People love virtual reality video games because they are as immersive as they get, but some of them don’t want to feel scared during a VR experience, which is totally understandable.
If you are wondering whether you should get a VR headset, then our answer would be yes, you should! And you should totally play Half-Life Alyx as well.
But is Half-Life Alyx scary? Whether you want to play a horror game or avoid it at all, Gaming Power Up will show you the answer to this question in a fairly quick post.
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Is Half-Life Alyx a Horror Game?
Half-Life Alyx is not a horror game, but it has a section where jump scares can seriously affect susceptible people. There are certain elements that can be considered dark in the game, and without going into spoilers and further details, you can expect the design to be a little scary for some, mostly kids.
But overall, Half-Life Alyx is not designed mainly as a horror game. There are shooting sections, puzzle sections, and rather scary sections, but as a whole, don’t expect to get involved in a horror game when you purchase Half-Life Alyx, which, by the way, is one of the Best VR Games in 2022.
Did Valve Make Half-Life Alyx Less Scary?
Actually yes! According to some reports (PCGamer.com), Valve decided to make Half-Life Alyx less scary, mostly on the fast zombie level.
As you can imagine, running against fast zombies might work in a classic, flat version of the game, but in VR, this is no fun at all. People with heart issues might as well find the sound of zombies suddenly appearing on the screen not appealing at all.
It’s simply not fun, and playtesters realized this, which motivated Valve to remove these “scarier” sections and turn them into levels that are actually fun and enjoyable. Thus, the “fast pacing” idea that Valve had was actually removed, so the concept of the game matches the VR experience that headsets offer.
How Immersive is Half-Life Alyx?
Half-Life Alyx is very immersive. In fact, the “scary” sections of the games take place only due to this immersiveness. If this was just a classic video game, then it probably would not scare anyone.
But since VR headsets provide a next layer of immersiveness, it is normal to consider that the game scares people in some parts.
Tension can be felt throughout the story, and the moments where you need to fight headcrabs with a gun are actually pretty intense for players, but if they are scary or not depends on the level of susceptibility of a player – that’s how it is.
Is Half-Life Alyx Scary?
We don’t want to mislead you, so if we had to determine whether Half-Life Alyx is scary or not, we would say that yes, it is scary in some parts, but not throughout the whole game.
It also depends on what you define as “scary.” What scares you might not scare other individuals at all. What’s for sure is that most parts of the game will not scare you, but they will entertain you indeed.
On a scale of 1 out of 10, being 1 “Fall Guys scary” (none) to 10, “Phasmophobia scary” (very scary), or definitive answer would be that some parts of Half-Life Alyx are 8 out 10 in the Gaming Power Up scary scale. We hope this clarifies things for you!
Gaming Summary: Is Half-Life Alyx Too Scary?
Half-Life Alyx has some scary parts, but this happens just because of how immersive the game really is.
However, remember that Valve decided to make the game less scary than it actually is, but either way, if you are easily scared, then some jump scares can make you feel bad for a while, but it will pass.
FAQ
Is Half-Life: Alyx Only VR?
Yes, Half-Life: Alyx is only available on VR devices. This means that you cannot play this game if you don’t have proper VR hardware with you, such as Oculus Quest 2 glasses.
Does Half-Life: Alyx Cause Motion Sickness?
It might! Motion sickness is something that affects many players even if they don’t play on VR. Therefore, if you know that you are prone to motion sickness, then your best course of action would be not to play Half-Life Alyx at all.