That moment in the elevator, I remember holding my mouth as I hid behind the crate, peeking around the corner at him brutalizing a headcrab
That sequence in particular stuck with me lol
That sequence in particular stuck with me lol
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Jeff. *Half Life Alyx Spoilers*
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As someone named Jeff, before I got to that point I was definitely like "What the hell is up with all this Jeff talk?!" I kept seeing "Fuck Jeff" and my assumption was there was some slimeball NPC named Jeff who would betray you or some shit like that, I never expected to share a name with one of the best executed and unexpected horror enemies in gaming.
That moment where you realize you have to let Jeff back out, fucking genius. I wish it actually scared me though, it was more tense than anything and I was actually laughing to myself at how fucked up it was, but I could totally see it being game breakingly scary for some people.
Either way, I came away from that chapter incredibly excited for the future of horror games.
That moment where you realize you have to let Jeff back out, fucking genius. I wish it actually scared me though, it was more tense than anything and I was actually laughing to myself at how fucked up it was, but I could totally see it being game breakingly scary for some people.
Either way, I came away from that chapter incredibly excited for the future of horror games.
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That's exactly what I thought. I had also seen talk of wine bottles, so I thought maybe he was an alcoholic or something.
Jeff was fantastic. Like others said, it's not that he's particularly difficult, but he puts a completely different spin on the game and showcases the versatility of the mechanics. The "you have to let him out" and "you have to hide in the elevator with him" bits were fantastic, and in general the whole area was so well designed. This section could easily have been super frustrating, it's the reason why I've stopped playing Outlast-style games despite loving horror. But Jeff was masterfully executed. Everything about this game is, really (except the orb puzzles, screw those)
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the orb puzzles, as in the ones where you avoided the red dots, or the orb puzzles where you had to line up the orbs to touch all points in 3d space?
I actually liked the former, they reminded me sort of like Xortexx from The Lab, which was my favorite part of The Lab.
The avoidance ones, because they're so sensitive to movements of your hands, and they're not particularly interesting. At least the light-line ones involved some mental gymnastics. On that note, The Room VR is incredible, it has fantastic puzzles that take great advantage of VR, and playing those puzzles right after that just leave a bad taste in my mouth. Just wanted to bring up how fantastic The Room is.
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It might be a weird comparison to make, but the elevator portion of Jeff reminds me of the Marshmellow Man "boss" from Ghostbusters that I used to play on the Sega Master System:
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Just a heads up, you are invincible in that game when you aren't touching either glowing blue point. So what I'd do is, if a bunch of red points came close to me, I'd just leave that blue point alone and go to work on the other one. The red dots seem to swarm where you're working, so just ping ponging back and forth let me solve all of those very quickly. A little patience at the right time winds up saving a lot of time spent redoing your lost progress.
I know, that's how I've been beating them, but I just don't find that to be particularly engaging.
The part of the level that I loved that doesn't get enough attention is the chain link hallway where the headcrab shows up above. Before the that hallway, you had to make a lot of noise with a wine crate, and Jeff is on your tail. The door to avoid him is blocked on the side with a box you can move, so you make a little more noise opening the door. You go down the hallway thinking he is behind you, only to turn the corner to a room with 2 chain link fences. As you rush down the path, a headcrab starts to move above in front of you. "Oh fuck oh fuck, please don't make noise," and then it makes ALL THE NOISE. You quickly look around in a panic to hide, and then find a side path to slink into.
It's a so well crafted bit of stage work, where one emotional reaction to an interaction feeds and informs the next. Brilliant
It's a so well crafted bit of stage work, where one emotional reaction to an interaction feeds and informs the next. Brilliant
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apparently there is an achievement for stopping it from making noise, but I'm not sure how you'd do that.
Through the whole Jeff section I was just in awe at the moment to moment design...the freezer lock in and release, the speaker turning on in the freezer, the player movement in the elevator. It just feels like such a standout moment of iterative game design.
There is just something incredibly funny about stopping the bottles smashing as well and the amount of 'fuck you' resin placed in hard to get to places in this chapter.
Also the line at the end if/when you crush him in the compactor is just brilliant.
There is just something incredibly funny about stopping the bottles smashing as well and the amount of 'fuck you' resin placed in hard to get to places in this chapter.
Also the line at the end if/when you crush him in the compactor is just brilliant.
Also the bit where you have to slide objects down then open the blinds with the stuck lever was a brilliant use of all the physics systems of the game.
I've never had an experience like Jeff in any other medium, let alone a video game.
