Modders have been working on making Half-Life: Alyx playable without a VR headset ever since the game first launched in 2020. Great progress has been made on this front since then and now, the NoVR mod allows you to play the entire game from start to finish. 

The NoVR mod for Half-Life: Alyx is not complete yet, but it did just get its biggest update yet. All the mechanics needed to complete the game from start to finish are now working. You may run into some bugs, but these can mostly be fixed with a save reload.

https://t.co/pPeyEEoCX1

— Half-Life Alyx NoVR (@HL_Alyx_NoVR) April 9, 2023

Unfortunately, VR save files are not compatible with the mod and you can't use a NoVR save with a VR headset either. With that in mind, you'll need to start the game over again if you've finished it once before and if you do start playing with NoVR and then decide to pick up a headset afterwards, you'll also have to start over again.

Half-Life: Alyx is a fantastic game and the first piece of new Half-Life content in well over a decade. It advances the story in some key ways and is a very fun experience overall. However, the game was designed for VR and a lot of the fun comes from being immersed in the world and using motion controls. You'll still get to experience the story without VR and traditional mouse and keyboard controls, but don't expect it to be the best version.

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KitGuru Says: Half-Life: Alyx was the first single-player game to make me truly believe in VR as the future. Unfortunately, there aren't many studios with Valve's expertise and funding available, so we've seen very few games of equal quality. 

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