A Reddit AMA with the Half-Life: Alyx team revealed a lot of new information about the game - most notably that it is finished and was made by the single largest development team in Valve history. The new VR-based game isn’t the sequel many fans asked for, but it does provide them with a Half-Life 2 prequel and a new, not-so-silent protagonist.
Half-Life games have traditionally featured Gordon Freeman, the silent-but-deadly theoretical physicist who finds himself in the midst of an alien invasion following a lab accident that ripped open a hole to another dimension. Freeman has been a staple in the series, but Alyx puts players in the shoes of his friend Alyx Vance, the leader of the human resistance movement. And for longtime fans, Valve has made all of the previous Half-Life games free to play on Steam until the release of Alyx. This will give players the opportunity to catch up on or relive the story before they strap on a VR headset to play Alyx.
In the Reddit AMA, the Half-Life: Alyx team joined their fans for a little question and answer session that reveals some big news. Developers shared their favorite break room snacks, what languages would be included in subtitling, and a very big piece of news: the game is completely done outside of “some tweaks to the absolute final scene.” They say they are “confident” they will release the game on time - a nice change from AAA delays from Cyberpunk 2077 and the Final Fantasy VII remake. The development team, they say, hovers around 80 members, making it the largest development team in Valve’s history. In addition, the team confirmed that weapons would all be one-handed, but can be grabbed and steadied by the character’s off-hand. “We really wanted to focus on simultaneous two-handed play throughout the game,” they said. Asked about game length, they revealed that playtesters have taken roughly as long to complete Alyx as they did to complete Half-Life 2.
The team also touched on the not-so-silent nature of Alyx Vance and the change from voice actress Merle Dandridge to Ozioma Akagha. “We worked with Merle at the beginning of HL:A development, but in the end, felt we wanted to go in a different direction,” the team said. Previously, designer Greg Coomer has said Akagha made more sense for a younger Alyx. Many fans expressed disappointment at the change, but games have very successfully changed voice actors in the past - Destiny, for example, replaced Game of Thrones’s Peter Dinklage with Nolan North as Ghost, to the delight of many.
Fans are very excited about Half-Life: Alyx. While it doesn’t represent the followup many wanted, it does give them an opportunity to dive back into the Half-Life universe. Overall, the game contains many interesting features - and a non-silent protagonist definitely changes things up. Fortunately, the team is confident that this title won’t join the many others that will be delayed this year.
Next: Valve’s Index VR Headset Sold Out After Half-Life: Alyx Announcement (In Some Regions)
Half-Life: Alyx will release in March and will be available on PC. It will support all PC-compatible VR headsets.
Source: Reddit AMA
