Wake up, Mr. Freeman: after two years of radio silence, the developers of Half-Life 2 fan sequel Project Borealis have finally shared an update after two years of radio silence. Project Borealis is based on scrapped plans for Half-Life 2: Episode Three, which would've been the last installment in the episodic trilogy that comprises the Half-Life 2 saga. The official Episode Three was quietly canceled some time after its initial announcement in 2007, since which there have been several fan attempts to revive the Half-Life 2 story. Project Borealis is both the most recent and most promising.

The developers of Project Borealis recently posted a thirty-second teaser trailer to the YouTube channel of the same name. This is the first communiqué from Project Borealis in two years: its developers' last post was on August 25, 2022, and consisted of a brief demo of the game's wind physics. Two years to the day after that, the Project Borealis on X (formerly Twitter) posted again, warning of an "Incoming Transmission." This was followed today with the release of a teaser trailer.

The Project Borealis teaser is brief but revealing, showing a slow pan over a series of abandoned, snow-dusted buildings. Players get a closer look at some furry headcrabs and a discarded shotgun as a feminine voice speaks of a tunnel to Ravenholm. "We don't go there anymore," she cautions, "Believe me, that tunnel is sealed for a reason." The trailer concludes with an apparent title drop, reading "Project Borealis: Prologue," and a tentative release window of Fall 2024.

What Is Project Borealis, And How Does It Relate To Half-Life 2?

Everything We Know About Project Borealis So Far

Project Borealis picks up where Half-Life 2: Episode Two left off: on a cliffhanger ending that has yet to receive any kind of official closure. Two years after the release of the Half-Life 2 base game in 2004, Valve began putting out short, episodic sequel chapters, beginning with Half-Life 2: Episode One. These would directly continue the story of Half-Life 2; Episode One begins immediately after the destruction of the Citadel core, as Gordon and Alyx aid in the evacuation of City 17.

It was followed again by Episode Two in 2007. This chapter portrays a rebellion by the inhabitants of City 17 against the Combine, and ends on a mysterious note. Throughout Episode Two, Gordon, Alyx, and their allies seek the Borealis, a long-missing Aperture Science research ship and the purported location of the vanished Judith Mossman. At the end of the game, Gordon and Alyx prepare to depart for the Borealis, only to be subject to a sudden Combine attack that claims Eli's life and leaves Alyx grieving.

The Aperture Science corporation appears prominently in the Portal series, so it's likely that Half-Life 2: Episode 3 would've united Valve's two major sci-fi properties.

There was, of course, a planned third part to the trilogy, but it has since become one of the many canceled Half-Life projects to disappear into the ether. Half-Life writer Gary Laidlaw later posted a short story entitled "Epistle 3" on his website, which is often presumed to be his scrapped plot outline for Episode Three. Laidlaw himself has denied this, but Project Borealis uses the content of this short story as a basis for its plot.

Therefore, it's likely that Project Borealis will see Gordon and Alyx finding the titular Aperture ship, and discovering that it was used to research interdimensional travel. Its systems malfunction, and the two find themselves lost in time as they struggle to gain control of the Borealis, and find a way to weaponize it against the Combine.

However, what's being d in the teaser appears to be a mere prologue, with the protagonists traveling through a perilous, abandoned tunnel towards the Borealis. The first part of Project Borealis is due out this fall, but it may be some time before it gets to the meat of the story. Still, Half-Life 2 fans are so starved for content that this sudden resurgence is nothing short of miraculous.