HL: Alyx is WAY overrated. (spoilers)

[JANEU]

If you ignore the VR aspects of it, it is a very mediocre game. It is still an on-rails 1990s type game with little story and depth. Even HL: 1 and 2 were better, at least you would have gameplay and environmental variety. Let's be honest here, were you blown away by the VR or the actual gameplay loop? The novelty of VR is putting on some serious rose tinted glasses, because there is nothing seriously new in Alyx, hell, even the ending for it is basically the same as HL2. Gravity gun; nope gravity gloves. Ant-lions; we got them in blue now. Such wow... The puzzles are too repetitive, there is basically nothing to interactive with in the world that isn't some bullets, doors, planks or general crap that is in your way somehow. There are not enough NPCs in the game that arn't enemies, it is just the same waves of enemies we have already seen in HL1 and 2. The world doesn't feel lived in, because there is basically no one to talk to beside Russel. If the world was filled with Russel type NPCs, at least it wouldn't be so boring. The VR aspect of it is great, but in 5 years from now, no one will be talking about Alyx's story, because there isn't any. Also, the JEFF chapter was EASILY the worst part of the game. I rage quit twice before I finally got past it by looking up some damn youtube walkthrough. It goes on for far too long, it should have been like 1/3 as long, not a whole damn chapter. Value needs to make a modern open world game, because Half Life Alyx is Half Life VR 1998.

[FreddieForever#1]

Its extremely mediocre

[SiEgE]

Gotta love how this thread is basically just "a hate letter to Valve's ability to make games".
People don't even care to be correct or fair. They write away all kinds of ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ just for sake of it.

[bronsky]

Yes, some of the 2% of players who didn't like Alyx prefer to post their review here rather than in the dedicated area. It might give them more comments, but certainly not more value.

[mckracken]

steam rating is seriously flawed. There is no neutral and or great rating.
98 percent positive could also mean its for a large percentage mildly entertaining, only a bit above average.

[SiEgE]

Messaggio originale di mckracken:

steam rating is seriously flawed. There is no neutral and or great rating.
98 percent positive could also mean its for a large percentage mildly entertaining, only a bit above average.

That is why there is text you can fill, so you can use your own words to describe how "mild" your entertainment was. Just give it a look yourself.

[IanL]

Messaggio originale di mckracken:

steam rating is seriously flawed. There is no neutral and or great rating.
98 percent positive could also mean its for a large percentage mildly entertaining, only a bit above average.

Apart from the fact that people generally finding a game mildly entertaining and only a bit above average generally don't bother rating it at all. Seems some people are determined to give a negative slant no matter what lol

[SiEgE]

Messaggio originale di IanL:

Seems some people are determined to give a negative slant no matter what lol

That is called "I want my truth, or no truth at all".

[LemonyNebula]

Messaggio originale di mckracken:

steam rating is seriously flawed. There is no neutral and or great rating.
98 percent positive could also mean its for a large percentage mildly entertaining, only a bit above average.

If you are writing a review with no idea whether it is worth buying or not, perhaps you shouldn't be reviewing.
It's supposed to be helpful to other potential buyers.

[bronsky]

If you don't like Steam review, go to Metacritic. Alyx is one of all time best rated games... almost everywhere. But most of the few who didn't like it (and want everyone to know it) often end up here.

[JANEU]

I think a lot of people are misunderstanding my issues with ALYX. I think it is a great display of VR capabilities, it is just not a good GAME. Every single part of the game has basically no freedom at all. You must play EXACTLY the way Valve says. You are stuck in a mostly empty room/corridor/yard with nothing to do until you figure out the same puzzle for the 15th time or you trigger a wave of enemies. There is basically no one to interact with or have your own fun. You can't go off an explore the world and talk/interact/do missions with other NPCs. I WANT to go explore the world of Half Life, it seems super interesting, but holding my hand and telling me I can't do anything really sucks balls. Basically, I want the Witcher 3, but Half Life. Also, I take issue with the ending of Alyx, it is same damn ending as HL2; you power up your gravity device so you can one-shot any combine, fight a bunch of small waves, and then you get to see the G-man for like 3 mins at the end being all cryptic and satisfying nothing. This game play style if VERY dated. It doesn't have to be THIS linear. At least give me some choices that mean something, give me a problem or puzzle or PATH that I can do in more than 1 damn way... ALYX is Half-Life, still stuck in the 90s, but now with shiny new graphics and VR. You are better than this Valve, do better. And this is coming for a HL fanboy. I see the potential in the Half-Life universe, and I REALLY want to explore it, but can't. Lame.

[IanL]

That may not be what you want but you have never been able to do this in any HL game, so in that sense Alyx is no different, they have always been 'on rails'. The HL franchise has never featured an open world game setting but I agree it would make for an interesting variation on what's gone before.

[JANEU]

Right, but those games are 22 and 16 years older than ALYX, they kind of get a pass, but it is harder to justify in 2020. GTA 5 came out in 2013, Witcher 3 in 2015. A compelling open world game is doable nowadays. It doesn't even have to be as big or open as those games, it just shouldn't treat you as a child and not let you do anything beside the designated path...

[LemonyNebula]

Why are you playing Half Life if you don't want a Linear game?
Play one of the many open world games that exist.
Half Life not only is linear, but it needs to be. The travelling from point to point is important and running off to do side quests would destroy the pacing.

All it sounds like is you are playing a game that is not your style.
That has nothing to do with the quality of the game.

[JANEU]

I like the HL universe, that's why I play it, despite its linearity, not because of it. There is no real pace in HL. You just finish whatever thing you have to do in the room and move on, there is almost never any real time pressure. You move on because you usually run out of things to do pretty quickly if it is not main story related. You can only throw around bottles for so long.

[Lollerobot]

We can play with the open world concept a bit. What side quests would you do in the game? Fetch supplies to the resistance, save and escort some civilians out of an area, infiltrate a combine outpost to get information. Those seem to be the trend in open world games, but they all also exist in existing HL games. Quarantine zone could be open worldish I guess but what would be in it except more ammo and resin? Metro Exodus played around with open world concept after only linear gameplay and tbh I enjoyed the linear missions in the game way more than the open world.

Not sure if HL really fits open world as you can't really have big hubs or cities with resistance npc's in middle of a losing fight with superior aliens.