In the spring of 2020, Valve launched its first Half-Life game in 13 years. However, with demands for VR, Half-Life: Alyx was not a gaming experience for everyone, but now “modders” have taken matters into their own hands.
This is what Half-Life: Alyx looks like when you play without VR glasses.
A group called GB_2 has put together a mod that allows you to play Half-Life: Alyx without VR glasses. “Half-Life: Alyx NoVR” can instead be experienced in the traditional Half-Life way, with mouse and keyboard.
The project has been in the works for a long time, and the team has put in place a number of alternative solutions for functions that otherwise depend on VR control. For example, various puzzle sequences that usually require careful movements with a VR controller can be performed with simple keystrokes.
This week, GB_2 rolled out a new update for the mod, which makes it possible to play through the whole thing from start to finish. To play, you will need to own a copy of Half-Life: Alyx, but the mod itself can be downloaded for free via ModDB.
There is still some work to be done with NoVR. For example, the mod uses the user interface from Half-Life 2, and the plan is to replace this with the official Half-Life: Alyx interface. Otherwise, various animations are missing and it is currently impossible to obtain a handful of Steam trophies, but this will also be in place eventually.
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