Half-life: Alex Review: The future is here, within reach

The first time you're held at gunpoint by an enemy in Half-Life: Alex, and then you subconsciously raise your hands, you know: The future is coming, and it's within reach.

"Half-life: Alex" blows away the bad impression VR games have had on players over the last decade. I have no doubt that in the new decade, Half-Life: Alex will lead and influence the way all VR games are made.

The foundation of all this is Valve's meticulous refinement of every detail of the VR medium, from hardware design to game production.

When you stand in the corner of city No. 17, looking up at the warm sun passing through the fingertips, you can't stop wanting to move, and every movement of the fingers in the field of vision, as you think, the originally complete sunshine is cut into pieces by these actions, and when you want to give a sound of admiration, your thoughts are immediately interrupted by the huge movement of the three-legged Mecha to cover the sun, you watch it slowly leave. You instantly understand that this is the beginning of a long, five-minute tram ride no less than the beginning of the game Half-Life.

And both are trying to say the same thing: Are you ready? We're gonna start changing the world.

Gravity gloves are an important part of changing the world.

This pair of gravity gloves, which you can get in the early stages of the game, is an important prop throughout Half-Life: Alex, perhaps it is not the right word to describe it as a prop, because this thing will be worn on your hand almost the whole time, and the vast majority of interactions in the game after that, rely on this double force glove.

Aim at the target, wave your arms, and catch whatever is thrown at you. This interactive scheme designed based on intuitive feedback can be said to perfectly solve the old problem of how to quickly, easily and accurately take objects in VR games in the past, and the gravity glove does not have any sense of compromise for game design, but perfectly fits the game setting of the "half-life" series.

In the vast majority of scenes, gravity gloves are the main force to explore unknown things, it can allow you to minimize the premise of action, to get what you want in the hand, which is why I say that the interaction of gravity gloves, is almost perfect.

Imagine that. Without these double-force gloves, you'd have to keep looking left and right, bending down, turning around and moving in small incrementally as you explore each new scene, which might be a more authentic and immersive experience, but trust me, your brain and your stomach will give you a more authentic response.

This is the current shackles of VR equipment, in the absence of technological breakthroughs, how to wear shackles to dance, has become the focus of the design, and gravity gloves, is the Valve that can let you dance, more comfortable dancing shoes. Although the concept of gravity gloves is not the first time that it has appeared in VR games, it is the first time that Valve has trained it so well - I mean, if you have played Half-Life: Alex, then you will not forget those moments when you catch the magazine in the air.

But if you want to change the world, it's not enough to have a gravity glove. Just as Archimedes needed a fulcrum to pry up the Earth, the entire wonder of Half-Life: Alex needs to be based on a fulcrum, and that fulcrum is physics.

Half-life: Alex continues Half-Life 2's once-great physics, and with the blessing of the Origin 2 engine, it delivers a touch of what you've never seen in any VR game before - maybe in Boneworks, but Half-Life: Alex is more extreme.

In Half-Life: Alex, almost every visible object can be moved, and you can even hold something you can carry in front of your eyes and carefully observe every tiny detail. From cans that can be seen everywhere to cartons printed with various logos, these objects can be said to have almost reached the point of being fake in shape under the support of strong artistic effects.

But that alone is not enough.

Super high-resolution maps? The countless details of the brush strokes? Any game can do it, and I believe there's a better game than Half-Life: Alex. So why is "Half-Life: Alex" the one that blew your mind?

The answer is excellent physics feedback from a good physics engine.

The loose cans rolling along the floor, the frightened pigeons making a mess of the table, the thrown bottles shattered, the various debris thrown for barnacle monsters to grab, and the headhunter crabs artfully packed into plastic buckets are all evidence that "Half-Life: Alex" is infinitely close to the physical reality.

Behind the near-real physics, Half-Life: Alex's terrifying details support and fill the world, giving you an unparalleled sense of immersion. As if in the entire game flow, you almost rarely encounter those serious fragmentation of forced operation teaching - if there is, the vast majority of them are about how to move and how to open the menu, and I would classify these as the fetters of VR equipment - more movement, is to follow your intuition.

Take the glass that has been played with, for example, I believe that almost everyone, when walking in front of that glass, will subconsciously pick up a pen to draw something - because our life experience will tell us that we can do so.

These intuitive designs are everywhere in Half-Life: Alex.

The contents of the box can be taken out piece by piece, because you never know what is hidden at the bottom; Not only can the number of bullets in the magazine be seen, but the cartridges can also be deflected by pulling the bolt; Wearing a plastic bucket on your head can ruin your vision, but it can ruin the Barnacle. Noise will attract the attention of the enemy, so be careful to keep quiet when facing the enemy or throw a bottle in the opposite direction. None of this comes with a prompt box that pops up to remind you, but rather a judgment that you naturally make as you play.

This is why, the vast majority of players, will be rummaging around in the game, and the reason why.

"Half-life: Alex" through the excellent effects of the physics engine and massive details to create a remote setting, but the experience of the real world experience.

Of course, that's not to say that Half-Life: Alex is really that airtight. Despite some of the compromises Valve has made due to the limitations of VR devices - such as teleportation that breaks immersion - Half-Life: Alex still has its fair share of problems, from mods to occasional physics quirks.

Among them, the puzzle design, I personally think is "Half-Life: Alex" the biggest weakness. In "Half-Life: Alex", we can see the "Half-life" series has always been a variety of puzzles, but the problem is that, based on the new medium of VR, some of the repeated puzzles such as connectivity, seem really outdated - in "Half-Life: When Alex pushes the overall game forward, the puzzle design is somewhat stagnant, and the puzzle solving method is not designed in line with VR, which is a little monotonous and rigid.

But that doesn't detract from the fact that Half-Life: Alex is a great game experience. After all, Half-Life: Alex is already groundbreaking in its own right. White jade slight flaw, is not a problem. Not to mention the great impact that the ending of the final story can bring you, I believe that everyone will forget the fine beads of sweat that they are stuffy by the VR headset when they see the last scene, and will also forget the dizziness and discomfort reminded by the brain, in addition to feeling shocked, almost no way to think about anything else - of course, for your game experience, I won't go into too much detail here.

Although "Half-Life: Alex" is not the anticipated "HL3", but as a derivative work, it did not make the predecessors of the "Half-life" series shame, but to a certain extent, it is for the entire "Half-life" series to create a new era - whether it is the form of expression, or the plot direction.

This makes me even more excited about how Half-Life 3 will change the world.