It is indeed very unfortunate that Mako passed away, he was also a major reason for the series being so great as nobody does a better evil laugh then him.

yeah, just like IMHO nobody could do Megabyte like Tony Jay

Because they suck. I hate waiting a year or more for the cliffhanger to be solved. Or a TV show can be canceled after a cliffhanger ending, which is even worse.

I don't mind a good cliffhangers and speculation surrounding it.
People hate cliffhangers because most of them are lame and badly implemented.

Cliffhangers aren't bad. It's when things like HL2E2 happens that piss me off. 6+ years Valve, 6+ years!

Also, when they end a season in a cliffhanger and then gets cancelled. (I'm looking at you, Sonic SatAm)

The following may contain minor spoilers to Half-life 2 Episode 2.



Yeah, that one... I just recently played both episode 1 and 2.

Then again, I'm not sure what the end of Ep2 was, cliffhanger or something else? It didn't leave me with a feeling of "I have to know what happens next!", but then it didn't seem like a proper ending to the series either. I was in fact a bit surprised to see the series end there abruptly. It was more like "Let's make some kind of plot twist right here, and end the game there. Done!".

I think I read somewhere that Valve has trademarked "Half-life 3", or something. So maybe it is coming. But at this point I am not super-excited for it, at least not story-wise. I've kind of stopped caring what happens to our legless hero and Alyx. HL3 would interest me more in whether Valve has been able to break some new boundaries with their latest game.

If the ending to Half-life 2 ep 2 seemed weird to you it's probably because From what I can gather they never meant to leave it there. Episode three was supposed to come out less than a year later. But shit happened, al lot of shit it seems.
I loved the Half Life 2 episodes but I guess that's life for you. Aside from briefly trademarking HL3 (then dropping the trademark like a hot potato) the official story is that they are still making episode 3. Even as a huge Half-life fan I'd have to say that one episode after 7 years would be a raw deal.

That said even if they are making Half-Life 3 it's going to suffer from overblown expectations, Duke Nukem Forever style. I fear for Valve's dignity and gamers high hopes.

I guess that people are less patient these days. They want the full experience at all times and not waiting and no suspension in between. Maybe they are also made less good than they used to be. Or it's just fashion that changed. So people want now stories with a conclusive end while the industry still thinks they prefer open ends.

Actually I don't know. I always did not like cliff hangers any particularly.

Cliffhangers can be a headache because they make the episode/game/movie feel incomplete. It's fine to add a larger plot that isn't finished, but the story for that part really needs to be complete. Not as much of a headache in TV as you usually get resolution the next day or the next week.

Walking Dead's season finale pissed me off because instead of feeling like a bookend, it made the whole second half of the season feel incomplete. There was no real complete story from it the way the first half of the season had.

People don't usually complain about Mass Effect 2 or Empire because they're not cliffhangers per say, they're complete stories on their own that contribute to the greater narrative of the trilogy. There's noted rising action, a climax, falling action, and even a resolution of sorts for THAT story.

Well, for me, it's less, I want no suspense between, and more, Part 1, 2, and 3 should be able to stand on their own, at least to a degree. When they suddenly cut off with no clear falling action or feeling of resolution, I end of feeling cheated at the end.

Make the story good and complete, and I'll willingly wait for the greater whole to be finished and feast on each part as they come out. Otherwise it feels like a mess and makes me wonder if I should be watching it.

IDW released comics continuing meaning it is getting some continuation so at least that is something

There are several reasons I hate cliffhangers. One of them is, of course, that it almost always destroys the immersion and the suspense and leaves you unsatisfied. This is especially true when it comes to movies, since very often you don´t know when the sequel will be out.

But the one thing that really made me HATE cliffhangers is the fact that all too often there is this giant cliffhanger and no continuation ever. Just some examples...

Farscape - ended season 4 with one giant cliffhanger and then the show got cancelled. (Thankfully we got The Peacekeeper Wars later which tied all loose ends.) And german fans had even more fun - for some reason the broadcaster which held the german broadcast rights to Farscape decided not to air season 3 and 4. Ever. We got the mega cliffhanger at the end of season 2 and no season 3 and 4 at all.

Defying Gravity - one amazing season, one giant cliffhanger, one show axed.

Half Life - "We decided to release everything after HL2 in form of shorter episodes, so overall we can tell the story faster!" Exactly. This is why Episode 2 ends with a giant cliffhanger which was soon after resolved in HL: Episode 3 and... oh wait...

THAT is why I bloody hate cliffhangers.

Wow, I had never seen the show but as soon as I heard the voice I recognized it and a quick glance at the wikipedia paged confirmed that this was indeed the same guy who voiced the elder god (truly awesome) in the Soul Reaver series. I never knew who Tony Jay was even though I had heard his brilliant voiceover work in many games and shows. Looking at his resume there is no doubt the guy is a Legend. :)
Yeah, the comics are cool but I still really really want Genndy to do a full length Samurai Jack movie to get the epic conclusion the series deserves. :)

They're so overpowered, flying lil' bastards... I was glad I encountered them later in the gam... oh, you said cliff HANGERS! Whoops ;)

- A: How to make an idiot wait?
- B: No clue, how?
- A: I'll tell you tomorrow!

- A: I want to do an experiment: At three, run as fast as you can.
- B: Okay!
- A: One, two!
- ...
- ...