Recent reviews by MrPauling

An advert against hitting snooze over and over and over and over and over... 10/10

Perfect for a rainy Sunday evening.

The game is rough around the edges with technical issue and somewhat clunky controls, but it's mystery and unique setting keep you interested. I finished the game in one sitting.

Some might say 2 1/2 to 3 hours is not enough game for 20€, but I have no regrets and on sale, I believe, there is no way around it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8c0v-uyX5Cs

A stellar narrative trapped in a mess of a game. Rarely have greatness and failure been so close together.

Need a half raised thumb. Valve, please fix.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aai_h4MwQ-U

They should make a Star Wars game. Although with how creative they are, they should stick to their own stories.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrrHEveJ9ak

If you need to stop smoking, look no further. This will make you regret you ever touched those bastards!

https://youtu.be/Dl6Gs0GYQ_M

Message delivered.

A must play for Half-Life Fans and all of those who want to get a taste of what VR could be in the future.

The first few moments, when you realize you are INSIDE of Half-Life, are astounding. Being in City 17, having the sounds around you and looking up at the Citadel is truly impressive. Without the change in perspective, moving from standard FPS to VR, there is no way to portray the feeling of desperation to the same extent as in Alyx. The first time a Strider walks over you and you realize you can not just run backwards full speed and jump over a wall to get away, because you actually have to do those movements, was overwhelming and terrifying - in a great way!


General Review:

The game is an amazing showcase for VR and the best thing to feel as close as possible to the Half-Life Franchise. Game mechanics are satisfying, visuals are spot on and the game mesmerizes with fantastic set pieces again and again. It is long (the longest HL game so far) and overstates it's welcome slightly. Some of the puzzles do get repetitive and the story kicks in rather late. The majority of the game is a humoristic action adventure that is carried through it's unique style of gameplay and setting, the last 2-3 chapters get very interesting for Half-Life Fans though and if possible you should experience it yourself and not just watch it! Jump in if you can!

Tested on: Runs very well!
i7 6700k @4,9Ghz
GTX 1070 8GB Strix
16GB DDR4 RAM


More detailed observations below:



A new perspective comes with different challenges and new opportunities. While most VR-Games present themselves with basic visuals, simple textures and little geometry to preserve steady performance, Alyx is flush with detailed environments, volumetric lighting and tons of interactive objects. Especially impressive are the highly detailed weapons that have been modeled inside out. You can look at the weapons up close and truly understand how it works from the inside. Pull the clip out of the pistol and you can see how many bullets are still inside, look into the open pistol and you can still observe a bullet in the chamber and have the option to pull it out. This goes for all the guns and creates a highly immersive feel of using them.

The attention to detail also goes to the characters. Skin is highly detailed, with proper subsurface scattering and the bruised, cut and bloody flesh of the different creatures is disgusting as it should be. They might be slow, but being on eye-level and feeling like standing next to these things having to fight them off, is visceral and tense. If you've ever heard the Zombies scream in Half-Life 2, maybe even listened to it backwards (you hear the sentient humans under it screaming for help), expect to feel way worse fighting them in this game. They sound desperate, terrified and even show emotions about memories they might have had before having been taken over. You will feel bad taking them out.

The sound is outstanding with a remarkable soundtrack, weapons sound powerful and packing a punch with especially the Shotgun filling the rooms with a gratifying explosion of shells and noise. Using that thing in tight spaces feels like launching a nuke.

And also the series staple, interactive cutscenes, feel more real than ever. Just looking at these characters into the eyes, them following your - real - movements in the room changes the impact completely and gives the impression of a proper conversation that you interact in. They even give you the option to actively take part by e.g. letting you choose what marker to put into the Hologram which Russel then uses to explain to you the way with.

Gambit 10/10.

Don't listen to her!

Drove up a mountain, got out, saw a guy, shot him in the head, ran down, kneeled to loot his body, got crushed by my own car. 11/10