I can't believe Valve made a video game. A real one. Valve's back baby!

For reference:
GPU: RTX 2070 Super
CPU: Ryzen 7 3700X
RAM: 16GB 3200mhz
Headset: Oculus Rift S

Anyway, for an actual review of the game:
This is more a survival horror game than an action shooter like the rest of the series and the usual physics based puzzles have been replaced with these strange hacking games where you rotate orbs around. These can be frustrating, but not too bad once you get the hang of them. Some of the ones in the later parts of the game are quite irritating and it is easy to accidentally let go of the puzzle, causing you to have to start again...This is absolutely my least favourite part of the game, but it's not bad enough to make me not recommend it.

Combat is fun and it's a surreal experience to be hiding, genuinely fearing for my life behind a car while I get gunned down by Combine. I felt always immersed into the world of Half-Life while playing, thanks to great environments, visuals and that classic Valve writing showing they've clearly not lost their touch. The AI isn't always the most intelligent and apparently have no concept of object object permanence as I apparently no longer exist to them if I close a door in their face.

Opening doors can be a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ nightmare sometimes and there are a few other kind of janky parts that could be frustrating at times. In terms of performance, this game ran smoothly on high settings on my setup. There were a few hiccups in the later parts of the game where the framerate would tank only on loading, or if I opened the Oculus Home menu. The actual game itself ran well throughout.

Overall, I enjoyed my time with Alyx. This is a solid VR game and I hope that Valve will once again be setting trends here, leading to many more fully-fledged video games in VR as opposed to the smaller experiences that tend to be released. I hope if anyone actually reads this review that it might be helpful to the small number of us with headsets who are still on the fence about this game to make a decision.

Stay safe everyone!

I can't believe Valve made a video game. A real one. Valve's back baby! For reference: GPU: RTX 2070 Super CPU: Ryzen 7 3700X RAM: 16GB 3200mhz Headset: Oculus Rift S Anyway, for an actual review of the game: This is more a survival horror game than an action shooter like the rest of the series and the usual physics based puzzles have been replaced with these strange hacking games where you rotate orbs around. These can be frustrating, but not too bad once you get the hang of them. Some of the ones in the later parts of the game are quite irritating and it is easy to accidentally let go of the puzzle, causing you to have to start again...This is absolutely my least favourite part of the game, but it's not bad enough to make me not recommend it. Combat is fun and it's a surreal experience to be hiding, genuinely fearing for my life behind a car while I get gunned down by Combine. I felt always immersed into the world of Half-Life while playing, thanks to great environments, visuals and that classic Valve writing showing they've clearly not lost their touch. The AI isn't always the most intelligent and apparently have no concept of object object permanence as I apparently no longer exist to them if I close a door in their face. Opening doors can be a fucking nightmare sometimes and there are a few other kind of janky parts that could be frustrating at times. In terms of performance, this game ran smoothly on high settings on my setup. There were a few hiccups in the later parts of the game where the framerate would tank only on loading, or if I opened the Oculus Home menu. The actual game itself ran well throughout. Overall, I enjoyed my time with Alyx. This is a solid VR game and I hope that Valve will once again be setting trends here, leading to many more fully-fledged video games in VR as opposed to the smaller experiences that tend to be released. I hope if anyone actually reads this review that it might be helpful to the small number of us with headsets who are still on the fence about this game to make a decision. Stay safe everyone!