This was posted 3 years 5 days ago, and might be an out-dated deal.

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[PC] Steam - Half-Life: Alyx $50.97 - VR @ Steam Store

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Half-Life: Alyx now 40% off $50.97 (usually $84.95). Cheapest it's been.

It's a VR game so you will need a compatible headset.

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  • +3

    Commenting so I can see people's VR recommendations 👀

    Still annoyed it's VR only, but as far as I know there's a reason it's VR only

    • +11

      Oculus Quest 2 works great. I only have a 1070

      • +3

        Rift here on a 1060. All fine too.

        Interesting video from LTT.

        Basically having the latest GPU doesn't really make that much difference.

      • +3

        but Facebook ewwww

        • +1

          Facebook is part of my reason to buy a HP Reverb G2, LOL
          Looks really great, just the tracking is sometimes off…
          Personally, it is acceptable, considering the graphics is super good.

      • Great, I have a 1070 too, look forward to trying it out on the quest 2

      • Works better with a better card though. Using a 3080 and Quest 2 via virtual desktop at the moment and framerate drops (almost) don't happen anymore.

        • Did drivers finally fix this? Played this way a few months ago and it felt very stuttery in general

    • +3

      I bought a brand new Acer VR Headset for $200 from Marketplace. Someone was moving and was trying to get rid of it. It worked perfectly with Alyx and being a Half-Life admirer, this was even better for me!

    • +2

      Because it’s designed to be VR… which is why it’s the best VR game. (Arguably)

  • +5

    The game is so creepy when being played in VR. It's really a different experience.

  • +31

    This seriously was the best gaming experience. Can't recommend enough.

    Warning: Alyx was my first VR game and I regret it. I've tried multiple other VR titles but my expectations/bars were too high after Alyx. Now I only use my Quest 2 watch Netflix and porn.

    • I know dude. I bought htc vive cosmos elite on preorder so I can play alyx, and that's only game I could enjoy everything else seems years behind. Last year in May I was thinking maybe it would be bring new wave of high quality VR games but I guess I was expecting too much in short term. VR industry is still early phase I guess. hopefully in two or three years we would start getting good games like alyx. but I can only hope.

      • hopefully in two or three years… that's what people were saying 5 years ago! And then we got Alyx after 4.

        • We still got a chance to get Half Life: Alyx 2

    • I would recommend 'The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners' - I have not played it yet myself, but it has extremely positive reviews and has been ranked up there with Alyx as one of the best VR games.

      • +2

        I played both PC and Quest 2. The Quest 2 version is a huge step down graphically, it has a lot of low res textures… over all not bad, but no Alyx. The Climb is pretty good.

    • Boneworks and Alyx are by far the best VR games.

      Walking Dead S&S is decent, but it's not a generational leap - just a good AAA (or as close as it gets in VR) game.

    • Boneworks feels so much more janky after Alyx. Before Alyx I was having a great time but now it barely holds my attention. I'm all about the sims like SW Squadrons and Project Wingman.

    • I find VR is best for simulator style games such as Elite Dangerous, Star Wars Squadrons or flight sims. Beat Saber and Pavlov are probably my only soft exemptions to this rule.
      I've been waiting for a while to play Alyx though. I'm excited to give it a try!

      • It will change ur mind.

        • It has changed my mind too.
          This is way too awesome !!
          I can say it is the best till this moment.

      • Interesting how everyone has a different perspective on what works best in VR. For me it's exploration and photogrammetry. Things like Google Earth VR still amaze me to this very day.

    • I've tried multiple other VR titles but my expectations/bars were too high after Alyx

      If you're expecting AAA games on VR, the market for it isn't there. You can still have fun experiences on it even if they're not rocking cutting edge graphics (unless it's a racing game).

      Good games on VR include Pistol Whip, Beat Saber, Moss, Superhot. It was intended for quick fun in short bursts, not binge sessions.

    • VR is more immersion > graphics quality

      Try H3VR, Gorn, SW Squadrons and Beat Saber. I've spent many hours in VR in these ones.

  • Absolute must play if you own a VR headset in my opinion. It's a shame there isn't many other titles on VR that are close to this level of quality, but if VR keeps selling hopefully we can see a few more AAA games.

  • +1

    Whats a good VR headset to get for PC?

    • +6

      Quest 2 is great for its price if you don't mind the whole Facebook thing.

    • +3

      if you don't mind the Facebook privacy issues, it's really hard to go past the Oculus Quest 2. It's pretty easy to use linked to a PC either wired or wirelessly if you have a half decent wireless router at home. Being able to use it standalone is a great bonus for me too, but I mostly use it with Steam I find.

      • +3

        So even though its standalone, can it draw on PC hardware when connected?

        • +4

          Yes. The game itself is a PC game. The quest just streams it via Virtual Desktop (a paid program). I use a 1070 and it works great. Be sure to have a fast router

        • I use a quest, but these guys don't tell you that the Latency when plugged into a PC is far higher than traditional PC powered VR headset.
          Worth the cash, it's what I use (wirelessly if you have a good enough lan setup) but its definitely got shortcomings.

