By Keerthi Chandrashekar / Keerthi@latinospost.com (staff@latinospost.com) | First Posted: Jan 18, 2013 09:05 PM EST

It's been a painful wait for Half-Life fans everywhere as Valve has yet to give even an ounce of information regarding Half-Life 3, widely rumored to be the next installment in the series. Some newly leaked screenshots, while not from Half-Life 3, are from a cancelled Valve project dubbed 'Episode 4.'

Valve fansite ValveTime somehow managed to get their hands on four screenshots from the cancelled Half-Life 2: Episode 4 Return to Ravenholm game. Arkane Studios was said to be developing the game in 2006 and 2007, but the project was then canned. 

"Our investigators have uncovered a selection images which show some in-game shots of the title which show new textures and models Arkane had planned for the game," writes ValveTime.

You can view the four screenshots in slideshow at the top. 

It's been well over five years since Valve has released a new Half-Life installment, and while the game developer is nowhere near giving the public a release date, many believe that Half-Life 3 could help launch the next Source engine, much like Half-Life 2 helped Source. 

Rumor has it that Half-Life 3 may be an open-ended game, much like Skyrim. There will apparently be NPCs, and if it truly is a sandbox game, then expect plenty of sidequests and minigames to keep you distracted. Statements from Valve indicate that Half-Life 3 has undergone several drastic changes, which is part of the reason why nobody has seen anything about the game just yet. 

If you've been waiting for Half-Life 3, are you frustrated it's taken Valve so long? Or are you glad the company is taking its time to deliver what will almost definitely be a game-changing experience?