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submitted 8 months ago by koncertejo@lemmy.ml to c/games@lemmy.world

I genuinely can't believe Half Life Alyx is five years old.

No other video game has felt the way Alyx felt. No one else has taken such a bold swing in what a video game can be. It's burned into my mind as my Half Life game, the one that came out at just the right time for me.

It was also my "pandemic" game. While everyone else was playing Animal Crossing or Doom Eternal, I was playing and replaying Half Life Alyx.

It definitely feels like it's somewhat doomed to be less remembered in the popular consciousness than most big games that come out, and indeed the rest of the games in the Half Life lineage. Cries of "Half Life 3 when?" still abound in spite of the very clear effort Alyx made to move the story forward. But to me it feels like a game that still hasn't been topped in the five years since it came out, not by a long shot.

Half Life Alyx received a Game of the Year win from GameSpot, and nominations from a few other publications. When it came to events like The Game Awards with a dedicated "Best VR Game" category, it won handily.

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[-] gonzo-rand19@moist.catsweat.com 33 points 8 months ago

Five years and I still don't have a VR headset lol. These things are enthusiast tech and I am not that enthusiastic about having one.

Half-Life Alyx wasn't called Half-Life 3 because it came out on a platform most people don't have/can't afford. It's essentially a really cool spin-off that I will never play.

Cool that you liked it though, love that for you.

[-] chronicledmonocle@lemmy.world 7 points 8 months ago

Spoilers, but the ending of the game greatly affects the Half Life story. It's not just a spin off.

[-] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 4 points 8 months ago

Yeah. It reads like fan fiction. Marc Laidlaw wasn't involved. Hell, they didn't ask Merle Dandridge to reprise her role.

It also doesn't effect the story if there's no more story. I'll stick to the fan made spinoffs.

[-] chronicledmonocle@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

Everybody is entitled to their opinion.

[-] Sibyls@lemmy.ml 2 points 8 months ago

I'm confused though. The platform is the same cost as a gaming console if not cheaper? You can buy a quest3 at a good price.

[-] AdrianTheFrog@lemmy.world 3 points 8 months ago

If you already have a (lower midrange) PC, then yes.

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[-] UnbrokenTaco@lemm.ee 32 points 8 months ago

It is such a beautiful game. One of my top gaming experiences.

The environments, the pacing, the story telling, the interactivity - just excellent.

If you are interested in playing it and you don't have a PC with a 1060 or better; or can't afford PSVR2 or Quest 3s, then consider giving it a go at a VR game cafe.

[-] bdonvr@thelemmy.club 32 points 8 months ago

Incredible game. If you ever get the chance I 10000% recommend playing it.

[-] Wilmo@lemmy.world 15 points 8 months ago

I was really hoping for a PSVR2 port of Alyx, and the timing with a lot of PS games coming to Steam had my theorizing that was a compromise they made with Valve to make it happen but I think that was just wishful thinking now.

[-] tacofox@lemm.ee 6 points 8 months ago

Whoa. A bit off from your point but I was going to say if you could use the psvr2 on pc it would have sold a lot better. Turns out Sony seemingly shadow dropped a pc adapter and now you can!

Honestly if that was a launch feature I would have probably bought one since ps5 doesn’t really have a compelling library for it to be worth it alone. Now I’m too broke to justify it :(

[-] Acester47@lemmy.ca 2 points 8 months ago

That’s actually how I played hl2 Alyx! Great headset, game was awesome. Wish there were more games of the same quality

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[-] Damage@feddit.it 14 points 8 months ago

What's the status of VR games on Linux? With headsets that don't require weird accounts (Meta)

[-] antithetical@lemmy.deedium.nl 8 points 8 months ago

As I mentioned in another comment it plays quite well. At least with the Steam Index that I use. Most games seem to work out of the box. One thing that isn't currently implemented is BT communication with the lighthouses which is a bit annoying but there are other apps and tools to workaround that.

[-] chronicledmonocle@lemmy.world 6 points 8 months ago

If you have a Quest headset, ALVR allows you to stream SteamVR to it.

I believe the Valve Index allows for Linux usage, but I've never owned one.

[-] koncertejo@lemmy.ml 3 points 8 months ago

Seems like WiVRn is also a good solution these days, just tried it out for the first time a few hours ago and I'm very impressed.

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[-] PieMePlenty@lemmy.world 9 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

It wasn't "my" Half Life but it was a damn good one. It felt true to the series and that brought a tear to my eye. The writing, the environments, the soundtrack all felt very Half Life without compromise. I didn't like that it was a VR title but I understood why they went that route. In 2D, it would probably lack in depth (in more ways than one).

I borrowed a VR set from a friend to play it and bought the game at 60% off, which it frequently drops to. I'd urge anyone who has a VR capable PC to try and play it some way but VR is always going to restrict access to this. I'll probably play through it in 2d Mode (via mod) some day in the future to try and relive it. And if non-VR is the only way you get to experience it, at minimum, use headphones... and dont go online saying it sucks after because, remember, it was made for VR.

[-] daniskarma@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 8 months ago

I would lo to be able to justify buying a 1500€ vr set. But using it for one or two games does not make the threshold for me.

I hope they make more really good games so it become justifiable.

[-] CannedCairn@lemmy.world 9 points 8 months ago

I use the 300 dollar quest 2 and stream it?

[-] WolfLink@sh.itjust.works 8 points 8 months ago

Here’s a list of VR games I’d 1000% recommend:

  • Half Life: Alyx
  • I Expect you to Die (James Bond themed virtual escape rooms - 3 games in the series so far, all of them are good)
  • Super Hot (slo-motion first person combat puzzle game)
  • Beat Saber (a unique rhythm game)
  • Pavlov (CS:GO but in VR with extensive modding support)

There are other good ones out there but that’s the list that justifies the headset to me.

