Half-Life 2 VR Is Better Than Half-Life: Alyx (sort of) (i'll explain)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ม.ค. 2023
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NOTES:
-I talk about the importance of accessibility in the video and how the industry should work to find solutions for motion sickness and whatnot, but I wanted to be clear that I’m speaking in generalities. I’m not saying it’s easy or that small teams, like the Half-Life 2 VR modding team, should or even can work on difficult solutions.
-I want to preempt a few possible critiques of this vid:
1) I don’t think you can use Half-Life’s lore to excuse Alyx’s simplified design. By this I mean: Gordon’s hazard suit gave him abilities (like sprinting) that Alyx doesn't have because she is not wearing a hazard suit. But I’m sure there could’ve been ways to write around this and make Alyx play faster and closer to Half-Life 2.
2) I ask, at the end, what Alyx would look like if it were more robust of a game. Boneworks, by Stress Level Zero, is a more robust VR game, but that doesn’t mean that a hypothetical “more complex” Alyx would play or look like Boneworks. Boneworks is an experimental physics sandbox. Its single player is a ton of fun, but it’s not meant to be a game as much as it is to show off crazy VR physics and silliness. There is a place for that, but there is also a place for more refined, curated experiences that are less about experimentation and emergent gameplay.
-When I went back and watched my original video about Alyx, I was surprised how positive my initial reaction was. My opinion must have soured on Alyx over the years somewhat or (and I believe this is the case) at the time I wasn't skilled enough to better articulate my mixed opinion. I also wanted to get that video out relatively close to when the game was released, so that probably added to it as well. Either way, I don't think anything I've said contradicts the things that I said in my first video.
#halflife2 #halflifealyx #vr
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Note on the importance of accessibility. My mother is a 63 year old stroke victim, only has use of her left arm, and can't stand for extended periods of time. The only games she would normally play are puzzles on her tablet. Yet, she has over 200 hours in Half-life Alyx. Because of the one handed mode and consideration for players that need or want to sit through the game, she is able to play the entirety of Alyx to completion and has done so multiple times. She talks about how much she loves the art and world of the game, she enjoys getting stress out by shooting "those f#4%s" as she aptly calls every enemy, and considering her disability this is a great way for her to get exercise for a few hours each time.
As much as this game feels like a compromise with a lot of restriction, it's been an eye opening experience for my ma, who now always talks about vr and how much fun she has playing Half-life everytime we go see family. The fact that someone like her, someone wheelchair bound is able to shoot up city 17 with one hand the same as me, should be a testament for accessibility in games. So for now, we both are exited for what our favorite series, and vr has to offer going forward. Knowing we both will be able to enjoy it just as much as one another.
Thanks for the reply. I've heard other stories like this and that's why I'm always really afraid to sound insensitive/uncaring when talking about accessibility, and I hope I didn't in the vid.
Reading this is eye opening to how simple and one dinensional people can be when judging things. Both you and OP are trying so hard to label the accessibility as “good” or “bad” when it’s literally both dependent on the person. Not everything in the world can be fit into “good” and “bad” boxes, especially art, the most subjective stuff in the world
@TheFloodFourm well said.
I think this fear of appearing to think "wrong" or appear as one of the many slurs flung at people who don't cater to literally everyone sorely detracts from people expressing honestly what we think about things.
Incan totally see both sides here, as I love hearing stories like this about the commentaries grandma getting into something that seems rather unlikely that an older person would, period, and having the game designed around the accessibility really helps. Half Life Alyx is an amazing game and the only people who seem to not like it are those who demand that it just be more HL1 or 2. But it isn't and it's better for having fully adopted the design ethos it adopted, rather than taking half measures and being a lesser game in that respect.
I was recently on the Steam forums for a game called Crisis VRigade with is like time crisis but in vr and demands you take cover behind walls and other things that are shorter, requiring the player to stand, kneel, go prone, and otherwise be quite active. There are complaints that the game wasn't designed for people who can't do these things, when doing so would compromise what kind of game it is.
