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So a Half-Life game came out this year...
- Thread starter dmshaposv
- Start date
I played it and it was the first vr experience where I lost myself fully in the world of vr, I hit a controller with the floor since I was ducking in real life to check something out and forgot my floor was there. It's the best VR experience I've ever had, and for sure the best VR game ever, however it is a VR game. Most of the HL fans don't have that kind of a headset lying around. I've been waiting since 07 for a continuation, and I was lucky enough to play Alyx, I loved it, and I can't wait to see what's coming in the future
Personally speaking, the biggest thing working against Half Life Alyx for me was Boneworks also existing this year. For the seasoned VR player that doesn't get motion sick and doesn't care about the story so much, Boneworks simply had more compelling gameplay and, to me anyway, felt like a better successor to Half Life 2 than Alyx did. Alyx is a far more accessible game though, and I don't think it's a worse game than boneworks necessarily, it just had different priorities that didn't fully align with what I wanted.
For those unaware, Boneworks is basically a full physics simulation of absolutely everything, including your own body in the game world. Objects deal damage based on actual physics calculations, everything can be a weapon. Navigation is also far more engaging because of the all physics all the time nature of the game. Half Life Alyx is more of a hybrid approach so that they could really pump up the fidelity of the game via baked lighting (everything you see that looks perfectly situated in Alyx is a completely static object, you can't interact with it). There's 0 physical damage in Alyx, it's use the gun or die. There's plenty of interactivity though and the game oozes charm and passion, don't get me wrong, but the vision and secret sauce of half life was always the physics simulation, so to see an indie game release along side it that was clearly inspired by the series and flat out does it better was a bit of a letdown.
So yeah, in a sense I think Boneworks may have diverted the hype a bit. And if it needs to be said, I highly recommend that game to seasoned VR players.
For those unaware, Boneworks is basically a full physics simulation of absolutely everything, including your own body in the game world. Objects deal damage based on actual physics calculations, everything can be a weapon. Navigation is also far more engaging because of the all physics all the time nature of the game. Half Life Alyx is more of a hybrid approach so that they could really pump up the fidelity of the game via baked lighting (everything you see that looks perfectly situated in Alyx is a completely static object, you can't interact with it). There's 0 physical damage in Alyx, it's use the gun or die. There's plenty of interactivity though and the game oozes charm and passion, don't get me wrong, but the vision and secret sauce of half life was always the physics simulation, so to see an indie game release along side it that was clearly inspired by the series and flat out does it better was a bit of a letdown.
So yeah, in a sense I think Boneworks may have diverted the hype a bit. And if it needs to be said, I highly recommend that game to seasoned VR players.
Also, games like HL:A are a step towards increasing VR accessibility. Valve has a vested interest in selling VR sets, improving VR development and making VR more mainstream, and games like this will help them get there, even if it's ultimately still pretty niche compared to consoles/PCs.
No it wasn't - those who were able to get access to VR at that high end on PC, got to play it and seemingly per user response, loved it, pushing it to the top of user reviews on Steam itself. No amount of marketing is going to change affordability / entry into VR, so why you'd expect it to be changed or any greater with extra Valve communication over the years is quite ridiculous imo. As a series HL has benefited and fufiled its general user base expectation of being something that shifts the bar a bit. I'm still unsure how HL can be as defining a series at this stage beyond something like VR that offer that kind of unique experience.
More so, Valve have complete history of HL series development post-EP2 is now public, and I'd agree with Valve based on what was happening - talking HL over the years would piss people off rather than benefit them.
As for the result, SteamVR as a platform doubled users upon release of HL:A release, which is about as spectacular as expected.
Meanwhile "next gen" only applies for consoles and no doubt PS5 PSVR2 will get some form of port.
More so, Valve have complete history of HL series development post-EP2 is now public, and I'd agree with Valve based on what was happening - talking HL over the years would piss people off rather than benefit them.
As for the result, SteamVR as a platform doubled users upon release of HL:A release, which is about as spectacular as expected.
Meanwhile "next gen" only applies for consoles and no doubt PS5 PSVR2 will get some form of port.
I mean, I sure as hell didn't forget HL:A came out this year. It's been my GotY since the day it came out. The big problem like everyone here's been saying is accessibility. I seriously hope Valve puts it on PSVR2 when that launches because it deserves to be played by as many people as possible (without compromising on their vision).
Yeah, nah. I think boneworks did some cool stuff, but I can't for the life of me imagine that outside of a extremely tiny group of the tiny vr subset, boneworks took away from alyx hype
It's worth considering that despite the horrors of 2020, the games released this year were of incredible quality and variety. So there's a ton of competition as a real factor here as well.
Yeah and it's probably the best game I've played this year and my personal GOTY by a country mile. Hopefully it'll win some awards at the end of the year because it definitely deserves them
I know exactly one other person outside of Era that has played the game. He was my access point for trying it myself. It's just something that nowhere near the average consumer has access to playing it.
So true and sad.
But I can imagine hl alyx still being a thing in 3-4 years. Because even in 2024 it'll blow your mind in a way that ps5/series x probably won't be able to if you get your first big boy vr headset then. Due to vr budgetary constraints this will stay the flagship game for some time to come...
This, I and many others can't play that shit, idk what OP expected
I would love to play this and other VR games, but even the lower end ones are almost as expensive as the new consoles, if not more, it's impossible, and I don't have a good PC to take the best out of it. I think the cheapest one is the PSVR? But it is not worth it at this point.
No idea how is the situation on the US and other countries tho regarding affortability.
No idea how is the situation on the US and other countries tho regarding affortability.
