Half-Life: Alyx Is Officially the Best-Rated VR Game Ever
Many are lauding Alyx as VR's "killer app" - a window into the potential of the technology. | Source: Valve
- Half-Life: Alyx is now the top-rated VR title of all time.
- Valve’s first Half-Life title in 13 years secured rave reviews from the gaming press.
- Half-Life: Alyx will be crucial in persuading players to adopt VR technology.
Based on Metacritic scores, Valve’s recently released Half-Life: Alyx is now the top-rated VR game of all time.
Top-Rated VR Game in History
On Metacritic, the first Half-Life title in 13 years boasts a 94 Metascore based on 49 critic reviews , ousting VR mainstay Beat Saber and its 93 Metascore from the top spot.
Half-Life: Alyx’s User Score is similarly high at 9.1 based on 1,320 ratings. These scores have secured the game a coveted “Universal Acclaim” rating on the review aggregating web site.
The title’s critical success comes as no surprise after the gaming press showered it with gushing reviews. Several sites even stamped the game with a perfect score, an unusual occurrence only reserved for the very best titles.
Many are lauding Alyx as VR’s “killer app” – a window into the potential of the technology. An example of what happens when a AAA studio throws its financial might and army of talented developers behind a game designed specifically for virtual reality.
Half-Life: Alyx Will Sell VR Headsets
Despite this success, Half-Life: Alyx remains stunted by the restrictive VR technology required to play the game. While Steam recorded an all-time player peak of nearly 43,000 players on launch day, over six times as many watched these lucky few play on streaming platform Twitch.
The message is clear. There’s no shortage of players wanting to play Half-Life: Alyx, but few have access to VR.
As we reported last week, if any title can nudge people to adopt VR, and by extension, significantly reduce the cost of entry, it’s Half-Life: Alyx.
It’s already spurring VR headset sales. The demand is so high that Valve currently estimates an 8-10 week shipping delay for new orders. The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on supply chains undoubtedly has a part to play in this. But demand has surged thanks to Alyx.
There’s finally a VR game with the pedigree and gameplay to tempt even the most vocal VR pessimists, and its near-perfect rating attests to that.
