Why 'Half Life: Alyx' is Important
“And all the effort in the world would have gone to waste until...well, let's just say your hour has come again.”
On November 22 2019, Valve Corporation released a teaser trailer for the game ‘Half Life: Alyx’, a red letter day for virtual reality and the gaming industry as a whole.
Half Life: Alyx releases March 2020 and is set between the events of Half Life 1 and 2 which is widely renowned as one of if not the greatest first person shooter series of all time.
The episodic follow ups to Half Life 2, ‘Episode 1’ and ‘Episode 2’ ended on a cliffhanger which has remained unresolved since 2007. Fans and even casual onlookers have speculated for 12 years on what the follow up could be, and the constant delays and then radio silence put Valve in the position where almost anything they do won’t be able to live up to the hype built over more than a decade.
Each Half Life game had such an impact that they changed the gaming industry as a whole, both times. Half Life 1 introduced immersive storytelling in ways previously unheard of, and Half Life 2 took that and added realistic physics. Today these are taken for granted, but it was Half Life that paved the way.
Any follow up couldn’t simply do more of the same after so much time having passed. Other games have improved their graphics and shaken things up with new game modes, but they are constantly recycling the same old ideas.
Meanwhile Valve took a backseat, and for the most part only released updates for their multiplayer games such as Counter Strike GO, Team Fortress 2, and DOTA2. They’ve also never released a game with the number 3 in it (and still no sign of doing so).
Behind the scenes they were working away on something fresh. Virtual Reality. They created the “lighthouse” tracking system and partnered with HTC to release the HTC Vive in 2016. Since then they have split and released their own headset, the Valve Index in 2019 (currently and frustratingly unavailable to buy in AUS/NZ, despite heavily featuring New Zealand comedian Rhys Darby in the teaser trailer).
Indie developers filled the gap with small, mostly early access titles, and a few ports of existing games from larger companies such as Fallout 4 VR and Skyrim VR. But there was no “system seller” game for VR. Nothing that would convince the millions of skeptical gamers who haven’t tried VR (or only the limited 3D headtracked gimmick of mobile VR with their smartphone) and still think VR is a fad that it is actually worth their time and money.
This is where Half Life comes in.
Already we’ve seen the doubters shift their tone and pony up for a VR headset. Or whine that they can’t afford one, which is fair but unavoidable for such ground breaking new tech, the same was true for Half Life 1 and 2 which required expensive new graphics cards to run.
But no longer are we seeing the doubters say it is a gimmick or a fad. Now VR is something to be desired.
Valve has thrown their full weight behind VR with their biggest property, with more to be announced at the Game Awards in December 2019. While they remain secretive, it’s a good bet their other two unannounced VR games will push boundaries in areas such as multiplayer, perhaps with Left 4 Dead, or methods of locomotion, perhaps with Portal.
Not only that but Valve will be releasing Source 2 and mod tools for free along with the game when it releases. Many popular games have been built on the foundation of the original Source code such as Titanfall 1&2 and Apex Legends, as well as mods which became massive games in their own right, such as Counter Strike. Having a dedicated set of authoring tools for developers to dive quickly into VR with the groundwork already done will be a massive boost to the industry. Just look at how much effort Valve put into perfecting doors in VR (see the “HLVR DigiPen Talk” video if you’re interested).
From the looks of the Half Life: Alyx trailer it is raising the bar even for existing VR games with it’s level of fidelity with hand interaction with their own ‘Index controllers’ to track your real-world fingers, realistic physics and new tricks unique to VR, and immersive story-telling.
Virtual Reality is a natural fit for the Half Life universe. I couldn’t be more excited to play.
”Prepare for unforeseen consequences.”
