Half-Life: Alyx could have been constructed from the bottom as much as assist Valve’s tremendous costly Index headset, however as you’ll have seen from my Half-Life: Alyx PC requirements and VR headset specs article, you may really play it on any VR headset that helps SteamVR, together with the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift headsets and any Windows Mixed Reality headset. Heck, you may even play Half-Life: Alyx on Oculus Quest if you happen to join it to your PC by way of Oculus’ Link software program and a high-speed USB cable. The key query, although, is what VR headset gives one of the best Half-Life: Alyx expertise?
To discover out, I’ve examined the game with each VR headset I’ve been capable of lay my palms on: the Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift S, the HTC Vive Cosmos, HTC Vive Cosmos Elite, and, after all, the Valve Index. Below, I’ve put all of them face to face (or ought to that be headset to headset?) to search out out which one gives absolutely the bestest greatest Half-Life: Alyx expertise, ranking all of them for consolation, visible constancy and the way simple they’re to make use of and play the game with. Which VR headset will emerge triumphant? Let’s discover out.
As a quick reminder, listed here are Half-Life: Alyx’s minimal PC necessities, that are all above what it’s good to get every of the headsets I’ve examined operating within the first place. As I discovered in my Half-Life: Alyx VR performance article, although, the minimal spec is admittedly solely greatest fitted to enjoying the game on Low to Medium high quality settings, particularly if you wish to take advantage of your headset’s prime refresh fee.
Half-Life: Alyx minimal PC necessities:
OS: Windows 10
CPU: Intel Core i5-7500 / AMD Ryzen 5 1600
RAM: 12GB RAM
GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 (6GB) / AMD Radeon RX 580 (8GB)
To guarantee that PC efficiency isn’t a difficulty right here, I’ve used the next parts to maintain Half-Life: Alyx operating good and easily: an Intel Core i5-8600Okay CPU operating at inventory speeds, 16GB of RAM and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super graphics card (which is the minimal GPU I’d advocate for pushing into these greater high quality settings), together with all the most recent Windows 10 and graphics drivers put in. I additionally performed the game on High high quality when testing every headset, and I used a mix of its teleport and steady motion modes.
To set the baseline expertise, I began with my least expensive VR headset, the Oculus Quest, earlier than transferring up the VR meals chain primarily based on value. That means, we will see how the expertise evolves versus how a lot cash you’re spending, and whether or not shelling out the highest greenback for the Valve Index is admittedly value it. So, with out additional ado, let’s get these cybergoggles on.
Half-Life: Alyx on Oculus Quest
Once you’ve arrange the Oculus Quest to work together with your PC (observe my useful How to play Half-Life: Alyx on Oculus Quest information if you happen to haven’t already) and related it by way of a high-speed USB-C to USB3 cable (out there from Amazon US or Amazon UK), this standalone VR headset makes for a surprisingly first rate Half-Life: Alyx expertise.
Despite having the bottom refresh fee of the 5 headsets on check right here, I didn’t discover it overly nauseating and I used to be ready to make use of each the teleport and steady motion modes with out problem. The newly up to date Continuous mode did make me really feel a little bit sick, admittedly, however the common motion choices labored simply high quality.
Thanks to the Quest’s mixed decision of 2800×1600, the world of Half-Life: Alyx appeared pretty and sharp contained in the headset, and its OLED panel meant that colors had been wealthy and vibrant. Most importantly, they didn’t look too oversaturated, both, which might typically occur with sure OLED shows. There was a slight port-hole impact across the edges of the Quest’s show, nonetheless, and I used to be continually conscious that there was a number of daylight creeping in from the underside of the headset.
Still, the Quest’s 6 levels of freedom (DOF) monitoring labored properly, and standing subsequent to a specific brilliant window didn’t influence its skill to maintain observe of my physique actions (which might’t be mentioned for each headset on this checklist). The solely slight draw back is that its two Touch controllers (that are the identical ones utilized by the Rift S) had been solely capable of map the motion of my thumbs and forefingers after I wasn’t urgent any buttons. In order for it to trace my different three fingers, I needed to press down on the controller’s rear set off. Not the tip of the world, all informed, however you’ll quickly see that different headsets on this checklist are capable of observe all 5 fingers regardless of the place they’re resting on their respective controller.
