After 12 years, a new Half Life game has been officially announced by Valve. The developer took to Twitter to announce that it would be unveiling the Half Life: Alyx, a flagship VR game, on November 21. The Tweet did not include any details about the game, but we know that it will be focused on Alyx Vance and is an all-out virtual reality game.
In the new game, the player will take the role of Alyx Vance, who was introduced in Half Life 2 in 2004. Valve has built Half Life: Alyx from the ground-up and used it's Source 2 engine, which should mean that the game should be great to play in VR. It has been developed for VR systems that work with a PC, such as the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index, and Windows Mixed Reality.
Although Valve hasn't yet announced an actual release date for the game, leaks suggest that it will arrive in March next year. Nevertheless, we should find out the official date on Thursday. Also, the Half Life: Alyx is actually a prequel to Half Life 2, and focuses on the character Alyx Vance. You will start a couple of years before the events that happened in HL2. It will also be a single player only game and will supposedly have a long enough game time. However, not everyone seems to be happy that this would be a VR only game. Some fans, including me, would like it if Valve released a PC version of the game as well.
It is a good move by Valve though, as it now has a VR headset of its own, the Index. The company will see improved sales of the headset thanks to the game. It would also help improve sales of other Steam-VR headsets. Half Life fans should get excited about the new game, as it shows that Valve hasn't given up on the title. For a long time, 12 years, a lot of fans have been waiting for this day. Details about the game, and hopefully a demo, should be showcased at the event scheduled for November 21st. Stay tuned for more.
