Half-Life: Alyx Review

After 13 years in stasis, Valve’s Half-Life franchise makes a triumphant return with Half-Life: Alyx. Taking bold steps in a new medium, Half-Life: Alyx delivers on the promise of what fans expect in a new Half-Life entry while forging a new path in the world of VR.

Much like Gordon Freeman himself, Half-Life games emerge from humble beginnings but impact the future with unforeseen consequences. The first entry revolutionized the use of narrative in first person shooters when it came out in 1998. Half-Life 2 changed the nature of physics in video games forever with the introduction of the Gravity Gun and Source engine.

Half-Life: Alyx follows that trend of innovation by setting the gold standard of AAA game design in VR. Valve had the impossible task of not only figuring out how to design a full scale VR game, but to revive a beloved series with unattainably high expectations attached to it. Somehow, they nailed both with flying colors.