If you’ve always wanted to play Half-Life Alyx, but didn’t have a VR setup or a PC powerful enough to do so, well, your day has come, because a new mod for the superlative Valve FPS game allows Alyx to be played without VR and via portable Steam Deck. It’s not Half-Life 3 yet, but for those of us who have always wanted to continue the journey of Gordon Freeman and company. without buying an expensive VR rig, that’s ideal.
First, you’ll need a legitimate copy of Half-Life Alyx purchased through Steam. After that, the mod, aptly named Half-Life Alyx No VR, is extremely easy to install and even allows customization of controls on a Steam Deck.
At the moment it is still in early access, with many updates including the addition of secondary shooting modes and the real Half-Life Alyx UI, expected in the future. However, as you can see in the images below, it works brilliantly, just like playing Half-Life 2, but with all the quests, story, and Alyx style.
Currently, you can play Alyx up to chapter seven, and the rest of the game will be made compatible with the mod in future updates.
Using the best VR headsets is still the best way to experience the latest Half-Life game, but if prohibitive costs have kept you from playing Alyx so far, or if you just want to play it on the go, you can find the mod complete here. as well as easy installation instructions here.
You can also check out some of the other best VR games or the best Steam Deck games. You might also want to know what happened to Half-Life 3. It’s yet to come. We still believe. But come on, valve.