Half-Life is an iconic name at this point, forming the striking identity behind a defining '90s FPS game that would forever change the genre as we know it. But there was every possibility that, looking back 25 years later, we'd be calling it Fallout or Crysis. It's a strange thought given that those two names would go onto become iconic series from completely different developers.
As reported by VGC, level designer Dario Casali started a YouTube series for the game's upcoming 25th anniversary in which he tells stories of its development. He provides old diary entries, photos, and documents, and in the very first episode, one of those documents shed a light on Valve's throught process when it came to naming the game.
Valve also considered calling it Bent, Dirt, Lead, Pressure, Pressure Chamber, Pressure Pit, Free Radical, Crysis, Cry.Sys, Krisis, or Screwed. Really felt the Pressure to get the name right, eh?
Dirt would also go on to become a long-running video game series, albeit about cars instead of a silent scientist gunning down alien invaders. And like Fallout and Crysis, Dirt would eventually get a third game. Maybe the name Half-Life was the curse all along.
Funnily enough, the first Fallout from developer Black Isle Studios launched one year before Half-Life. However, it was nearly called Vault-13: A GURPS Post-Nuclear Role-Playing Game (as well as the much shorter Armageddon), so there was a possibility that Valve could've chosen the name Fallout while Black Isle Studios stuck with Vault-13: A Far Too Long Title. Luckily, we got the names we did. Half-Life makes perfect sense what with all the lambdas, and Fallout fits the... nuclear fallout. Obvious works, apparently.
It did nearly beat Crytek to the name Crysis by nine years, though, even spelling it the same way. And interestingly, Free Radical Design, which is a suspiciously similar name to one that Valve floated for Half-Life, was acquired by Crytek in 2009. List of possible Half-Life names, or prophecies of gaming's future? Maybe G-Man was Gabe Newell all along.
Amazingly, Half-Life wasn't at the top of the list for choices. It was actually part of the "still in the running" secondary list. The most popular picks were Bent, Dirt, Lead, Screwed, and the various iterations of Pressure. 'Where's Bent 3?' just doesn't have the same ring to it, so thank god that list was thrown out.
We'll be celebrating Half-Life's 25th anniversary good and proper on November 19, which is coincidentally how long it's felt since the last mainline Half-Life game. They'll definitely announce a sequel to Alyx, yeah?
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