The Best VR Games for 2024 - PCMag
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Half Life game
It's not Half-Life 3 or Half-Life 2: Episode Three, but Half-Life: Alyx is the first full-fledged <anchor>Half Life game</anchor> that Valve has released in a long time. The game's events take place after the original Half-Life, but before Half-Life 2. As the title suggests, you play fan-favorite character Alyx Vance. Throughout the roughly 11-hour campaign, you take on enemy Combine forces and research their weaknesses. Valve built this experience specifically for VR, so expect impressive physics mechanics and top-tier graphics.
13 Years Later, Does Anybody Care About Half-Life? | PCMag
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# 13 Years Later, Does Anybody Care About Half-Life?

Half-Life: Alyx is the first Half-Life game in 13 years. While the new VR game is getting a lot of media attention, does anyone still care about the franchise today?

[![K. Thor Jensen](https://i.pcmag.com/imagery/authors/03u6fS0y2ePDnkUA7zSb3ef.fit_lim.size_100x100.v1560221536.jpg)](/authors/k-thor-jensen)

By
[K. Thor Jensen](/authors/k-thor-jensen)

March 23, 2020

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There are a lot of games coming out this year, but one particular title has received an outsized amount of media attention, despite being yet another VR first-person shooter. That’s because it’s [Half-Life: Alyx](https://zdcs.link/DlNON "(Opens in a new tab)"), the first installment in Valve’s company-defining franchise in thirteen years.

Gabe Newell’s juggernaut of a company has always practiced a “when it’s done” approach to their games, but when it came to the third full Half-Life game, “when it’s done” is apparently “never.” Originally slated for a 2007 release, the game just… never happened. Fans were upset, then annoyed, and then eventually resigned to the belief that Valve had just given up.

And then, an unexpected announcement: Alyx will [bring gamers back](https://www.pcmag.com/news/half-life-game-series-will-finally-return-with-vr-based-project) to the world of Half-Life, with an all new adventure in virtual reality. But will it be enough to stand out in a world that has seemingly moved beyond the franchise?

Let’s delve into what Half-Life meant to an earlier generation of gamers, as well as where—and if—it fits into the modern world.

Advertisement

## My Friend Gordon

Many new studios opened during the [first-person shooter](https://www.pcmag.com/products/the-best-pc-shooters-for-2020) boom to grab a little bit of the pie [baked by Doom](https://www.pcmag.com/news/how-doom-inspired-a-new-wave-of-retro-fps-games) and Quake, but Valve was something different. Founders Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington had 20 years at Microsoft between them and plenty of money for a hefty safety net when they ventured out on their own in 1996.

It took two years to get Half-Life on shelves. It was originally scheduled to release in 1997, but Valve held the game—its first commercial product—back for an entire year for extensive playtesting and tweaking.

Newell wanted to create something that was significantly richer and deeper than any other FPS on the market. It had to be something with a compelling storyline that could compete with movies and novels.

The end result was an instant classic, a game that pushed the medium forward in a bold leap that would usher in a new era in first-person shooters.

## Beyond Black Mesa

Six years later, Half-Life 2 did it again. Using the company’s new Source engine, the sequel cost $40 million to develop and pushed a new set of envelopes. Narrative was now expected in first-person shooters, so Newell and company decided to work on something different: physics.

With the introduction of the Gravity Gun, players could now manipulate environmental objects in a way that wasn’t shooting and blowing them up. Coupled with a much grander story and improved graphics, it was unsurprisingly the most lauded release of 2004.

Instead of a full-fledged sequel to Half-Life 2, Valve released Half-Life 2: Episode 1 in 2006, followed by Episode 2 a year later. These short games, each around four to six hours, were presented as stopgaps before the next big leap of Half-Life 3. The company had robust tools, fan demand, and a hefty budget, so it wanted to make the most of the new Source engine.

Both Episodes were popular, successful games, but as time went by and those short experiences were all fans saw aside from cosmetic upgrades and ports, public opinion started to turn.

## Third Time’s the Curse

So where was Half-Life 3? That’s a very good question. We were supposed to get Half-Life 2: Episode 3 by Christmas 2007, followed at some undefined point by the next full sequel. Neither of those things happened.

Over the years, there were a number of real and fake leaks from Valve, as well as pranks played by unscrupulous hoaxsters. These teases and lies got people thinking an announcement had to be forthcoming, but the company unequivocally denied there was any news to share.

