Half Life: Alyx is Five Years Old Today
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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.
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.
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Do you know about gaming consoles? 3D accelerator cards? Graphics cards? Or... CD ROM drives?
People have been buying hardware to play a certain game for literal decades. The games are called "system sellers". Games so good they sell hardware. It's usually even the opposite: if your hardware doesn't have such a game, it doesn't sell (atari Jaguar anyone?).
So people should buy hardware to play a single game and then leave the hardware to accumulate dust after a few hours of gameplay? Quite the waste!
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Do you know about gaming consoles? 3D accelerator cards? Graphics cards? Or... CD ROM drives?
People have been buying hardware to play a certain game for literal decades. The games are called "system sellers". Games so good they sell hardware. It's usually even the opposite: if your hardware doesn't have such a game, it doesn't sell (atari Jaguar anyone?).
$1000 and your gaming PC for Alyx is way beyond buying a PS4 for Bloodborne, and even doing that is a bridge too far for me.
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Valve's 'official' VR hardware costs $1500. Ain't no way
But it's not required, there are much cheaper options, especially today with used quest 2 devices.
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So people should buy hardware to play a single game and then leave the hardware to accumulate dust after a few hours of gameplay? Quite the waste!
I agree, that would silly. Luckily, Half-Life Alyx is not the only VR game.
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I agree, that would silly. Luckily, Half-Life Alyx is not the only VR game.
Sure, but if people love Half-Life and don't care about other VR games it sucks they it's locked behind hardware requirements that even Valve doesn't give a crap about considering it's the only VR game they made.
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Huh? It's $1K, not $1.5K. still expensive though for outdated as shit hardware.
With the little box doohickeys it's currently $1300 CAD. Add on tax and shipping.
I believe it used to be more. -
The idea was people would buy the game and play it.
Plenty of people aren't interested in vr for different reasons.
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Sure, but if people love Half-Life and don't care about other VR games it sucks they it's locked behind hardware requirements that even Valve doesn't give a crap about considering it's the only VR game they made.
God damn people want to just argue about everything
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Plenty of people aren't interested in vr for different reasons.
Don't tell me that. Tell Valve.
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Sure, but if people love Half-Life and don't care about other VR games it sucks they it's locked behind hardware requirements that even Valve doesn't give a crap about considering it's the only VR game they made.
It's ok, get it out.
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Sure, but if people love Half-Life and don't care about other VR games it sucks they it's locked behind hardware requirements that even Valve doesn't give a crap about considering it's the only VR game they made.
It isn't up to Valve alone to push forward the industry and release top-tier VR games every other year. They took a risk and created one of the best games I've played, and I'm not alone in that opinion. Valve are trying expand the gaming experience, they are trying to be innovative, and people blame them for "not giving a crap". Say what you want, but I thank Valve for what they are doing.
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With the little box doohickeys it's currently $1300 CAD. Add on tax and shipping.
I believe it used to be more.What boxes? The 1k pack comes with two base stations. You mean if you want to add 2 more? Then yea, fair.
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God damn people want to just argue about everything
Block me if you're not happy
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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.
Spoilers, but the ending of the game greatly affects the Half Life story. It's not just a spin off.
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What's the status of VR games on Linux? With headsets that don't require weird accounts (Meta)
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.
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Do you know about gaming consoles? 3D accelerator cards? Graphics cards? Or... CD ROM drives?
People have been buying hardware to play a certain game for literal decades. The games are called "system sellers". Games so good they sell hardware. It's usually even the opposite: if your hardware doesn't have such a game, it doesn't sell (atari Jaguar anyone?).
I thought you still needed to plug the VR headset into a computer ? is the computer built into the headset ?
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I also run on Linux exclusively and I could play Half-Life Alex almost flawlessy on the Steam Index. And other VR games as well, including Beatsaber, Gorn, Walkabout Golf and many others. I'm really grateful to Valve and their Proton.
Thanks, that's nice to know in case I decide to get a VR headset in the future.
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What boxes? The 1k pack comes with two base stations. You mean if you want to add 2 more? Then yea, fair.
The whole kit is $1300 before tax
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Its $500 today but at the time it was $1500 and required cable and beacons.
True in regards to the index kit but WMR has been around for a long time as well and that was a fraction of the price without base stations.
Also nobody has missed out on playing it yet! There's still time before half life 3!
