Half-Life: Alyx

Alyx is not just a fantastic showcase of what vr can offer in terms of immersion and unique gameplay elements, its also a great game and a worthy successor to the original half life's.

O MAIOR GOLPE CONTRA POBRES

the only vr game that doesnt suck ass

(Review contains minor details about the gameplay and the plot of the game)

In general, if I can very briefly describe my impressions: this is a mini-version of Half-Life 2 in VR in a good way. The game feels shorter and smaller in terms of duration and scale, but the experience for a minute of gameplay here seemed to me much more concentrated and of better quality. This is really Episode Three, which we have been waiting for, it just has a different name, but in fact it is. And yes, this is not some kind of techie for VR with Half-Life in the title. This is a AAA story-driven game with incredible visuals, excellent direction and sound design. It can be seen that the game was made from scratch with a reference point specifically for the experience for virtual reality. Unlike flat two-dimensional video games, where you simply control the hero on the screen, in HL: Alyx you now fully associate yourself with him, you are it, almost complete immersiveness in the gameplay is achieved. If you shoot in the game, you shoot exactly the way you would shoot in real life, reload weapons, throw grenades, objects, etc., sit down to look somewhere or open a box. The game camera is now your eyes, the hands of your character are your hands. Thanks to VR, interaction with the game world is now on a completely different level, you can take (almost) any object, open any cabinet and interact with a lot of environmental elements that in ordinary games played the role of a visual element of the level.

Unlike the first and second episodes, where you can say almost nothing was changed in the main mechanics, but only skillfully juggled and built the gameplay on what was already in Half-Life 2 (which is actually not so bad if you do it well ) in HL: Alyx there is a lot of everything, both completely new and new based on the old. These are new types of enemies, with which you already seem to know how to fight, but they put you in sweep by adding an unexpected element, for example, there is a headcrab with armor in the game, which you just can't kill (bullets bounce off of it), you need to aim at a vulnerable spot on his belly. To the already cool physics puzzles at the levels inherent in the series, they added puzzles that could only be done in virtual reality, for example, check and repair the wiring in the walls with a special tool or connect the lines of holographic projection. There are not so many guns in the game, unlike the previous parts: a pistol, a shotgun, an Alliance PP, but the number is balanced by the fact that they added the ability to improve it. And here, unlike the dull generic improvements in other games, which in fact do not really give anything, each new improvement, firstly, very coolly changes the appearance of the weapon (you really feel that you have improved it), and secondly, it changes the interaction experience with a weapon and makes your life easier. The collimator sight helps you a lot in aiming, with the improved magazine you don't need to reload so often. It would seem that so? Let me remind you that in VR, every action is an effort, unlike regular games where you just have to poke a button on your keyboard or gamepad. For example, to reload a pistol, you need not only to press the button 2 times, but to perform 2 more full-fledged physical actions and the whole process can be described as follows: drop an empty magazine, get a new one from behind, insert it into the pistol and reload it. Everything is close to real experience, but in a simplified playful way. From bold ideas: a whole stealth and horror section has been added to the game, where you have to hide from a blind, but sensitively hearing monster at a vodka production plant with a bunch of fragile bottles. It sounds comical, but it's done very cool and is clearly inspired by The Last of Us. Imagine if Abby was hiding in the hospital from the Rat King, the level of stress is the same. There are also references to the already legendary whole levels or parts of levels from previous parts - the Quarantine Zone (Ravenholm) with good horror sections or, for example, a mini-version of a mined warehouse with missiles from the first part - a mined warehouse with combustible materials in HL: Alyx. In general, all this does not feel somehow secondary when you go through the game, on the contrary, due to the new experience in VR, it all feels in a new way. Separately, it is worth mentioning the new, very charismatic and funny character "Russell" who will be constantly in touch with you as you progress through the game and whose phrases will make you smile and even laugh out loud. This will not make you feel lonely, in the same Half-Life 2 you were half of the game with your thoughts. The analogue of the gravity gun in the game is Alyx's gravity gloves, and I cannot describe how simple but ingeniously made mechanics it is and how Valve elegantly solved the problem of not very convenient access and lifting of objects in virtual reality. Pulling objects into your hands like a real Jedi is indescribable! Gloves, by the way, also have an inventory function. On each hand you have 1 slot in which you can carry different items, such as grenades or a flask for a healing station.

All in all, everything is new, and the well-improved and transformed old ones pleasantly surprised me. It can be seen that a lot of new, talented developers came to Valve, with a fresh look and new ideas, brought up on good games, but some skeleton remained from experienced studio veterans, who, through their prism of experience, helped to realize all this in a better way. In some places, playing HL: Alyx, I caught myself thinking that I was kind of playing the same Half-Life 2, which I played a thousand times, but I enjoy it like the first one. While playing, you understand how some natural things from real life fit coolly into the context of the game in VR and especially in Half-Life. Are there toxic gases on the way? Cover your mouth if you pass through them or find and wear a respirator. Are you shooting with enemies? Do it peeking out of cover like in a Hollywood action movie. Need to heal? Get out the syringe and give yourself an injection. Imagination is limitless and you can see how far the field has not yet been plowed and what interesting ideas can be implemented. HL: Alyx has just taken the first steps in this regard, wrapping all good ideas into a quality finished product. This is not an ideal game at all, for example, some weapon upgrades may seem pointless (double shot on a shotgun?), the number of holographic puzzles at one moment seems overkill if you open all the boxes (and in them you can find resources for upgrading weapons), some points of the solution puzzles and controls are not entirely obvious, but there are only a few unambiguous disadvantages. The game has an excellent tempo, a competent balance between the game sections, none of which feels either too long or short. Naturally in the game there are no moments with movement by transport, but in principle I do not see a problem in their implementation in future parts of the series, if they will be in VR.

P.S. The post-credits scene gave goosebumps. I can't believe it, Half-Life is back again, once again turning everything upside down and making a new breakthrough in video games. Definitely not only the best VR, but also the best PC game of this year that has no competitors and is definitely the first game to start your acquaintance with Virtual Reality.