Gabe Newell’s design philosophy for the first two games is instructive. He wanted the first game to be a quantum jump forward from the other FPSes of the era, and the sequel to be the same. But the pace of hardware and software development is faster than ever before, making it difficult to truly stay ahead of the curve.

Valve knows that—the company has ventured into hardware itself. It tried the [short-lived Steam Machine platform](https://www.pcmag.com/news/valve-steam-machines-are-still-a-thing) to allow people to play PC games on their TVs. It also [partnered](https://www.pcmag.com/news/htc-valve-partner-for-vive-vr-headset) with HTC to build a virtual reality platform.

Money was also an issue. Over the last few decades, the market for single-player adventures has contracted significantly. The era of “games as a service,” where new content is continually doled out and players spend additional money beyond the game’s purchase price, transformed the way developers and publishers work.

Valve took full advantage of that with [Team Fortress 2](https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/team-fortress-2-for-pc) and [DOTA 2](https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/dota-2-for-pc), two products that have given the company healthy, continuous revenue streams. Both are multiplayer, are free to play but have a thriving market in cosmetic items, and have built a rock-solid player base that looks to remain stable well into the future.

Those games are like the bus—it’s not spectacular, but it’s always running. Half-Life 3 is a moon shot in comparison, a huge risk that could lead to even huger rewards. Which leads us to ask...

## Will There Ever Be a Half-Life 3?

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from observing Valve for the last two decades, it’s that you can never count it out. The company’s reputation for secrecy has shocked the world before, with the announcement of the [Valve Index VR headset](https://www.pcmag.com/news/valve-blames-coronavirus-for-far-fewer-index-vr-headsets) one of the most recent. So even though there’s no external buzz about Half-Life 3, that doesn’t mean gears aren’t turning inside.

However, Valve’s notorious self-organizing management structure might be the biggest obstacle to completing Half-Life 3. Unlike nearly every other company on Earth, Valve employees work in a virtually flat structure with no hierarchical oversight. Instead, employees are expected to find projects they believe they can contribute to and self-organize into teams.

That philosophy lends itself well to incremental improvement on existing software, but maybe not so much on something as massive as a genre-defining AAA game. In the early days, the entire team was focused on a single product, and was able to use Newell’s financial padding to extend development until it was completed.

Now Valve is a many-headed hydra, responsible not only for game development but also managing the largest retail platform for [PC gaming](https://www.pcmag.com/news/the-best-pc-games) in the world, with nearly 100 million active [Steam](https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/steam-for-pc) users. It’s not surprising that serving this many masters has brought focus away from the franchise that made the company famous.

In 2017, an anonymous (but vetted) Valve developer [told Game Informer](https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2017/01/11/searching-for-half-life-3.aspx "(Opens in a new tab)") that there was “no such thing as Half-Life 3.” That statement has been contradicted by other former Valve employees, most notably Marc Laidlaw, the lead writer of the first two games.

After leaving the company in 2016, he posted “ [Epistle 3](http://www.marclaidlaw.com/epistle-3/ "(Opens in a new tab)")” on his blog, which many believe was a thinly disguised version of the story for the in-development game. You have to think that people were working in some way on the sequel, but nothing was ever completed enough to announce to the public.

What’s interesting about Half-Life: Alyx, though, is that initial reports have the game clocking in at around [15 hours to play](https://www.pcgamer.com/half-life-alyx-is-a-full-length-game-set-before-half-life-2/ "(Opens in a new tab)") from start to finish. That’s about as long as each of the other mainline Half-Life games. So even though it’s not a sequel in name, it certainly does the job of advancing the long-abandoned narrative.

## Will It Matter?

When I wrote this last week, Half-Life: Alyx wasn't even in the [top 10 wishlisted games on Steam](https://store.steampowered.com/search/?filter=popularwishlist "(Opens in a new tab)"); it's now sitting at No. 10. You can chalk some of that up to it requiring a [VR headset](https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-vr-headsets) to play, but it just doesn’t feel... huge, like we thought a new Half-Life would.

The release and critical reception of the first Half-Life instantly cemented Valve as one of the most trusted developers in the game industry. It could have blown it, but instead managed to do even better with the sequel. In the early 2000s, “what Valve was up to” became a major topic in the games press. Speculation on Half-Life 3 resulted in millions of page views, but with each hoax and denial, that interest waned ever further.

The launch of Steam in 2003 might have also contributed to that. Valve’s distribution platform, originally created to push patches for its games to users and minimize downtime, opened up to third-party developers in 2005 and led the charge for digital game sales. Steam now sells over $1 billion in games every year.

