I don't know why I haven't played this until now, but I can see why everyone says it's still the best VR title even after 3 years. The level of immersion is absurd. If Half-Life: Alyx does not appeal to you in any way, then I believe you may just have a fundamental disinterest in virtual reality. This title was made from the ground up as a VR title and it shows. The attention to detail, the many objects you can interact with, the way the puzzles are designed. The definition of a system seller. I have a handful of criticisms, but they are dwarfed by the incredible strengths and highlights that Half-Life: Alyx offers.
Let's start with the best of these offerings. The visuals are gorgeous to look at, and the audio is phenomenal. Everything has that classic, somewhat grimy Half-Life look to it, which is easy on the eyes in the best possible way. It’s possible that you’ve seen praise specifically towards the various alcohol bottles found throughout each level, and for good reason. They single-handedly highlight the excellence and realism of the visual style. The liquid physics alongside the Source engine-style realism leads to an experience that I really can’t compare to anything else, and left a wonderful impression. And while I’m no audio engineer, I can still appreciate the immaculate audio design. I hesitate to make statements this concretely, but Half-Life: Alyx may have the best audio design I have ever heard in a video game. The music, gunfire, reloading, combine radio chatter, zombies groaning, the collision of thrown objects. I legitimately did not hear a single sound that I didn’t love. I bring these up because of Half-Life: Alyx’s unique position as the flagship VR title. Virtual reality offers immersion in a way that traditional, flatscreen video games simply can’t, and the phenomenal visual and auditorial experience is a massive part of that immersion.
The environments and moment to moment gameplay are also in pristine form here. I played the game with the valve index’s knuckles, which features finger tracking in place of a grip button that most older controllers use. So rather than pressing a button to grab, you just...grab, and the controller senses this. Upon starting the game, you are on a balcony overlooking city 17 with various objects scattered around for you to interact with. Among these objects are a handful of empty soda cans. Picking up that soda can by physically grabbing it was already cool, but the sheer joy I felt when I realized I could also crush the can by squeezing it was one of the coolest moments I have ever had in a video game. This is a very small detail, but there are many moments that give this feeling. If you ever ask “can I do this?”, the answer is probably yes, and Valve has accounted for that. These objects and their physics can’t be understated, and there is never a shortage of them for you to mess around with. The gunplay is simple, so the really interesting gameplay comes from mixing them with the many objects you will find in each level. A crowd of enemies? Throw in a gas tank and shoot it. Zombie in the way? Throw a glass bottle to distract it. Need cover to get closer? Just carry some cover with you. Thoroughly exploring each area rewarded you intrinsically with these interactions, as well as extrinsically with resin to upgrade your guns.
The puzzles were never very difficult, but still satisfying to do and highlighted the strengths of VR. While I enjoyed these, I do wish there was a little more variety. By the end, the spherical lock in particular was getting a bit tedious, and I found disarming the trip-mines dull and finicky, but these are the outliers. As a whole, I quite liked the bite-sized puzzles, and the rewards were always worth it. The larger environment-based puzzles I much preferred, And I always felt quite proud to solve them. I’m not the biggest fan of puzzle games, but Valve has always had some of my favorites and they felt very intuitive here. Finding wires with the multitool was simple, but I enjoyed it every time through the various environmental obstacles I had to work around. There was never any point where I felt stumped or lost, which leads to the frustration that causes me to abandon most puzzle games.
I’ll keep this segment on the story short, as I'm frankly not a great story analyst nor am I the most knowledgeable on the extended Half-Life story, but I can say that I enjoyed it. The premise is pretty simple at its core, but expanded at a comfortable rate so that I never felt lost. It’s been a while since I played the last Half-Life games, but I enjoyed the many direct references to the events of them and loved the story that was added here. Most of all I enjoyed the interactions between Russell and Alyx. The endless banter, the goofy exposition, the still serious and emotional conversations about Eli and the Vortigaunts.
I only have three real issues. The first is the weapon variety. There are only three guns in the game, and two of them play very similarly. The combine SMG and the pistol both functionally do the same thing, the SMG just shoots automatically. The shotgun was the standout gun of my playthrough, but I used it sparingly because ammo for it was scarcer than the other two. I think I may have shot myself in the foot for being so frugal with my shotgun, because ammunition is dynamic, meaning that you will find more ammo when you are running low. So, I ended up using my favorite gun far less than the other two, a problem that would largely fix itself if I simply used it more.
The second is the animations and AI of the combine and zombies. They have this very... Source engine look and feel to them that just don't feel the most realistic, and that matters a lot here. Don't get me wrong, they weren't bad but they were just a step down from the environment design and the simpler enemies. And that step down was noticeable enough to affect my immersion for the worse.
The third issue is that it just left me wanting more. After the credits rolled, I wanted to immediately go and play Half-Life: Alyx 2, or at least a follow up campaign. I felt the game was still in the peak of its stride as it ended, and the ten hours I spent on the campaign wasn’t enough to satiate my hunger. I’ve heard others describe this feeling similarly with the original Half-Life, a feeling that was quelled when Half-Life 2 released, which expanded on and improved upon the original in many ways. If Alyx is the Half-Life 1 of VR, I can only dream of its sequel.
