Recent reviews by Blackhole Sun

It's been 13 years since Half-Life 2: Episode 2, and I had given up hope that Valve would ever either continue the series, or make it as grandiose and groundbreaking as Half-Life 2 was. I've never been more wrong.

There's two approaches to looking at this game; as a Half-Life game, and as a VR game. It excels in both categories. The pacing, the story and (arguably not as important) the graphics are outstanding, with an ending and post-credits scene that are sure to send chills down any HL fan's spine.

As a VR game though, words can't describe it. Valve has always used the Half-Life series to propel games forward by many years. HL1 introduced scripted scenes that were rendered in-game for more immersion, something which was never done before. HL2 moved this forward, and introduced better physics fidelity, as well as a game engine that was second to none, where non-Valve games even 8 years later were still around or less in quality than HL2. And HL:Alyx continued this by making a VR game that achieves what VR was meant to be, while leaping past its contemporaries. I've played a few VR games alongside this one, and I can't even count how many times I've wanted poseable fingers, or the ability to push a button in the game, and it registers. Yes, the Index has a large part to do with this, but given how that's a Valve creation as well, it's hard to argue that Valve has once again, achieved the gold standard.

My only anger lies in the knowledge that Valve has spent 13 years not making a game this great, not because they weren't able to, but were possibly unwilling to. Given the greatness of this game, hopefully that means the Valve dry-spell has ended.