relapse808
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This Bioshock mod for the game looks to be pretty good.
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Half-Life: Alex (VR-only)
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zamardii12
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Well... not even sure how to start this but I've been on a VR hiatus for a few years b/c none of the games really were THAT great.... just mostly repetitive shit or uninspired shit I feel like i've played before. However I bought HL: A last night because it was finally on sale and unlikely it will go down in price again for a long time... So anyway I played Half Life Alyx last night... and this may be cringey to say let-alone to a 34 year old guy like me... but I had a moment in this game last night where I literally got emotional.
It's been what 13 or 14 years since we had a Half Life game? Like my mind didn't even register the fact that I was playing a Half Life game right away when trying this... I had to play the game a little bit to actually realize what I was playing. But from the moment I spawned into the game and started I was just awe-struck at what I was looking at. I mean I was in the universe of Half Life 2... I just stood there for seemingly forever just looking around, seeing what I can interact with, looking at the details of distant objects, marveling at the citadel, messing with the radio, and then drawing on the window with markers... I was in City 17!
I am not fucking exaggerating when I say this... in the short time i've played it (about an hour)... Half Life Alyx has literally shattered in every way my conception of what a videogame should be. It's ruined all other VR games, it's ruined all non-VR games, it literally made me wonder what the fuck every other VR developer is ever doing. I mean there may be some decent VR games outside of Half Life Alyx (and I have quite a few in my library), but they all literally PALE in comparison. I was stunned also by the graphics and interactivity of everything... honestly I don't even know what to write about this game it's so incredible. I can't wait to play it more and see where the story goes.
It's been what 13 or 14 years since we had a Half Life game? Like my mind didn't even register the fact that I was playing a Half Life game right away when trying this... I had to play the game a little bit to actually realize what I was playing. But from the moment I spawned into the game and started I was just awe-struck at what I was looking at. I mean I was in the universe of Half Life 2... I just stood there for seemingly forever just looking around, seeing what I can interact with, looking at the details of distant objects, marveling at the citadel, messing with the radio, and then drawing on the window with markers... I was in City 17!
I am not fucking exaggerating when I say this... in the short time i've played it (about an hour)... Half Life Alyx has literally shattered in every way my conception of what a videogame should be. It's ruined all other VR games, it's ruined all non-VR games, it literally made me wonder what the fuck every other VR developer is ever doing. I mean there may be some decent VR games outside of Half Life Alyx (and I have quite a few in my library), but they all literally PALE in comparison. I was stunned also by the graphics and interactivity of everything... honestly I don't even know what to write about this game it's so incredible. I can't wait to play it more and see where the story goes.
Supercharged_Z06
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I had that same epiphany as well playing Lone Echo close to 4 years ago. (It released back in July 2017). Even now, that game still holds up incredibly well when it comes to immersion, environment, user interaction and looks. Don't get me wrong, HL-A is a better game, but Lone Echo did just as good a job when it comes to immersion and turning on the lightbulb as to what the possibilities are with VR. It did that perhaps even a bit better than HL-A given how well it does the whole zero-g "your are actually in space" aspect of the environment and user interaction. It really was ground breaking.
It's a shame Lone Echo was never released on Steam (Oculus exclusive), but it plays just fine even now on my Valve Index using ReVive - as do all of my other Oculus library games. But I wouldn't be at all surprised if Facebook eventually pulls the plug (given that they have already crapped all over other past "pre-facebook" Oculus promises not to do certain things.
zamardii12
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So I checked Lone Echo out on Oculus and then on isthereanydeal.com and it's never gone below $40 which is really a shame. But I added it to my watchlist in case it ever drops in price. I am not going to buy an Oculus-only game like this unless it drops in price.
sharknice
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I just got Half-Life Alyx and also have only played for an hour, but I have only been playing a lot of new VR games for the past 4 months so I have a different perspective.
So far it's a good game, but hasn't done anything I haven't seen in other games.
VR has come a LOOOOONG way in the past couple years. The tech and games have been rapidly progressing like non-vr games did in the late 90s and early 2000s, but even faster.
It's actually a little disappointing so far because of how many times I've heard it's the best VR game ever.
But I think it's going to get a lot better as I get more into it considering I've only played for an hour which is mostly just tutorial-ish stuff.
The only thing I haven't liked is the reloading. I think that's mostly because I have inside out tracking and it just doesn't work as well because you're reaching into your backpack which doesn't track as well as it would with lighthouses which this game was designed for.
Also being able to teleport anywhere instantly feels a bit like cheating since it's just a VR comfort enhancement and not restricted or associated with an actual gameplay/story explanation.
Maybe it's the best VR game ever, but I can't say that after only an hour of gameplay. I'll see if I agree after I finish it.
Supercharged_Z06
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Ya, I'm hoping that when Lone Echo 2 is finally released (supposedly due out later this year), they drop the price of the original game significantly in order to bring in a bunch of new players and generate more buzz for the game. Lone Echo was a very high quality VR game and even if it were to be released today, it would still hold up extremely well. It would also be great if Facebook simply allowed Ready at Dawn to migrate the orginal Lone Echo game over to Steam as well in order to generate more buzz, but I doubt they'd be all that interested in doing this given how it was an Occulus "exclusive" title and that Oculus footed a large portion of the game's development bill. If Facebook were smart, they'd work out some sort of deal with Valve and just pay the dude that created RE-Vive in order to offically link and support VR app between both of their ecosystems... But Facebook isn't interested in what's best for VR users - they're only interested in what's best for Facebook.
zamardii12
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You can change that in Settings. There are 4 movement options. I tried the others but things like ducking are just too laborious for me so I prefer the comfort of teleporting.