Also there are some good VR ports of non-VR games out there such as Myst and The Talos Principle. Also there are some good Minecraft mods that add VR support (Java edition of course). Stay away from the Skyrim port though.

[-] Lv_InSaNe_vL@lemmy.world 3 points 8 months ago
  • the walking dead games
  • Walkabout VR (putt-putt game)
  • Dungeons of Eternity (quest exclusive)
  • Any flight/racing sim (this is actually the biggest selling point I can make. Seriously if you like flight/racing sims, please get one. It'll change your life)
  • No Man's Sky (one of my demo games)
[-] Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 8 months ago

The Skyrim port is amazing! …with 100 mods.

[-] mr2meows@pawb.social 3 points 8 months ago

you can get a used rift cv1 or a vive for around 200 USD

[-] PhAzE@lemmy.ca 2 points 8 months ago

What? Quest 2 is like $250 and it connects to your PC and works just fine for Alyx.

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[-] Coskii 6 points 8 months ago

I should probably go finish it.

[-] CatLikeLemming 6 points 8 months ago

Somewhat hot take... I'd argue Boneworks (not Bonelab) was "better", at least if you're used to VR and if you judge by freedom and replay value. Don't get me wrong, playing through Half Life Alyx was fun and engaging, but to me it had little to no replay value, since for all it did great in visuals, audio, accessibility, and especially story, it failed dramatically in physics. Since I played Alyx right after Boneworks, I kept trying to pick stuff up which I ended up not being able to for larger objects, and the first time I tried to knock a Combine over the head with a pipe I was so sorely disappointed. Alyx has absolutely everything Boneworks is missing, yet that physics core is what kept me coming back to the latter. It really clicked for me when I noticed how many things in Boneworks one can solve in alternate ways by "abusing" physics. Climbing is a learned skill and combat can be as much shooting as it can be using knives, fists, shoving someone off a ledge, or grabbing an enemy and throwing it at others. It's what truly made me realize how much potential VR had, being able to interact with a full physics simulation, where even your own body is a physics object, with your physical hands is amazing.

[-] SplashJackson@lemmy.ca 5 points 8 months ago

Still haven't played it, haven't bought a VR gimmick headset yet. Is there a 2D mode? I'll play it tomorrow if so.

[-] zenpocalypse@lemm.ee 13 points 8 months ago

But what if you bought a real VR headset instead of a gimmick one?

[-] SplashJackson@lemmy.ca 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

I tried with that cardboard one but I'm waiting until more controllers become available

[-] AdrianTheFrog@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

IIRC no cardboard 'headset' ever had 6dof tracking. It's about as far as you can get from an immersive VR experience. I say this as someone who bought one before learning about VR and getting a real vr headset.

It's like VR with all of the downsides, even less apps, and the only advantage over a flatscreen being (limited) depth perception.

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[-] AdrianTheFrog@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

I think there's a mod for that iirc

[-] CatLikeLemming 1 points 8 months ago

There is, yes, but it's pointless. I think some people are missing the point of Alyx being a VR game, the game would suck pretty bad in pancake mode. It's the intricate interactions with the world you simply can't get with a mouse and keyboard that make it special compared to other Half Life games. They didn't just make a regular Half Life game and said "well we're just gonna force this to be in VR now", they made a VR game and set it in the Half Life universe.

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[-] DoucheBagMcSwag@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 8 months ago

If you actually want a viable discussion on this game, you're better off posting this into a virtual reality community as the comments there won't devolve into salty sour grapes that they couldn't / wouldn't play it since "vR iS uh GImAuCk"

[-] koncertejo@lemmy.ml 3 points 8 months ago

Yeah, that would be wise, but by the same token since Lemmy is a bit smaller the amount of people with things to say in those communities would be smaller overall too.

[-] Opisek@lemmy.world 3 points 8 months ago

Hands down the best game I ever played. The immersion is unreal and the ending left me with goosebumps and a dropped jaw.

[-] KingThrillgore@lemmy.ml 2 points 8 months ago

And, lets review where we are: Valve is supposedly making a new Half-Life that will reportedly be both flat and VR.

[-] Elkot@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

Never got to play this as it was never released for non vr players, can't help but think this terrible decision cost valve a lot of money from potential customers

[-] PhAzE@lemmy.ca 5 points 8 months ago

It's not going to be playable wothout vr, because the game is built fully around the vr experience.

[-] Lv_InSaNe_vL@lemmy.world 3 points 8 months ago

It was made as a tech demo to show off next gen VR hardware and tracking. Why would they port it?

[-] Alpha71@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

And their still asking 70+ bucks for it...

[-] koncertejo@lemmy.ml 5 points 8 months ago

It was literally just on sale for $19.99.

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[-] Blackmist@feddit.uk 2 points 8 months ago

While I really enjoyed Alyx, it's very much a game built around it's own limitations. It's more of a survival horror game in a way, because of the limits on ammo and deliberately mechanical reloading. There's no melee at all, so once you're out of bullets you're done for.

For all the roughness of Half Life 2 VR Mod, I find myself enjoying it more because it has fewer limitations imposed by the move to VR. It doesn't always work (and the vehicle sections in particular really push it), but as a mod of a 20 year old game, it's really good.

[-] AnitaAmandaHuginskis@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

Well, I got it with my Valve Index but have not played it yet. I feel bad. Just flying around in MSFS 2020 lol

[-] mavu@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 8 months ago

Oh, sod off with those posts allready.

I know perfectly well that I'm old, even without those "Hei, didyo know that yu are closer to WW3 than The first single of the Brian Eno"

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this post was submitted on 23 Mar 2025
332 points (100.0% liked)

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