What this means for the company—aside from [huge profits](https://www.statista.com/statistics/547025/steam-game-sales-revenue/ "(Opens in a new tab)")—is that Valve is in your house, every time you boot your PC. There’s no distance in a weird way. Instead of the mystique of an isolated group of geniuses laboring away on the next great FPS, Valve was now like a utility company, dependably delivering content to your door.

The relationship that gamers have come to expect with developers has also changed dramatically. Staffers at all sorts of companies post publicly on Twitter and communicate with fans in numerous ways to build hype early on in the cycle. Valve’s notorious Chinese wall with the public makes that impossible.

We let Steam into our houses, but we have no clue what Valve’s doing in theirs, and the company seems deeply disinterested in the standard industry pre-release hype process.

Finally, many of the key personnel behind the original Half-Life games have left the company. Gabe’s still there, of course, but it’s like a band with only the lead singer remaining.

At the end of the day, the Half-Life phenomenon was tied to a specific time, as first-person shooters were coming to prominence as one of the most successful gaming genres. Now that the rest of the world has caught up to what Valve was doing, we might not need them to lead the way any longer.

In some ways, it feels like Alyx is just an excuse for the company to sell more Index VR headsets, a “killer app” for a [system that costs $999](https://zdcs.link/rPbNX "(Opens in a new tab)") in its own right. While this strategy might be completely fair, for those of us who grew up with Half-Life, it seems sort of cheap.

But who knows! We haven’t played Alyx, and maybe it’s got what it takes to revitalize the genre one more time.

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![K. Thor Jensen](https://i.pcmag.com/imagery/authors/03u6fS0y2ePDnkUA7zSb3ef.fit_lim.size_200x200.v1560221536.jpg)

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K. Thor Jensen is a writer and cartoonist living in the Pacific Northwest. He has contributed to dozens of prestigious outlets, including PCMag, Tested, Clickhole, and Newsweek. His second graphic novel, _[Cloud Stories](https://zdcs.link/2kdBW)_, was released in 2017.

[Read K. Thor's full bio](/authors/k-thor-jensen)

#### Read the latest from K. Thor Jensen

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## Table of Contents

Table of ContentsTable of ContentsMy Friend GordonBeyond Black MesaThird Time’s the CurseWill There Ever Be a Half-Life 3?Will It Matter?

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### Apple

[![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 400 225'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' /%3E%3C/svg%3E)](/comparisons/apple-watch-series-10-vs-samsung-galaxy-watch-7-which-watch-reigns-supreme)

[Apple Watch Series 10 vs. Samsung Galaxy Watch 7: Which Watch Reigns Supreme?](/comparisons/apple-watch-series-10-vs-samsung-galaxy-watch-7-which-watch-reigns-supreme)

By
[Andrew Gebhart](/authors/andrew-gebhart)

[![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 400 225'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' /%3E%3C/svg%3E)](/opinions/iphone-16-makes-us-question-apples-intelligence)

[iPhone 16 Makes Us Question Apple's Intelligence](/opinions/iphone-16-makes-us-question-apples-intelligence)

By
[Emily Dreibelbis](/authors/emily-dreibelbis)

[![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 400 225'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' /%3E%3C/svg%3E)](/news/best-apple-ios-18-features-to-try)

[7 Must-Try Features Coming to Your iPhone With iOS 18](/news/best-apple-ios-18-features-to-try)

By
[Chloe Albanesius](/authors/chloe-albanesius)

[![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 400 225'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' /%3E%3C/svg%3E)](/comparisons/apple-iphone-16-vs-samsung-galaxy-s24-the-best-flagship-phone)

[Apple iPhone 16 vs. Samsung Galaxy S24: The Best Flagship Phone](/comparisons/apple-iphone-16-vs-samsung-galaxy-s24-the-best-flagship-phone)

By
[Iyaz Akhtar](/authors/iyaz-akhtar)

[![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 400 225'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' /%3E%3C/svg%3E)](/news/everything-apple-announced-at-its-iphone-16-glowtime-event)

[Everything Apple Announced at Its iPhone 16 'Glowtime' Event](/news/everything-apple-announced-at-its-iphone-16-glowtime-event)

By
[Chloe Albanesius](/authors/chloe-albanesius)

[![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 400 225'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' /%3E%3C/svg%3E)](/comparisons/apple-iphone-16-vs-google-pixel-9-the-ultimate-ios-vs-android-showdown)

[Apple iPhone 16 vs. Google Pixel 9: The Ultimate iOS vs. Android Showdown](/comparisons/apple-iphone-16-vs-google-pixel-9-the-ultimate-ios-vs-android-showdown)

