I am only about 5 hours in, but this is already the most immersive, engrossing, awe-inspiring, and not to mention fun VR experience I've had to date. The level of polish and interactivity is mind-boggling. The feeling was that of playing early FPS games as a child, sitting in awe and seeing almost limitless potential for where the future of the technology could go.

From the moment the game starts, everything exceeds all of my expectations for what the next Half-Life game might be like. This is completely different from all previous Half-Life games, and yet beautifully, hauntingly familiar. Like Half-Life and Half-Life 2 raised the bar on interactive game experiences and player immersion, they have now pivoted and shifted that energy toward innovating in similar ways in the VR space.

Just like most FPS game stories seemed shallow and disconnected compared to the cohesive first person narrative of the Half-Life games when they came out, many VR games feel gimmicky now held up next to Alyx.

If you have a good PC and VR setup, or enough disposable income to get one, then I can't recommend this game highly enough. It's everything I was hoping for when it was announced, and more.

It's not Half-Life 3--it doesn't pretend to be, nor does it need to be. But do I still want Half-Life 3? Hell yeah! More than ever!

If we keep getting more great AAA VR titles such as this and The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, VR's future as a mainstream gaming platform is all but assured.

I am only about 5 hours in, but this is already the most immersive, engrossing, awe-inspiring, and not to mention fun VR experience I've had to date. The level of polish and interactivity is mind-boggling. The feeling was that of playing early FPS games as a child, sitting in awe and seeing almost limitless potential for where the future of the technology could go. From the moment the game starts, everything exceeds all of my expectations for what the next Half-Life game might be like. This is completely different from all previous Half-Life games, and yet beautifully, hauntingly familiar. Like Half-Life and Half-Life 2 raised the bar on interactive game experiences and player immersion, they have now pivoted and shifted that energy toward innovating in similar ways in the VR space. Just like most FPS game stories seemed shallow and disconnected compared to the cohesive first person narrative of the Half-Life games when they came out, many VR games feel gimmicky now held up next to Alyx. If you have a good PC and VR setup, or enough disposable income to get one, then I can't recommend this game highly enough. It's everything I was hoping for when it was announced, and more. It's not Half-Life 3--it doesn't pretend to be, nor does it need to be. But do I still want Half-Life 3? Hell yeah! More than ever! If we keep getting more great AAA VR titles such as this and The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, VR's future as a mainstream gaming platform is all but assured.