Can you play Half-Life: Alyx without VR?

Half-Life: Alyx is the latest entry in the Half-Life series, and was made by Valve as a VR experience. You might be wondering if it's possible to play Half-Life: Alyx without VR, and unfortunately we've got some bad news for you.

Half-Life: Alyx can't be played without a VR headset, and it doesn't come with an option to experience the game in another way. It's an end-to-end VR experience.

It's also incredibly unlikely that a version of the game will be released for a non-VR setup. While playing through the game for our review, it became incredibly obvious that Alyx had been built purely with VR in mind, to provide the best possible experience for gamers.

This means that there are certain systems and mechanisms in place that wouldn't translate into a non-VR experience very well.

If you are planning to buy a headset to play the game and start your VR gaming adventures, there are a number of headsets available that will support the game.

• Valve index
• HTC Vive Pro
• HTC Cosmos Elite
• HTC Cosmos
• Oculus Quest (with USB-C cable)
• Oculus Rift
• Windows Mixed Reality

Each of these headsets should give you a great experience, as long as you meet the minimum gaming requirements, listed below:

• OS: Windows 10
• Processor: Core i5-7500 / Ryzen 5 1600
• Memory: 12 GB of RAM
• Graphic: GTX 1060 / RX 580 – 6 Go de VRAM

So while you can't play Alyx on a non-VR setup, now is a good time to jump into VR if you've been on the fence.