It's sad that as a society, we are so demanding on others and so ungrateful for the things that do make us happy.
this is so wholesome
That is amazing. I wish more elderly people would become involved as well.
The graphics and smooth UI of alyx allowed a much better feeling of presence in the world over what they did with the mod. Loving playing hl2 in VR, but for me it's not on the same level as alyx imo
Difference there is Flat2VR is a bunch of hobbyist doing it for free, while the other was made by a multi billion dollar company as a launch title for the index. With that said even four years later Alyx still has a large bit of jank when it comes to some of its accessibility features.
Shouldnt be an "imo". Half life alyx is miles better than an HL2 vr mod. The game was made from the ground up for VR and is absolutely stunning and immersive. Whoever made this video is an idiot
NOTES & UPDATE (2/19/23)
-The mod team has added teleportation! I have not tried it out myself, but the team said in a recent update they consider it experimental. Regardless, it's impressive work.
-Update: store.steampowered.com/news/app/658920/view/3633878817177363551?l=english
---Original Text:
-I talk about the importance of accessibility in the video and how the industry should work to find solutions for motion sickness and whatnot, but I wanted to be clear that I’m speaking in generalities. I’m not saying it’s easy or that small teams, like the Half-Life 2 VR modding team, should or even can work on difficult solutions.
-I want to preempt a few possible critiques of this vid:
1)I don’t think you can use Half-Life’s lore to excuse Alyx’s simplified design. By this I mean: Gordon’s hazard suit gave him abilities (like sprinting) that Alyx doesn't have because she is not wearing a hazard suit. But I’m sure there could’ve been ways to write around this and make Alyx play faster and closer to Half-Life 2.
2)I ask, at the end, what Alyx would look like if it were more robust of a game. Boneworks, by Stress Level Zero, is a more robust VR game, but that doesn’t mean that a hypothetical “more complex” Alyx would play or look like Boneworks. Boneworks is an experimental physics sandbox. Its single player is a ton of fun, but it’s not meant to be a game as much as it is to show off crazy VR physics and silliness. There is a place for that, but there is also a place for more refined, curated experiences that are less about experimentation and emergent gameplay.
-When I went back and watched my original video about Alyx, I was surprised how positive my initial reaction was. My opinion must have soured on Alyx over the years somewhat or (and I believe this is the case) at the time I wasn't skilled enough to better articulate my mixed opinion. I also wanted to get that video out relatively close to when the game was released, so that probably added to it as well. Either way, I don't think anything I've said contradicts the things that I said in my first video.
I’m currently playing HL2: VR for the first time and I haven’t played HL: Alyx. Yesterday when I booted it up, the canal scene loaded with the menu and I was actually able to physically sit down cross legged and look at the scene around me. I’ll never forget that moment. Amazing mod
I couldn't agree more, after just having finished Half Life 2 in VR it's so wild just how action packed everything has felt compared to any other VR game I've played, the pacing is much preferable for me.
It's like a constant firefight sometimes I love it. The first pcvr game I beat.
The faster pace also still made the gun fights immersive, if not more immersive than Alyx's. Taking cover and taking shots at the enemy while still getting rushed by shotgun guys was exciting. Only problems I had was with the sections in the game that had infinitely spawning combine that force you to rush. It mainly happens in the chapters after you teleport out of Nova Prospekt but those are annoying
Mods have been some of the best stuff I have seen in VR currently. Alien Isolation, Firewatch, Subnautica etc, are all stunning in VR and give us that AAA feel that VR has been lacking in Gaming. Really looking forward to Praydog's universal Unreal Engine 4 VR injector to come out. 100's of games will be VR playable soon. Also Team Beef are my heroes...
alien isolation looks fantastic in vr
I disagree with most things being said. Personally I find HL: Alyx combat incredibly engaging. I don't feel like sprinting through vast spaces in super sonic speed is something that you logically do in a immersive medium. You should be worried about your limited health/life.... Crouching, covering and scurrying between advantage points. This is a very natural and immersive gameplay loop in VR... I think HL: Alyx does this beautifully, and as your VR legs grow, you can find more difficult experiences with mods. I recently played "Cornered"... and when the combine breaks in the door of your apartment, and they are like 20 of them. and later a shutgun guy blows up a wall creating two entrances to the apartment, my blood was pumping. Eventually they cornered me and I died. only to try again, with new strategies, winning and continuing escaping the building (which was also brutal).... Same can be said with the mod "incursion", as well as the "hardcore difficulty mod".
