Recent reviews by Kjøttfjes

The wettest game i've ever played 10/10

What i expected:
- good cop/bad cop
- fun times in the 70s
- choose your own adventure

What i got:
- depression
- substance abuse
- scary neckwear
- communism
- loud music
- big feelings
- existential dread

10/10 put this game straight into my veins

In their ploy to boost sales of their own premium VR hardware, Valve has also managed to put together a well-constructed experience with lasting impressions. Alyx sets out to do to VR what the original Half-Life did for the FPS-genre in 1998, and flawlessly succeeds with this in many aspects.

The overall direction and level design has all the elements that constitutes the familiar Half-Life formula, while also being perfectly aware of the restrictions that comes with current VR gaming. If you're a long-time fan of the series, you'll recognise the (somewhat) open-ended level-design, the riveting environmental storytelling, and the other-wordly atmosphere that permeates the underbellies of City 17. The levels are beautifully rendered, and look good even on (relatively) low-spec hardware. Noticeable effort has been made to make the game run smoothly on most modern computers, as well as all kinds of VR-headsets.

The gameplay makes use of the advantages of the VR-perspective while still keeping things refreshingly simple. You'll spend a lot of time just looking at things and searching containers for loot, which sounds boring, but is oddly intriguing and rewarding. You’ll also shoot a lot of zombies, aliens and intergalactic space-fascists in the face, which is basically what the game’s combat entails. Outside of combat you’ll also encounter a number of puzzles, which are fine, though some of them feel unnecessarily tacked-on and unimaginative.

The storytelling of Half-Life Alyx takes a "show, don't tell" approach, meaning that most of the time the gameplay becomes the primary vehicle through which the story is told. This low emphasis on cutscenes and expository dialogue characterizes the overall pacing, and prevents the game from ever grinding to a halt for too long or becoming outright boring. Even though the game is a prequel set 5 years before the events of Half-Life 2, it manages (although sparingly) to drive the over-arching story of the Half-Life-saga forward. It’s been 13 years since the last episode of the main series, but (no spoilers!) it looks a lot like Alyx may be hinting at the continuation (or even a long awaited conclusion) of the franchise.

Although the game itself is pretty excellent, the overall experience is still plagued by the fact that VR is still really awkward to play. I personally haven't been able to play more than 45-60 minutes at a time because of VR-induced motion sickness, fatigue and cramps (Valve obviously knows about these problems, and deserves some credit for making all chapters of the game 45-ish minutes long). VR pro tip: sitting down while playing is perfectly fine, it’s less immersion-breaking than having a hot computer with bright screens strapped to your face in the first place. But at the end of the day, VR is just a gimmick, and I doubt that we’ll see more titles of this calibre and scope designed for the medium in the immediate future.

If you're a Half-Life-fan (and have money to spend on hardware), Alyx is a great first-time experience for new VR-players. Or if you’re short on cash, go play Black Mesa, it’s really good.

8/10 would play again.

My hardware:
Oculus Quest
GTX 1060 3GB
Radeon 5 3600
16GB DDR4 RAM

Its basically Mario Party with blood, what else do you need? Great way to turn your friends into enemies, like any good board game.

Friendship ended with electoral politics, now direct action is my best friend.

Also, good game.