I really, really love this game a lot. I waited over ten years for the next Half-life, and Valve definitely delivered. It's a fantastic survival-horror game, and it's everything I ever wanted from a game all about Alyx. They put so much thought into the game design, it's unbelievable. I really look forward to HL3, and being able to put the smackdown on the Combine in the VR-zone as Gordon.
Valve does a consistently good job, and I was wondering why. My partner mentioned that they don't have plans to be publicly traded, specifically because they don't want to make choices based on the desires of investors. While Valve is still obviously a corporation that wants to maximize profit, their leadership seems more intent on doing so by delivering quality products, rather than whatever shortcuts that execs with no game dev experience decide on. Capitalism is always the enemy of creativity.
However, their labor rights issues are still awful. They way they've treated employees (and the way game industry employees are treated in general) is inexcusable. While I'll continue to praise the individuals at Valve for their intelligent, intuitive, and creative game design, the labor rights issues of the industry will continue to loom like a spectre over anything positive I have to say about their art.