Personally I couldn't handle more than what Valve threw at me when I was new to HL: Alyx, but I wish their difficulty settings wasn't as bullet spongy, but rather that enemies had better strategies, fewer "alert" animations before attacking (like headcrabs and antlions). This is the only lesson I can find from HL: Alyx. But other than that I consider HL: Alyx to be a bigger leap in gaming than HL2.
Personally I find HL2VR (although great in its own right) rather problematic in VR. Like the difficulty of handling two-handed weapons, the insane amounts of weapons, which is next to impossible to shift between in mid-battle, the incorrect scale of things, the vomit inducing vehicle rides, and the massive ground to cover by foot. Personally I am much more for the closer perspective, slower pace and more granular detail of HL Alyx. And I would argue that HL2 doesn't lend itself perfectly to VR, but rather that it lends itself "surprisingly well" considering it was never designed for VR in the first place. With that being said. HL2 has a quick and high octane gameplay loop that feels more like a boomer shooter, and that's hard to justify as it is also immersion breaking... HL2VR for me is very much an old-school experience translated to VR. While HL: Alyx is an actual VR game.
Personally I will rave about HL: Alyx even 10 years down the line. It's an incredible game.
I could not agree more with you @PixelShade. The reason HL2:VR is faster and more frenetic is because all the graphics and environment effects are still in their more primitive 2D mode... it completely looks like a video game ported to VR. Whereas Alyx was designed from the ground up as a pure VR only game and feels and behaves as close to real life as possible. I, too, am playing all the incredible Alyx mods and they are unbelievable. Currently in the midst of ZHEPTIC. Amazing! To each his own, I suppose.
Agreed. Alyx is viewed by many as THE revolutionary VR game for good reason. It continues to mop the floor with most of the competition, and it will probably go down in history as a classic. Though to give credit to OP, I do think Alyx only showed us a fraction of what the medium can achieve.
half life 2 vr now has teleportation and it works really well.
Slower pace works much better for immersion in VR. The faster you move in vr without moving your body IRL the more the illusion is broken from my personal experience. they probably realized that when designing the game which is why the game is so much slower paced than HL2
It didn’t seem possible to me. But I just started half life 2 and it’s unbelievable. I’m having more fun than I did with Alyx. Crazy.
Great video! Modders constantly impress me with the hard work they put in.
It would be great to see something new along the lines of HL2 for VR. Unfortunately I feel like it would be too expensive and too much of a risk for developers.
I think it would have been nice if the Alyx devs added a mode or DLC thing where the combat pace and environment design was closer to HL2's.
There's a great mod for Alyx called Levitation that does kind of go that route, with a tad more frantic pace to combat and more enemies. It's made by some really talanted people and is def worth a try if you want to squeeze a bit more out of Alyx
I always considered boneworks to be the hl2 of vr.. Experimental physics, full-body presence, probably some of the coolest vr aesthetics ever, genuine innovation
Most people for some reason just brush boneworks off as a "tech demo" or "unfinished" and refuse to play
I am playing Black Mesa Source VR now (hl2vr based) after I finished Alyx.
Alyx felt sluggish to me. I played it after I tried a bit of Quake 3 in VR, oh those vr-legs indeed.
I do agree with what you said, and the points made in the video.
Alyx is a slow hand-holding type game.
VR is a very different medium, we do not have the same control we have in real life, but many mechanics resemble it.
I don't have the same feeling of a rifle in my hand but I must aim as if I do.
