I’ve been using the names ‘Half-Life Alyx’ and ‘Half-Life 3’ interchangeably, thinking
you knew what I meant, but this being the internet, many of you have leapt to your keyboards
to correct me, telling me that Half-Life 3 isn’t Half-Life 3 because blah blah blah
stupid reasons etc. But I too can be petty and pedantic and hence,
this video. Half-Life Alyx is Half-Life 3 because it’s
the third BIG Half-Life game. Some of you have been calling it Half Life
1.5 because chronologically it’s set between Half-Life 1 and Half-Life 2. But while I agree
with you in that 3 Half Lives do indeed make 1.5, it is NOT Half Life 1.5 because that
would involve Valve getting strangely nostalgic, returning to Half Life 1’s engine, making
large adjustments to it (Like maybe adding VR support!) and then making a game around
that. But that is not what Half-Life Alyx is.
Half Life Alyx is bigger than that. It’s bigger than Half-Life 1.5. It’s bigger than
2. It might even be worthy of a 3!
Tell you what- I’ll humour you. Imagine that on March 23rd, 2020, instead of Half-Life
Alyx, we got Half Life 3. What would have been different about it? The story would be
set after Half-Life 2, instead of before it. You’d have played as Gordon Freeman instead
of Alyx. And there would have been less dialogue to listen to. But apart from that… nothing
else would be different! At least, nothing that would impact how GOOD it is.
It would still be Source 2. The graphics would be of a similar quality. The gameplay would
have similar mechanics! Like I’ve said, the only thing noticeably different about
it would have been the story. For argument’s sake, I’m sure some of you will say that
the story is what you care most about from a new Half-Life game. Well, you’re in luck-
because it’s already out. If you don’t like spoilers then CLOSE YOUR EYES NOW. Because
here, on screen, is the next bit of the Half Life story, released in 2017, by Marc Laidlaw,
the writer for Half-Life. You’re welcome. Oh I’m sorry, you’re not satisfied with
that? Do you feel like something’s missing? Maybe THE REST OF THE EXPERIENCE?! Again,
you’re in luck! …because we’re getting that next month with Half-Life Alyx. You can
open your eyes again now, by the way.
‘But Half-Life Alyx is a VR-spin-off!’ I hear you cry. ‘Half Life 3 wouldn’t
have been VR!!!’. I disagree. Look at Valve. They have been working away in secret on VR
for years. They’re a company that’s not afraid to scrap something if it isn’t up
to their standards. Yet they have announced a new VR-only Half-Life game. Clearly, they
believe in VR. They think it adds something to games that can’t be had from a normal
PC setup. The question we’ve got to ask isn’t ‘Will Half Life 3 be in VR’, but
rather ‘How could Half Life 3 NOT be in VR’. Because the only way I see them returning
to the flat screen will be if VR proves to be a disastrous waste of time. I suspect,
from the fact they’ve announced Half-Life Alyx, that Valve already knows it won’t
be… and I think, after the game’s release, we’ll know as well.
I’m going to be blunt here- VR is fantastic. Put it on and within seconds you lose yourself
in a virtual world. Stuff you wouldn’t think anything of in normal games suddenly becomes
something to obsess about, be it a swing, a 50-foot drop, or a headcrab leaping at your
face. The only thing as fun as using VR is watching other people experiencing it for
the first time. Get on the bandwagon early and you can be the one to give them that.
I have had endless fun pushing my Mum off buildings, or watching my Dad abuse a dog
with a bow and arrow. Or watching as my Grandad suddenly ‘gets’ the appeal of a virtual
world, as he peers about it, open-mouthed. Or surprising some one to their first close-quarters
engagement with a zombie! Or watching my friend, who’s an avid boxer, fearlessly take one
on with a flurry of punches. I am yet to see somebody who DOESN’T like
VR. A lot of the hate for it that I see online
is probably from people who either haven’t experienced it, or who are unable to buy a
VR kit. And I get it- it sucks if you can’t afford it. A VR headset is a big investment.
The one good thing that’s come from the 16 years between Half-Life 2 and now is that
all my friends who have been waiting for it for that time are now adults, most with their
own places and earning decent money- but even for them it’s a big investment! I can only
imagine the frustration of being young or in a position where you are unable to afford
it. But to hate on the technology is being short-sighted. You’d have to be blind not
to see VR’s appeal! Also, ignore those who claim it costs thousands
of dollars- they’re just ignorant. I have made a guide to help educate and to inform
people of the cheapest ways of building a VR-ready rig. It isn’t as expensive as you
might think, but I do understand that some people will still not be able to afford it.
But to demand the next Half-Life isn’t VR for that reason is to destroy how great Half-Life
3 could be. I’m actually impressed that Valve has managed
to find something as controversial as VR to bundle with a new Half-Life game. I really
thought that requiring an internet connection for Half-Life 2 was about as risky as they
could have gone, but it’s good to see that Valve can still upset so many people in the
present day.
Unlike Valve, I’m not afraid of calling the game Half-Life 3. I understand that if
you’re at Valve, developing the sequel to Half-Life 2, you have a hellolalot of pressure
weighing down on you. Think of the nostalgia! Today’s increased standards for games. The
decades of memes weighing down on you. The idea that Half-Life 3 won’t live up to its
impossible expectations must be terrifying. I think that’s part of the reason they avoided
straight-up calling it Half-Life 3 and following on from where the Half-Life 2 episodes left
off. I also think it’s part of the reason they went down the VR route, to stop direct
comparisons with anything else out there. I think the only Half-Life game Valve could
have released in 2020 that I wouldn’t have considered to be Half-Life 3 would have been
Episode 3. And I’d have been as disappointed as everybody else if it had been just another
episode of Half-Life 2. After such a long time, people expect more. And so I’m happy
that the Half-Life series has gone down such an unexpected and radical route.
