An intermix of heart-pounding horror with moments of harsh beauty and humor can often be a difficult cocktail. The environmental intensity of Alyx is well paced, too. You’re a solo operator, but you’re not alone. Having Russell there offering humanity and humor to punctuate the darkness of this supremely dystopian environment is a fantastic choice. Long VR sessions can make you feel cut off from reality, and horror experiences, especially, can become overwhelming. Along with that, though, comes isolation. One of VR’s primary powers is that of embodiment - making the experience of being there so convincing that you generate real memories of presence. Played hilariously by Rhys Darby, Russell’s voice serves to mitigate issues that many VR aficionados may recognize. There are a variety of tricks that Alyx uses to make you comfortable existing in this world, not the least of which is the presence of a voice in your ear in the form of an engineer named Russell. You are rewarded for treating environments and encounters as a place to pretend to be rather than progressing through. That sense of presence that is so pivotal to VR is something Valve leaned into hard with Alyx.
Let me tell you, seeing the underbelly mouth of a ‘crab flying toward your face in VR versus on your monitor definitely hits different. Those of you returning will find a large part of the new experience in inhabiting the same virtually physical space as headcrabs, barnacles and combined forces. Given their high-fidelity look and carefully stepped variety, even newbies to the Half-Life universe should be kept entertained as they encounter new threats. The world is familiar, as are most of the cast of characters (along with some bespoke new additions). Half-Life: Alyx does that again for VR, making such a direct impact that this will be a demarcation line forever in the way we craft immersive virtual experiences.Īlyx begins in the period of time between Half-Life and Half-Life 2, taking place mostly just before the action in the latter.
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