So Half-Life: Alyx is a window into the future of VR games. But it’s also a window that you can draw a lot of dicks on.
Australian game journalist and the former editor of GameArena, Joab Gilroy, was messing around with Half-Life: Alyx earlier this morning. But instead of just saving Alyx Vance’s father from a horrible fate, Gilroy also showed off the kind of fun you can have in VR that you don’t quite get in a normal game.
Like physically drawing a dick on a window.
#HalfLifeAlyx GAME. OF. THE. YEAR. pic.twitter.com/J20n4V2iYc
— Joab Gilroy (@Joabyjojo) March 23, 2020
There’s more silly windows in the game as well, which Gilroy naturally took full opportunity of:
Valve invented a whole new way to play games for me to do this pic.twitter.com/RkS7Lor1L1
— Joab Gilroy (@Joabyjojo) March 23, 2020
These kinds of interactions really highlight the difference with VR, and maybe something that VR hasn’t really fully capitalised on outside of social spaces like VR Chat and Rec Room. Like Nathan wrote in his review, being in VR means you’re responsible for all the actions. Physically reloading. Throwing objects at enemies. Slapping headcrabs away from your face. Dragging zombies around by the ankle. Manually putting ammo clips into your backpack.
That also means you can have fun moments that you wouldn’t expect, or couldn’t have. Dropping an ammo clip isn’t a thing that happens in a normal shooter. And neither is drawing dumb figures on unsuspecting NPC guards.
[referenced url=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/2020/03/half-life-alyx-the-kotaku-review/” thumb=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/03/half-life-alyx-review-410×231.png” title=”Half-Life: Alyx: The Kotaku Review” rel=”noopener” target=”_blank” excerpt=”Mere minutes into Half-Life: Alyx, I encountered a Strider. These behemoths cast ominous shadows on all who dare pass beneath them, their spindly legs and jagged haunches forming a silhouette of sheer threat. I gazed up at the Strider in awe. I could practically feel the wind buffet my face as it lumbered past the balcony I stood on. Then I raised both my hands high and flipped it off.”]
Now that everyone can see how good VR games can be, the question is: what comes next?
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