It is no secret that without Source 2, there can’t be Half Life 3 and this works vice versa. Source 2 is really important, especially if Valve wishes to turn Half Life 3 into a mega action video game that is life-like at best.
Some may wonder on how Source 2 can aid Half Life 3, aside from giving the game better graphics. Well, there are many answers to this but it is best to start with the in-game physics.
Throughout the Half Life series, Gordon Freeman lacks animation. It jumps like a stick, it walks like a stick and it falls like a stick. The fellow basically lacks arms and weight movement. With Source 2, this is able to change as Valve can apply Newton’s law of motion in Half Life 3.
With it, Freeman will actually raise his arms to grab a ladder and rag doll if he falls. Everything Freeman steps on will react to his weight and emit sound, or break, accordingly. Furthermore, kicking open doors might not force it open but instead, break a small hole in the middle.
Aside from that, Source 2 will also be able to introduce an extremely large playable map with continual loading. In conjunction to this, Valve could also introduce real-time terrain destruction like how it was teased back at Half Life 2’s E3 demo.
Of course, there are many other possibilities that can be added in Half Life 3 if it is to run on Source 2. The future game engine is simply the determining factor for Half Life 3 to be massive instead of just average.
