While Half-Life Alyx will land on March 23rd, 2020, in 3 short weeks, on Steam where it's already possible to pre-order it with a 10% discount ($44,99 instead of $49,99). For all SteamVR compatible headset, including the Valve Index, the Oculus Rift, the HTC Vive and the WMR headset, Valve offers us 3 gameplay videos highlighting not only the 3 modes of locomotion offered but also allowing us to enjoy various environments of the game.
The first video takes place in the subway where Alyx Vance moves thanks to the Teleportation mode in the middle of City 17 inhabitants transformed into zombies by head crabs. Remember that Half-Life Alyx is located between episodes 1 and 2 of Half-Life as the Resistance begins to take shape. This is also the occasion to show the prowess achieved on the management of physics by the game.
The second video, on the other hand, focuses on the Free mode of movement also possible and propels us to the heart of the Xen infestation. However, this mode is much more immersive and requires you not to be too sensitive to motion sickness or to be used to RV. However, given the progress made lately to combat motion sickness, we are counting on Valve to handle this properly. There is also a hacking phase here in the form of a jigsaw puzzle to be solved.
The last video, finally, comes to the surface to admire City 17 through a shooting between Alyx and the military. We can thus see the various weapons and possibilities offered to our rebel to face adversity, including the possibility of catching grenades on the fly, as well as the ability to seize objects from a distance, to send them back to his opponents, or to use the various elements of the scenery to protect himself and take cover. The mode of movement presented here is the Shift mode, which lies between the two previous proposals. It looks like teleportation but with a camera that slides between occupied positions rather than switching directly to the new one.
What finally stands out in these 3 videos is the quality of the graphics observed. The work done with the Source 2 engine seems to work wonders. At the same time, it must be said that a team of 80 people are working on the game, the biggest ever employed by Valve on a title even though it is VR and is therefore still intended for a limited audience. The idea remains however to democratize this technology, while promoting the Valve Index and its controllers, which can already be considered a success considering the number of products sold. Unfortunately, the stock-outs aggravated by the arrival of the Coronavirus may unfortunately delay access to the game for a certain number of fans.
Finally, those who have ordered the Valve hardware and who will therefore benefit from the game for free will be able to take advantage of the first bonuses offered in the form of SteamVR Home environments from the game's universe as of Wednesday.
The latest Hideo Kojima game is about to enter PC market and the Epic Game Store as well. Pre-orders for Death Stranding are open with various bonuses.
