Here's a look at Half-Life: Alyx being played without VR

It's been less than a week since Valve's seminal Half-Life series made its long overdue return in the form of the VR-exclusive Half-Life: Alyx, and, already, the race is on to get it running on a standard screen using mouse and keyboard. A fully playable version might still be a long way off, but footage has emerged offering a first taste of Alyx running outside of VR.

Valve New Network creator Tyler McVicker initially demoed the rudimentary VR-free version of Alyx, restricted to the most basic of interactions, during a data-mining livestream earlier this week. As McVicker explains in a new video, he was making use of a pre-release build of the game, mistakenly made accessible through Steam, that still included tools enabling developers to test Alyx without strapping on a headset.

However, even with these tools, says McVicker, Alyx without VR is still an incredibly limited affair. The traditional "use" key simply doesn't work as you might expect, and with no way to gain direct control of Alyx's hands, even some of the most basic interactions aren't possible.

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