(No spoilers will be included in this article)
Half-Life: Alyx is officially out for the consumers to consume. This game is not only the VR game of the year so far, but clearly one of the best virtual reality games in the entire history of the gaming platform.
In this guide, we won’t be giving specifics on how to beat each room, level, and wave. We will rather be giving universal tips for the entire game and advice that will help you, no matter where you seem to find yourself trapped. There is a lot that went into creating this game, so you will find the more you look, the more you will find.
Let’s dive into some of the tips and tricks you can use all throughout the Half-Life VR game!
All-In on Combat
We wish Valve would’ve put something like Boneworks at the beginning of the game, saying something along the lines of ‘this game will be a lot better if you buy into it’ or something. Once we learned that the mechanics feel more smooth and real the more you believe, the game changed. You could, in essence, run through each room on continuous movement on easy and get through the game.
Don’t do that. Please.
Set the difficulty to something that will challenge you. Use the movement that will help you be a part of the game. Find the movement that makes you feel most immersed, and then go from there. If you find yourself easing through the level, or dying too often, switch it up. This is the best way to get a full experience that you likely paid a big amount for. Buy into the game and the immersion will take over soon enough.
Save Save Save
Familiar with Mario World games? Nothing was more frustrating that getting past Bowser, leaving the game, and realizing you have to fight him once more because you forgot to save. You’ll want to do the same in this game. Save often and many. Most AAA titles now will autosave once you get to a certain point. This game does that, but not as often as you would hope for it.
Even if you aren’t dying a whole lot, saving will be key to waking up to where you want to be. Nothing is more frustrating than grinding out hours and hours and coming back to where you where an hour before you hopped out of the headset. If you are serious about this game, and don’t want to be frustrated all the time, save save SAVE!
Once you press pause at any time, just click the top option. Its easy to do and won’t waste any more time than not saving will. Enjoy.
Ammo Now, Ammo Later, Ammo Always
Unlike the typical first-person shooter, you won’t have unlimited ammo in this Half-Life game. What you will have though, is the opportunity to find Ammon almost everywhere throughout the game. You likely won’t run out too often, unless you are favoring one gun way more than your other two. You will get pretty low though, especially if you don’t follow this advice.
You’ll be able to find all ammunition on shelves, on the ground, and even inside of some dead bodies you run into. Hitting a barnacle can also result in ammo, but it’s rare and hard to predict. You will find larger bunches inside of drawers, cabinets, and inside of some odd-looking boxes. Much like other Half-Life games, you’ll also be able to smash wooden crates to find some ammo. Its a new experience inside of VR, something you should look forward to.
Shotgun shells usually only come in pairs or often alone. Because this is the ammo to the best weapons, you’ll always want to go out of your way to get them, even if it is just one shell. It’ll be worth it. Speaking of shells, have we talked about the shells inside of the gun? Let’s talk.
Seven, Not Two Shells
In most video games, and most virtual reality video games, the typical shotgun can hold two shells. If you are lucky, maybe four or five. (Try not to think of the over-powered Tactical Shotgun in Fortnite) in Half-Life: Alyx, you can hold up to seven (!) shotgun shells in your gun at once.
This is incredibly helpful, especially if you are doing your due-diligence and you are finding enough ammo to hold all seven slots in your gun. The game isn’t ever going to tell you this, but we will. The shotgun may feel OP at times, and even more powerful if you are utilizing the idea of a bunch of bullets.
Multiple Gamers – Save Slots
Share a headset and gaming PC with multiple people? Not a worry. You’ll be able to save up to 10 games at any time in Half-Life: Alyx. You won’t be able to name them though, but you sure will be able to continue to wherever you left off. Each save will also give a brief description of where you are in the game, just in case you forget which number you saved under.
This is a huge addition to the game, and one Valve masterfully put in here. No more game sharing and having to play where they played. We aren’t sure of any other AAA titles in VR right now that have this many save slots. Obviously it will be dependent on your PC storage availability, but it shouldn’t take too much storage to save a friends place inside of this VR masterpiece.
Every Room Has Money
Resin is the form of virtual currency in this game, and it is going to help you a whole bunch. You can use it on your weapons all throughout the game, something that will be upgraded at the Combine Fabricators. Because of the way this game is styled, you’ll only get a few chances to use the Fabricators, so find all of the Resin you can.
The best way to know if a room has Resin in it is to assume it does. Most of the rooms we have explored have Resin inside. The rooms that don’t? We think we could’ve just missed it. We are certain the game is riddled with virtual currency.
In each area of the game, you have multiple routes. One will take you all the way through the game, and the other is the dead end. Make sure to explore all options. The dead end is usually going to have more Resin and ammo, but the other path will progress you. Take your time exploring each room and area.
Barnacle Options
Did Valve make a perfect game? It is starting to seem that way. The Barnacles, by nature, grab you and drag you to themselves. In regular flat-screen gameplay, that can be fun and exciting. In virtual reality, it can be a literal drag. It can cause motion sickness pretty quick and will give you a hard time wanting to play.
Luckily Valve thought of everything. Inside of the settings, you can change how the Barnacles interact with Alyx. Rather than dragging you and making you sick, they can simply attack you and take damage without ever latching themselves. This is going to be the preferred way for many people. Who wants to dragged around in VR? Not us.
