Half-Life: Alyx

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Half-Life: Alyx Image
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93

Universal acclaim - based on 69 Critic Reviews What's this?

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9.2

Universal acclaim- based on 2799 Ratings

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  • Summary: Half-Life: Alyx is Valve's VR return to the Half-Life series. It's the story of an impossible fight against a vicious alien race known as the Combine, set between the events of Half-Life and Half-Life 2. Playing as Alyx Vance, you are humanity's only chance for survival. The Combine'sHalf-Life: Alyx is Valve's VR return to the Half-Life series. It's the story of an impossible fight against a vicious alien race known as the Combine, set between the events of Half-Life and Half-Life 2. Playing as Alyx Vance, you are humanity's only chance for survival. The Combine's control of the planet since the Black Mesa incident has only strengthened as they corral the remaining population in cities. Among them are some of Earth's greatest scientists: you and your father, Dr. Eli Vance. As founders of a fledgling resistance, you've continued your clandestine scientific activityperforming critical research, and building invaluable tools for the few humans brave enough to defy the Combine. Every day, you learn more about your enemy, and every day you work toward finding a weakness.

    ABOUT GAMEPLAY IN VR:

    Valve's return to the Half-Life universe that started it all was built from the ground up for virtual reality. VR was built to enable the gameplay that sits at the heart of Half-Life.

    Immerse yourself in deep environmental interactions, puzzle solving, world exploration, and visceral combat.

    Lean to aim around a broken wall and under a Barnacle to make an impossible shot. Rummage through shelves to find a healing syringe and some shotgun shells. Manipulate tools to hack alien interfaces. Toss a bottle through a window to distract an enemy. Rip a Headcrab off your face and throw it at a Combine soldier.

    Extra content for Index owners
    Customers who have purchased Valve Index hardware by the end of 2019 will have access to unique bonuses starting early next year:

    * Explore environments from Half-Life: Alyx in your SteamVR Home space
    * Alternate gun skins to embellish Alyx's arsenal
    * Special Half-Life: Alyx-themed content for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2

    Community-built environments

    * A set of Source 2 tools for building new environments will ship with the game, enabling any player to build and contribute new environments for the community to enjoy. Hammer, Valve's level authoring tool, has been updated with all of the game's virtual reality gameplay tools and components.    … Expand

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10 Minutes of Half-Life: Alyx Gameplay

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 67 out of 69
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 69
  3. Negative: 0 out of 69
  1. GMW3
    Mar 23, 2020
    100
    You know perfectly well that Valve wasn’t going to make a flagship VR title using its beloved Half-Life franchise and do a half-arsed job. A stunningly rich experience from start to finish, Half-Life: Alyx is one of the best VR titles available, a perfect showcase for what VR gaming is capable of. It doesn’t exactly break new ground, instead providing familiar Half-Life gameplay all wrapped up in a highly polished VR gift bag. Let’s just hope this is the start of things to come and Valve decides to make another Half-Life: Alyx.
  2. Meristation
    Mar 30, 2020
    100
    Although it doesn´t perfect every single thing it does, the experience as a whole cannot be called anything short of a masterpiece.
  3. Screen Rant
    May 15, 2020
    100
    A special mention should be made of the game's dialog, mainly consisting of Alyx herself and Russel, a scientist who Alex remains in constant communication with throughout the game. Their relationship feels genuine, the conversations between them are enjoyable, and almost all of the intended comedic moments land perfectly, which is something most video games seem to have trouble with.
  4. Gamer.nl
    Mar 28, 2020
    95
    This is a triumph in almost every way. This is the most detailed, deepest and most elaborate VR game yet. No other VR game has so much variety and depth at the same time, combined with such a perfect tempo.
  5. PC Gamer
    Mar 23, 2020
    92
    With old friends, new enemies, and an exciting story, revisiting City 17 in VR is a thrill in Half-Life: Alyx.
  6. Edge Magazine
    Mar 26, 2020
    90
    What the game asks of you might be fairly standard shooter stuff, but the act of playing it out with your own hands lends it a fresh magic. That's Alyx in a nutshell: this is a Half-Life game almost to a fault, the old formula polished to a 2020 shine, made new again by the way you manipulate it. The Gloves aren't the new crowbar or Gravity Gun, the defining tool of Half-Life: Alyx. Your own hands are. [Issue#344, p.102]
    All this publication's reviews
  7. AusGamers
    Apr 1, 2020
    60
    Too often Half-Life: Alyx feels like baby's first VR shooter and for many — especially those who purchased VR hardware to play it — this isn't a dealbreaker. But trading off the Half-Life name for an introductory course to VR relegates HL: Alyx to spin-off territory when the characters involved and the story it tells could be so much more. Alyx Vance deserves better, and so too do VR gamers.