The difficulty of 2 points of aim, without the actual feeling of them in my hand.
That is the reason Alyx is using single-hand weapons only - much easier to feel in hand.
half life games are originally made for fast-pased mouse and keyboard and the transition to VR aiming and shooting,
with controllers, not actual guns which have weight, fast enemy movement, while I struggle with a controller...
tl;dr:
Alyx is too slow but the half life vr mods feel too fast. Some middle ground would be best.
I think I know exactly what ya mean. I really enjoyed HLA, but it's so conservative and almost SCARED of how it handles its VR interactions and difficulty and movement, and they just really didn't go as far as they could've. Visually it's awesome and it's still fun, so I don't really complain about it to people new to VR, and maybe Valve was smart to make it this way (and me being an experienced VR user means I'm not the target audience), but I think it's unnecessary and undercuts itself as an example of what VR can do.
Still, I would say it's a great game still by VR standards, but it's not something I return to much since it's so limiting and easy. Imagine if Into the Radius had Valve's resources! Valve could be making such cool stuff if they wanted to, but I guess that's the modern story of Valve.
avoidance of motion sickness is not a form of accessibility in my opinion.
Is Motion Sickness a real thing? yes.
i have experienced it in my first week of VR, back when we had low refresh rates. they went away and even after 10 months of a VR break, i experiences motion sickness for 2 minutes and my brain adapted.
ALL the people i know, that had motion sickness had the same experience.
I get it. some people might think of motion sickness worse than others. but if you like the experience over all and you KNOW it goes away. Well. just play in bite sized chunks and take a break.
after a week you will be fine. Hell, there is even a study proving that 120hz refresh rates almost eliminate Motion sickness. (if the FPS match up!)
I'm actually upset about how many devs shy away from good control schemes and game speeds and cater to the people with snap turning and teleportation.
No Mans sky for example had ONLY snap movement when the VR patch hit.
it's annoying and immersion breaking. I want full VR games, but yet they don't exist. All we can do is mod old games into VR. and that is wasted potential for a damn great medium.
HL:A is seen as one of the greatest VR games and triple A title to date. But yet the gameplay isn't even close to a game of 2004.
Most games are just game concepts and glorified mini or mobile games.
HL:A isn't an exception. it is too. Just prettier and well delivered.
I hope the VR landscape will turn around at some point.
I personally think that HL:A was a true testament to the kinds of games that can be made in VR. While you could argue that it was just a “concept”, it definitely doesn’t feel like one in practice. The world feels incredibly alive, (as is common with half life games at this point lol) and I thought the combat was awesome, especially when I had to hide behind cover by ducking down irl.
I loved both half life alyx and hl2 VR. I played both on the index. I think that half life alyx is an overall better VR game when it comes to immersion and gameplay, but experiencing hl2-one of my favorite games of all time-in VR was an incredible experience as well, and the fact that is was developed by such a small team is incredibly impressive.
I think you are way off about Alyx, but about right regarding HL2VR.
I fully support the author. Half Live 2 is a great job. The amount of content, dynamism, scope, elaboration of the details of the simulation. It is in this game that you can use the table as cover, grab it, place it as cover and crush, and then also throw it at the enemy. This is not just a decorative element. This is exactly how Alix feels after, just like a decoration.
i agree. just finished half life 2 vr mod. and bottom line is: i had more fun than with alyx. it's mostly the story and diversity of the game as well as the "speed", as you pointed that out. its truly a masterpiece !
I agree that HL2 VR combat is superior to HL:Alyx. I played both on Hard, with full-immersion and deactivated aim-assists. HL:Alyx is missing a few things: sprint, proper jump, clever fast enemy.
It's also missing spectacular environments....the final HL:Alyx level was incredible, but it seems we only saw a glimpse of the Citadel, whereas in HL2 VR, via the pod rides, we see a lot more.
More than two years after release, there's still no sign of a HL3:VR...we can be thankful to the modders for giving us the legacy games in VR!
Great video!
