{"id":73101,"date":"2019-11-22T03:07:51","date_gmt":"2019-11-22T10:07:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.taterboy.com\/blog\/2019\/11\/welcome-back-to-city-17-valve-unveils-half-life-alyx-new-vr-game-set-for-release-in-march\/"},"modified":"2019-11-22T03:07:51","modified_gmt":"2019-11-22T10:07:51","slug":"welcome-back-to-city-17-valve-unveils-half-life-alyx-new-vr-game-set-for-release-in-march","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taterboy.com\/blog\/2019\/11\/welcome-back-to-city-17-valve-unveils-half-life-alyx-new-vr-game-set-for-release-in-march\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome back to City 17: Valve unveils \u2018Half-Life: Alyx,\u2019 new VR game set for release in March"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The new Gravity Gloves. (Source: Steam)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Valve Software\u2019s Half-Life: Alyx<\/a> <\/em>was officially unveiled Thursday morning. It\u2019s the first Half-Life <\/em>game since 2007 (not counting fan-made drama bombs like Hunt Down the Freeman<\/em><\/a>), and is a prequel set between the ending of Half-Life <\/em>and the beginning of Half-Life 2<\/em>, while Gordon Freeman is out of commission.<\/p>\n

Following the events at Black Mesa in the original Half-Life<\/em>, Earth was noticed, explored, and rapidly conquered by an interdimensional organization called the Combine<\/a>. In the next two decades, the Combine has slung the surviving human population into newly-built prison cities, among whom are Alyx and her father, Eli Vance. Here, as Alyx, you take the first steps towards establishing a resistance movement against the Combine.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Alyx <\/em>is \u201cbuilt from the ground up\u201d for virtual reality, around environmental interactions like quickly searching through shelves or using narrow holes in walls to make shots that would be impossible in a typical first-person view. Your character wears a rig on her hands, the \u201cGravity Gloves,\u201d a precursor to HL2<\/em>\u2019s gravity gun. This allows you to grab objects from a distance and manipulate them, or bring them within your reach.<\/p>\n

According to Valve\u2019s David Speyrer, speaking with the Verge<\/a>, Alyx <\/em>is not a tech demo or a side story. It\u2019s considered by Valve to be the next chapter in the Half-Life <\/em>series, and will take about as long for a player to complete as Half-Life 2 <\/em>did.<\/p>\n

Speyrer also says that it\u2019s a good idea for players to go back through 2007\u2019s Half-Life: Episode Two <\/em>before diving into Alyx<\/em>, for ominous plot-related reasons. The trailer does end with a creepy shot of the new, current-generation look for Half-Life<\/em>\u2019s infamous G-Man<\/a>, the time- and space-defying conspiracist.<\/p>\n

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Alyx <\/em>will ship with a set of Source 2 tools updated for virtual reality, enabling the mod community to crack into the environments on day one. The Valve Hammer Editor<\/a> has already been updated with Alyx<\/em>\u2019s VR-specific components. I\u2019d imagine this is low-key the real story of Alyx<\/em>, as Half-Life <\/em>has traditionally been as much about its conversions and fan content as the game itself, like how Counter-Strike <\/em>began as a Half-Life <\/em>mod; this could theoretically spawn a new generation of VR-enabled hobbyist developers.<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s not exclusive to Valve\u2019s Index system, Alyx <\/em>players who own an Index will get the game for free and receive unique bonus content, including Alyx <\/em>environments for SteamVR Home, alternative gun skins, and special unrevealed cosmetics for Counter-Strike <\/em>and Defense of the Ancients 2<\/em>. Alyx <\/em>is also planned to be playable at launch on the Oculus Rift, the HTC Vive, and Oculus Quests via the new Link cable.<\/p>\n

Alyx <\/em>is meant as Valve\u2019s \u201cflagship\u201d game for virtual reality, marking the company\u2019s big debut on the platform following two years of teasing their developments. This is Valve\u2019s first big single-player game in 8 years, after Portal 2.<\/em><\/p>\n

Most crucially, however, it\u2019s hard to overstate how big a deal it is that Half-Life<\/em>, in any form, is actually back. 2007\u2019s Episode 2 <\/em>ended with a massive cliffhanger<\/a>, and in the ensuing 12 years, there\u2019s been no word whatsoever about a theoretical Episode Three. <\/em>Imagine if George Lucas had inexplicably decided to do other things for a decade instead of making Return of the<\/em> Jedi<\/em>, and you\u2019ve got an idea of how Half-Life <\/em>fans have felt for the last 12 years. Even though Alyx <\/em>is an \u201cinterquel,\u201d it still represents forward motion for a series that, as recently as a month ago, seemed like it had been allowed to wither on the vine.<\/p>\n

Half-Life: Alyx <\/em>is available for pre-order via Steam for $59.99, and has a planned release date of March 2020.<\/p>\n

\n

Set between the events of Half-Life and Half-Life 2, Alyx Vance and her father Eli discover a secret that leads them into the heart of the Combine’s occupation of City 17.<\/p>\n

As Alyx, give humanity its last chance for survival. https:\/\/t.co\/ApxdkAdzAX<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/00V2cD1zV7<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Valve (@valvesoftware) November 21, 2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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The new Gravity Gloves. (Source: Steam) Valve Software\u2019s Half-Life: Alyx was officially unveiled Thursday morning. It\u2019s the first Half-Life game since 2007 (not counting fan-made drama bombs like Hunt Down the Freeman), and is a prequel set between the ending of Half-Life and the beginning of Half-Life 2, while Gordon Freeman is out of commission…. Read the full article…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":73102,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[174,377],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-games-media","category-gaming"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t