By Joseph Allen
If you've been waiting for a chance to play Half-Life: Alyx but you don't own a VR headset, your day may very well have come. Half-Life: Alyx NoVR is, as the name suggests, a mod that lets you play Valve's first-person shooter without a headset, and now, the entire campaign is playable from start to finish.
According to the NoVR development team, the update "allows the entire game to be played from start to finish" without the use of a VR headset. Features like the Gravity Gloves, Combine fabricators, and weapon upgrades are "now working", and although the mod isn't quite finished yet, this is a significant step forward for those who want to experience Alyx without investing in VR.
Half-Life: Alyx NoVR has been in development for a while. The ability to play the whole campaign through is part of the newest update, which also adds the ability to open doors and interact with objects using your keyboard, as well as making 33 of the game's 42 Steam achievements functional.
The devs of the mod also say they have "no plans on slowing down"; they're currently "updating the final parts of the game", working on updating late-game areas to improve functionality and ensure a smooth gameplay experience. According to the devs, there's still too much work to be done on the Half-Life: Alyx NoVR mod to label this newest update as 1.0. Upcoming additions include extra Combine fabricator features, as well as better animations for Alyx's hands, integration for the final 9 Steam achievements, and more.
If you want to know what the system requirements and process of installing NoVR look like, I'd recommend checking out the exhaustive FAQ the mod's devs have assembled. It contains a ton of information regarding installation, as well as fixes for common issues and even a development roadmap. The FAQ is consistently updated with new things, too, so make sure to keep an eye on it.
Half-Life: Alyx is available right now for PC via Steam. It's intended exclusively for use with VR headsets, but if you don't have one or don't want to use one, you can download the Half-Life: Alyx NoVR mod via its ModDB page. Stay tuned for more news on this worthy endeavor.
