Valve just dropped a trailer for Half-Life: Alyx, a brand new entry into the iconic franchise, but don’t expect a return to save Gordon. This one’s a VR adventure and it’s certainly not Half-Life 2 VR.
Set between the events of the original Half-Life and the follow-up, this adventure prods player to pull on a VR headset and dive into a world at odds with the Combine’s alien invasion of Earth. Spoiler warning, if you haven’t played through the first two games then what exactly are you doing right now? You’ll play this title as Alyx, daughter to Eli and one of the series’ main proponents of the human resistance. While Gordon is off doing other things, you’ll get busy, beginning the Human resistance. After years conducting your research, you begin a journey that will hopefully free us from the Combine. Also, you get to use the game’s Gravity Gloves. The trailer even highlights these as you pick up a pistol from a distance and manipulate objects to solve puzzles.
Stuck In The Middle
The game isn’t all unlocking doors and angry aliens however, there’s plenty of combat to come, say Valve.
“Lean to aim around a broken wall and under a Barnacle to make an impossible shot. Rummage through shelves to find a healing syringe and some shotgun shells. Manipulate tools to hack alien interfaces. Toss a bottle through a window to distract an enemy. Rip a Headcrab off your face and throw it at a Combine soldier.”
Of course, fans of the franchise are going to want to know what happened after the cliffhanger almost 13 years ago. With no Half-life 3 on the horizon, this might sound like a fancy cash grab. Valve disagrees, however, stating that Half-Life: Alyx is a fully-fledged story and clocks in at about the same size as Half-Life 2. They’ve also advised that you play the second game in the franchise before you get into Half-Life Alyx.
There’s clearly more to this title than Valve is letting on and if you want to find out why then you will need a VR headset. When Alyx arrives in March 2020 you will be able to use any SteamVR compatible platform. So, Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest, the HTC Vive, and Microsoft’s Mixed Reality system will all work. Half-Life: Alyx is not coming to 2D screens anywhere and now I’m tempted to go buy a VR headset just for this. To find out more on Half-Life: Alyx head over to the official Alyx website now, pre-order on Steam, or keep it here for a deeper dive when we fight our way through the deluge of detail that’s still streaming out of Valve.
