News
‘The Last of Us’ Director Just Asked for the ‘Half-Life’ License
As far as I know, there isn’t a soul outside of Valve who’s privy to the reasoning behind the company’s apparent inability to complete a trilogy. Team Fortress, Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, Portal — they all stop just shy of that elusive third game.
The conspiracy theorists who keep the specter of Half-Life 3 alive after all these years must’ve simultaneously exploded like overheated sausage people when creative director Neil Druckman replenished their virtual coffers with this lighthearted jest of a tweet that will have folks wondering what the game might be like if it came from another developer.
Look, Valve, all I'm saying is you give us the Half Life license and we'll take care of the rest. 😉 https://t.co/XkrWjtfXyJ
— Neil Druckmann (@Neil_Druckmann) September 10, 2015
The image in Druckman’s tweet is of a one Merle Dandridge, Alyx Vance herself, wearing full motion capture gear like she’s been waiting this whole time to reprise her role.
I’m okay with this strange, alternate future Druckman has conjured for us, where at least one of the amazing series Valve hasn’t had the time to finish? And before you choose a side, just know that Gordon’s blank canvas of a personality will be the first to go. Valve will complete a trilogy on their own before the creators of Uncharted make a game with a silent lead.
Would you be open to this, or is even joking about it constitute blasphemy?

Movies
McDonald’s No-Clips Out of Reality with Unexpected ‘Backrooms’ Short Movie
The best part about engaging with collaborative genre fiction on the internet is that anyone can get in on the action, with worldwide accessibility often resulting in absurd story beats that wouldn’t be possible if any single person was responsible for the entire narrative. And while Kane Parsons’ Backrooms film is definitely the young filmmaker’s own unique take on the infamous creepypasta, it’s fun to see other creators join the Backrooms sandbox now that the big screen adaptation is getting ready for a record-shattering opening weekend.
As if cleverly timed releases like Puppet Combo’s The Backrooms game weren’t enough (not to mention that Scary Movie poster poking fun at Parsons’ flick), McDonald’s official social media accounts have now released an analog horror video of their own celebrating the liminal terrors of the McRooms – complete with a familiar purple surprise at the end of the footage.
While it’s funny enough to see the world’s most recognizable Fast Food giant engage with internet-borne Found Footage thrills seemingly out of the blue, the video is actually referencing a long-running gag among the Backrooms fandom where creators jokingly talk about there being a fully functional McDonald’s restaurant hidden somewhere in level 0 of the infamous liminal labyrinth.
Now, would it be too much to hope for a moist-carpet-flavored McShake to tie in with the film?
Backrooms is now playing only in theaters from A24.


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