Half-Life: Alyx

WOW!
Just wow, I absolutely enjoyed this experience, but some of the cheesy jumpscares (classical Half-Life) got me way too much in VR.
10/10

Please don't take another 13 years to create the next sequence!

Genuinely The best VR game there is.

Almost nothing else comes close to it, other games feel clunky, or miss some QoL features.
That fact, alongside the workshop existing - it's a moot review, everyone's been yelling about it by now.

But genuinely, if you are forced to have ONLY ONE VR GAME, this is it, you've found it.

I have nothing intelligent or worth of note to mention that wasn't talked about in the other 80k reviews.

I love the story and graphics of this game it brings a whole new level and opportunities for Valve take another stage for this series

The great thing about valve games is that they don't over stay their welcome. Fantastic fun as hell game with absolutely stunning graphics. A VR must play

Awesome continuation to one of my favorite game series although my computer had a rough time playing it due to low RAM so I had to turn my steam internet off. Sadly this means that the game thinks I only played until chapter 5 however I did beat the game and it was a blast. Extraordinarily Excellent plot mixed with extraordinarily fun game play. Definitely one of if not the best VR games ever, so stop reading this review and go play it!

Playing Half-Life Alyx feels like you are humanity’s last hope.
Me, 10 minutes in: Accidentally drops grenade, catches it in mid-air, panic-throws it at my feet, dies heroically.

The best VR game ever made and the industry has never come close since.

Alright, gather round, VR warriors, because Half-Life: Alyx is here, and it’s basically the closest we’ve gotten to living out our “I’m in a video game” fantasy without being sucked into a black hole or fighting for our lives in a dystopian future. It’s not just a game — it’s an experience. An existential crisis of a game.

Graphics:
This game makes your graphics card feel like it’s getting a personal spa treatment. The detail in the world is so good that I had to stop and look at the garbage for way too long. I'm not saying I stared at a dumpster for 20 minutes, but I might have. The lighting? Don’t even get me started. It’s so good I was worried the dark alleyways were going to start judging me.

VR Immersion:
Okay, real talk: this is the closest we’ll get to being Alyx Vance. You feel like you’re actually in the game. You’re picking up cans, tossing them at Combine soldiers, and genuinely wondering if this is what a real person would do in a post-apocalyptic world (Spoiler: probably not). You’re holding a gun in each hand, and for a moment, you’ll actually believe you can take on an army of aliens and robots. But then you get stuck in a doorway, and you realize maybe you should have stayed with your first career choice: accountant.

The Gravity Gloves:
Did you ever want to feel like a supervillain, but, like, a good one? The gravity gloves are the best thing to happen to physics since Newton got hit with an apple. You just point your hand at random objects (even things you didn’t know you needed) and zoop, they come flying into your hand. I’m not saying I spent 10 minutes just flinging cans around for fun… but I definitely did. You will feel like the ultimate trash collector.

Enemies and Combat:
Let’s talk about the Combine. They’re ugly. They’re creepy. They’re like the worst Tinder date you’ve ever had — they show up uninvited, are weirdly aggressive, and are impossible to get rid of. And don't even get me started on the headcrabs. Those little jerks will jump at you from the shadows like they’re auditioning for a horror movie, and I scream every time. Yes, I’m a grown adult, and I screamed. Deal with it.

Sound Design:
You know how you can feel a storm coming because the air gets all charged? That’s what Half-Life: Alyx does to your ears. The sound design is so good, I honestly started flinching every time I heard footsteps in the distance. It’s like the game is constantly reminding you, “Hey, you’re in danger. Enjoy your anxiety.” The clink of glass, the subtle breathing of your character, the distant echo of a gunshot — it’s all so immersive, you might forget you’re in your living room, screaming at your VR headset.

The Story:
The plot is basically: "Hey, there’s this evil alien empire trying to take over Earth, and you need to stop them using all the cool guns and things that make you feel like a badass." But it’s so well done, you’re actually invested. The twists, the turns, the moments where you think, “I just had an epiphany about the nature of human existence,” but then you get hit in the face by a headcrab and remember, nope, you’re just a guy (or Alyx) with a gun in an alien apocalypse.

