The long-awaited return of a Half-Life game is nearly upon us. Yes, Half-Life: Alyx, Valve’s triumphant return to the franchise, is a mere few weeks away.
To hype the release of the game up (does it need hyping up?), Valve has released not one, but three new gameplay trailers. The three videos showcased everything from the game’s combat to its movement.
Within the first trailer – aptly named, “Half-Life: Alyx Gameplay Video 1″ – we see evidence of improved gunfights. Not only that, but the game’s physical world is a lot more tactile. Alyx is able to interact with everything within the environment, using everyday items as props, tools, or even weapons.
Here’s the 2nd
A lot of Half-Life‘s appeal was within the puzzle-solving mechanics. By the looks of things, Alyx will follow suit, giving players plenty of mind-bending puzzles to grapple with. Some of them are showcased within the second gameplay trailer.
And the Third
And then, the third and final video, more gunplay can be seen. Specifically, how the tactile world can be utilised during gunfights. As you’ll see, Alyx is able to utilise a make-shift shield by holding a car door in front of them during a gunfight. A lot of the enemy’s projectiles/explosives seem to be able to be thrown back at them as well, adding a whole new layer of gameplay mechanics to proceedings.
As I’m sure you’ll have worked out by these videos (or from the general knowledge that Alyx is a VR game), the use of player’s hands will come into play a lot. What’s noticeable from these videos is that traditional movement has been replaced by a teleportation-like mechanic. It looks a bit iffy, but I suppose it does work in the overall theme of Half-Life. That being said, the game does also support more traditional movement using analogue sticks for the purists amongst us.
Half-Life: Alyx is due out 23rd March on Steam. If you have any VR headset that can connect to a PC, you are able to play Alyx, Valve notes. Handy for anyone who has an Oculus Rift or HTC Vive as opposed to Valve’s own Index model.
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ABG’s Senior Editor (News), YouTube content creator/streamer.