The stress, anxiety and fear is one thing, but the design of the level is meticulous. They thought of so many clever ways to fuck with you, and play on the ways different players may approach the situations.
loved it
The stress, anxiety and fear is one thing, but the design of the level is meticulous. They thought of so many clever ways to fuck with you, and play on the ways different players may approach the situations.
loved it
There's another layer to this. You enter this new chapter called "Jeff", and immediately notice the weird name. Then, right at the start of the chapter, you're introduced to this new likable character. So that explains it. This is Jeff, and he's going to be important for a while. A traveling companion in VR.
Then you hear some sort of terrible roar in the distance, and the new guy says "That's Jeff".
Valve got me good.
^this!
I really loved this moment because in situations like these where you don't have much time to react, you really feel like the character in the game. I actually reacted super quickly to that headcrab and caught the first bottle it knocked down while it was falling - and was very happy with my mastery of the gravity gloves, but only a second later the headcrab makes so much more noise XD
I think, that is part of the design and why he is named "Jeff". Even Larry mentions, that Jeff is manageable, if you understand, how he reacts. So he is scary at first, but then it becomes funny, how easy you can control him with bottles. You wonder, why you ever was afraid of him at all. Giving it a stupid name like "Jeff", fits the picture Larry and we have at the end about it.
Shoot the fucker as quickly as you can! My first playthrough I saw it walking about, and I guessed what would happen, and I panicked trying to shoot it but it still got through and everything fell over and I proceeded to shit myself. Straight out of a horror film, it was great.
I wonder if you can run up to it, jump and grab it by its legs?
I had the broad strokes of this spoiled for me prior to getting to it and I was somewhat dreading having to play this part because I'm generally not a huge fan of horror. This turned out to be the most memorable part of the game for me for all of the reasons people are stating. So many genius little design choices wrapped around an incredibly stressful situation. The power going out, having to go back in the freezer, triggering an alarm in there, getting stuck in a damn elevator with the monster and having to get up in its face to hit the button...Hell of a sequence.
I thought it was going to be an alcoholic asshole with all the vodka laying about :)
Yeah this.
I did die when I set off the alarm though. I had a bottle in hand but botched the throw due to emotions running high. I died again when being chased through the door after crossing the wooden board but this was my own fault for thinking the box I braced the door with would actually hold. You can imagine my horror when it did not.
I think the difficulty is perfect for the reasons you mentioned. Future play throughs might seem trivial but I will always remember that first time. It could very easily been a negative experience if I had to deal with save scumming, load times, and general frustration. Wouldn't change a thing.
Jeff is an absolutely amazing chapters for exactly the reasons you listed.
It's actually, objectively not very tense. As you said, Jeff doesn't pose a lot of danger (even the NPC tells you this). It's really the VR and whole experience that make it work. I love the part where you have to turn that rusty Valve and keep it held while Jeff is right in front of you while also covering your mouth. It *feels* super tense even tho it's not a hard thing to do.
And, as stated many times, that you actively have to release him again is really, really fantastic. Cause when you call the elevator you hear him punch the door and obviously think "Okay, this is the part where he busts through the door." I'm halfway convinced that little hidey-hole where you start the hacking is only there to reinforce that feeling cause it's *obviously" where you avoid him after he bursts through the door when actually it doesn't serve any purpose at all.
It's a fantastic chapter that showcases the strength and purpose of VR every step of the way.
It's also one of the reasons why Alyx simply wouldn't work without VR. You might be able to play it at some point but the experience will not even be remotely comparable.
It's actually, objectively not very tense. As you said, Jeff doesn't pose a lot of danger (even the NPC tells you this). It's really the VR and whole experience that make it work. I love the part where you have to turn that rusty Valve and keep it held while Jeff is right in front of you while also covering your mouth. It *feels* super tense even tho it's not a hard thing to do.
And, as stated many times, that you actively have to release him again is really, really fantastic. Cause when you call the elevator you hear him punch the door and obviously think "Okay, this is the part where he busts through the door." I'm halfway convinced that little hidey-hole where you start the hacking is only there to reinforce that feeling cause it's *obviously" where you avoid him after he bursts through the door when actually it doesn't serve any purpose at all.
It's a fantastic chapter that showcases the strength and purpose of VR every step of the way.
It's also one of the reasons why Alyx simply wouldn't work without VR. You might be able to play it at some point but the experience will not even be remotely comparable.
Following how everyone was saying Alyx was revolutionary made finally playing the game feel like a let-down at first, because all of the great things it did I've seen in other VR games before. It's revolutionary in the sense that nothing in the VR space has had capital and polish like this before, which is important for other reasons.
That being said, when I reached Jeff, it was the only time I was like "Oh ok, this is a really out of the ordinary experience I am having." It further drove home the idea that Innovation is so fucking hard to pull off. You have to look at something that everyone else is looking at in a completely off-the-wall way and somehow make it practical while taking into account traditional level design fundamentals, the likes of which are still somewhat in flux with VR right now anyway.