OMG!!!! I did not know this was a thing. I am beyond pumped to install this right now and play through it all right now. Steam has an official download and has episode 2 and 3. This is incredible.
Great video. Nailed it. I came here expecting to find this answer to be honest, but very well explained
How do you play half life 2 in vr?
I would love to see a video how the devs at valve play this mod for the first time
I'm basically a newbie to VR and I've been finding Alyx challenging, but I've also been quickly improving at it, and although I've died more to falling than anything else (I don't think an enemy's killed me directly, but a poison headcrab did knock me off of something once) because I watch and manage my health carefully, the hardest part for me has just been getting used to moving around and aiming. The game's really great for building up basic VR skills.
2:08 no button for the slide release like alyx?
What's the game in 1:35?
alyx is way to hesitant, and people who act like it should be standard for the medium do not understand the medium. The game is scared to take advantage of the medium, so you end up with a slow paced, barely replayable game. It does so much right, but it only gives you 3 weapons (any more will put new players off somehow), zero complexity, not even two handing and repetitive firefights, that have the DNA of good combat but is too scared to go all the way. It's so polished but it does fuck all, and I'm scared valve won't take advantage of the medium in future titles. I would hate to live in a world where hl3 is a disappointment to me.
All your points are valid. They massively underutilized the Antlions, gunfights seemed a bit basic and samey all the way through, would have prefered for there to be less "comedy" in it, And the "Jeff" segment went on for way too long. Also like you said, 3 weapons in a HL game when there's potential to upgrade so much more is kind of disappointing. Still love the game, it's a 7/10 for me, but it could have been a strong 9/10.
I think you're coming at this from the bias of someone that has strong vr legs. And for the record i also had a lot more fun with HL2 VR. But the reason Alyx is the Half Life 2 of VR is because it's such an accessible well polished VR game. The problem with games like HL2 VR and Boneworks is they discount a large majority of VR players who just can't play them comfortably. I've even seen experienced VR content creators like Upisnotjump struggle with parts of HL2 VR comfort wise.
It's the same reason Half Life 2 when it released had pretty by the numbers gunplay and enemy design, just very well polished. In fact one of the biggest criticisms i still see for Half Life 2 is that it's gunplay and combat is lackluster and why mods like MMOD have become so popular. But that "lackluster" design made Half Life 2 a shooter anyone could pick up and enjoy for it's myriad of other things no other game had done at the time.
Initially I didn't believe HL2VR could be anywhere near as good as Alex as far as graphics and object interaction. With some mods, mainly the physics, graphics and texture mods, it is in fact on par with Alex. The texture pack I used was 8gb and the textures are astonishing on some Items. You can pick up just about anything and the broken flying robots and bodies flop around realistically as you rotate them around. After playing HL2VR with the mods, I almost think Alyx uses the same game engine. Alyx does have better graphics, lighting and details, but on the other hand the performance of Alyx isn't very stable for me even with an RTX 3070 laptop, which I understand is a minimum spec for many VR games. I do find the combat on both games to be irritating sometimes, whoever thought it would be fun to shoot flying robots with a handgun should probably be removed from the dev team, but both games are among the Best of the Best VR games I have played
At this point I've been playing HL2 VR more than I have HL: Alyx and it feels so weird to say that because HL2 has never been made with VR in mind, but it works surprisingly well and it is really fun. I have played HL2 a couple of times and every time I try to replay it, I don't feel the want to finish it, but with VR it has reinvigurated my enjoyment of HL2. I wish it had the fidelity of Source 2 physics engine and be a bit more robust in interactions, but even with old Havoc physics it is pretty immersive.
