9 awesome (and brutal) new screenshots of Half-Life: Alyx

Valve’s highly-anticipated VR game set in the Half-Life universe is mere months away from its release, and now we get an exclusive look at nice new screenshots of Half-Life: Alyx. These images showcase a variety of places and people and are frankly, disturbingly atmospheric.

The scoop comes via Valve News Network, a YouTube channel by Tyler McVicker who has made it his goal to inform the masses about all things related to Valve. That includes all their game projects, updates and much more. Now, Tyler has shared a new video that is showcasing a number of never-before-seen screenshots of Valve’s upcoming Half-Life: Alyx. He also alludes to having received much more but his new source only allowed to share these nine images for now. If you don’t feel like watching the video, here they are!

If you ever played the original Half-Life 2, you’ll immediately notice the immense improvement from a technical point. All assets, textures, and lighting are on a whole different level. We can’t wait to experience the oppressive and scary world of City 17 in VR.

The VR-only Half-Life title was announced out of nowhere last November and instantly caused massive shockwaves in the gaming community. Not only is it the first official Half-Life game since 2007’s Half-Life 2: Episode 2, which itself was an expansion to 2004’s Half-Life 2. So, it’s actually the first proper new Half-Life game in over 15 years! No wonder that the announcement of Half-Life: Alyx was that big of a deal. Many gamers were convinced the series was dead for good after all but the rescue comes from an unexpected place.

Valve is using the sheer clout that the Half-Life name has to push Virtual Reality as few other games have done before. You see, Half-Life: Alyx is a VR-only game and will not be able to be played on a regular monitor with a mouse & keyboard or controller. At first glance, this sounds like a nightmare for fans who have waited so many years for a new game in the franchise only to be kept out by new hardware requirements.

But Half-Life is legendary for a reason and after the game’s announcement Valve’s new VR kit Index sold out in many regions, despite being by far the most expensive VR set on the market. Likewise, Occulus also experienced a sudden large demand for their VR devices. That’s what you call a bonafide system seller.