And if you’re still not convinced Half-Life Alyx is Half Life 3, it’s onto my last,
and strongest argument. The idea of jumping back into the Half-Life
universe in VR makes me go… ‘yeah’. You know what else made me go ‘yeah’?
…playing Half Life 1 for the first time. Or getting the gravity gun in Half Life 2,
and using it to pick something up. ‘Yeah’. It’s the kind of cutting-edge, ground-breaking
experience that will redefine what you expect from future games. It burns a vivid memory
into your mind that will be there forever more. That, every time you think back to it,
you go… ‘yeah’. You know what didn’t? Those Half-Life 2
episodes. They were good! The first time I played them through from start to finish in
a single session. I can’t fault their quality. But they weren’t magical. They were just
more of the same. They didn’t come with the excitement, the new technology and the
leap in quality that Half-Life 2 had come with. There was a magic to Half-Life 1 and
Half Life 2 in how they raised the bar in so many different ways that you hadn’t even
thought as possible before you experienced them. I remember watching those Half-life
2 preview videos so many times, I thought I’d know exactly what it would be like to
play those sections! Yet somehow, experiencing them in person was different. And incredibly,
it was even better than I had hyped myself up for. That’s the sign of the best game
ever. So I’m pleased we’re getting Half-Life
3, and not just another episode of Half-Life 2 with improved graphics to conclude an unfinished
story. Maybe younger gamers won’t know what I mean
when I talk about the Half-Life magic. I’m sure that many of you will have tried Half-Life
in more recent years and will have wondered what all the fuss is about. That’s because
every game since them has imitated and stolen from them. You’re approaching them from
the future- which is the wrong way! But you’re in luck- you’ll get to experience Half-Life
3 -Alyx- in the way I did with the older games all those years ago, as a fresh experience
that will redefine what you expect from games going forward. And in 10-20 years’ time
when every new game is in VR, and the youth says they don’t understand what made Half-Life
Alyx so special, you’ll find yourself in my shoes, educating them on the Half-Life
magic.
A new Half-Life game is as much about what comes with the game as it is about the game
itself. Half Life 1 wasn’t just the best game ever.
It also launched Valve as a company, and the goldsrc engine encouraged modders, paving
the way to games like Counter-Strike! Half Life 2 wasn’t just the best game ever,
either. It also came with Source and Steam. Source is a game engine still used to power
games 16 years later, and Steam changed the way we bought games forever.
And now Half-Life Alyx is coming with Source 2 and VR.
The Half-Life series is not just the games. It is always a big risk and used to drive
new technology. Don’t just see this as a ploy to sell lots of Valve Index headsets.
Yes, it will do that as well. But the game will work with any modern VR device. Selling
headsets is secondary to Half Life Alyx selling the concept of VR itself.
Virtual Reality is in a similar state to how Steam was back before Half-Life 2 was released.
Back then, digital distribution was considered niche, unnecessary; even hated by many. But
thanks to Half-Life 2, people started using it. Fast-forward to today and it’s hard
to imagine PC gaming without Steam. It’s worth billions of dollars, and loved by many.
To the point where people would rather buy a product on Steam than to get it free elsewhere!
Likewise, here we are in 2020, and Virtual Reality is seen as niche, unnecessary, and
even hated by many. That’s not to say there aren’t already great experiences to be had
on it! It’s just that none of them have that mainstream appeal that’s needed to
draw in the masses. To take the plunge on a VR headset, and to throw away their bed.
But Half-Life Alyx might be able to change that. So you see, Half-Life Alyx is more than
just a spin-off, or VR curiosity. It’s just as ambitious, just as risky and just as important
as Half-Life 1 and 2 were. And VR’s in dire need of it. If you had
asked me to name one game that would convince me to buy a VR headset, it would be Half-Life
3. And sure enough, Half-Life Alyx has made me do it.
And that’s why I’ll continue to refer to it as Half-Life 3.
At least, until Valve announces Half-Life 3.
You may say that this is a little bit premature of me. Wouldn’t it be TERRIBLE if Half-Life
Alyx comes out and is a steaming (sigh) pile of dog (sigh) poo. These videos of mine would
age like milk and with hindsight I’d look really, really foolish. It’s not like Valve
succeed with everything they do. They have an impressive list of fails, too. The Steam
Controller’s been discontinued, and Steam Machines have disappeared in a puff of steam.
Remember Artifact? No, me neither. And there is a very real possibility that, for one reason
or another, VR fails to take off, just as it has so many times before, and Half-Life
Alyx becomes a warning to other studios for why you don’t invest so heavily in unproven
technology. But I want to believe. And if that means being
happy and excited about something for once then that’s a small price to pay! But Half-Life
3 being bad would break me. I’m not thinking of that because it’s too horrible to imagine.
These days there are fewer and fewer games that I look forward to. And sometimes it seems
like everybody else wants it to fail for the drama it would cause. Well, not with me! Not
this time. I believe in Half-Life 3.