Final Verdict:
Half-Life: Alyx is basically the reason we all bought a VR headset in the first place. It’s like someone took everything you loved about the Half-Life series and turned it into a mind-bending VR experience that will have you questioning your reality, screaming at random objects, and probably getting stuck in your living room furniture.

10/10 — Would get trapped in a cupboard again because I couldn’t figure out how to reload my gun while panicking.

A phenomenal game well deserving of all the praise; thoroughly impressed throughout all the chapters!

Absolutely worth buying as a VR experience, and if you're a Half-Life nerd like me.

One of the best vr games on the planet.

The graphics are amazing, the puzzles can get hard but they are pretty fun to do. The guns are awesome but I think it would be better if there were more.
Overall though it's a pretty amazing game. Its work the money in my opinion

5 years later and this game is still the best VR game available imo. great experience both as a VR game and as a hl2 prequel with so much attention to detail in the items, environments, enemies, lighting, and pretty much everything else. its a bit upsetting to think that even after all this time, VR games havent really gotten close to amount of polish this game has. i really hope valve makes another game like this when they drop their new headset.

This game is amazing. I really hope episode 3 comes out at some point. It's my first VR game and wow, what a way to start a new hobby.

Just making this just as i finished this maser piece.
This was the best game i have ever played, even though it was vr. Sadly i played this knowing how the game was going to end :(
This game is also the the only reason why i brought a meta quest 3.

This is exactly how VR games should be, great interactive environments and fantastic physics you can experiment with. Story is pretty good so far and some amusing characters you will come across. The tracking for the hands is great too, using the PSVR2 I never felt restricted on the gameplay or movement in any way. If you have VR for your PC then this is an essential purchase at full price and even more of a bargain and ultimate VR experience when on a sale. Jump in, you will not regret it. 9.8 out of 10

If you have an oportunity to lend a headset and good controllers (Index Knuckles are amazing) - do so just for this one game. Especially if you waited for Half-Life 3.

literally the only criticism I have of this game is that its the only good vr game.

Best, most satisfying, smoothest controlling VR game ive played so far. being able to just blindly reaload your gun says alot about the controls +Great story

Obviously different to earlier games, but not necessarily bad.
Kudos to noVR team for their work. This good review is mostly thanks to them.

TBH now, 5 years after release, it would have been a good time for Valve to roll out a "lesser" version of HLA for the rest HL fans to enjoy. But of course, Valve would always prefer getting work done for free by volunteers... Well... it's better than C&D'ing modders I guess.

With the no VR mod effectively the next installment of Half-Life.
It's a prequel but continues the story pretty well.
Not worth full price though.

This is the single best gaming experience on the face of the planet.

super coll graphics and gameplay

Started off just throwing random objects around like a toddler, ended up fighting for my life against headcrabs in an abandoned subway. The gravity gloves make me feel like a sci-fi wizard, and every locked door makes me question my intelligence.

game gud
me shoot zombie, zombie ded
headcrab survive, me no ammo left
me ded
10/10 game

Despite the technical issues I received involving my computer freezing between load points, the game was actually enjoyable enough for me to actively push through and sidestep said issues. Half-Life: Alyx is the kind of game that makes you wish you could play it for the first time everytime. And to top it off, the system requirements GPU-wise aren't even that strict and yet I was gawking at all the tiny details the game had to offer. Highly recommend if you have VR.

There's really nothing left to be said about this game that someone hasn't yet.
It's a masterpiece of VR, that even 5 years after its release, there's nothing that comes close to the feeling of starting it up for the first time.
Half-Life fan or not, this is the standard to play against. And I really recommend all to try it.

I'm late to the party but 'WHAT A GAME'. Plus, modders are amazing. Keep up the good work.

