Half-Life: Alyx - Final Hours

Half-Life: Alyx - Final Hours is an interactive story about working in Valve, currently available on Steam. Its author, Geoff Keighley, had access and insight to work on new projects in the studio for many years. He once had the pleasure of interviewing Gabe Newell himself.

Story

Keighley was quite closely associated with Valve as he had been there frequently in search for Final Hours of Half-Life material before. Now he's reappeared to finish Half-Life: Alyx - Final Hours. As the author himself stated, the work on Half-Life was very ambitious, but also absurd, because the game was to be released for VR, which is owned by only 1% of Steam users.

Half-Life: Alyx was eventually released, and its storyline takes place between Half-Life 1 and Half-Life 2. Half-Life 3 has never seen the light of the day.

Gameplay

Geoff Keighley's interactive document is devoted to information tidbits like this and many more. Unlike the ambitious projects coming out of Valve, it doesn't require a VR headset to read. It consists of chapters that can be read traditionally and have been supplemented with a history in 3D video game technology, which allows you to freely explore the company and take part in the game designing adventure.

The main theme of the book is, of course, Half-Life: Alyx, but it was also devoted to other projects - interesting facts about them can be discovered through, for example, interactive puzzles that allow you to see new information or pictures. You can also view previously unseen projects, prototypes, see the exact place of work on Half-Life or watch an interview with Rhys Darby.

Reception

Half-Life: Alyx - Final Hours has garnered overwhelmingly positive ratings on Steam, backed up by enthusiastic comments. The title attracted fans of the Half-Life series as well as people interested in what it looks like working on projects in Valve studio, which is not known for the greatest willingness to share its secrets. Readers particularly liked the interactive part, which allows you to "play" with Valve via the screen.

Key features

• Learn about the history of one of the greatest giants of the gaming industry.
• See what the work on the biggest projects in the Half-Life series looks like.
• Experience Valve's atmosphere.
• See character sketches, work on animation and sound, view designs and prototypes that no one has seen before.
• Play with the elements on the screen and feel like you are there in person.