Home » PC Tech & Gaming News » Half Life Alyx no VR mod gives us a brand new experience

Half Life Alyx no VR mod gives us a brand new experience

Half Life Alyx has been a VR exclusive, but now we're seeing a new mod that'll make it accessible to all PC gamers!

Updated: Oct 5, 2021 12:21 pm
Half Life Alyx no VR mod gives us a brand new experience

WePC is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Prices subject to change. Learn more

Table of Contents

When the world learned about Half Life Alyx, there was a unanimous dropping of jaws. It was a day many gamers had abandoned in their dreams. Another Half Life game? And although millions of people were thrilled, another portion were quite disappointed. Half Life Alyx was a VR exclusive, something that not every had easy access to. While there were many who bought a brand new VR set just to play Alyx, there were those who couldn’t afford to spend their money on a brand new VR set-up and a game. Not to mention, VR requires space that not many have.

Half Life Alyx No VR

Although the game sold phenomenally, there were still many who simply couldn’t enjoy it for themselves for a variety of reasons. As such, since the game’s release there’s been a large portion of content creators and members of the community trying to create a non-VR mod. Allowing for regular PC gamers to finally play the game for themselves.

The modder: SoMNst

One of the more renowned modders out there, SoMNst was set on making this a reality. That was until they sadly were infected wtih Covid-19 and were very sick for some time. Delaying the progress of the mod. However, recently, SoMNst has gotten back to work.

We were shown a 30-min gameplay reel, where we can see just how well the mod has translated the previously VR-only game.

Watching this gameplay progress shows how much work has been put into this mod. Some have even said it looks indistinguishable from a proper Valve production. Naturally, there were many fears about how certain mechanics would change in VR but SoMNst has figured out how to keep the gameplay smooth and seamless.

The mod doesn’t have a release date as SoMNst is working on it alone, it’s a passion project for them. But we’re thankfully getting updates every month or so. This latest update features better collision, UI improvements and custom hints, custom items (a pipe), changes to some of the more complex puzzles to insure they work for flat screen players, and the in-game menu now works properly.

Looking through the gameplay footage shows a very polished and refined-looking game. It’s possible it might be very close to being done but we don’t want to raise any hopes. As with Black Mesa, the more time the creator has, the better the final product.

At the very least, players won’t need to be risking their personal belongings when swinging your arms around in the VR space. Nor will you have to worry about accidently punching your TV whilst in the virtual zone during one of the more… scarier levels. Needless to say, I have more than one reason as to why I’m excited about this no-VR mod.


Trusted Source

WePC’s mission is to be the most trusted site in tech. Our editorial content is 100% independent and we put every product we review through a rigorous testing process before telling you exactly what we think. We won’t recommend anything we wouldn’t use ourselves. Read more