The solely main drawback with enjoying Half-Life: Alyx on the Oculus Quest is that darn cable. Whereas different headsets sensibly place their PC connector cables to run down the again of the headset behind you, the Quest has to make do with its front-facing cost port. This means the cable connecting the headset to the PC is successfully popping out of your left temple, which might get in the best way of transferring your left arm relying on the place you’re standing/seated and the way distant you’re out of your PC. The Anker cables that Oculus recommends as an alternative choice to their tremendous costly (and at the moment out of inventory) fibre optic cable do, admittedly, have the drawback of sticking straight out of the headset, reasonably than at a right-angle just like the official Oculus ones, however I’d think about that even the Oculus cables will sometimes get in the best way of your left arm actions relying on the place you’re in relation to your PC.
I additionally discovered the Oculus Quest to be the least comfy of the 5 headsets, which meant I wasn’t capable of play Half-Life: Alyx for very lengthy earlier than I needed to take a break. Perhaps it’s on account of the truth that I’ve a tinier head than most, however I discovered that I needed to pull the straps fairly tight to make it really feel safe sufficient on my face so it didn’t fall ahead after I moved about, which in flip made it dig into my cheeks fairly a bit. I additionally needed to set the interpupillary distance to its smallest potential setting to make every part look good and sharp, which ended up pinching my nostril after about half an hour or so.
Overall, I’d give it 3 / 5 headcrabs.
Half-Life: Alyx on Oculus Rift S
Immediately, consolation ranges rise 487% switching over to the Rift S, thanks partially to its great light-weight headband. With adjustment managed solely by the round dial behind the headset, the Rift S isn’t simply simpler to suit than the Quest, nevertheless it additionally removes a number of the strain from the highest of my head. The entrance nonetheless digs into my cheeks a bit after some time, however total it’s a far much less top-heavy headset than its standalone sibling, and I used to be capable of put on it for an extended time frame. Not massively longer, all informed, as my cheeks did really feel fairly sore after some time, however the strain was nowhere close to as dangerous because it was on the Quest.
Strangely, regardless of having a decrease decision than the Quest, the Rift S appears to be like noticeably sharper in-game. Perhaps that is due to the Rift S’ superior match, making it simpler to place on my head with out endlessly faffing with interpupillary distance dials and the like, or perhaps it’s only a bizarre quirk of its LCD show. One factor’s for positive – the thicker padding across the Rift S’ lenses implies that there’s far much less gentle bleed than the Quest, making for a extra immersive expertise total.
The cable continues to be a little bit of a ache, admittedly. Here, Oculus have mounted it to the facet of the headset, nevertheless it doesn’t go way back to HTC or Valve’s respective headsets. As a end result, I nonetheless felt it curling spherical my shoulder at occasions, and it continued to be a nuisance after I began transferring my left arm loads – which you do repeatedly in Half-Life: Alyx at any time when it’s important to attain into your backpack for extra ammo. It wasn’t fairly as troublesome because the Quest’s cable, nevertheless it was an annoyance all the identical.
Still, its monitoring felt simply as correct because the Quest, and I used to be capable of transfer round my play house simply with out it shedding observe of me. It does, admittedly, fall into the identical hand-tracking pitfalls because the Quest, because of the truth they’ve the identical Touch controllers, however as I mentioned above, it’s actually not that huge of a deal within the grand scheme of issues.
I wouldn’t say the Rift S’ built-in audio system had been any higher than the Quest’s both. Indeed, the audio could possibly be fairly tinny at occasions and a number of Half-Life: Alyx’s atmospheric music didn’t depart a lot of an influence in consequence. The Rift S does, not less than, provide the possibility of attaching a devoted pair of headphones due to the three.5mm headphone jack on the left-hand facet of the headset, however I wouldn’t advocate utilizing a full-blown gaming headset with it. This finally ends up feeling fairly cumbersome after some time, and have become more and more much less comfy as time wore on. Opting for ear buds proved to be the higher possibility, as this didn’t apply any additional strain on the highest of my head, nevertheless it did imply having one other cable (albeit a skinny one) bashing in opposition to me whereas enjoying.
Still, total, a particular step up from the Quest on this case. I give it 4 exquisitely rendered bread rolls out of 5.
