You Can Play Half-Life: Alyx Without a VR Headset - Here's How

Want to know how to play VR exclusive

Half-Life: Alyx

without a VR headset? You're in luck - someone has already figured out how.

This comes just a week after the official release of

Alyx,

that requires a VR headset

(either the Steam Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, or Windows Mixed Reality) to play. Well, that's what Valve originally intended, anyway. Knowing gamers, however, it was inevitable that some way to work around this be tinkered (one of the developers at Valve

literally said it himself

), but it seems like record time in this case.

How to play Half-Life: Alyx on a budget

Unreal Academy

- a YouTuber who creates Unreal Engine 4 tutorials as well as other videos on game-related fixes and such - demonstrated a way to do this

Alyx

playable using a mouse and keyboard. He released a

initial tutorial March 27

, but since released

an update on March 29

, showing more progress in making this modified version of the original as streamlined as possible.

(via YouTube)

As demonstrated in these videos, it seems all you have to do is know

the right set of debug commands

to enter the game console (which he provides in the descriptions of said videos). This allows the player to control Alyx using his mouse and keyboard, which means movement via WASD, picking up items with the E key and shoot weapons using the mouse.

HUD's

Half Life 2

can also be activated

, allowing for weapon selection and an indication of Alyx's health.

You Can Play Half-Life: Alyx Without a VR Headset - Here's How

Half-Life: Alyx has fantastic accessibility options so everyone can get in on the action

There are still limitations, however. For example, Alyx's Gravity Gloves are not functional (although the

Gravity gun can be equipped and used

). Also, at this early stage, the debug mode feels very stiff, very clearly feeling like a sub-optimal version of a masterpiece. The original game was optimized to be experienced in VR - until down to the smallest detail - and while Valve recognizes the inevitability of a mouse and keyboard mod, they are equally confident that such a mod will only work

highlight why they made the ambitious choice to stick with VR in the first place

(By: YouTube)

Still, it's certainly not a wasted effort. Many fans of the franchise may not be able to get their hands on a VR headset - due to their finances, being inclined to

crippling cyberdisease

, or any other reason. For those people, this might be the answer. And despite the current unpolished state of this mod, dedicated fans like the guy behind Unreal Academy are already working tirelessly to give those people such a faithful experience. as possible to the original.

Source:

Chronicle of video games