A Half-Life Alyx mod that lets you play the game without VR has received its "biggest update yet," opening up the full campaign to folks who can't or simply don't want to wear a headset.
Via Mod DB, the Half-Life Alyx "NoVR mod" now lets you play through the entirety of Valve's 2020 VR darling just like it's a normal PC game. The mod has been available for a while, but according to the creators, this is the first time it's been playable from start to finish, complete with working gravity gloves, combine fabricators, weapon upgrades, and more.
Development on the mod is far from complete, and there's still work to be done before its creators are confident in calling it a "1.00 release." For example, there are still nine achievements you can't get in the mod that the developers are working to make earnable, and there are also plenty of updates for animations, the HUD, and miscellaneous interactions to be completed before the final release. As with any project this big, the developers will likely continue ironing out bugs leading up to the full launch and beyond.
Half-Life Alyx is inarguably one of the best VR games available today, and Valve designed it to be exclusive to VR platforms from the beginning. That said, it's undoubtedly a good thing that it's becoming more and more accessible to fans who aren't physically capable of, or comfortable with, wearing a VR headset but still want to experience the latest game in the series.
