Robin Walker, veteran programmer and designer at Valve, has announced their upcoming Half-Life: Alyx will transition the storied franchise to VR in a natural and organic way that will keep the game feeling familiar yet set up the series for the future. Walker has worked on some of Valve's most renowned titles since 1996 including Counter-Strike, Half-Life 2, and Dota 2. The long-awaited prequel to Half-Life 2 is set to release March 23, 2020.
It has been 13 years since Half-Life 2: Episode 2, which was the last time an entry in the series was released. For those wanting to get caught up in preparation for Alyx, Valve has temporarily made all games in the Half-Life series free-to-play through March 2020. The new title is being developed to work on most major VR platforms but offers the best experience on Valve's proprietary Index headset. The Index also includes a free copy of Half-Life: Alyx upon purchase, which has resulted in a massive shortage due to an immense amount of pre-orders. Fortunately, Valve's Index headsets will be back in stock next week.
In an interview conducted by Ben Reeves of Game Informer, Walker answers how Valve will maintain the iconic game feel of Half-Life in the upcoming VR title. In a simple statement, he says "...the game feels like Half-Life because it is Half-Life." He's talking in reference to how the developers started the project by taking systems, assets, and mechanics from Half-Life 2 and used them as a basic foundation for experimentation. Surprised by the result, he recalls "...Half-Life's set of mechanics was a surprisingly natural fit for VR, even before any of the necessary work was done to deeply integrate them into the medium." He affirms that the experiments done in VR for the project were "very fertile ground" for the series moving forward.
Very few VR titles have yet to attempt the scope and cohesive depth that Half-Life: Alyx is promising. The new game is planned to be as big as Half-Life 2. Walker confirms this by revealing "Half-Life: Alyx is a full-fledged entry in the Half-Life series, both in terms of the sheer amount of content as well as the importance and substance of its narrative relative to the rest of the series." The amount of content that Walker mentions is hinted at in several gameplay demos. The videos demonstrate a plethora of scenarios where players have the ability for highly meticulous, tactile manipulation of their surrounding environments. Some of these scenarios find the player picking through items in a locker to find an ammo magazine that they physically load into their handgun, reaching through a broken window to unlock a door from the other side, and pulling open a car door to shield themselves from oncoming bullets.
The Half-Life franchise has lasted generations and aged exquisitely. Part of this is due in part by the intricate physics systems which comprised a crucial cornerstone of Half-Life 2's gameplay. These systems make the series a natural choice for VR, a medium which revolves heavily around manipulation of physics objects. Half-Life has always pushed technical boundaries, and Half-Life: Alyx looks to set a new standard by offering an experience that will stand as a pivotal benchmark in the future of VR technology and immersive entertainment equivalent to the impact Orwell's 1984 had on society and culture during its time.
Source: Game Informer
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