[Bryan See]

Valve has just unveiled their flagship title, called Half-Life: Alyx, two days after its announcement. I think it's worth the wait since the release of Half-Life 2: Episode Two in 2007.

EDIT: When Half-Life 2 started making its headlines before E3 2003, many people thought Alyx Vance is going to be the main protagonist. Now, Alyx is going to be such.

[Scourge of Ages]

Dang, beaten to the punch by Bryan.

I am excited! Hopefully it's actually a game and not just "an experience"

[theperfectdrugsk]

Trying to decide if I'm excited for this...I loved HL1 and HL2, but I kinda lost interest with the "episodes." Hopefully it's not just an attempt to cash in on nostalgia.

[gevatter Lars]

I hope there will be a non VR version. I tried VR but with glasses on it becomes uncomfortable pretty quickly and without the glasses I had trouble seeing.

[Bryan See]

It's going to be a killer app for VR.

Maybe someone's gonna work on implementing full VR support (Valve Index, HTC Vive and Oculus Rift) for FSO.

If it does, I hope someone should start creating a space combat game set in the Half-Life/Portal universe, as Redditor japasthebass said that there's a lot of story left to be explored there during Gabe Newell's AMA in January 2017. For example, you want to explore how the homeworlds of the Nihilanth and the Vortigaunts are conquered by the Combine.

[Det. Bullock]

The killer app for VR will be a lower cost and easier setup.
Back in the day Half-Life 2 was fairly well-optimized and could run on my mid-range machine at 1280x1024 without issues, a VR game requires a high end machine and a VR visor with motion controls on top which is often a lot of money, if it uses roomscale then there is the fact that many people don't have the space for it.

[MP-Ryan]

**** Valve and their vanity projects.

Finish HL2.  Finish the Portal-HL arc.  Then maybe I'll fork out money for advanced hardware to try your vanity title.

Jesus.

[Det. Bullock]

The worst thing is that a spin off or even a sequel where you play as Alyx is a no-brainer for me but they have to put an entry barrier for it.

[Luis Dias]

I like their approach, they want to not just make half life games endlessly, they want to push the industry forward.

They were cowards by not doing a half life 3 with this though. They'd destroy the entire fandomuniverse with that move alone.

And LOL to everyone in here thinking HL2 was "accessible". No it wasn't. I couldn't play it for years.

[The E]

The killer app for VR will be a lower cost and easier setup.

I don't think this is true. If it were, stuff like PSVR would be flying off the shelves.
The thing is, right now there are very few games that really use VR in ways that make a compelling argument that they can't be done just as well without VR.

[Grizzly]

What surprises me the most about this that people still care about Half Life.

[The E]

What surprises me the most about this that people still care about Half Life.

He says, on hard-light.net

[Grizzly]

What surprises me the most about this that people still care about Half Life.

He says, on hard-light.net

Yeah but

we're like 10 people.

[General Battuta]

I like their approach, they want to not just make half life games endlessly, they want to push the industry forward.

They were cowards by not doing a half life 3 with this though. They'd destroy the entire fandomuniverse with that move alone.

And LOL to everyone in here thinking HL2 was "accessible". No it wasn't. I couldn't play it for years.

As I recall it was pretty accessible hardware-wise, but if you couldn't get a stable internet connection, yeah, good luck.

[Scourge of Ages]

What surprises me the most about this that people still care about Half Life.

That's why I'm kind of confused about the rage about this (not here, other places): Everybody'd given up hope of ever seeing HL3; nothing is what we all expected. This is something. Something > nothing.
quick maffs

[Bryan See]

What surprises me the most about this that people still care about Half Life.

That's why I'm kind of confused about the rage about this (not here, other places): Everybody'd given up hope of ever seeing HL3; nothing is what we all expected. This is something. Something > nothing.
quick maffs

But Half-Life: Alyx is anything but HL3. If HLA is well liked, I am sure we'll get to see a VR-based HL3, which, according to Valve News Network's Tyler McVicker, has a lot to do with the future of VR/Mixed Reality.

With HLA's announcement, Half-Life lives once again. Don't tell us if it's truly dead or not.

[Aesaar]

Hasn't most of the original HL2/Ep1/Ep2 team left Valve anyway?  I know Marc Laidlaw doesn't work there anymore.

[Col. Fishguts]

Hasn't most of the original HL2/Ep1/Ep2 team left Valve anyway?  I know Marc Laidlaw doesn't work there anymore.

Yeah, HL3 in its intended form will never happen, since none of the orignal team is there anymore.
If you need closure, just read Laidlaw's story outline and move on: http://www.marclaidlaw.com/epistle-3/

[CP5670]

This game could be interesting if it's designed for VR from the ground up, but I never liked HL2 and always found its maps repetitive and tedious. Unfortunately, this has dramatically increased demand for the Index VR headset. I was going to get one but they are heavily backordered now. The Index seems to be the best overall VR package right now, but has some issues and is outclassed by others in some ways. I think some of the best use cases for VR are actually vehicle or space games, like Elite Dangerous, Overload or Project Cars 2. Most of the regular FPSs that have come out so far have not been as good.

I hope there will be a non VR version. I tried VR but with glasses on it becomes uncomfortable pretty quickly and without the glasses I had trouble seeing.

You can get custom lenses for them, which is what I plan to do. They can get expensive though especially for strong prescriptions.

[Bryan See]

Half-Life: Alyx is out today. Have you got it and started playing?