Valve unveiled Half-Life: Alyx today, its upcoming flagship virtual reality game that it confirmed to be a real thing just earlier this week. This is not exactly the Half-Life 3 that everyone has been waiting for, as it will be a prequel to Half-Life 2, but it"s still more of Half-Life to experience. The game is releasing in March, 2020, see the gameplay trailer Valve released above.
The story will revolve around Alyx and Eli Vance as they develop the human resistance against the Combine. As evident by the name, players take the role of Alyx in this VR venture.
Valve says this will be a full-length game, comparable to the size of Half-Life 2. There will be the usual baddies to fight, environments to explore, puzzles to solve, and a deep storyline. Speaking regarding this announcement, Valve"s Gabe Newell said:
"Everyone at Valve is excited to be returning to the world of Half-Life. VR has energized us. We’ve invested a lot of ourselves in the technology. But we’re also game developers at heart, and to be devoting ourselves to a VR game this ambitious is just as exciting. For that to come in the form of Half-Life feels like the culmination of a lot things we care a lot about: truly great games, cutting edge technology, and open platforms. We can’t wait for people to experience this."
Half-Life: Alyx is powered by the Source 2 engine, and there isn"t any exclusivity when it comes to what VR headsets it will support. The game can be played on the Valve Index, HTC Vice, Oculus Rift, Windows Mixed Reality, and basically any other VR system that needs a PC.
Adding to that, Valve isn"t restricting the game to any VR play methods, with room-scale, seated, as well as sitting modes being supported. Meanwhile, in-game movement can be assigned to teleporting, shifting, or simply analog stick control.
There are some bonuses attached for Index users, however, as they will all receive the game for free at launch, for both past and future owners. This offer extends to even those who bought just the Index controllers.
Half-Life: Alyx is now available for pre-order on Steam with a $53.99 price tag, which is thanks to a 10% pre-order discount. The game will release on PC sometime in March, 2020.