The art is described as being from “circa 2008″, meaning that if they’re real, they are truly just concept drawings. However, a number of things about them — the fact that the helicopter from the end of Episode 2 turns up crashed, the arctic setting, which holds with past rumours of the game’s setting, and the fact that a Combine advisor is shown, all indicate that these could well be legit.
And hey, even if they’re fake, some of these are still quite lovely. To see the images at full resolution (along with a bunch more of ‘em), head over to ValveTime’s gallery.
It ain’t news about Half Life 2: Episode 3 (much less Half Life 3), but it’s something.
Exclusive Half Life 2 Episode 3 Concept Art [ValveTime via NeoGAF]
Probably an ambitious student artist trying to fake HL3 art to get into the industry. It's been done before. Create hype, people realise it's fake, but want to know who the artist is anyway.
It just doesn't feel professional. The mix of photo texture doesn't blend well with the illustrated stuff. It also has overloaded use of custom brushes. Nice work, but not industry standard, let alone Valve standard...
WRONG. It's been confirmed as the real deal.
[citation needed]
maybe we'll see some beta screenshots in 2015!