Now Playing: Half-Life: Alyx (VR)

I’ve seen some VR reviews where they talk about a game being ‘good for VR’ almost like a backhanded compliment – as if VR games shouldn’t be judged to the same standard. I totally disagree with this approach and I’ve always rated VR games on the same scale as I rate everything else.

Certainly, VR games should always strive to play to the strengths of the platform and that’s something that should factor into any review, but as a whole, they should always be judged like any other game. So when I say that Half-Life: Alyx isn’t just the best game on the VR platform I’ve played, but one of the best games I’ve played ever, you know I’m not just playing the ‘good for VR’ card.

Half-Life: Alyx is a prequel to Half-Life 2 in which you play as a young Alyx Vance in City 17. You’re a part of the human resistance fighting against the Combine forces that have invaded and enslaved our world. Your initial assignment of reconnaissance rapidly becomes one of rescue as your father is taken prisoner and you set out on a journey across City 17 to save him.

 

I don’t want to spoil any of the plot here, but it’s something I can say I enjoyed, despite seeing the ‘twist’ coming from a mile away. If I had any criticisms of the story or how it progresses, it would be that the NPC interaction is minimal – this is very much a solo adventure for Alyx – and I would have liked a few more occasions when I could speak or interact with people face to face. A few actions scenes with some friendly resistance NPCS would also have been most welcome.

In total, it took me about 11 hours to complete Alyx on Hard – and I’m glad I played on the hardest setting, because it offered a very enjoyable (and fair) challenge. It’s the setting I’d recommend to anyone more familiar with VR, although new players may want to begin on Normal.

I always felt like I had just enough ammo to get through each encounter. I didn’t have to make every shot count, but enough. The game is very clever with its placement of ammo and supplies – you always have enough to see you through, but not enough to waste. It’s a delicate balance between forcing the player to be cautious, but not cautious enough that they can’t enjoy themselves and need to worry about saving/reloading if they miss several shots.

In fact, that delicate balance and clever design applies to Half-Life: Alyx as a whole. Every aspect of it from combat, puzzles, enemy encounters and environmental design feels polished and balanced to near perfection. Every chapter, every new mechanic, all of it has been placed with the utmost care and consideration to deliver a masterclass of game design. It’s the kind of game that other developers – VR developers in particular – need to learn from.

 

The game is always adding new layers of complexity, chapter by chapter. Puzzles begin simply enough, but as you progress, they gain additional, more challenging stages. Combat, initially, is kept simple, with a single enemy or two to deal with, but by the end of the game you’ll be tangling with multiple enemies in open arenas.

And whilst the game (as a prequel) does use many familiar foes from Half-Life 2, it introduces some new and memorable enemies of its own, one of whom serves as the foundation for the entire chapter in which it appears. I won’t spoilt it, but it’s a wonderful change of pace a little over half way into the game.

And that’s why Half-Life: Alyx is so damn good. The variety if offers, both in terms of environments, combat encounters and level design. The perfect pacing in which you never feel like you’re stuck in an area for longer than you want to be. Like I said, it’s all delicately balanced. Every time you feel like you’ve seen every trick up its sleeve, it pulls out something new.

 

There’s a pleasant (or should I say unpleasant) surprise in Half-Life: Alyx waiting for you on each new level. It’s constantly engaging. You just want to keep playing, keeping moving forward to see what it’s going to do next. It’s the kind of game you don’t want to end because when it does, you know it’s going to be hard to top an experience of this kind.

If you already own a VR system then it’s a must buy – it’s a new standard by which all VR games will be compared. But if you don’t own a VR device yet, would I say to pick one up just for Alyx? That’s a tricky one to answer, but I think I’d have to say no, not unless you’ve got money to burn.

However, if there are other VR games you want to play in addition to Alyx, then now is a great time to jump on the VR train – just be aware that Alyx is the new bar by which VR games will be judged, and it may be a long time before we see another game compare.

Overall, Half-Life: Alyx is an excellent game, an excellent prequel to Half-Life 2, and an excellent set up to Half-Life 3 which, given the post credit scene, now feels like the inevitable next step, VR or not.

9/10