Half-Life: Alyx

About

Half-Life: Alyx is a virtual reality video game set in the Half-Life universe developed by Valve. Announced on November 18th, 2019 and presented on November 21, 2020, the game was released on March 23rd to universal critical acclaim.

History

On November 17th, 2019, a leaked interview between Valve designer Robin Walker, gaming journalist Geoff Keighley and an unknown person was leaked online.^[1][2] In the interview, Geoff Keighley said that in March 2020, virtual reality video game Half-Life: Alyx would be released.

On November 18th, 2019, Valve officially announced Half-Life: Alyx, a VR game set in the Half-Life universe and the first installment in the series since the release of Half-Life 2: Episode Two in 2007.^[3] The game was set to be unveiled on November 21st at 10am PDT.

While no additional details about the game were given by Valve, many players surmised that Half-Life character Alyx Vance, who debuted in Half-Life 2 in 2004, would become the protagonist of the new game.^[4][5] On November 21st, 2019, Valve uploaded the trailer for the game to YouTube, with the game being made available for pre-purchase on Steam (shown below).^[9][10] On the same day, a press release was issued by Valve.^[11]

The game was officially released on Steam^[12] on March 23rd, 2020.

Gameplay

In the game, set before the events Half-Life 2, the player takes on the role of Alyx Vance, a major NPC character introduced in Half-Life 2. The gameplay of Half Life: Alyx includes elements of exploration, combat and puzzle, with the game being approximately as long as Half-Life 2. The game requires a VR headset to be played, with no flat-screen option planned.

In the game, the player uses VR to get supplies, engage in combat, grab and throw objects and othervise interact with the game surroundings (gameplay demonstration shown below).

Reception

Following the Half-Life: Alyx announcement in November 2019, multiple posts about the game were posted in gaming communities on Reddit, 4chan and other online platforms. For example, a post about the announcement in /r/gaming received over 129,000 upvotes in 15 hours.^[6]

Upon release, the game was met with acclaim both from critics and players. As of March 24th, the game maintained a 92 average critic score on Metacritic^[13] with 26 reviews, and 8.7 average user score based on over 510 ratings. On Steam,^[14] the game had a 97% approval rating with over 4,900 user reviews.

Andy Robinson of Video Games Chronicle^[15] wrote:

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

Michael Higham of GameSpot^[16] wrote:

Half-Life: Alyx proves that almost everything the franchise did best is elevated by VR: the environmental puzzles that require a keen eye, the threat of a headcrab jumping for your face, the cryptic storytelling. The series' staples are as great as ever here, and in its most powerful moments, Half-Life: Alyx confidently shows you why it couldn't have been done any other way.

On Twitch,^[17] the game peaked with over 304,400 simultaneous viewers on March 23rd, 2020.

Related Memes

Window Drawings

Following the release of the game, users on Reddit, Twitter and other online platforms shared clips and images of marker drawings made in the game. For example, a March 23rd, NSFW clip posted by Redditor^[18] iN1njaCPFC received over 52,700 upvotes in /r/gaming in 12 hours. A NSFW clip posted by Twitter^[19] user @Greenskull on the same day received over 4,000 views in the same period.

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Video Call Replacements

Video Call Replacements refers to the practice of replacing the Eli Vance's video call in the beginning of the game with other videos. This can be executed by replacing the intro_world_heist.webm in the game's files.The trend saw spread following a viral post by Twitter^[20] user @AverageJoeSFM made in which they replaced the call with Big Bill Hell's fake advertisement (shown below).

So it turns out that some of the monitor footage inside of #HalfLifeAlyx are just webms inside a folder, AKA you can change it to whatever you want. Already contributed my part pic.twitter.com/9pJxD9gP2j

— ThatAverageJoe (@AverageJoeSFM) March 26, 2020

Valve Can't Count to Three

While Half-Life: Alyx did not have number three in its name, many players considered the game the third standalone installment in the series, which spawned posts about Valve breaking the long-running Valve Can't Count to Three meme (example posts shown below).^[7][8]

Search Interest

External References