Project Borealis returns after years of silence, with a new teaser for 'Prologue,' the fan-made effort that aims to bring Half-Life 2 episode 3 to life.

The team behind Project Borealis has released a new teaser video for Project Boreal: Prologue. It takes players back to the freshly snowed-in Ravenholm streets.

Project Borealis, a gender-swapped fan-faction that saw physicist Gertrude Fremont travel to Antarctica to investigate the Aperture Science vessel Borealis, was revealed in 2017. A script was completed in May 2018, and we were able to see some early, incomplete footage a year later.

The project has largely been silent since March 2020, when it updated the "wind and air drag" system of the game. Its last tweet was a picture in 2022 of a crowbar in the snow.

Two years later, I was not sure what to think of this. The teaser is just a few clips of Ravenholm - the most famous and, dare I suggest, grossly overrated - level in Half-Life 2. But now it's covered with snow, and the headcrabs have the furry Arctic types we first saw in 2017. Even Alyx’s narration "we don't travel there anymore" is intact. The YouTube listing describes Project Borealis Prologue as "a gaming experience created by fans before the events of Project Borealis," a game that, as I remind you, is not currently playable.

Studio director Postulio explained to me that, "Since Project Borealis was made in Unreal Engine 5 instead of Source, the team needed to recreate all the core Half-Life 2 features: movement, combat, physics and, of course, its ambience." "Recreating that familiar ambience that gamers instantly recognize while also representing unexplored terrain is a huge task, especially when you are doing it in a completely new engine." studio director Postulio told me.

"To ensure we were on track to achieve this, we told fans early on that we would release a demo which showcased the features in a familiar setting, Ravenholm. This gave us the opportunity to refine our internal processes as a studio and create a pipeline which could produce a "finished" product.

Project Borealis Prologue is the result. Postulio described it as "a bridge that connects the familiar with the unknown," and as a sign of the studio's dedication to delivering the "next chapter in Gordon's story."

Postulio said Valve’s recent tightening Steam rules regarding "prologue" games should not affect the release of the prologue: "We've reviewed these new rules and while we won't speak for Valve, we've taken all the necessary steps to address any concerns."

Project Borealis Prologue will be released in the fall of 2024. This means that we should hear more soon, since Fall 2024 begins in less than one week. Postulio confirmed that a new update for the full Project Borealis is also in the works and will be released in the same "fall 2020" timeframe.