Half-Life Alyx Leaks: Everything You Need to Know
By Blake Toman
Half-Life Alyx leaks have emerged on a consistent stream since November, showing gameplay and environments; here's everything you need to know about them.
Half-Life Alyx Environment Leaks: Everything You Need to Know
The story of Half-Life Alyx starts and ends with leaks. The initial announcement of the game was itself the product of a leaked Game Awards 2019 presentation that prompted a confirmation from Valve that detailed a few of their plans for the game and a rough release date for sometime in March 2020. On Feb. 14, Valve officially announced that the game would be available on March 23.
The game is built for PC virtual reality systems like the Oculus Rift and Valve Index and attempts to intrigrate real life physics into the Half-Life universe. But there is no official word yet from Valve as to whether the game will remain a VR only offering, or if there is a planned release for consoles in the future.
Players will walk in the shoes of Alyx Vance as opposed to the usual protagonist of the series Gordon Freeman and will be set in the time between the first and second Half-Life games.
Based on a few screenshots leaked in January, there will be a few different environments, such as several grimy underground areas, a series of holding cells, and a canal area where something important to the story happens. It is apparent the design team at Valve has put in long hours at work to create lighting as vivid and detailed as pictured in the screenshots.
Half-Life Alyx Gameplay Leaks: Everything You Need to Know
From what we know so far, a feature similar to the Gravity Gun system that made Half-Life 2 a physics adventure will exist in Half-Life Alyx and is dubbed in the code as "Grabbity Gloves." Instead of walking over to an item and bending down to pick it up, players will be able to use a point and snag mechanic to pick up distant items. But it may be subject to some more realistic physics since it is in theory an earlier iteration of the Gravity Gun.
One feature of the older Half Life games is not going to featured in Half-Life Alyx according to early reports: the crowbar. There are rumors that the crowbar was tested during the game's development, but ran into issued that eventually forced its removal.