Well, Half-Life 2 was on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. And you didn't need to have a beefy PC to run it, even back then.
Alyx went the total opposite direction, being exclusive to highend VR PC.
So yeah, most of the people who wanted a sequel simply couldn't play it.
Alyx went the total opposite direction, being exclusive to highend VR PC.
So yeah, most of the people who wanted a sequel simply couldn't play it.
for a forgotten game i sure heard more about it than every other VR game combined and even some big games from big companies in the traditional console space
Nah, the first game that did that was Walking Dead Saints & Sinners which came out a few months earlier. Alyx felt a bit more simplified in comparison, only scoring on production values.
Played the first 3 Chapters and was quite frankly bored of it at that point and I love the Half-Life series. Supposedly it gets much better and I know it reviewed extremely well but I just can't be bothered really with setting VR (Rift S in my case) up and being tethered. Something like Lone Echo seemed much more interactive and ground-breaking per se compared to what I played in HL Alyx. I hope HL gets the true sequel it deserves some day in traditional game form first with a VR version second (to make everyone happy and leave no one behind).
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#facts
#allthatneedstobesaid
I mean, I used to play the HL saga each year and even I am not dropping that kind of cash just to play one game that isn't even that fucking long in the slightest.
Between it not meeting my slightly high expectations and the fact that I don't know if I'll ever be able to play it, everytime someone mentions the game I do get a bit surprised it actually exists.
It wasn't just VR exclusive. It was high end PC VR exclusive. Can't play it on PSVR. Can't play it on standalone Quest or Quest 2. It's not even a matter of buying a headset to play it. I'd have done that. You have to also get a bloody powerful PC on top.
The barrier for entry is too damn high. I am hopeful it will be ported to PSVR2 when that releases.
The barrier for entry is too damn high. I am hopeful it will be ported to PSVR2 when that releases.
I've heard Alyx is amazing and I'd love to play it but unfortunately I don't want to pay up for VR. It's a shame so much of what apparently makes it good is its use of the medium of VR, otherwise I'd watch a playthrough. Maybe someday lol
If I had a capable PC with VR, I'd be all over it. But I have neither, so I'm stuck for now. I'm hoping that it will get rereleased when PSVR comes out with an upgraded HMU, but I'm pretty sure even after the upgraded headset it still won't be released anywhere else. I will get to it eventually, hopefully :\
it's a piece of valve software released after 2011, so it doesn't count as a video game. we should all know this by now.
I'm not sure how arcades would have helped with that, we're talking about a 10 hour narrative driven game. That's just not a format for arcades.
Half-Life Alex not getting nominated for game of the Year at the Game Awards is more of a sign that the nomination process at the game awards is broken, rather than there being anything wrong on Valve's end.
I mean, out of all the amazing games released this past year, Ghost of Tsushima really didn't deserve a nomination. It probably got nominated because more of the judges played it. As for why Ghost got nominated before more remarkable games like Alex, Ori, MS Flight Simulator, or Dreams...it's probably once again simply due to more people playing Ghost, it fitting into a particular genre the Awards show wanted to represent, and the copious amount if money Sony spent over the past 7 years showing in the final product.
I mean, out of all the amazing games released this past year, Ghost of Tsushima really didn't deserve a nomination. It probably got nominated because more of the judges played it. As for why Ghost got nominated before more remarkable games like Alex, Ori, MS Flight Simulator, or Dreams...it's probably once again simply due to more people playing Ghost, it fitting into a particular genre the Awards show wanted to represent, and the copious amount if money Sony spent over the past 7 years showing in the final product.
I think Alyx will have a long tail as VR becomes more accessible. When Sony rolls out PSVR2, I bet it launches with a strong version of the game. Oculus Quest 2 is another big stab at VR accessibility and probably will come down in price later in 2021. The game will get it's due, but no question it launched to a small userbase.
Accessibility is a big aspect of it.
But I'd say other games had a similar issue. Final Fantasy VII remake and Kingdom Hearts 3, relative to how long they have been waited for and how much people asked for them, it kinda feels like they kind of aren't getting the attention they should have gotten.
But I'd say other games had a similar issue. Final Fantasy VII remake and Kingdom Hearts 3, relative to how long they have been waited for and how much people asked for them, it kinda feels like they kind of aren't getting the attention they should have gotten.
LOL. 2020's a crowded year when it comes to good games so Alyx isn't being robbed of anything. Alyx is undoubtedly the best VR game of the year, but there are at least 5 other games I'd put ahead of it this year (Doom Eternal, FF7 Remake, Ghost of Tsushima, Nioh 2, TLOU2).
I mean sure, you can't play it on any machine but even the old GTX970 worked well with my Vive for this game so I really wouldn't call it high end PC VR exclusive.
It's VR and it needs a beefy PC.
It immediately pushes its self into a corner and, no matter how good it is, it's not feasible for a vast majority of people to play, even in enthusiast groups.
The people doing award shows and nominations aren't an exception, they're still people and probably had similar issues.
It immediately pushes its self into a corner and, no matter how good it is, it's not feasible for a vast majority of people to play, even in enthusiast groups.
The people doing award shows and nominations aren't an exception, they're still people and probably had similar issues.
A 2015 PC is still more than a lot of people have though. I had a PC around that time that I bet could fairly handle Alyx at low or medium, but PC is such an awkward platform for lots of people.
Alyx will maybe have its time to shine when it comes to PS5 VR, if that ever happens. At that point tho I don't know how they reboot the hype cycle, will people care as much.
I have a beefy PC now but VR just isn't on my radar. Maybe if REVII and VIII will get ported to VR I'd consider it
