Half-Life: Alyx Review - The Future Is Now

[Nergal]

 

 

It's been a long time coming, but Half-Life: Alyx is so good that it makes a virtual reality headset worth buying. Whether or not players are familiar with the previous games in the Half-Life franchise, Half-Life: Alyx not only provides a fantastic story filled with exploration, set-pieces, and emotional twists, but it also gives a blueprint for how other virtual reality titles should utilize the technology currently available.

If Half-Life: Alyx has any flaws, they stem from how inaccessible the game is to most players simply by virtue of it existing solely as a VR title. While cheaper options like the Oculus Quest do exist, most virtual reality machines are too expensive for most players to have already invested in, especially considering the small library of available titles when compared to video game consoles. The fact that playing Half-Life: Alyx requires both a high-end gaming PC and some sort of VR headset means not everyone will be able to enjoy it, and that's a shame, because Half-Life: Alyx is one of the best games in years.

Valve developers have gone on the record stating that they can't wait for someone to mod the virtual reality out of Half-Life: Alyx because they're so confident that, once such a thing has been done, players will realize why the game needed to be in VR all along. After playing the title, it's immediately apparent what they meant by this. Half-Life: Alyx is a slow game, except when it isn't, and much of a player's time can be spent simply walking slowly through rooms, hallways, and open outdoor areas, digging through the environment and searching for useful items. In virtual reality this is an incredibly entertaining act, especially when combined with one of the game's signature items: The Russels.