The Incredible Details Of Half Life Alyx

[El-Burrito]

That strider foot landing in front of the balcony at the beginning of the game is such a cool moment. You can really only fully appreciate it in VR

[DeimosPC]

I would do anything for another Valve VR game as immersive as HL:A

[loganhunter]

It is insane how impressive and ahead of their time valve games are. Everything they put out is a masterpiece, except artifact...💀

[LemonsRage]

I just wish that we will see more AAA games like HL:Alyx in the future! I don't need another sandbox game where "the players" create the story with random mods. Rather I need a nice and well written story game to loose myself in but in VR!

[codaman]

Valve isn't a game developer, they are a problem for game developers by simply making the best of what they decide to invest in. They are the living example of a company that understands that true quality leads the market.

[Flushmaster]

This game has set the bar so high that I begin to think it will never be surpassed.

[davidchandler]

HLA is awesome, even if I put more time and energy into something more open like "Into the Radius" (I love that game too). One possibly little-known thing I really appreciated from HLA was their accessibility features; my dad is a big Half Life fan but he had a bad injury and couldn't use one of his arms anymore. Fortunately, Valve made a one-handed mode for Alyx so you only need one motion controller to play. It was awkward to learn at first, but he was able to play and have fun in the big fancy VR game.

[WikiPeoples]

PCVR was at its height when this game came out. Its a damn shame that we've gotten nothing else.

[PixelShade]

To be fair, what I wish Valve did after HL Alyx would be to take the ground work that they made with the engine and make Source 2 and the tools surrounding the engine the best VR development environment out there. Just imagine if the community got together and continued to make high quality assets that must meet certain minimum criteria (Like various hand poses, sounds, interactivity etc.). Or new enimies, systems etc. That way Source2 could just continue to evolve and grow with a vast library of highly detailed, interactive and re-skinnable VR assets which could be implemented into any future Source2 VR game. The performance is there, the immersion is there, but I think the level of entry for immersive VR development is just too damn high for most developers. Not to mention Source2.

I know Valve offer mod support for HL Alyx, but it's not really the same thing as a streamlined development environment for VR as a whole. I could see myself working on just a few realistic assets myself, for the fun of it. I have nowhere near the time to make a whole VR game, but being able to contribute to a community of VR developers would feel extremely satisfying.

[KurtFeudaleKing]

I still don't think I have ever seen anyone mention this. But I found out while playing that you can blind yourself in your right or left eye with the laser sight on your gun. It is a crazy small detail, but clearly isn't just the laser blocking view, there is literally a custom laser in your eye effect. I was pretty shocked.

[ramiromartha]

I recently bought a VR set and alyx is one of the first game I bought since I can finally play it. A few hours in( and I am really taking my time in it) the random thought came in: this is a game only valve can make. Being baffled when I first played HL2 the same exact feeling kicked in almost 15 years later. Now the hardware is getting better and better I really hope more companies are trying to pursue the quality of HL Alyx!

[Efretpkk]

Jeff is still the best moment I have had playing a videogame

[juu]

Almost 40h with HL:A and still did not notice some of them. But found out you can put stuff in washing machines on first level and turn laundry on.

[Spyder]

TLOU2 uses motion matching for all its character animation too, and also looks extremely smooth. Pretty excited for when it just becomes the standard.

[StubbyPhillips]

Imagine where PCVR would be if so many developers hadn't gone off to make dumbed-down mobile ("standalone") VR!

[Ssecave]

This game felt like a true next gen one. Not just a graphical update like so many playstation games but other aspects too.
physics, AI, animations, etc...

[hawyadoin]

I finally just played Alyx last week. When it was first announced, I started buying a PC part every paycheck and built my first PC. After saving for an Index, there was a shortage and I couldn’t get my hands on one. Then covid happened, our job site shut down for a few weeks, I missed a few paychecks, then suddenly I couldn’t afford a headset if I could even find one. So I finally just bought one and I am so glad I did. Alyx is by far the best VR game I have ever played and there are so many great mods out there as well. It’s going to be one of those games I go back and play once a year just like I have with the other Half-Life games for the last two decades.

[TheActualDylan]

Great video... makes me feel like it's about time for another replay of HL:A 😅

[iconoclass]

Thank you for continuing to make video analyses like this one. I realize they take an incredibly long time to make but you still put out such quality content!

My biggest technical disappointment with the game was the lack of precomputed realtime global illumination for the flashlight scenes, AKA approximated bounced lighting; it is a feature available in lightmappers like Enlighten. Other than that it is a technical marvel.

[TylerMcVicker]

They made the VR game easy, knowing they were everybody’s first VR game, but then started work on a non-VR game, and it seems the next VR game is years away. The next VR game will still have to be too easy because it will be introducing so many new technologies that it’ll be everybody’s first second generation VR game.