Half Life ALYX.. Wow, where do I begin with this game.
Those who haven’t played this game, take caution with spoilers, and please use Spoiler warnings when discussing. I will try to avoid any major plot lines in general text. You have been warned.
It has been 13 years since our last Half Life experience. (Not including Mods)
As the title suggests, this is not a sequel, this is a prequel before the events of Half Life 2, in fact 5 years before the collapse of the Citadel.
You play as Alyx, a 19 year old female who works for the resistance against the Combine forces, who are an alien race which took over the Earth in 7 hours known as the 7 hour war.
Humans live a prison life on Earth where they are heavily controlled by the Combine. This is where the resistance comes in. They have been hearing rumors of a Super-weapon that the Combine has locked away in what is called the Vault. Alyx has been sent on her way to find this Super-weapon and this is how the Story of Half Life Alyx begins.
VISUALS: This game looks incredible, seeing it though a quality Head set really shows this games art direction and style. Looking at the corpses or Combine solders is extremely realistic. This is the best game I’ve ever been immerse in, Valve has succeeded in placing you into the Half Life world and its results are memorable.
GAMEPLAY: Alyx is an Action/Horror/Survival game, and its immersion into the world is the best I have seen with any game. The way the sound and environments work with the player with enemies which can be quite scary especially when they sneak up or get close. The highlight of the game is its Weapon combat. The gun play has been implemented so well that it actually pressures you to actually being good. Reloading when clips are not empty will result in wasting bullets, also running low or out of ammo changes up the combat incredibly and your decision making.
The game will test your patience and calmness when under pressure by enemies while your guns are empty. How quick can you reload and not panic when having head craps and Zombies corning you or heavy Combine Solders fast approaching and flanking you with grenades and gun fire. The Enemy A.I isn’t that innovative however it does everything it needs to do for this game. My only grudge is the lack of Melee combat, which again doesn’t affect this style of game but would have been a nice feature. Also the gun upgrades are some of the best innovative designs and ideas which makes it really worth it when choosing to upgrade your gear and makes you want to find more Resin (Material used to upgrade weapons).
HARDWARE: Alyx is played only by VR, disappointed for many as it’s not a common enough device for everyone to own. I have purchased my first VR unit this year (2020) and I brought the latest Oculas Quest 2. Quest 2 is a full wireless headset with great inbuilt hardware where you don’t need to hook the device up to your PC or any other devices, it is its only platform. Once you unlock the Quest 2’s streaming ability (It’s still in Beta) you can stream your entire PC library to the head set and it works incredibly well. This is how I played Half Life Alyx.
SOUND: The sound in Alyx is extremely immersive, script writing is great and has its laughs, the voice acting is some of the best iv listen to and the music is what you would expect from a Half Life title which is nothing short of amazing.
LASTABILITY: It took me around 28 Hours to finish Alyx, however that was a play through where I was checking every corner and finding majority of the items. I played it on Normal mode which I would recommend Normal or Hard for the best experience. Easy and Story modes are what they are, easy. If you want to rush through the game, basically everything dies in 1 or 2 hits with most enemies. The game can take about 15 hours on average, depending on how you play.
RESULTS: One of the best games I have played. Half Life Alyx is not only is a masterpiece in my eyes, it lives up to the Half Life name and brings the universe back to life again. Its horror themes to combat to survivability game-play is top notch and you won’t find a better experience on VR or in general in my opinion. Also that ending could bring a tear to your eye for those nostalgic players.
What Valve reminds me of with Half Life, is what great creativeness games can bring to the table, it’s not always about how good a game looks or how close to real life games try to be, but to seeing an alien Strider walking the streets or head craps roaming free attacking anyone nearby and corrupting their corpses. Its things like these that reminds me what gaming is about and I only want to see more.
I walked into Half Life Alyx as a big Half Life fan, and I walked out an even bigger Half Life fan. I really want more, either in VR or not. If it takes another 13 years to progress the story I won’t care. Half Life games are a labor of love and those who like Half Life and Half Life 2 will love Half Life Alyx.
Half Life Alyx wont win awards for its achievements it brought into the gaming industry, nor does it have to. It was designed to be what it is and being a VR only title would clearly restrict its awards and nominations due to the lack of people having access to it. What it does bring to the table is the ultimate immersion of video game to player and has set the standard of what a AAA VR title can be.
RECEPTION: Half Life Alyx has scored extremely well with both Critics and Users across the board. Scoring a 93 Critic and 91 User scores. Becoming a fan favorite and its own out right game and possibly series.
(Highly Recommended)
Oh and this game cost me $84.95AUS = $62.63US. No $70US BS. Its also comes free if you own a Valve Index.
Last edited by Azzanation - on 14 December 2021