By
[Sarah Lord](/authors/sarah-lord)

[![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 400 225'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' /%3E%3C/svg%3E)](/comparisons/apple-watch-series-10-vs-google-pixel-watch-3-which-smartwatch-is-better)

[Apple Watch Series 10 vs. Google Pixel Watch 3: Which Smartwatch Is Better?](/comparisons/apple-watch-series-10-vs-google-pixel-watch-3-which-smartwatch-is-better)

By
[Andrew Gebhart](/authors/andrew-gebhart)

[![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 400 225'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' /%3E%3C/svg%3E)](/news/ipados-18-5-must-try-features-that-supercharge-your-ipad)

[iPadOS 18: 5 Must-Try Features That Supercharge Your iPad](/news/ipados-18-5-must-try-features-that-supercharge-your-ipad)

By
[Jordan Minor](/authors/jordan-minor)

[All \
\
Apple Stories](/series/apple)

### Further Reading

[![Nintendo Switch 2: Everything You Need to Know](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 400 225'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' /%3E%3C/svg%3E)](/news/nintendo-switch-2-everything-you-need-to-know)

[Nintendo Switch 2: Everything You Need to Know](/news/nintendo-switch-2-everything-you-need-to-know)

By
[Will Greenwald](/authors/will-greenwald)

[![Sony's PlayStation 5 Pro Gets a Graphics Upgrade and a Price Hike](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 400 225'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' /%3E%3C/svg%3E)](/news/sonys-playstation-5-pro-gets-a-graphics-upgrade-and-a-price-hike)

[Sony's PlayStation 5 Pro Gets a Graphics Upgrade and a Price Hike](/news/sonys-playstation-5-pro-gets-a-graphics-upgrade-and-a-price-hike)

By
[Michael Kan](/authors/michael-kan)

[![Sony Teases Tuesday Reveal for PlayStation 5 Pro](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 400 225'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' /%3E%3C/svg%3E)](/news/sony-teases-tuesday-reveal-for-playstation-5-pro)

[Sony Teases Tuesday Reveal for PlayStation 5 Pro](/news/sony-teases-tuesday-reveal-for-playstation-5-pro)

By
[Michael Kan](/authors/michael-kan)

[![This Acer Laptop's Touchpad Turns Into a Detachable Gamepad](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 400 225'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' /%3E%3C/svg%3E)](/news/this-acer-laptops-touchpad-turns-into-a-detachable-gamepad)

[This Acer Laptop's Touchpad Turns Into a Detachable Gamepad](/news/this-acer-laptops-touchpad-turns-into-a-detachable-gamepad)

By
[Michael Kan](/authors/michael-kan)

[![Atari Revives Another Retro Console With the 7800+](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 400 225'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' /%3E%3C/svg%3E)](/news/atari-revives-another-retro-console-with-the-7800-plus)

[Atari Revives Another Retro Console With the 7800+](/news/atari-revives-another-retro-console-with-the-7800-plus)

By
[Michael Kan](/authors/michael-kan)

[![FTC Challenges Xbox Game Pass Price Hike As 'Product Degradation'](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 400 225'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' /%3E%3C/svg%3E)](/news/ftc-challenges-proposed-xbox-game-pass-price-hike)

[FTC Challenges Xbox Game Pass Price Hike As 'Product Degradation'](/news/ftc-challenges-proposed-xbox-game-pass-price-hike)

By
[Emily Price](/authors/emily-price)

[![Voicemod Key Adapter Lets Xbox, PlayStation Gamers Mask Their Voices](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 400 225'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' /%3E%3C/svg%3E)](/news/voicemod-key-adapter-lets-xbox-playstation-gamers-mask-their-voices)

[Voicemod Key Adapter Lets Xbox, PlayStation Gamers Mask Their Voices](/news/voicemod-key-adapter-lets-xbox-playstation-gamers-mask-their-voices)

By
[Kate Irwin](/authors/kate-irwin)

[![Final Call for the Best Prime Day Gaming Deals: Nintendo, PS5, Xbox, PC, and More](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 400 225'%3E%3Crect fill='%23f7f7f7' /%3E%3C/svg%3E)](/news/gaming-prime-day-deals-2024)

[Final Call for the Best Prime Day Gaming Deals: Nintendo, PS5, Xbox, PC, and More](/news/gaming-prime-day-deals-2024)

By
[Gabriela Vatu](/authors/gabriela-vatu)

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