see Angel of Darkness and Driv3r).

    I'm really in two minds about DNF. I never like to see a project fail or a talented dev team go down (God knows who is actually involved with DNF these days though, if anyone). But the whole Duke character quips, pig jokes and portrayal of women just makes me sigh because I realise there are too many publishers out there who think the 14 yr old boy demographic is "mass market".

  • freedumb #20 7 years ago

    'deals with the what-happens-after of City 17's Gordon Freeman-instigated downfall, picking up as the city starts to crumble.'

    WHY, TOM, WHY!!!?

    You seem to just have spoilt a bit of HL2 for those who haven't played it!
    AAAARRGGHHH!!!!

    Ok so its not a game ruiner, but, STILLL....

  • Genji #21 7 years ago

    HL2 was full of surprises, just like that. Freeman destroying the enemy stronghold? Well, I never!

    Anyway, given that sequels / expansion packs (usually) follow on from the story of the original, it's quite impossible to talk about the story of the sequel without inadvertently revealing the events of the first game.
    Edited by Genji at 15/08/05 @ 04:02