Half-Life: Alyx is a brand-new flagship VR experience from Valve
UPDATE (19/11/2019): Valve has confirmed the existence of Half Life: Alyx, a VR exclusive title which is set to be revealed this coming Thursday. The announcement was made in a tweet by the acclaimed gaming company earlier today.
We’re excited to unveil Half-Life: Alyx, our flagship VR game, this Thursday at 10am Pacific Time.
Can’t wait to share it with all of you! pic.twitter.com/BupFCxSrTw
— Valve (@valvesoftware) November 18, 2019
A recent rumour suggests that Valve will unveil Half Life: Alyx at The Game Awards this December, acting as a new chapter in the iconic shooter’s universe.
The report comes from a leaker known as “Midoryan” who is known previously to have unveiled the existence of Dota Underlords, adding some weight to this new leak’s credibility.
Half Life: Alyx will be a VR exclusive launching in March 2020, according to the report. It remains unknown whether it will carry on the narrative cliffhanger left behind by Half Life 2: Episode 2, which launched alongside The Orange Box over a decade ago.
November 19 will mark the 19th anniversary of the original Half Life, and will apparently be when Valve will spill the beans on Half Life: Alyx ahead of its formal reveal at The Game Awards next month, but we’ll believe it when we see it.
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The report quotes an interview between Geoff Keighley and Robin Walker (co-creator of Team Fortress 2) and an unnamed third individual who many believe is Gabe Newell himself.
“I mean we would love to be delivering a version of this that you could play with a mouse and a keyboard, but like as we said, it began as an exploration of VR,” reads the transcript when someone is questioning about bringing Half Life into the world of virtual reality.
We have no idea how Half Life: Alyx will play, but it will presumably be a first-person shooter experience through the medium of VR, which the interview alludes to: “You can see their whole body– Respond to the situation. You know, panicking, dropping clips on the ground as they fumble their weapons ’cause a zombie’s in front of them, all these things, they’re just – it’s been really fun watching playtests.”
Time will tell whether this project becomes a reality, since it’s certainly one we’d love to play for ourselves. Half Life 2 and its episodic sequences are all wonderful, acting as some of the genre’s highest watermarks. If they can pull off the same iconic impact in virtual reality, we’re in for a treat.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.