this post was submitted on 23 Mar 2025
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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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[–] CatLikeLemming@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 points 6 days ago (1 children)

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.

[–] Psythik@lemm.ee 3 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

I feel like most people who sing praises for Alyx only do so because it was their first VR game. (a lot of people bought a headset just for it.) It's decent game, but without VR it's nothing special.

Sucks that VR is still a niche product, despite it being an obtainable consumer product for almost a decade now (edit: and affordable for over half a decade now). When the OG Rift and Vive first dropped, I imagined it being as popular as traditional gaming within 5 years. Yet here we are 9 years later and we still don't have epic, 50+ hour AAA experiences in VR because hardly anyone owns a headset. Every VR game feels like an indie title.

[–] PieMePlenty@lemmy.world 9 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days 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.

[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 3 points 5 days 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.

[–] MolecularCactus1324@lemmy.world 5 points 6 days ago (2 children)

I played it last year. It was certainly interesting, though it showed me the challenges of VR games. Before, I always hated the idea of using the teleport feature because it seems cheesy. However, after several tries without it, I can say it’s necessary. You end up feeling very nauseous otherwise. But, as a player you’re just way less capable than non-VR games. You can’t move around as easily and so you can’t take on as many enemies or maneuver as easily around the map. In most encounters with enemies, you can only fight a max of maybe 3, before you start to feel overwhelmed. Even 1 is usually enough to feel stressed and when those saw drones fly at you, you’ll panic and possibly yank a cable or get disoriented and bump into something in the real world. Crouching behind cover and shooting is pretty cool though — possibly the most immersive part.

[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 2 points 5 days ago

It took me a long time to get used to VR locomotion.

I still really can't handle smooth turning at all, but using VRChat a lot (where the teleport movement is terrible) made me get used to the left stick movement at least which is really all you need.

[–] Sabata11792@ani.social 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I had the opposite problem where teleporting makes me dizzy. I only used it as a last resort and can't survive games that don't give you the option to not use it.

[–] MolecularCactus1324@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (3 children)

You’re able to tolerate moving around without teleport? I have a pretty strong stomach and never get sick on boats or planes, but that just completely fucks me up. I can tolerate it for about 20 minutes, but after that I’m ready to hurl. With teleport I could play for an hour or more.

[–] Lv_InSaNe_vL@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago

I'm not the person who originally replied but locomotion is significantly more comfortable than teleports. The teleporting makes me dizzy and messes with my sense of balance and orientation.

I also don't get motion sick in any non-vr setting either.

[–] ultranaut@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago

The trick is to stop as soon as you start to feel nausea. If you keep doing that your body starts to adapt to VR and eventually you won't get nausea except in really extreme experiences.

[–] Sabata11792@ani.social 1 points 6 days ago

I think I'm just use to the movement style and teleporting is a bit jarring and makes me stumble. It takes a good dozen hours to stop getting motion sick in general. Now I can do it drunk.

[–] DoucheBagMcSwag@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 6 days ago (1 children)

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 4 points 6 days 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.

[–] daniskarma@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 6 days ago (6 children)

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 6 days ago

I use the 300 dollar quest 2 and stream it?

[–] WolfLink@sh.itjust.works 8 points 6 days ago (3 children)

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 6 days 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 6 days ago

The Skyrim port is amazing! …with 100 mods.

[–] PhAzE@lemmy.ca 4 points 6 days ago

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

[–] Psythik@lemm.ee 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Dude, VR has been affordable for over half a decade now. Get with the times.

[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 1 points 5 days ago

The headsets have (if you can stomach Meta). Thanks to the combines efforts of Nvidia, scalpers, crypto-bros and AI-nerds, the hardware cost has been sailing into the distance and shows no sign of stopping.

[–] mr2meows@pawb.social 3 points 6 days ago

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

[–] Smokeless7048@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago

Get a Quest 3 for like $400 CAD, incredible for its price.

[–] mavu@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 6 days 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"

[–] KingThrillgore@lemmy.ml 3 points 6 days ago

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

[–] Opisek@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago

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

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