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.
You’re able to tolerate moving around without teleport? I have a pretty strong stomach and never get sick on boats or planes, but that just completely fucks me up. I can tolerate it for about 20 minutes, but after that I’m ready to hurl. With teleport I could play for an hour or more.
I’m not the person who originally replied but locomotion is significantly more comfortable than teleports. The teleporting makes me dizzy and messes with my sense of balance and orientation.
I also don’t get motion sick in any non-vr setting either.
The trick is to stop as soon as you start to feel nausea. If you keep doing that your body starts to adapt to VR and eventually you won’t get nausea except in really extreme experiences.
I think I’m just use to the movement style and teleporting is a bit jarring and makes me stumble. It takes a good dozen hours to stop getting motion sick in general. Now I can do it drunk.