This game presents itself as one of the most memorable and fleshed out VR Experiences within 10 minutes of playtime.

what sucks the most about this game, is that after you play it, you'll realize nothing else on VR comes close even 5 years later and you'll fall into depression.
10/10

There's a non-VR mod and a coop mod that works. I'm sadly unable to finish the game since my coop partner suddenly abandoned Half Life last summer I guess, but we got half-way through the game and it was fun for me at least.

I have like bare minimum specs and a cheap off-brand link cable for my quest, but this game is still the best. Even though I don't get the best framerate and will occasionally freeze or have a frame drop in a nauseating manner, it's still enjoyable. One of my favorite games to play with my dad.

I might one day get better hardware, but until then, I'm just happy it even runs.

The only problem with this game is that after playing it every other VR game becomes crap…

wow. one of the best games iv ever played, let alone in vr. cannot wait for hl3 (hopefully it will be compatible with VR aswell)

Good Half-life game, and probably the best VR game of all time. I dont think a better VR game is possible to create tbh

This game is very fun. Writing is witty, the game play is satisfying and it looks beautiful. Thanks to the NoVR mod you can play without a VR headset. It's very easy to setup on Windows and Linux. I definitely recommend this game.

This game is highly engaging and you feel like you are in Alyx's world. It is difficult but not too difficult even for a 67 year old gamer like me :)

honestly, the best vr game i have played, and im not even done i with this story lol, great game to buy rn especially because its on sale

Finally got a headset to play this and despite having basically the whole game spoiled for me through playthroughs on YouTube, it still blew me away. Ran very well and looked good on relatively bad specs for VR so I am very impressed with what Valve managed to pull off.

The Half-Life series was always one of my favorite
and this game was the greatest VR game to ever played in my life
definitely worth buying it.

im going to be very excited for Half-Life 3.

A MUST GET for VR! and has set the bar so high I can't see any single player VR game topping this for decades, the immersion, technical feats/physics is absolutely CRAZY!

Of all things to expect from the Half-Life series, a VR game was the most unexpected. Even more is that this isn't just some shooting gallery or mini-game shovelware, but a full-on virtual reality game from Valve themselves! This game has the still Half-Life energy as its previous non-VR games without it being too overwhelming.

That being said, it's not a complete bed of roses. The lack of melee combat left me disappointed, but at least bullets were plentiful enough so I wouldn't run out in combat. There was also limited storage space for items that weren't bullets or resin.

In any case, Valve's still got it when it comes to making Half-Life content, and one that is VR is no exception.

This is without a doubt, the greatest VR game of all time, the only prerequisites for the ending are the other Half-Life games.

Great game. Great visuals, great story, and a great addition to the Half Life series. Feels like a game with some missed oportunities and it does have some small typical VR issues like hitbox or killzone shenanigans, but it's all manageable. Yeah, sweet sweet game. People say it's the best VR game there is, and I have no trouble believing it.

Its a really amazing game. I couldn't shake motion sickness (for all games) so I couldn't complete the game but if you can handle VR this game is the one.

No joke this is the best game ever including flat screen titles there have been many leaks stating that they will make a half life 3 and when they do seeing the graphics on this game I know that it will be a masterpiece if u havent played this game yet then you have too. this is one of the only games that i would buy a vr headset just to play

Its just awesome. The mods allow additional game extensions so you have additional content, the vr is beautiful, action is good, scripts are cool. all in all great.

Great game but the only thing is that it wouldn't let me give the bottle of vodka that I carried all the way through the game to Russel.

Completed the game, and its a must try. It is probably the most immersed ive ever felt in a game before, simply incredible. Im not a person that even likes horror movies and being scared, but i still loved the adrenaline i felt during this game. If your on the fence, get it.

What an amazing game.
I love how immersive it is, sometimes a bit clunky with the controllers but you kinda get used to it 😋

Great gameplay and the graphics are something else.

It has been 5 years and its till the best VR game, and you can always find it on sale.
A great must have if u own a VR, would recommend it every day of the week.
10/10 valve never dissappoints