It's been quite the year since we launched Half-Life: Alyx, our full-length virtual reality return to Half-Life. Shortly after its debut, we enabled Steam Workshop support to open the doors for the creativity of mod-makers and make it easy for players to expand on the Alyx experience. Later in 2020, we released over 3.5 hours of developer commentary, adding a new way to experience Alyx while hearing directly from the team about how we built the game. We are grateful to have been honored by our industry as well as the community of Half-Life: Alyx players. As developers, there is nothing more rewarding (or terrifying) than releasing your work to the public. We are both proud of what we put out and humbled by how it has been received. In addition to receiving nominations from the D.I.C.E. Awards and BAFTA, Half-Life: Alyx won a slate of awards including:

• GameSpot: Game of the Year 2020
• Destructoid: PC Platform Game of the Year
• The Game Awards: Best VR/AR Game
• VR Focus Awards: Game of the Year
• 2020 VR Awards: Game of the Year

As we close out the first year, the number of mods created and shared via the Steam Workshop is in the hundreds, ranging from simple model replacements to full-on campaign experiences. With over 800 now available to try, we thought it would be interesting to shine a light on some of these great mods available to the community, so we enlisted the help of journalist, writer, and Alyx-mod-aficionado Craig Pearson to play and write about his favorites. https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/546560/view/3032584660736119720 We are super grateful to the Half-Life community, and we hope this post gives you a chance to enjoy Alyx in some new ways. Gaming has been a much-needed bright spot for a lot of us in this past year, and we consider ourselves lucky to be a part of it.

[ 2021-03-23 16:56:48 CET ] [ Original post ]

Half-Life: Alyx is Valve’s VR return to the Half-Life series. It’s the story of an impossible fight against a vicious alien race known as the Combine, set between the events of Half-Life and Half-Life 2.

Playing as Alyx Vance, you are humanity’s only chance for survival. The Combine’s control of the planet since the Black Mesa incident has only strengthened as they corral the remaining population in cities. Among them are some of Earth’s greatest scientists: you and your father, Dr. Eli Vance.

As founders of a fledgling resistance, you’ve continued your clandestine scientific activity—performing critical research, and building invaluable tools for the few humans brave enough to defy the Combine.

Every day, you learn more about your enemy, and every day you work toward finding a weakness.

ABOUT GAMEPLAY IN VR:

Valve’s return to the Half-Life universe that started it all was built from the ground up for virtual reality. VR was built to enable the gameplay that sits at the heart of Half-Life.

Immerse yourself in deep environmental interactions, puzzle solving, world exploration, and visceral combat.

Lean to aim around a broken wall and under a Barnacle to make an impossible shot. Rummage through shelves to find a healing syringe and some shotgun shells. Manipulate tools to hack alien interfaces. Toss a bottle through a window to distract an enemy. Rip a Headcrab off your face and throw it out the window.

COMMUNITY-BUILT ENVIRONMENTS

A set of Source 2 tools for building new levels is included with the game, enabling any player to build and contribute new environments for the community to enjoy through Half-Life: Alyx's Steam Workshop. Hammer, Valve’s level authoring tool, has been updated with all of the game's virtual reality gameplay tools and components.