But these hiccups are tiny compared to what I did love about the game. An easy entry into my top ten favorites of all time, and one I will definitely replay. Probably multiple times. I deeply hope Valve is willing to put even more into VR, as they have set a standard that I just don’t see anyone topping for a long while.
Let's start with the best of these offerings. The visuals are gorgeous to look at, and the audio is phenomenal. Everything has that classic, somewhat grimy Half-Life look to it, which is easy on the eyes in the best possible way. It’s possible that you’ve seen praise specifically towards the various alcohol bottles found throughout each level, and for good reason. They single-handedly highlight the excellence and realism of the visual style. The liquid physics alongside the Source engine-style realism leads to an experience that I really can’t compare to anything else, and left a wonderful impression. And while I’m no audio engineer, I can still appreciate the immaculate audio design. I hesitate to make statements this concretely, but Half-Life: Alyx may have the best audio design I have ever heard in a video game. The music, gunfire, reloading, combine radio chatter, zombies groaning, the collision of thrown objects. I legitimately did not hear a single sound that I didn’t love. I bring these up because of Half-Life: Alyx’s unique position as the flagship VR title. Virtual reality offers immersion in a way that traditional, flatscreen video games simply can’t, and the phenomenal visual and auditorial experience is a massive part of that immersion.
The environments and moment to moment gameplay are also in pristine form here. I played the game with the valve index’s knuckles, which features finger tracking in place of a grip button that most older controllers use. So rather than pressing a button to grab, you just...grab, and the controller senses this. Upon starting the game, you are on a balcony overlooking city 17 with various objects scattered around for you to interact with. Among these objects are a handful of empty soda cans. Picking up that soda can by physically grabbing it was already cool, but the sheer joy I felt when I realized I could also crush the can by squeezing it was one of the coolest moments I have ever had in a video game. This is a very small detail, but there are many moments that give this feeling. If you ever ask “can I do this?”, the answer is probably yes, and Valve has accounted for that. These objects and their physics can’t be understated, and there is never a shortage of them for you to mess around with. The gunplay is simple, so the really interesting gameplay comes from mixing them with the many objects you will find in each level. A crowd of enemies? Throw in a gas tank and shoot it. Zombie in the way? Throw a glass bottle to distract it. Need cover to get closer? Just carry some cover with you. Thoroughly exploring each area rewarded you intrinsically with these interactions, as well as extrinsically with resin to upgrade your guns.
The puzzles were never very difficult, but still satisfying to do and highlighted the strengths of VR. While I enjoyed these, I do wish there was a little more variety. By the end, the spherical lock in particular was getting a bit tedious, and I found disarming the trip-mines dull and finicky, but these are the outliers. As a whole, I quite liked the bite-sized puzzles, and the rewards were always worth it. The larger environment-based puzzles I much preferred, And I always felt quite proud to solve them. I’m not the biggest fan of puzzle games, but Valve has always had some of my favorites and they felt very intuitive here. Finding wires with the multitool was simple, but I enjoyed it every time through the various environmental obstacles I had to work around. There was never any point where I felt stumped or lost, which leads to the frustration that causes me to abandon most puzzle games.
I’ll keep this segment on the story short, as I'm frankly not a great story analyst nor am I the most knowledgeable on the extended Half-Life story, but I can say that I enjoyed it. The premise is pretty simple at its core, but expanded at a comfortable rate so that I never felt lost. It’s been a while since I played the last Half-Life games, but I enjoyed the many direct references to the events of them and loved the story that was added here. Most of all I enjoyed the interactions between Russell and Alyx. The endless banter, the goofy exposition, the still serious and emotional conversations about Eli and the Vortigaunts.
I only have three real issues. The first is the weapon variety. There are only three guns in the game, and two of them play very similarly. The combine SMG and the pistol both functionally do the same thing, the SMG just shoots automatically. The shotgun was the standout gun of my playthrough, but I used it sparingly because ammo for it was scarcer than the other two. I think I may have shot myself in the foot for being so frugal with my shotgun, because ammunition is dynamic, meaning that you will find more ammo when you are running low. So, I ended up using my favorite gun far less than the other two, a problem that would largely fix itself if I simply used it more.
The second is the animations and AI of the combine and zombies. They have this very... Source engine look and feel to them that just don't feel the most realistic, and that matters a lot here. Don't get me wrong, they weren't bad but they were just a step down from the environment design and the simpler enemies. And that step down was noticeable enough to affect my immersion for the worse.
The third issue is that it just left me wanting more. After the credits rolled, I wanted to immediately go and play Half-Life: Alyx 2, or at least a follow up campaign. I felt the game was still in the peak of its stride as it ended, and the ten hours I spent on the campaign wasn’t enough to satiate my hunger. I’ve heard others describe this feeling similarly with the original Half-Life, a feeling that was quelled when Half-Life 2 released, which expanded on and improved upon the original in many ways. If Alyx is the Half-Life 1 of VR, I can only dream of its sequel.
But these hiccups are tiny compared to what I did love about the game. An easy entry into my top ten favorites of all time, and one I will definitely replay. Probably multiple times. I deeply hope Valve is willing to put even more into VR, as they have set a standard that I just don’t see anyone topping for a long while.