Half-Life: Alyx is a first-person shooter built from the ground up to be played in virtual reality, and is widely recognised as one of the best VR games out there at the present time…
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What is Half-Life: Alyx
Half-Life: Alyx is a first-person shooter published by Valve in 2020. It was designed to be played in virtual reality, and is generally regarded as one of the best virtual reality games to currently exist.
The game is a part of the Half-Life franchise, which includes a number of other games, most notable Half-Life and Half-Life Two. You don’t need to have played any previous game to enjoy Half-Life: Alyx.
The setting is a future Earth that has been invaded and conquered by an alien species known as the Combine. Most humans have been forced into menial servitude in a brutal police state… but there are some who resist, with the occasional help of other, more sympathetic alien species.
The main character is Alyx Vance, a member of the human resistance. When her father is arrested by Combine forces, Alyx embarks on a high-stakes all-action mission to rescue him, and thereafter to seize a vital piece of Combine technology to further the cause of the resistance.
The Good Stuff
➕ The gameplay in Half-Life: Alyx is extremely fun, varied and satisfying. The game is designed from the ground up to be played in virtual reality, and it makes full use of the technology. Routine gameplay sees you making physical movements in space to draw and reload weapons, hide behind scenery, fling grenades and other projectiles, and paw through cupboards and drawers in search of much-needed supplies.
All if it is extremely well-executed. It’s fun to play and hugely immersive. Once you’ve been in a few fights, you really physically feel like you’ve been in an action-movie combat situation. When you’re searching for supplies you really feel like you’re searching for supplies. The game is a joy to play, and intensely immersive.
➕ It makes use of VR in some truly innovative ways. There are many moments throughout the game which really show what virtual reality is capable of. You may find yourself stretching out to grab something vital that dangles just out of reach, or holding your hand over your face to stifle a virtual cough.
Half-Life: Alyx feels smarter than other VR games in the way that it uses its medium to tell its story. It is constantly surprising and delighting with new gameplay elements that make use of virtual reality in ways that other games simply haven’t yet had the imagination to.
➕ Beyond VR, the game is produced to a very high standard. Much of the scenery is interactable. The voice acting is excellent. Thought and expertise have gone into the visual and sound design, the lighting, the framing. The enemies are smart, the difficulty balanced, the levels atmospheric. Even if it wasn’t in VR, this would still be a very strong game.
➕ Half-Life: Alyx offers a variety of locomotion options. Motions sickness is a problem for many people who would otherwise greatly enjoy virtual reality. This game offers several options (such as teleport locomotion) to allow even those prone to motion sickness to customise their experience and still enjoy the game.
The Bad Stuff
➖ Half-Life: Alyx makes other VR games look bad. It is years ahead of most of the competition, and once you’ve finished it there are very few other VR games that can offer a similarly immersive and well-produced experience.
Valve don’t seem as though they’re going to make another virtual reality game anytime soon. Nor is anyone else. So if you really enjoyed the experience of Half-Life: Alyx… many other VR games are going to feel like a step down.
➖ Melee combat isn’t fully implemented. Ranged combat throughout the game is fantastic and superbly immersive… but melee combat is very limited. You can knock back some enemies with the butt of a gun, and pick up and throw objects from your surroundings, but that’s it.
You often find yourself holding something that should work as a weapon… but when you instinctively strike at an enemy as they close in on you, nothing happens. It’s extremely frustrating, especially as everything else in the game is so realistic.
The lack of melee combat also means that you really do have to find and ration ammunition. If you run low or run out you’ll really struggle to progress.
Half-Life: Alyx Practical Information
You can play Half-Life: Alyx on most VR consoles, including:
- Valve Index
- HTC Vive
- Meta Quest series (Quest 2, 3, 3S)
- Oculus Rift
- PlayStation VR2
However the game is resource-intensive and in most cases you’ll have to connect your VR headset to a computer, either wirelessly or using a cable. It’s a bit faffy, to say the least.
If you experience motion sickness in VR, you can adjust the gameplay to minimise this – specifically by selecting teleport movement. Even sensitive players should be able to enjoy Half-Life: Alyx.
Half-Life: Alyx is available via Steam.