UPDATE: UPDATE: Valve has confirmed to us that you can now toggle an option that will have Barnacles pull you up. See the Barnacles section below.
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Our IGN First for Half-Life: Alyx is well underway this month, with new gameplay, some commentary from Valve, and our hands-on preview!
While we've got plenty more to come, last week we asked you to leave the burning questions about Half-Life: Alyx you wanted us to answer based on the four hours Ryan McCaffrey and I have each played. And this week, we've got answers!
We couldn't answer every question as there are still things we can’t reveal just yet (including many story and mechanic-specific details) but here are some of the top suggestions and ones we liked (edited very lightly for clarity), organized by question and answered by me and Ryan.
What’s movement like?
MrBurnsReturns: I'm curious to how you managed to tolerate free movement vs teleport movement? Is it viable to free move through the entire game?
Dipman: Which of the three movement options is the least nauseating? And are there any unavoidable portions of the game that can make you dizzy or lightheaded regardless of which method you're using?
BritBayonet: Did you try different modes of movement? Which ones do you think worked the best? Were head crabs absolutely terrifying?
Ryan: I ended up only using the middle movement option -- the quick zip that’s between teleport and full walking. I want to try the walk when I sit down to play it at home, but I was so entrenched in the game, knowing my time was limited, that I just wanted to go-go-go at Valve. No nausea for me on that setting, thankfully! I even went down a long elevator at one point and didn’t get that weird feeling in my stomach that I’ve had in other VR games. And yeah, the headcrabs are most definitely scarier than ever when they’re leaping right at your face. :-)
Tom: I can second Ryan on the rare elevator ride being the only thing I saw that might unavoidably affect you in a negative way (and also that headcrabs are terrifying). I also mostly played with the quick zip, and I think the answer to free movement is a personal one. If you find you can manage it in other VR games, I don’t have any reason to think you won’t here. And if it makes you uneasy elsewhere, Alyx will probably be no different. But I was entirely comfortable playing with teleport movement!
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Could it run on PSVR?
Phoenixlau: Given what you have played so far, how easily do you feel Half-Life: Alyx could be ported to PSVR, given the lower power spec and control scheme differences? Do you think the overall experience would survive essentially intact, e.g. Witcher 3 on Switch?
Boriordan: Do you think it could run on PS4? What about the controls?
Tom: It’s an interesting question, and one Ryan and I can only speculate on. The question of “could the PS4 and PSVR actually handle running this game” is one I can’t answer, I don’t make games! But Valve has done enough work to make sure Alyx operates as expected across so many different headsets and control styles (and has designed the actual levels and controls to enable that flexibility) that I would at least guess they could get the movement stuff working on the now hilariously outdated Move controllers.
Ryan: As Tom said, all we can do is speculate. My gut says that PSVR and the PS4 wouldn’t run Alyx at an image quality and/or framerate that Valve would find acceptable, but Valve is much smarter and more talented than I am, so who knows? But I would not hold my breath waiting for a PSVR version. Maybe PSVR2 in a couple years, if Sony decides to stick with VR on PS5?
Are there loading screens?
Tri-slide: Do the levels load seamlessly or is there a static loading screen? Or are there loading "rooms" you wait in while the next thing loads?
Tom: There are loading screens, different visually but almost identical in function to those in Half-Life 2. Occasionally (though really not too frequently) you’ll reach a dead end or empty hallway where an overlay interrupts you saying it’s loading, and before too long it fades away and you can keep on trucking.
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What’s the deal with Barnacles?
TKFTGuillotine: I assume the change in Barnacles' behaviour has something to do with some people feeling uncomfortable being "lifted." Is there any hope of this being added back in as an option (similar to teleport and free movement both being options)?
UPDATE: Valve has confirmed to us that you can now toggle an option that will have Barnacles pull you up. This was added in since our visit to Valve.
Does this feel like a step forward for VR games/will it make an impact?
Junomesh: Does it feel like a step forward for VR or does the VR feel like a gimmick?
Jimmon10: Did you see anything in this game mechanics, physical interaction, etc that lead you to believe this is a step forward and something that hasn't been done yet in VR? Not asking for specifics just generally wondering if most of this has already been done in VR but this time it's done by Valve with a great IP and attention to detail.
KBABZ: How does the game seem to compare to the bigger VR titles like Astro Bot Rescue Mission and No Man's Sky?
Pastawithlegs111: Do you think the game will make a lasting impact on gaming?
Alucard2003: Do you believe this game could revolutionize VR gaming the same way Half-Life did for gaming?
Ryan: I honestly don’t know what it would take at this point for VR to go totally mainstream, like console gaming. I’m not sure one game can bear that burden. But I am confident that Half-Life: Alyx is BY FAR the most compelling reason to play a video game in VR that’s existed thus far. It will make sense that this HAD to be a VR game as soon as you play it. If Valve ported this out of VR to regular PC-monitor gaming, it would lose the soul of what makes it compelling.
Tom: I feel the same way about this making sense why it’s VR once you play it, it's not just a gimmick. To answer Jimmon1 specifically, I think it’s the second part: Alyx isn’t doing a whole lot we haven’t seen elsewhere, but I’ve never played a VR game that does it in such a complete, refined package. To Alucard2003, I wouldn’t be surprised if Alyx has a similar impact on VR games that Half-Life did generally – I think people are potentially going to play this and say “Oh, THAT’S what a full-budget VR game can be.”
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Does this mean more Half-Life?
Mjinvr: Do you think through this game, Valve will someday - not long from now - be able to count up to that elusive number?
Tom: Only time will tell for the fabled 1+2 specifically, but Valve at least told us that Alyx has indeed made them want to make more Half-Life games in general! You can check out Ryan’s interview about that here.
Ryan: As you’ll also hear in my interview with Gabe Newell next week, yes, Valve seems to have reopened the door to Half-Life, rather than slam it shut after Alyx ships. I am not sure we’ll see a Half-Life 3, though; my sense is that Valve wants to keep playing in VR. Unless...Half-Life 3 is in VR? It’s Valve so they’ll do it if they want to; it doesn’t matter if it only sells 100,000 copies. They have Steam to fund anything they want with seemingly no financial risks.
Are there large, open areas like in Half-Life 2?
Mavox: Are there any larger, more open environments like in Half-Life 2? Always loved that worn, desolate coastline. Even though it was still linear, it felt open. Anything like that in Alyx?
Tom: Not that I saw. In general, Alyx’s level design seemed to actually be more condensed sometimes – mind you, that’s not a criticism. Playing in VR drastically changes the proper pacing and movement of an FPS, and Alyx uses that to its advantage by making dense levels that twist around on themselves in cool ways and feel full of tiny detail. But also remember, we only played four hours, so there could always be something we didn’t see!