“One-Way Journey” Half-Life Alyx Not Supporting Multiplayer

Programmer Robin Walker has revealed some additional information about Half-Life Alyx in a recent interview with The Verge, where the incoming virtual reality title’s linearity and multiplayer were discussed for the first time since last month’s reveal.

Programmer Robin Walker has revealed some additional information about Half-Life Alyx in a recent interview with The Verge, where the incoming virtual reality title’s linearity and multiplayer were discussed for the first time since last month’s reveal.

Half-Life Alyx is set to be a “traditional Half-Life experience,” said Walker, but this doesn’t mean it features multiplayer as “we’re not planning on supporting any multiplayer modes at this point.” So, the game will only release with a single-player and linear mode you can play by wearing your VR headset.

“This is a traditional Half-Life experience, so it’s fundamentally a one-way journey,” the programmer added. It means that you won’t be traversing an open world or sandbox environment, and will be required to complete linear tasks to reach the end of the story without any point where you’ll be free to stop and see what you want to do first or instead of that task.

“Half-Life has always been about experiencing a hand-crafted, meticulously designed path, where every space is the result of a team of people thinking about what’s in it and why it’s interesting,” he shared. “Some of those spaces afford multiple ways to navigate through them, but you’re always moving forward overall.”

A particular thing Valve is proud of is the fact that playtesters have played the game through very long sessions and never felt the usual fatigue you get while playing virtual reality titles. “We generally see playtesters go for 2-3 hours before taking a bathroom break,” and Walker believes this is due to Valve Index improvements.

Half-Life Alyx is releasing in March 2020 and will be a prequel to Half-Life 2, where you play as Alyx Vance, a prominent character in the original game. Valve will be at The Game Awards with new content and, perhaps, an exact release date for PC. At the time being, a PlayStation VR port is not in the cards but not even “ruled out.”