Love how the first recommended video when i click on this video is "why half life 2 vr is an absolute nightmare"
As a HL fan since the previous century, I adopted VR solely for HL:A. It was AMAZING, but I didn’t buy the argument that things needed to be slowed down and dumbed down for VR. After playing HL2VR, I felt vindicated for feeling this way, as the mod team proved that you can make a full-fledged, unabridged half life game in VR, even for VR newbies like me. Obviously HL:A has stunning visuals, interactions, and Polish, and HL2 is nearly 20 years old, but I truly don’t know which VR experience is better. I usually play HL:A on hard with merciless, and must admit that the more “realistic” gameplay can be thrilling - meaning that you can get pinned down behind cover, and the slightest damage count instantly kill you…it gets your heart racing, and you feel like a boss when you can clear whole areas without taking a scratch. I would love a game that is halfway between HL:A and HL2VR - and maybe it will come
Agreed. I'm a middle-aged part-time gamer, sometimes go years without playing. So not exactly a master FPS player. But I easily finished Alyx on Hard. The enemy was dumb, slow-moving and sign-posted when they attacked. There was also a lack of brutal boss battles.
I later got the Quest 2 with Resi Evil 4. Played that on hardest-difficulty, full-immersion (so physically standing up, turning, ducking etc) and deactivated laser sights. What a revelation! That was the kind of tough all-action immersive VR-gameplay I wanted from Alyx. I'm now getting the same buzz from the Half-Life 2 VR mod.
When I go back to Alyx now, it feels way off the pace. Too slow, too easy.
I agree hl2 is more fun then Alex, but I have strong vr legs, and Alex was slowed down for noobs. When I played orange box in 2006 I remember the air boat section seemed like it took for ever. In vr it was one of my favorite sections hitting all the ramps
I havent tried half life 2 mod yet....but i have to say Half life alyx is still the best game ive ever played. its a masterpiece in my opinion.
I still play Alyx regularly and the Workshop content. I haven’t gone back to HL2:VR
Alyx does everything it can to make you feel like you've taken a step into that world
But playing half life 2 especielly the episodes in VR really make it feel like an adventure
Alyx does a really good job at being the first big AAA VR game
Something anyone can play and will give them the full experience to show them the extents of what VR can offer
However for more experienced players this can mean that its a bit more shallow than other half life games
We don't go to ravenholme *in VR*
Amazing. Half Life 2 is a great adventure after all. ❤ This makes me want a VR set.
Playing both on the VIVE I loved Alyx more Having said that, I played episode 2
Good points.
Have you tried HL2 Episode 1? I think its even better, feels like a native VR game, so much more than HL2"
I have not but I plan on it!
@@TheGamingDiscourse I highly recommend it. It feels like the HL mod team learned a lot from and improved on HL2 when it comes to the VR implementation. It feels a lot smother and polished overall
I really like HL:Alyx and I completely agree. It is a technical marvel, but It feels somewhere in between DLC and a full game to me. Just not quite there YET.
My first time playing HL2 was in VR, and I said the same thing. Alyx is amazing, easily one of the best made for VR games out there, but HL2 in VR was definitely better. Now I'm dying to play Black Mesa in VR.
does accessibility make sense if you turn away more people than you make it accessibly to?
My thought exatcly. Im now playing trough HL2 Episode 1. HL2 VR is just awesome!! Hopefully HL3 is like HL2 makes baby with Alyx added with some special sauce.
Haha - flight sim with VR teleportation... Maybe even add turn-based RPG elements to it 😂
Playing Alyx after Boneworks felt really restrictive. I loved games like Boneworks but it's just too good at so many things that so many games just feel antiquated and slow in a lot of ways lol.
This made me hyped to try out HL2 VR
you should try Half Life 1 VR as well if you havent already
half life 2 RTX in VR PLEASE?? HOLY MOLY MY QUEST 3 GONNA PAY OFF SO GOOD
What if Half-Life 2 was secretly developed in a way that would suit VR in the future (as seen from 2004)?
They need to release half life alyx 2
Half life 2 Vr was amazing, one of the things missing with Half life: Alyx was your sense of exploration. Half life 2 Vr gave you more freedom to explore the world around you where as Half life alyx felts lonely and cramped
Half life alyx is like what half life uplink was to half life, a fun demo that uses the same engine and has the same feeling. Only difference is that HL:A has no bigger counterpart so it feels like you just played a demo and now want to have more, the demo worked. But it wasn't a demo.
