Half-Life: Alyx

Half-Life: Alyx has set a new bar for VR in interactivity, detail, and level design, showing what can happen when a world-class developer goes all-in on the new frontier of technology.

Half-Life: Alyx is a tremendous VR experience that captures and elevates what makes the series special.

City 17 provides the setting for a VR adventure filled with brilliant detailing.

With old friends, new enemies, and an exciting story, revisiting City 17 in VR is a thrill in Half-Life: Alyx.

Valve has succeeded at just about every goal it must have had for this project. The only thing left is whether hardcore fans will be willing to buy, and use, a virtual reality headset in order to learn what happens next in the world of Half-Life. The good news is that those who do will experience what is likely the best VR game released to date.

Not just a Half-Life game, but an invitation to live in its world.

The dense campaign never lets up with surprising reveals, new enemies, and witty dialogue to carry you through the exciting journey

The classic shooter series gains a thrilling new perspective, thanks to VR tech that works symbiotically with the narrative

“Half-Life’s” ties to survival-horror shine in “Alyx.” One enemy that most who have played “Half-Life” will remember are the Barnacles — monstrosities that attach themselves to the ceiling and dangle their long, thin, dark tongues close to the ground. VR makes their presence more unnerving. A random moment I loved happened when I pulled an object toward me that a Barnacle caught then with its tongue and devoured. I moved into place underneath it while carefully avoiding its grotesque appendage and fired a few shots, killing it and causing it to spit up my item. In that moment, and several others, I felt noticeably transported to one of the most vivid science fiction worlds I’ve experienced.

A stunning return for Half-Life and an essential VR purchase - if you have the required equipment and space.