Alyx was really good (though I'm a wuss and couldn't finish it) but not a continuation of the cliffhanger that we've been sitting on for 16 years since episode 2.

When/if HL3 is announced, I actually believe it might break parts of the internet.

A decade ago, yes. Valve was riding high on the dual successes of Dota 2 and Portal 2, we were only 6 years out from HL2Ep2, and CS:GO was newly released.

Today, not so much. Aside from a prequel, the series had been dormant for as longer than it had been alive (11 years alive 1998-2007, 13 years dormant 2007-2020), and the prequel required a pricey hardware peripheral to run. It’d get attention, but it wouldn’t be that big of a deal at this point.

*interquel - Alyx takes place after HL1.

Mild HL:ALyx spoiler: If you'd actually finished the game, you'd know that it does continue that cliffhanger (briefly)

Cliffhanger A swapped with Cliffhanger B

No spoilers then, but the ending of Alyx does retcon the old cliffhanger.

I need to just watch a lets play at some point

> the ending of Alyx does retcon the old cliffhanger.

that's semi-disappointing, at least that they'd do it in a game so few have the ability to actually play.

And was played (and playable) by almost no one, sadly.

I’m waiting for an update that lets me play it without VR. I’m probably never going to have a VR rig that’ll play it. My wife has a couple for work (not capable of playing that game, though) and we’re both free to use them for whatever we like, but never bother. Certainly not gonna pay for a headset just for one game. I have enough barely-used electronic crap around as it is.

I tried it in VR for half an hour or so. It was really nice compared to most VR shovelware. High production values, fun interactivity, etc.

But remove the VR and you're left with an above-average short FPS that would've been entirely unremarkable if not for the Half-Life tie-in. If they released it for non VR, it would probably get trashed just for not being HL3.

Honestly I don't think you're missing much. It's a good VR game only because the bar for VR gaming in general is so much lower.

Well, yeah. It wouldn't have worked if it had been a proper shooter. Imagine playing Doom Eternal in VR. It's going to suck.

I almost broke my TV with Alex and that is a slow, slow game.

Serious Sam in VR is pretty fun.

AFAIK there is a mouse/keyboard mod but it makes the game way too easy.

a really incredible VR game though

I thought Half-Life was a series of PC games, but I own a PC but I can't play Alyx. What happened there?

I played it fine on my PC. But I have a VR headset for my PC. I'm not sure that makes it not a PC game.

In the 90s you might have needed to buy a graphics card or sound card to play a game, but it was still a PC game.

All games ended up needing a GPU and a soundcard - in fact they became so necessary that all CPUs and motherboards today come with a GPU and a soundcard respectively. While VR headsets were a gimmick of the moment.

(Yes I know some CPUs come with no GPU but that's because you will buy a discrete GPU which only furthers my point)

If I released a game on PC that required a peripheral, like a racing wheel, does that make it not a PC game?

> all CPUs [...] today come with a GPU

This is not even remotely true.

Aside from the obvious meaning of your comment - there is a mod which makes Alyx playable without VR: https://github.com/bfeber/HLA-NoVR

Just like a lot of early 3D PC games weren't possible to play without a graphics accelerator card (GPU for you younglings) which not a lot of people had, these new VR games are not possible to play without VR hardware.

Doesn't mean early 3D PC games weren't PC games, and it doesn't mean that contemporary VR games aren't also PC games.

It's VR only.

vr only

I think it's VR only.

It's not a proper Half-Life game if you don't play as Gordon Freeman.

Alyx also misses many of the things that made the HL series great and replaces them with "modern" game design anti-features. Not looking forward to future HL games going even further in that direction.

The new voice actor doesn't even sound anything like alyx FFS and her lines are a perfect argument why the silent protagonist in the HL games was not a mistake.