Have to disagree, have had way more fun with alyx than HL2 vr mod, it is fun but felt like a lot was missing for me and idk why, maybe i need some more weapon mods or well any for that matter. You do make some good points from lack of sprint to slower combat to the encounters not being creative enough but i can say even with the less than creative encounters and lack of guns in alyx I still over all had more fun with it.
I completed HL2 and half life alyx…. They both have pros and cons.
Half life 2 defo has more intense combats, smoother gameplay and an incredible feel. It’s amazing as a mod.
Half life alyx is defo the best looking vr game I’ve ever played. Visually stunning and incredible game all round. It’s better as a whole but combat is sluggish compared to half life 2.
At the end of the day half life alyx is arguably the best game ever made … so the fact that a half life 2 mod can compete says a lot.
VTOL is the perfect VR game. There are enough walking sims out there...
i agree and i dont like guns in hl alyx i need more guns
Motion sickness you can learn to get rid of. I had the issue when moving in game so could only use teleportation. However more I used VR, also trying different way to play, it became better. Now I cant play like Alyx without moving in the game, so no more teleportation is needed, also it kind of ruin some game experience. Btw, there is a "run mod" to HL Alyx, so recommend to get that and apply to Alyx and other mods, so you mpve faster.
Fps games are always perfect for vr. VR have billion more potential than flatscreen yet
developers just dumbed down the game which I hate
Half life 2 and the episodes in vr are by far my favourite vr experiences of all time and they will never be topped!
HLA is great and the mod campaigns add life to it, but the game and story don’t come close to HL2!
Im sick of vr games being neutered to appeal to the lowest common denominator. That's why everything feels like a tech demo
Half life Alex is the best vr shooter period
i want to play vr half life2 so badly but i absolutely hate my index. hate the cables, hate the base stations, hate having to set it up. by the time i am ready to play i already want to jump out and do something else. crazy thing is i bought the index for alyx and beatsaber almost 5 years ago but i never bought beatsaber lmao
the knuckles also don't work in most games and in some games like saints and sinners these controllers make you grab random things unwillingly.. even in half life2 vr mod which is literally a valve supported mod. hopefully the index2 will be more like the quest3 but with microoled displays and no more knuckles controller. in fact i think these companies need to look at vr headsets more as a replacement for your monitor and stop controlling the space as if motion controls somehow should be a part of vr. i bet vr is 10x better if they made them with normal controllers or mouse and keyboard in mind which is actually what i thought vr would be back in 2015 when valve experimented with team fortress 2 in vr but then they came out with those ridiculous motion controllers. don't get me wrong motion controllers can be a lot of fun but they shouldn't give it more attention than conventional controllers. most people just want to sit down and relax after school or work. also 3dof is more fun than 6dof in my opinion at least you can sit down and relax just look at the wii and games like the conduit or cod:waw
hl2 vr looks like it was made in 1997
No it doesn't
@@zoom0451 then perhaps I downloaded the wrong game. The one I started, where you pass through some sort of checkpoint looks like quake from 1996.
It is not like quality was set to low, it is poorly designed levels, lack of details, dumb looking machines and npcs… it was awful! Absolutely nothing like hl: alyx. Maybe I did something wrong? It is most surely not my hardware - I have a reasonable rtx 3070- it shouldn’t be the culprit here.
@@HelenoPaiva Sounds like you're just used to hyper realistic games, unless you're suffering from the weirdest visual glitch of all time
Also Half Life 2 has better level design then most games today wtf are you on about?
@@HelenoPaivaSo, you expected a game that was not meant for VR, and was also made in 2004, so be something like HL:Alyx that was made especially for VR, and released 3 years ago? Try playing HL2 standard first and then comparing it to VR.