          • +5

            @rubb3rchick3n: I disagree. Latency is super low on a 5Ghx router. You can always use a link cable with the Quest 2 if your Wifi is spotty.

            • @corneg: Nah wireless is fine (if you can do it) wired has serious latency issues

          • @rubb3rchick3n: The latency sounds a bit yuck but the good reviews sound good. I think the alternative in the price range is the Rift S which is PC-only.

            • +1

              @gakko: Don't go Rift S. It's not quite as good as the Quest 2, plus no standalone. And there's no advantage: the Quest 2 does PC VR perfectly with Oculus Link with a cable (no latency or compression) or wifi (minor compression, no wires).

              • +1

                @ItsMeAgro: Agree rift S woudl be a bad choice now. But there is still some latency and compression with a Quest 2 on a USB cable (its not passing a native display signal over that cable at the end of the day, so it encodes / decodes).
                The native PCVR alternative right now (with a clear upgrade in visual quality) is a HP Reverb 2.
                Its more expensive so… bang for buck the Q2 is still the winner if you are ok with facebook.

                • @3v3rqu357:

                  The native PCVR alternative right now (with a clear upgrade in visual quality) is a HP Reverb 2.

                  I have one. Make sure it fits your face before you buy it. It's narrower than other headsets.

                  Also, it crashes a lot in Squadrons and Alyx. This is a WMR problem. WMR is just garbage.

        • +1

          Yup it sure can and this can be done either through a cable or 5ghz wifi.

        • +1

          As well as the paid Virtual Desktop wireless method, you can also connect via a USB cable to the PC and use PC content with no other software other than the Oculus's own: https://uploadvr.com/how-to-play-pc-vr-oculus-quest-2/

    • Just for balance, we have both the Quest 2 as well as a dedicated PCVR headset and while the Q2 is fantastic for an entry level VR experience, the visuals are heavily compromised by comparison. You can boost bitrate to battle the compression, which is still evident, but it's the black levels, contrast, colour, vibrancy and brightness that suffers the most. It's not the same experience by any metric.

      • Depends though, I upgraded from a Vive to Quest 2 and it was great because of quest 2's higher res which removed the screen door effect.

        If you're comparing Quest 2 to a Cosmos Elite, the Cosmos will win hands down.

        I only prefer the Quest 2 because it's much quicker and easier to set up (No mucking around with cables and base stations + tripods).

  • +2

    I've had this for months now, I use my quest 2 pretty much every day, and yet I'm only 1/4 of the way through the game (if that)
    I dont hate it, but haven't found it to be the definitive VR experience or anything.

    • +2

      Each to their own I guess. What VR games are you playing a lot then? Always keen to see what VR games people are into

      • +2

        Roughly in order of play time, I've played all of the below more than Alyx

        Eleven Table Tennis
        Until you fall
        Beat Sabre
        Thrill of the Fight
        Down the Rabbit hole
        FitXR
        Walkabout Golf
        Superhot
        The climb
        Vader Immortal
        Gorn

        And to be clear, I still have full intentions of playing through and finishing Alyx, Just not sure when..

        • +4

          You should also give Moss a go, I love that game.

        • +1

          Also try H3VR if you want a sandbox gun sim.

  • +2

    How do I borrow a quest 2? Bit limiting to buy it for one game..

    I know the answer is I can't :(

    Is connecting PSVR to a PC intolerable?

    • it wont work well enough to play the game. so I suggest don't waste time on psvr.

      Maybe check on gumtree or market place, maybe you can find a deals.
      thought new quest 2 can be bought as low as 430 on coming sales.

      • +1

        yeap, and Original Quest and Rift S are $300.
        I however love the Quest 2, I couldn't handle the Screen Door effect from the OLED panels on original Quest, much more immersive now, and the 90hz bump (possible more soon) has been incredible.

    • -3

      Buy the quest 2 on Amazon with Prime and then play through Half Life Alyx and once you're done return the headset?

    • I think Amazon has a 30 day return policy.

      • +5

        Yeah, and it's easily playable in less than 30 days.

        I do doubt they would want to return the headset once they're done though! Haha

        • +2

          Yeah, wouldn't be the first person to think "I'm only buying this for HL Alyx" and then keeping it for the mass of other content.

  • +6

    Waiting for Index Bargain lol

    • Waiting for index to be actually available to Australia.

  • Don't have any desktops in the house anymore. How much would I be looking at to build one that'll play Alyx with a Quest 2?
    Thanks

    • +4

      Look for the techfast deals posted on here, building a PC is very hard right now due to shortages of GPUs & CPUs. Expect to wait 3-5 months for your GPU if building yourself or if you go with techfast it normally takes them about a month to get the PC out to you.

        • Expect to wait 3-5 months if you order (a 3080 machine) from Techfast also.
        • This is not true.

          • +4

            @blergmonkeys: Good afternoon,

            I hope you're well. Here is our second update to customers awaiting RTX 3080 GPUs.

