Sorry? Did we miss something here?!

Half-Life fans have been waiting for “Episode 3″ for what seems like an age at this point, and now ValveTime.net are claiming to have got their hands on the very first screenshots of……..wait for it…….Half-Life 4: Episode 4 / Return to Ravenholm, a cancelled Arkane Studios Half-Life 2 spin off. Valve’s Gabe Newell had said previously that future Half-Life titles after Episode 3 would be potential spin-offs outsourced to other studios. He made no secret of a fourth episode. But this is the first time that any assets or media for the game have surfaced.

Now, ValveTime are suggesting that the game, often incorrectly referred to as Episode 4, was in development at Arkane, the developer of last year’s superb Dishonored, between 2006 and 2007. The game was cancelled by Valve around this time for whatever reason. It was to return to Ravenholm, as featured in Half-Life 2.

ValveTime has somehow managed to get their hands on a couple of in-game shots and test footage for the oft rumoured and mysterious title. They have put together a short showreel of the images in the video below.

Typical. You wait and wait for Episode 3 news, and you get Episode 4 news instead.