I genuinely can’t believe Half Life Alyx is five years old.

No other video game has felt the way Alyx felt. No one else has taken such a bold swing in what a video game can be. It’s burned into my mind as my Half Life game, the one that came out at just the right time for me.

It was also my “pandemic” game. While everyone else was playing Animal Crossing or Doom Eternal, I was playing and replaying Half Life Alyx.

It definitely feels like it’s somewhat doomed to be less remembered in the popular consciousness than most big games that come out, and indeed the rest of the games in the Half Life lineage. Cries of “Half Life 3 when?” still abound in spite of the very clear effort Alyx made to move the story forward. But to me it feels like a game that still hasn’t been topped in the five years since it came out, not by a long shot.

Half Life Alyx received a Game of the Year win from GameSpot, and nominations from a few other publications. When it came to events like The Game Awards with a dedicated “Best VR Game” category, it won handily.

  • daniskarma@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    83·
    2 days ago

    I would lo to be able to justify buying a 1500€ vr set. But using it for one or two games does not make the threshold for me.

    I hope they make more really good games so it become justifiable.

    • Psythik@lemm.eeEnglish
      2·
      1 day ago

      Dude, VR has been affordable for over half a decade now. Get with the times.

      • Blackmist@feddit.ukEnglish
        1·
        23 hours ago

        The headsets have (if you can stomach Meta). Thanks to the combines efforts of Nvidia, scalpers, crypto-bros and AI-nerds, the hardware cost has been sailing into the distance and shows no sign of stopping.

    • PhAzE@lemmy.caEnglish
      4·
      2 days ago

      What? Quest 2 is like $250 and it connects to your PC and works just fine for Alyx.

    • WolfLink@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      8·
      2 days ago

      Here’s a list of VR games I’d 1000% recommend:

      • Half Life: Alyx
      • I Expect you to Die (James Bond themed virtual escape rooms - 3 games in the series so far, all of them are good)
      • Super Hot (slo-motion first person combat puzzle game)
      • Beat Saber (a unique rhythm game)
      • Pavlov (CS:GO but in VR with extensive modding support)

      There are other good ones out there but that’s the list that justifies the headset to me.

      Also there are some good VR ports of non-VR games out there such as Myst and The Talos Principle. Also there are some good Minecraft mods that add VR support (Java edition of course). Stay away from the Skyrim port though.

      • Lv_InSaNe_vL@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        2 days ago
        • the walking dead games
        • Walkabout VR (putt-putt game)
        • Dungeons of Eternity (quest exclusive)
        • Any flight/racing sim (this is actually the biggest selling point I can make. Seriously if you like flight/racing sims, please get one. It’ll change your life)
        • No Man’s Sky (one of my demo games)