@@MaxskiSynths yeah- 2004: take metal gear solid 3, far cry, need for speed 2, the sims 2- all these games were released on 2004, and they all look WAY better than that hl2 vr. Ok- I won’t compare it with Alyx, seems unfair enough. But o reckon I must be doing something wrong, right? Is it so that mgs3 looks way better than that game? It had graphics similar to
The first metal gear solid (psx)!
"future of half life" lol, lmao
I'm an early adopter of VR. Played Pavlov when it had many full servers. Then Half life Alyx came out, was one of the best worst games I've played. Visually it looked amazing but the combat felt like it was trying to appeal to toddlers. It would be a good introduction to VR though, if you're a vet it's a joke.
Got a VR headset just for HL:A and I loved the very gentle introduction to VR. Slow and dumb enemies, lots of great scenery and atmosphere. Haven't played the main campaign again, but looking back, I'm sure the fights would be boring as hell now. Fortunately, theres a lot of mod out there that offer a decent challenge and have kept me playing Alyx for the last 2 years now. Still have a backlog of mods I have to play.
I've always thought it interesting how HL:A always gets mentioned at the top of almost every VR games list when games like Into the Radius and Boneworks exist. I do fully believe HL:A is a great game and the modding scene is great, with full campaigns like Levitation and Return to Rapture, but there are definitely better VR games out there.
I've heard it said that "The reason you don't get many VR games is because a game needs to be designed from the ground up for VR". Which, both you and I know, is complete BS after you try some of the many very nice VR mods for games that exist. I mean, heck, people are playing Neon White in VR nowadays.
You don't really need to "design from the ground up for VR". Just having loose objects strewn about that you can pick up is something that benefits even mouse and keyboard players, except these days it's rare enough that we simply call games that do this "Immersive sims" because players will inevitably stack boxes to sequence break or something. There is a certain combat cadence seen in games like Doom (The original doom, I mean. Which, luckily enough, GZDoom has a VR port to prove my point), where enemies appear in higher numbers, but go down faster, that best suits VR. The lingering problem with Alyx's vanilla combat is that they toss slow moving bullet sponge enemies at you that feel like battles of attrition and endurance not positioning and tactical juggling, which, luckily, workshop mods for Alyx like Gunman Contracts or Merciless Half Life Alyx recognize as a problem and completely rebalance Alyx's combat to compensate.
Ultimately, it's a pacing issue. Half Life 2 had great pacing, thus a VR version would too. The issue is Valve wants to design their games to be _so accessible_ even game journalists could probably pick it up and breeze their way through it. They see something akin to Dean Takahashi failing the cuphead tutorial, and don't think, "Wow that guy is an idiot", they think "This is a game design problem to be solved, so we'll lower the platform for them even if it means they don't learn how to double jump dash." It's the sharpest double edged sword in Valve's arsenal.
_"...because a game needs to be designed from the ground up for VR". Which, both you and I know, is complete BS"_
Don't leave me out! I know it too!
Which game is better in pc vr than Alyx? HL2 is not, sry.
since I've finished it I've been saying that HL: Alyx is a great vr game not a great half life game I actually think boneworks has more similarities with half life in terms of core gameplay than HL: Alyx
It's either a great game or it isn't.
This it's a good game but not a good X game has been tired since the star wars prequel haters used it.
100% Not :D ...for a 20 year old game HL2 it's good. But it's 20 year old and you see and feel that everywhere - and the navigation on the Vive wards are a nightmare
Alyx is a master piece, L, cope, Ratio, Bozo.
maybe you dont like half life alyx because it's a AAA title. People have this natural urge to hate on AAA titles for no reason.
half life 2 is too
People loved BG3 despite its high budget pushing it into AAA territory. The problem with Alyx is that instead of pushing gaming forward, like the Portal and Half-Life games of old, Valve decided to iterate and polish what already exists, falling behind games like Boneworks and losing that cutting edge game design that made Valve games so unique.
great video, my thoughts exactly
Half Life 2 VR is more fun, plataformer, you can hit, jump, is so much better.
Dont give a shit half life 1 is still the best game in the franchise lol
its my favorite ice skating fps
HL1 is a masterpiece.