Half-Life: Alyx: First Impressions (VR)

I’m just over four hours into Half-Life: Alyx so I figured I’d post some initial impressions of the game. I guess it won’t come as a great surprise to know that Half-Life: Alyx, at least so far, has been excellent. It’s shaping up to not only be the best game I’ve played on the VR platform, but a serious contender for my GOTY.

Everything about Alyx is so polished, carefully considered and meticulously designed – visuals, sound, environmental design, pacing and gameplay mechanics. It’s a game that plays perfectly to the strength of the immersive and interactive nature of the VR platform. And it’s a game that’s very aware of its own role and responsibility in opening up the world of VR to new players.

Make no mistake, Half-Life: Alyx is a VR system seller. For many players, it will be their first VR game and the range of player accessibility options reflects this. The game caters not only to a range of player movement and comfort options, but also to the full range of VR hardware.

 

I was a little concerned about playing Alyx using my somewhat basic (compared to the Index) VIVE wands, but I shouldn’t have worried – the game plays perfectly with them. It’s clear that Valve wanted every player, regardless of their VR hardware, or preference of movement / control options to have a great experience.

Half-Life: Alyx begins quite slowly, which feels like a concession to players new or unfamiliar with VR to help them acclimatise to the platform. But it’s also a gentle and important reintroduction of the Half-Life world to new and old players alike. It should be noted, however, that Alyx does assume the player has a decent knowledge of the previous Half-Life games, so I’d certainly recommend at least playing Half-Life 2 and its episodes before playing Alyx.

Progression may seem slow during the first two chapters, but the game continually builds upon the experience, adding new layers to the combat, puzzles, enemies and environmental complexity as you go. Just when you think you’ve seen all the tricks Alyx has up its sleeve, it introduces something you’ve not encountered before, or a new twist on a familiar mechanic.

Visually, Half-Life: Alyx is stunning. It’s one of the best looking games I’ve played – VR or no VR. And I’m not just talking about texture quality, but art direction and world design. Alyx is, more or less, a game of linear corridors, but you never feel those restrictions as you progress. Each area is logically chained to the next – you can always see where you’re going, even if you can’t quite reach it yet.

 

Sound design and music is also excellent, the combat tracks in particular ramping up at just the right moments. And I’m pleased how Alyx doesn’t shy away from the horror aspect of Half-Life – if anything, it embraces the horror elements of its setting even more so than any of the previous Half-Life games.

When I first ran Alyx, it defaulted me to ‘Low’ settings, but I cranked it up to Ultra anyway and I’ve not noticed any issues with performance. But honestly, even on Low, Alyx looks great. It’s clear, once again, that Valve wanted Alyx to be as accessible and enjoyable to everyone regardless of hardware.

Overall, Half-Life: Alyx is, at lest so far, really pretty great and it only seems to keep getting better. It’s also a game I’m reluctant to play too much of because I don’t want to finish it too soon. I have the feeling we’re not going to see another game like Alyx on the VR platform for a long time – if at all.