Also why does teleporting need a story explanation? That's kind of funny reading your comment again. Not everyone can stomach VR movement like you supposedly can. Also it doesn't NEED a story/gameplay explanation when you can change to 3 other kinds of movement controls.
Also it most assuredly is the best VR game out there. I mean I was among the first wave to get the Vive and have played more VR games than I care to think about (other than the Oculus-exclusive games), and I would really love to hear about other VR games that you have played that other games do as well. Also the graphics and production value have not been matched in my mind to anything else... nothing even comes close imo.
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sharknice
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I played another hour and I like it even more, but I still don't like the teleporting. Next time I'm going to try other control schemes.
Mechanics like teleporting don't need story explanations, but they're better with them. It's a pretty big immersion breaker which is the entire point of VR. Especially when it's so powerful. If it was just to make the game a more enjoyable experience and deal with VR sickness or whatever that wouldn't be too bad.
But the teleporting has no restraints and makes the game very different because it's not limited in any way and becomes the basis for gameplay. For example you can just teleport up around a corner look, and teleport back without any worry. You can fight enemies then just teleport back 10 times and reload safely, etc.
I had it on because it was the default control scheme which I assumed is the way the game is meant to be played, but I'm going to try the other control schemes because to me it feels like I'm playing with cheats turned on.
The unexplained teleporting is disappointing to me because they handled stuff like that extremely well in other areas. For example picking things up with your hands, they solved anything annoying with that without breaking immersion. Instead of things unexplainably magically teleporting to your hand when you almost grab them to stop you from potentially smashing your hand into the real life floor, fumbling with an object awkwardly, or other things they have gravity gloves in the game. And they solve all the annoying issues you can have with picking things up without being immersion breaking. It not only solves the annoying things it's a really cool mechanic and perfectly ties into the story. Of course they have some gravity glove prototype, because they had a gravity gun HL2.
It is the best single player VR game I've played so far. It definitely has very good production value, and It does have very good graphics, but I think some of the UE4 games I've played looked better.
Dude, the teleportation is the default in almost every single game. It is in Fallout 4 VR and bloody god damn SkyrimVR! And Vader Immortal games too. However it is NOT the default because it is "the way it is meant to be played", but because they want to take into account the newbies who have not grown their VR legs. Bad first impression from getting sick in the first 5 minutes may result in them never touching the game and VR device again. If you are not a newbie but an experienced VR gamer with strong VR legs, you know what to do. First thing before even starting the game is to go to the settings and turn EVERYTHING OFF from the comfort page. It is usually in that page where the teleport vs smooth locomotion toggle usually is too. Only then we can start the game and experience it like developers meant it to be experienced.
Simply put, if you do not like teleporting then turn it off. In fact, you SHOULD turn it off because it is a comfort bandaid, not a gameplay feature. I can think of only one game where teleporting is actually part of the game design: Robo Recall.
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zamardii12
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I really can't follow why you bring this up over and over. It makes absolutely zero sense. The vast majority of people can't take regular movement in VR games, and teleporting is the default in a lot if not most games that don't have an explanation for WHY that is. It's because it's a universally understood fact that teleporting is not done for the sake of teleporting as a game mechanic like say teleporting in Portal or whatever, it's done because the default movement in VR being teleporting is the easiest to stomach.
If you don't like it then go change it... they give you the option. Like MaZa said even Fallout 4 VR, Doom VR, Skyrim VR all give you the option of teleporting precisely because it's easier to stomach and not get VR sickness. Most everyone i've had try my VR stuff agrees that teleporting is the best way to play.
sharknice
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I bring it up because most of the other games I've played have handled it better.
I don't play many single player games, and I don't play VR single player games not specifically designed for VR like Fallout, Skyrim and Doom. So I guess I just have higher expectations, probably because I've only been playing VR for 4 months and I don't get a ton of time to do it. When so many people said HLA is the best VR game ever I expected a completely immersive flawless experience. I'm not some veteran VR guy that goes into settings and changes all the control schemes first thing on going into a game. And there wasn't any sort of message in the game saying use this for a more immersive experience or use this if you've got a weak stomach which I have seen in other games.
There are ways to do movement and have it be part of the real gameplay or story and not behave like it's an afterthought add on or cheat. But the game has to be designed around that and not simply a flat game adapted to VR. A lot of the games I've played before I played HLA have done this so I expected it from what is widely considered the best VR game.
These are some of the games I played before that do this:
Hyper Dash - It's a multiplayer FPS. You can teleport around with an ability that has a cooldown, you can also hop on rails and ride them. Those are the primary methods of movement, the game is designed around them.
Eye of the Temple - it's a platformer, you do all your movement IRL, stepping on moving platforms. But they're designed so they end up keeping you mostly centered in your room and you don't run into IRL walls.
Elvin Assassin - It's an archery tower defense game, you shoot arrows at towers to teleport to them and be able to defend there.
Echo Arena - you move around in zero gravity by pushing yourself off walls or using thrusters.
Gorilla Tag - you move around on your arms like a cartoon gorilla.
Portal Stories VR - you have a teleporter device, it's explained in the game and the gameplay is designed around it.
Then there is the strategy most games use, simply design the gameplay around not needing to walk. Games like Beat Saber dot his for the entire gameplay, some games have jostyick movement, but most of the gameplay doesn't involve moving, mostly standing in place.
And yeah I've played some games where you just use the joysticks to move around and it's not that great, but I guess that's what we have to deal with for traditional FPS gameplay until we get devices like omnidirectional treadmills.
I just expected THE BEST VR GAME EVER to handle the issue better than any of the other games I've played.
But that's fine, it can still be the best VR game and not be perfect.