That being said, when I reached Jeff, it was the only time I was like "Oh ok, this is a really out of the ordinary experience I am having." It further drove home the idea that Innovation is so fucking hard to pull off. You have to look at something that everyone else is looking at in a completely off-the-wall way and somehow make it practical while taking into account traditional level design fundamentals, the likes of which are still somewhat in flux with VR right now anyway.
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You can also put on a gas mask to immunise yourself against the spores.
You can also put on a gas mask to immunise yourself against the spores.
Did these get updated at some point to remove the straps in your vision? I played at release and there were straps that really impacted your field of view, but I thought that was the point. On my second playthrough those straps have disappeared when on my face (but are still on the model)
You can also put on a gas mask to immunise yourself against the spores.
I don't think gas mask was available at start of chapter, only later on? (Maybe I missed). Unless you had preknowledge to bring one with you.
I know I put on a gas mask much earlier in the game but those seem to go away at some point. Dunno if it's related to taking damage or just load screens or something...
Overall I was surprised how short the section was, I was expecting them to drag it out much longer.
Overall I was surprised how short the section was, I was expecting them to drag it out much longer.
Jeff is a good example of how a game providing the illusion of difficulty can be far more enjoyable than one that is actually difficult.
It's the same way a good puzzle game (i.e. Portal) can make you feel really smart despite giving you extremely subtle and non obvious hints throughout, and keeping the actual problem space relatively simple and easy to solve.
It's the same way a good puzzle game (i.e. Portal) can make you feel really smart despite giving you extremely subtle and non obvious hints throughout, and keeping the actual problem space relatively simple and easy to solve.
On my first run I remember before I saw that headcrab I tried to play it slow, and then saw it was about to knock shit off, I just started running and tried to shoot it, but I wasn't fast enough. I'll probably try to do it on my gnome run.
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That's the best compliment I can give about Half Life Alyx. It consistently made me feel smart for doing things that they completely intended for me to do. Several times I thought I was "breaking" the game, doing things I wasn't supposed to do, only to moments later realize that was exactly what they wanted me to do in the first place. Valve is very good at nudging you in a direction to do something without you realizing they're leading you in that direction. The Jeff section is full of that.
I love how the chapter is introduced, you're standing in the factory and the word "Jeff" appears on the screen. It's almost comical, you're wondering who this Jeff is and what he means to the chapter. I thought it was gonna be kind of a breather chapter centered around a quirky resistance fighter character who calls the vodka factory his home. I guess I was like 30% right in that it is centered around a single "character."
The level design is brilliant, it's just the right amount of stressful, always giving you a way out so you don't fall into annoying trial and error like a lot of games with unkillable monsters. It's also pretty bright most of the time, which I wasn't expecting.
The level design is brilliant, it's just the right amount of stressful, always giving you a way out so you don't fall into annoying trial and error like a lot of games with unkillable monsters. It's also pretty bright most of the time, which I wasn't expecting.
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It being bright just made the moment when the lights go out so, soooo much scarier, haha. The moment you get the flashlight sears all these horrible memories into your brain, so the couple of times later on when the lights go out, you just expect awful, awful stuff to happen.
When the lights went out during Jeff, right as you realized you had to let him back out, holy shit what a one-two gut punch lol.
I definitely uttered "oh, fuck you valve" with a big smile on my face when I realized I had to reopen the freezer. They did a really effective job of making you do things you really didn't want to do in that chapter, like pushing the elevator button.
Yeah this chapter was incredible. I'm not sure what else there is to say.
The sequence where you need to quickly turn the wheel and use the cabinet drawer to prop up the grate - god damn that was good.
And this chapter just further demonstrated how perfect the gravity gloves interactions are
The sequence where you need to quickly turn the wheel and use the cabinet drawer to prop up the grate - god damn that was good.
And this chapter just further demonstrated how perfect the gravity gloves interactions are
In The Final Hours of Half-Life Alyx, I kind of want to see a photoshop of Geoff Keighly as Jeff.
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One part I don't think gets talked enough about is that wheel that you have to pull off the gnarled rebarb, that makes it so you can only open the gate just a crack for all the stuff to fall out. Pulling that wheel off the rebarb was so nerve wracking.
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This youtube playthrough of the Jeff segment is perfect in capturing the dread you experience:
The speaker portion when he squeals, "oh you diiiiiick" is perfect lol
The speaker portion when he squeals, "oh you diiiiiick" is perfect lol
WHAT
I went through the whole game pulling my hair out at those puzzles trying to do them in one go
It was fine for most of the game until the lasers started moving and you had to do it TWICE
