Now you can play Half-Life: Alyx with no VR headset

A mod brings mouse and keyboard assist so you may play from begin to end

• By Cameron Faulkner

• on April 10, 2023 12:55 p.m

A crew of modders discovered a strategy to bypass the necessity for a VR headset to play Half-Life: Alyx, Valve’s unique PC VR recreation (by way of PC Gamer). You may play by way of the whole thrilling recreation with the Early Entry mod created by GB_2 growth crew half-life 2 Prequel with mouse and keyboard, the enter methodology favored by many followers of the franchise.

You continue to want a replica of the sport on Steam, in addition to a fairly highly effective gaming desktop or laptop computer to run it on. Nevertheless it’s nice information for anybody who both can’t take VR, can’t play in VR for accessibility causes, or simply can’t justify shopping for an costly VR headset to play the sport.

I believe it’s necessary to appreciate how cool that is earlier than criticizing it. It’s each subtle sufficient to try to straightforward to put in (it’s a easy drag-and-drop file affair). Nonetheless, given the sport’s made-for-VR controls and its tactile, hand-based interactivity, it’s not the one-to-one translation you would possibly hope for – and it in all probability by no means will probably be. Sure, which means the sport’s fabulous liquid shaders are nonetheless at their most compelling in VR.

Gif: Polygon by way of Valve

Valve’s Robin Walker predicted 2020 would see a mod spinning Half-Life: Alyx A “regular” non-VR model of the sport would present up in some unspecified time in the future, however that may primarily serve to “[…] clearly exhibit to folks why we did this in VR.”

In a method, he’s nonetheless proper. Some core elements of the VR recreation, resembling utilizing Alyx’s Gravity Gloves to choose up or work together with objects with a satisfying flick of the wrist, in addition to the sense of scale and environment of the sport are misplaced. Within the present state of the mod, you may’t get 9 of the sport’s 42 Steam achievements, that are principally primarily based on interacting with objects on the earth along with your fingers.

Nonetheless, it’s not as dangerous as you would possibly worry. After passing by way of a flickering essential menu (and beginning a brand new recreation; it doesn’t work with ongoing saves), the motion and shot controls work properly, and it’s nice to see this recreation’s lush graphics on screens that aren’t an inch away from my eyes. If you happen to’re simply concerned about seeing the story, beat by Half-Life: Alyxthis could be a great way to play (aspect word: kudos should you managed to remain spoiler-free concerning the recreation’s killer, controversial ending).

The mod crew is working to make additional tweaks to the sport’s UI, animations, and extra to make it really feel extra like commonplace PC FPS and fewer like a recreation that’s closely tied to its VR roots. Earlier than putting in the mod in your PC, the builders suggest studying the FAQ, which describes the controls, the important Steam startup instructions, and a few bug fixes.

Tell us within the feedback should you plan on making an attempt this out.

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