The word had been around for some time, but it was in October that the first real information, now verified, was released by Tyler McVicker of the YouTube Valve News Network following the discovery of lines of code for an HLVR project. Midoriyan set the scene a few days ago by relaying a discussion between Game Awards presenter Geoff Keighley and Valve Game Designer Robin Walker, who certainly pushed Valve to announce the news immediately afterwards, without waiting until December 12 and the Game Awards. We already knew the title of the game and its release date.
It is therefore finally on November 21 that Valve revealed the next AAA of its franchise. As a reminder, the latest game is from 2006 (Half-Life 2: Episode Two).
So, welcome to Half Life: Alyx, a virtual reality game scheduled for March 2020 on HTC Vive, Oculus Rift (or Quest with a computer and an Oculus Link cable) and WMR at a price of $49,99 and free on Valve Index.
All you need to do is connect the headset or Valve Index Controllers to get the game in March and specific content. If you own a Valve Index before the end of the year, you can enjoy Half-Life: Alyx environments in SteamVR Home, change the finish of Alyx's weapons and get "Half-Life: Alyx" content for Counter-Strike:Global Offensive and Dota 2. And this presentation was of course accompanied by a magnificent trailer that we can't resist to give below.
As we had already heard, Half-Life: Alyx will take place between Half-Life first of the name and Half-Life 2, a period during which 20 years have elapsed. And as the title very clearly states, we will experience the adventure as Alyx Vance, who is found alongside Gordon Freeman in Half-Life 2. This will link Half-Life's Black Mesa incident to Gordon Freeman's return to Half-Life 2. After being moved there and secretly pursuing their clandestine scientific activities, Alyx and his father, Dr. Eli Vance, organized the resistance of City 17 against the victorious Seven Hour War Cartel aliens that no one had forgotten, helped by their inventions.
On the casting side, some changes have been made: following the death in 2017 of Robert Guillaume, Eli Vance's interpreter, James Moses Black will replace him. And if Merle Dandridge had lent her voice to Alyx Vance in Half-Life 2, Ozioma Akagha will take over in Half-Life: Alyx with the congratulations of her predecessor. For the other characters, we know a few names like Michael Shapiro in the role of G-Man, Ellen McClain for the Overwatch shows, and Tony Todd to play the Vortigaunts. We also know, following a tweet from him, that Cissy Jones will be in the game but we still don't know in which role, and the rumor is that Rhys Darby would be behind Russell.
Valve points out that even if the game was designed from the beginning for virtual reality, it does not deny the classic elements of the series. There will be fights in the first person of course, against head crabs for example, but also exploration with a few phases of infiltration and riddles to solve, all centered around an original story neat whose life expectancy should be around 15 hours. And as expected, the Gravity Gun gives way to Grabbity Gloves (or Gravity Gloves) to allow you to use your hands via the controllers to make objects fly. Note that, according to Valve, some optional interactions will only work with Valve Index Controlers and their finger tracking. Whatever the SteamVR compatible headset, it will be possible to play sitting, standing or room scale, with free movement, by teleportation, or by progressive sliding.
If we analyze the game's images a little bit, we notice the presence of the Cartel soldiers who appear in Half-Life 2, but also the Citadel still under construction which will dominate City 17 afterwards. Even if we suspect that the graphic quality will not be the same under the helmet, the Valve trailer shows the good exploitation made of its Source 2 engine with images always closer to realism. We also notice a significant management of physics with an interaction that seems to extend to all the objects in the set. Finally, we see many unknown faces that we are already eager to meet. And for the most creative among you, a set of Source 2 tools will allow you to create mods that you can share with the community on the Steam Workshop thanks to the VR update of the Hammer level editor from Valve delivered with the game. It may even be possible to create real VR experiences, which could be a small revolution for VR development.
The specifications announced to run the game have also been announced and remain quite correct for a VR game: Windows 10, Core i5-7500 or Ryzen 5 1600 processor, 12 GB RAM, and nVidia GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon RX 580 graphics card with 6GB of VRAM.
Although the game takes place before Half-Life 2, David Speyrer, developer of the game, advises, in an interview with The Verge, to play Episode 2 beforehand in order to better understand some passages directly related to episode 2 events, so you are warned, it is better to know the series correctly to fully enjoy everything Half-Life: Alyx. But you still have 4 months to fill in your gaps or refresh your memory.
And for those who do not have VR equipment for PC, you will have to decide to invest if you want to return to the Half-Life universe or make up your mind, the game will indeed only be playable in VR. As for a Half-Life 3, if Half-Life: Alyx proves to be a success, it could well end up being created because the teams have clearly been motivated by this new dive into the Half-Life universe and, according to David Speyrer, would be delighted to continue the adventure.
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