Half-Life: Alyx: Everything You Need to Know

Half-Life: Alyx is now official! Valve’s iconic franchise has returned.Taking place before the events of Half-Life 2, this game has been anticipated for over a decade. Fans of the franchise are ecstatic about the launch of this game, which comes out in March 2020. This is a PC VR game, being the first full-game VR experience Valve has ever pushed out.

Half-Life: Alyx: Everything You Need to Know

Valve officially announced their new game on Twitter on November 18.

Half-Life Alyx is in reference to the protagonist Gordon Freeman’s closest ally named Alyx Vance, who last appeared in Half-Life 2. The last time we saw a Half-Life release was in 2007, where the game was left on a cliffhanger. There was a fanfic which came out from former Valve writer Marc Laidlaw, which barely continued the Half-Life story. Valve rarely goes for a third game, with franchises like Portal and Team Fortress only having two games.

Valve released their own VR gaming device called the Valve Index. This device is unique because it lets you grip things in-game with your individual fingers. Hopefully the game is as ambitious as the device it was made for.

Half-Life: Alyx: Who is Alyx Vance?

Warning: potential spoilers for the Half-Life series.

Alyx appeared in Half-Life 2 and helps on your quest to defeat the Combine: an authoritarian race which rules over people’s lives. She appears in most of the game with you, only as NPC. She is the daughter of Eli Vance, who is a scientist that helps form the resistance which relocated to the dystopian world of City 17. Alyx helps in-game by hacking Combine technology and holding herself up while fighting.

Alyx broke new grounds as far as NPCs were concerned in 2007. She was helpful throughout gameplay, not being annoying with repetitive dialogue or having to be micromanaged.

At the end of Half-Life 2: Episode 2, Gordon and Alyx are searching for an Aperture Science facility. The Combine attack them, and Eli doesn’t make it out alive. The game ends with Alyx holding her father in her hands.

This prequel will hopefully show more of the relationship between father and daughter Eli and Alyx. Stay tuned for more information coming from Valve about this highly anticipated game. 

Photo courtesy of Valve