See all 78 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 723 out of 790
  2. Mixed: 22 out of 790
  3. Negative: 45 out of 790
  1. Nidman
    Aug 2, 2020
    10
    This is about as perfect as a game could be. I didnt know games had gotten this evolved until I put my roommates Oculus Rift on and becameThis is about as perfect as a game could be. I didnt know games had gotten this evolved until I put my roommates Oculus Rift on and became fully immersed in this living world they've made. Classic Valve puzzles make the linear story seem like it branches. And the mechanics SCREAM VR… Expand
  2. Kintastic
    Mar 31, 2020
    10
    Great example of what VR can do. Great story and physics. Great interaction with items. Great everything.
  4. alexreck12
    Mar 23, 2020
    10
    Don’t listen to the troll reviews! Valve has worked hard on this game and made it compatible for even the most affordable HMDs. There are moreDon’t listen to the troll reviews! Valve has worked hard on this game and made it compatible for even the most affordable HMDs. There are more ways to use movement, such as smooth locomotion instead of teleportation. Ladder movement has been fixed! The level design, sound design, graphics and puzzles are phenomenal.… Expand
  5. saladsandwich
    Jan 22, 2023
    10
    this is the best. best looking vr game ever AND ITS HALF LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the story is classive valve flavoured, just perfect itthis is the best. best looking vr game ever AND ITS HALF LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the story is classive valve flavoured, just perfect it explains so much yet also leaves you on such a big cliff hanger waiting for half life : 2077 (realease date) the graphics are just eye candy (if you dont get motion sick) head crabs actually look terrifying now jumping at you from the dark is horrifying now and the ending is just such a cliff hanger there just needs to be a new title in the half life series when a half life 3 comes out the world is going to end. 10/10 best vr experience ever.… Expand
  6. ajhorst35
    Mar 26, 2020
    10
    This is the best gaming experience of my life. It’s one of those rare games that raises the bar and blows away everything that came before. ItThis is the best gaming experience of my life. It’s one of those rare games that raises the bar and blows away everything that came before. It reminds me of when I first played Ocarina of Time or Doom, which both showed the true potential for 3d games over 2D… just like how Alyx shows the true potential of VR over flat.

    Could Ocarina have been made in 2d? Maybe with a ton of compromises, but its almost pointless to ask because the game was designed to take full advantage of what you can do in 3d. This is much like how it’s pointless to ask the possibility of a flat version of Alyx.

    Nearly every critic is rating Alyx a 9 out of 10. I understand their reasoning, but the truth is that this game is far, far better than any other game rated a 9 out of 10. Critics don’t want to give out a 10, which implies perfection, when anyone who plays areas of improvement here and there. The paradox with Alyx is that while imperfect, it is better than any game that has come before. I remember when Doom, Ocarina of Time, (and Half life 2 for that matter) came out, it was difficult to think of a single flaw. As gaming progressed, its now crystal clear that none of those games were anywhere close to perfect.

    In Alyx, there are brief moments when things feel clunky. Certain recent VR games have come out with more advance mechanics. The voice acting doesn’t always match the tone/feel of the player (probably my biggest gripe…I feel like the voice actress for Alyx hadn’t played the game…as everything is far more intense than her tone), you run into some invisible walls, etc.
    That being said, there is absolutely nothing like the core of this game. With VR, you can do things that are otherwise impossible with a mouse and keyboard…and you’re actually doing them! Popping up out of cover with 5 bullets left and one heart of health to take out the last combine soldier is one thing to experience flat…doing it in VR takes it to another level, and you’re left breathless.

    When you run away for cover in a normal video game, t’s a strategy. When you do it in Alyx, you FEEL the need to do it as a fight/flight response. Reloading in a normal videogame involves pressing a button. Your emotional state has nothing to do with the success/failure/speed of the action. In Alyx, all of that comes into play.

    The game is perfectly balanced and paced. They give you the exact amount of ammo you need…no more or no less. Every clip of ammo you find feels critical, and every shot you miss is devastating. I’m not sure if Valve cheats on this by determining how much ammo to place for each playthrough on the fly, but it doesn’t matter. Somehow, I never once totally ran out of ammo, and after every gunfight, I only had a handful of bullets left. Twice I used my last bullet on the last bad-guy.

    The sound is the best of any video game. The music, mixing, sound effects, are all perfect.

    The graphics, art direction, and lighting are the best of any video game. Everything is super detailed, and the world building is astounding.

    The story is classic Valve. If you liked the storytelling in Portal and Half-life games, you’ll love Alyx.

    I feel we will not see anything like Alyx for some time, and possibly the only developer that can pull something like this off is Valve. Think about how much money they’re leaving on the table making this VR only. If they get 100 percent of the addressable market, you’re talking about 2 million in sales. If this were a flat game, with the Half-Life name alone, 20 million in sales would be a disappointment. What other developer would leave over a billion dollars on the table developing a AAA game?    … Expand
  7. dndb301
    Mar 23, 2020
    10
    A very good game. This is Half-Life .
  8. helloarty
    Nov 6, 2022
    0
    Whoever decided to make the game for VR, and especially SteamVR developers - just burn in hell pls. I ruined around 8 hours of my life tryingWhoever decided to make the game for VR, and especially SteamVR developers - just burn in hell pls. I ruined around 8 hours of my life trying to figure out how to run it as with each new method it just spited another error and in the best case showing black screen instead of game (it worked well on pc screen tho, just couldn't do anything). Don't understand why it was a probleem to just make 2 mods (VR and no-VR) so everyone could try it. Valve could focus on a great gameplay/concepts as they always do, instead of just putting the same game into VR which bugged af and even doesn't work.
    They'll soon complain that no one buys single player games anymore and continue add new hats to DOTA.    … Expand

See all 790 User Reviews

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