Half-Life Alyx’s no VR mod just got better, and you can get the original for cheap

If you’ve got the space and $1,000 for a Valcve Index going spare, Half-Life: Alyx is easily one of the best VR games currently on the market. Valve’s FPS prequel not only nails the expressive nature of VR like Superhot and Beat Saber do, but it takes us back to the team’s best world. If you’ve always wanted to play Alyx but are lacking the equipment, space, or PC hardware to make it work, the ‘Half-Life: Alyx No VR mod’ is the perfect alternative. The project is still ongoing, but it’s just had a colossal update.

With Half-Life 3 closer than ever thanks to the mysterious ‘Project White Sands,’ now’s the perfect time to try one of the best VR games on the market, even if you don’t have a headset. You need a legitimate copy of Half-Life: Alyx to make the No VR mod work, but beyond that, you can easily get started.

You can even play Alyx on the Steam Deck instead of your PC, and go through the campaign from start to finish. According to the development team, you can now complete all of the toner puzzles in Alyx, earn every single Steam achievement, and use a new low-accuracy crosshair (just like in Half-Life 2) while aiming.

The team has also made some big map edits and changes to player locomotion to make Half-Life: Alyx work better as a non-VR experience. You should no longer get stuck on objects on the ground like train tracks while moving, map boundaries can’t be broken, and the sway of weapons has been improved as well.

While you can play the entire Half-Life: Alyx campaign without VR thanks to the mod, there’s still more to be done. The team says extra bespoke animations are on the way, alongside further refinements to movement, orb puzzle implementation, and a whole lot more.

You can still grab Half-Life: Alyx on sale right now, but do keep in mind that it’s only running until Monday August 19 so you don’t have long to nab it at 66% off.

With the sequel closer than ever you can catch up on exactly whatever happened to Half-Life 3, or check out some of the best PC games to keep you busy instead.

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