Half-Life: Alyx Review

VRReviewsPCNovember 2020First

Nov 8

Russell’s Fridge with orange juice, zucchini, cabbage, three cans, three Desiccated Sustenance Bars, and a well packaged headcrab with “Do Not Eat!” written in red marker on it.

(Image credit: Valve)

Desiccated Sustenance Bars for Everyone

I get worried when one of my favorite game series is making a VR version. With Half-Life: Alyx, that reservation was quickly crushed. It has everything you want in any game, packed into a VR title. The story and supporting characters are compelling, the graphics are amazing and balance well with the responsive touch control handling. There are not many games that are considered AAA for VR, and Half-Life: Alyx is bringing Valve’s expertise into the genre. Alyx shatters more expectations with the included level building and editing. The additional Valve Hammer Editor system is good and is practically a full game on its own.

Half-Life: Alyx is an FPS that takes place between the events of Half-Life 1 and 2 by following Dr. Eli Vance’s 19-year-old daughter Alyx, as she leads the Resistance against the aliens who now run the planet. The story is presented in real-time and never falls back to video clips. Alyx gets some help in her fight against the Combine from Russell, a fellow Resistance member and friend of her father. He gives her his patented R.U.S.S.E.L.L.s which are gloves that grant telekinetic powers and represent one of your best weapons against the alien plague.

“Once you upgrade your weapons, the gun fun really begins.”

Pointing pistol with advanced optics down a dingy maintenance hallway at headcrab that is in mid-jump with its underbelly mouth fully exposed.

(Image credit: Valve)

The controls within Half-Life: Alyx are customizable and provide several options for movement. I went with my favorite setup using the left thumb stick on move to position because it is the least jarring VR movement to me. If you are ever unhappy with the movement you picked, you can change it at any time under the options menu. Once you get your hands on the R.U.S.S.E.L.L.s, the simple targeting and actions of the telekinetic powers give you a variety of ways to fight enemies.

Valve designed the game to be interactive, and with the telekinesis you can pick up just about any object. I laughed as I spent nearly an hour feeding everything to a Barnacle. They are some hungry little devils whose appetite is only rivaled by that of the headcrabs. To battle those ferocious foes, you can hold objects up like in a Critters movie to save your face from becoming dessert. The guns Alyx can get her hands on are traditional weapons from the Half-Life game series. Starting off with the pistol is fun but keep an out for the shotgun and sub machine gun as that can really amp up the adrenaline. Once you find the upgrade stations and how to use them, the gun fun really begins.

Accessing the upgrade benches through 3D puzzles was fun and challenging as it involved lining up beams of light to hit multiple targets. By manipulating my body into limber positions, I could see all angles to solve the lock. Every puzzle in the game makes excellent use of three-dimensional space, which is a hard feat for any game to pull off. Along with that, integrating VR elements throughout the game is Valve’s biggest achievement. The pen/marker writing system within the game is better and more accurate than most VR writing apps. In fact, Youtuber Charles Coomber used the marker to easily demonstrate mathematical concepts in his Let’s Play: Angle Vocabulary Review (in Half-Life Alyx) – Supplementary, Vertical and Complementary.

“The community-built levels are just amazing because they share a base that is the one of the most stable VR platforms and control systems.”

The pen system was not the only hidden gem buried within this title. The addition of the Valve Hammer Editor to Half-Life: Alyx puts the game over the top. With it you can create and edit game objects, textures, particle effects, animations, and levels after a slight learning curve for each element. One creator with user name paradoxlol made a “Less Scary Poison Headcrab” mod for people who could not beat the game due to a fear of poison headcrabs. Other users have even faithfully recreated their favorite levels from other games with this editor. You can view the entire list of published addons and standalone playable levels on Steam’s Half-Life: Alyx Workshop Page.

Upgrade Table Puzzle containing several red lasers that cross each other, with blue laser pointing to upper of two blue orbs.

(Image credit: Valve)

Half-Life: Alyx is an all-around good game that is worth the full cost of $59.99, especially when you factor in the Hammer Editor system. I will surely spend several hours replaying Alyx’s main storyline with every crazy addon that works together. That does not count the time I plan on pumping into creating my own levels and playing other’s creations. The community-built surprises are wonderful since they share one of the most stable VR platforms and control systems as a base. Valve did a great job with Half-Life: Alyx and they deserve to be nominated for VR Game of the Year for 2020.