Half-Life: Alyx No VR Mod Looks Promising in New Update

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Half-Life: Alyx is a title meant to showcase what VR can do, but such a design method has rendered it inaccessible to some players. As such, a team of mod developers seeks to make the game playable for a more general audience by bringing its gameplay more in line with the classic Half-Life titles.

As a VR title, Half-Life: Alyx is designed for use with two tracked controllers meant to simulate players' hands in the game. The hands, while they work well in VR, inherently remove the game from the mouse and keyboard control scheme of its predecessors.

RELATED:Modders Are Remaking Team Fortress 2 In The Half Life: Alyx Engine

A group of modders who collectively go by SoMNst have released a video showcasing improvements to the ongoing "No VR Mod" for Half-Life: Alyx. The video shows 37 minutes of gameplay and important changes that have been made to create classic Half-Life gameplay for non-VR play. Everything from the UI to the puzzles have been reworked to be usable from a traditional first-person shooter perspective, and each change appears to be inspired by the design elements of Half-Life 2. The reworked UI display is very similar to the classic titles, and the act of picking up physics objects is now very similar to how the previous games handled them.

Half-Life: Alyx received critical acclaim for its VR format, and taking it out of its original context provides an interesting perspective into what needed to change for VR. The focus on upgradeable weapons instead of the varied arsenals of previous Half-Life games is an interesting simplification and likely feels more meaningful in VR than in a more familiar flatscreen format. VR is still a developing format for games, so Half-Life: Alyx's design accomodates for the comfort of players as the format evolves.

While the rest of the Half-Life series is very action-oriented, Half-Life: Alyx leans more into the horror side of the story. Despite the shift in gameplay, the No VR mod is an impressive effort to make Half-Life: Alyx playable without expensive VR equipment, and it functions as an intriguing case study in how VR changes game design. It also works as an interesting parallel to converting existing games to VR formats, as showcased by the impressive BioShock: Return to Rapture mod.

Modding has long been a major draw for Valve games, with some major esports titles like Counter-Strike and Team Fortress starting life as mods for Half-Life. This game is no different, with modders creating custom maps and campaigns for Half-Life: Alyx, as well as haptic suit integration and even total conversions to make the game into a different experience entirely.

Half-Life: Alyx is available now on PC.

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