            We have not yet received the cards nor dispatch confirmation of the bulk shipment we have ordered. Speaking to Galax with whom the order is placed, manufacturing is occurring but overall they have been in the same situation as all the other third-party brands (MSI, Gigabyte, Asus etc) in that they have not been receiving sufficient stock from NVIDIA, from which their own cards are manufactured, to fulfill the back orders in place, including ours. They're hopeful they will be on the way to us before the end of the month but haven't been able to confirm this to us.

            Speaking to local distributors, we are seeing small quantities of 3080s of all brands/models coming in weekly, and we are obtaining every possible card available to us, so we are making in-roads into our order queue, strictly in order of date placed. I can't offer any escalation. Our Galax allocation covers every order we have received, so we'll be dispatching all remaining orders when they do arrive. As previously, I don't have a confirmed date for that right now.

            While this next information doesn't have any direct impact on your order because you won't be paying more, I thought you might find it interesting: the supply landscape has changed significantly in recent months - not only are we paying more than the prices we were originally quoted for these (and all other) cards, we're also being made to bundle huge numbers of motherboards, PSUs, SSDs, RAM and other stock we really do not need (e.g. 10 motherboards or 20 SSDs to every 1 GPU), just to get our hands on the GPUs already promised to us. This was not part of the original deal but we have no choice - if we don't take them, someone else will. There truly has never been a supply situation like it before, ever.

            In terms of options, they are the same as before at this stage:

            1) Wait until the RTX 3080s arrive.

            2) Have your system built and shipped without the GPU, and we will ship your GPU when it arrives (I haven't filtered this email list by people who have already opted for this, so please ignore if you've already requested this)

            3) I can't offer any downgrade/upgrade due to RTX 3070/3090 shortages at this stage

            4) Cancel your order for a full refund.

            Please let me know your preference. Thank you once again for your patience and understanding.

            Kind regards,

            Luke and the team at TechFast Australia

            This is true….

            Nothing against Techfast, but to say that they receive stock faster than other suppliers is untrue. And if someone orders a machine with an expectation that techfast can magically conjure 3080s that will inevitably be disappointed

            • @akbal: Fair enough. I’m wrong! Thanks for posting. My info was obviously out of date.

    • I played it with a laptop.

  • Buzzy. NZ $45.89

  • +2

    Anyone tried this with a GTX 1660 Super + Ryzen 3 3100 ?

    I have Reverb G1

    • +2

      I played on an i7-6700K and GTX 1070 (so slightly below your specs I think?) with Oculus Rift S and it was fine 95% of the time. There was maybe 1 or 2 hectic moments where the framerate struggled a little but 99% of the game ran smooth.

      You may want to run it at half resolution though, I just saw the G1 has a 4K screen… Rift S has a 1440p screen.

      • +1

        Ok thanks, will give it a try.

        • +2

          I think steam has 2 hour refunds at least.

    • +1

      I played it on GTX1660S + Ryzen 5 1600AF and it ran pretty well, I was using Samsung O+ mostly but have tried using a Reverb G1 and didn't seem to have any problems either.

      • Ok sounds good, looking forward to it

  • +1

    Finally some use with my HP Windows VR headset!

  • +2

    Hopefully by the time VR becomes commonplace and strong GPUs become cheap, this will be $15 and I won’t hesitate to buy it straight away!

    • +2

      Better hope crypto becomes a past fad too.

      • +1

        Crypto's here to stay, what you hope for is Etherium moving to a layer two solution (Etherium 2.0), this would drop the price of GPU's. That or a crash in the market will also lower the demand.

        Another way of looking at it is if you invest in crypto and the parabolic trend continues, then the graphics cards will be more affordable to you from your market gains.

  • +1

    My favourite game for 2020…. played wireless Quest 2.

  • +2

    Fantastic game. The Quest 2's awful contrast ratios are definitely annoying during the dark scenes of this game however..

    • Just for clarification do you mean bad blacks or just bad godrays when it is contrasty?

      If you mean bad blacks and you played it with virtual desktop you could give the "Increase video nominal range" setting a go?

      • +1

        It's inherent in Quest 2… pretty everyone who buys VD messes with every option to get the best possible experience.

  • How is the comfort level on this game? I suffer from motion sickness and dont want to pay $50 for a game I will not be able to enjoy.

    • +1

      you will probably throw up and pass out with nightmare flashbacks, so keep away!!

      • Wish they had a demo to try.

    • +1

      You should be fine; you can play the entire game with teleportation if you want. Valve wanted the game to be as accessible as possible.

    • +1

      Has 4 settings, the usual teleport is the least jarring and can get you out of tricky situations too. You also want to ensure you're actually getting over 80fps in the VD overlay.

      • Sounds good. I will be using teleporting right through.

        • Not sure what the mode is called, I had a severe motion sickness but found 'fast linear movement' not triggering sickness at all but the game felt better than teleporting since I felt like the character was running. Try that mode first before teleportation.

    • You can play your $50 worth by just picking up shit and putting it in buckets, drawing on windows with markers and looking at liquid slosh around in bottles. I spent 30 min just stuffing around in the first couple of areas.

      Then you get to shoot stuff

      YMMV

  • nice find op

    bit of a trudge through the liezanderspam to find an actual deal, but finally worth it

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