Just be prepared to open your eyes to this VR world's slew of posters, art, and mysterious environs in order to fill the plot gaps that had previously been covered by extra dialogue. And the voice acting is, unsurprisingly, best-in-class.
The HL:A writing team, which includes Valve veterans Erik Wolpaw and Jay Pinkerton and newer hire Sean Vanaman (various Telltale games and Campo Santo's Firewatch), fires on all cylinders when establishing Alyx and Russell's relationship over radio comms. I enjoyed my time interacting with the limited cast, including a few familiar and new characters (again, shout-out to Jeff). While the story's ultimate impact on all things Half-Life is huuuuuuuuuuuuuge (that's 13 u's), its plot summary is shorter than either of HL2's episodes. Valve understands that you're likely not going to pause frequently in VR to read a virtual book, especially if you're relying on an older, lower-resolution VR headset.Ĭouple this with what Valve told me in an interview-that the plot they imagined was originally meant for a shorter game-and the result is something worth lowering expectations about, at least if your plot hopes revolve around a lengthy story with many criss-crossing characters. How did transit used to work in this world? What about factories and entertainment destinations? You get to see the broken-down, alien-infested remains in great detail through posters on walls, notes on desks, and the like-not through lengthy notes a la Bioshock. You're getting to know the state of City 17 at a pretty strange time: after an alien takeover and after the Combine's attempt to maintain something that resembles peace. Much of the storytelling instead takes place in the worlds you inhabit. A few in-person moments, all brilliantly animated, serve as brief and memorable exceptions.
Many storytelling beats have been moved to in-ear chatter, which plays out mostly between your character Alyx and your biggest helper Russell having conversations over a headset (and other occasional characters pipe in as appropriate). Gone are the relatively long back-and-forth conversations between a few nearby NPCs while your character (previously, the silent protagonist Gordon Freeman) watches and mills about. Enlarge / You'll grow to really love Russell by the end of HL:A.Īs a result, the shape of HL:A's narrative is designed differently from classic entries.
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