Half-Life: Alyx on HTC Vive Cosmos
Moving on to the Vive Cosmos, this concerned a teensy bit extra setup than the Rift S, if solely as a result of this explicit headset must be plugged into mains energy. It additionally wasn’t fairly as simple to get it comfy on my head. Despite having the reasonably nifty characteristic of having the ability to raise your complete headband at a proper angle to the headset, permitting you to simply snap it over your head reasonably than stretch it just like the Rift S, I needed to spend fairly a little bit of time faffing round with the rear dial and interpupillary distance stick on the entrance of the headset earlier than it was a) steady and b) produced a transparent sufficient picture.
This is partly as a result of the Vive Cosmos has the slight good thing about sitting simply that bit additional away out of your face, which means there’s much less strain in your cheeks as you play. However, the draw back of that is that it made it tougher for me to get a pointy image. Indeed, the one means I managed to stop the display screen from descending right into a blurry pixel fest was by tightening the scarf a lot that it ended up like some sort of medieval torture gadget. Instead of my cheeks getting sore, I now had full-blown headcrab on my face.
And but, even with this insanely tight headband in place, there have been nonetheless moments the place I felt like I wanted to push it nearer to my face to get rid of among the blur, and I needed to take a break after about half an hour as a result of the pressure in opposition to my head was simply an excessive amount of.
I additionally had issues with the Vive Cosmos’ monitoring. In brilliant sunshine, the headset’s built-in sensors produced a message saying the atmosphere was too brilliant. In the night with the lights switched on, it might typically warn me the atmosphere was too darkish. There was merely no profitable. My palms jittered everywhere in the store, too, making it troublesome to make use of Alyx’s flash gentle with any diploma of accuracy, and it was notably flaky after I used my left hand to assist my proper whereas firing my gun.
I wasn’t a fan of the Cosmos’ controllers, both. Not solely did they’ve worse finger monitoring than the Rift S’ Touch controllers, however the set off buttons felt sticky and spongy as properly. They required much more pressure to press down totally, leading to a number of failed makes an attempt at grabbing ammo from behind my head – which actually isn’t helpful whenever you’re being preyed upon by a number of headcrabs and zombies at the hours of darkness.
The audio was a fraction higher, however I couldn’t say I seen its 3D spatial audio coming into impact in Half-Life: Alyx. Still, it’s positively a plus that they’re off your ear, just like the Valve Index, they usually’re simple to regulate, too.
Overall, although, the Vive Cosmos positively didn’t reside as much as the identical customary as the 2 Oculus headsets. I give this 2 / 5 barnacles.
Half-Life: Alyx on HTC Vive Cosmos Elite
Finally, we’re into the realms of exterior monitoring headsets. Technically, the Vive Cosmos Elite is precisely the identical headset because the common Cosmos – it simply has a distinct face plate attachment and comes with two old-school Vive wand controllers and two base stations – supposedly to boost its total monitoring capabilities.
But holey moley, observe pads are not the best way to play Half-Life: Alyx – particularly after utilizing 4 headsets with correct analogue sticks. They’re simply not delicate, tactile or responsive sufficient for the quantity of motion you’ve bought to do in Half-Life: Alyx. Whether it’s teleporting utilizing the bottom of the right-hand observe pad, or snap turning with the facet of mentioned observe pad, I continually felt like I used to be at a drawback with these previous Vive controllers, and it shortly grew to become more and more irritating to hold on enjoying previous 30 minutes of cyber-goggling. Likewise, with so few buttons at its disposal, a number of beforehand intuitive controls on different headsets had now been assigned to totally different fingers or they’d been mashed into the observe pad in some way, successfully forcing me to utterly re-calibrate how I performed. You do adapt after some time, nevertheless it was nonetheless horrible, and for that reason alone I’m leaping straight to 1 / 5 man-hacks right here. Moving on!
Half-Life: Alyx on Valve Index
Here we’re, the large kahuna of VR headsets. The Valve Index is the most costly VR headset on this checklist, however man alive are you able to see and really feel the place all that cash’s gone. Not solely is it essentially the most comfy VR headset of the large 5, thanks in no small half to its copious material padding across the lenses and the rear portion of the scarf, nevertheless it’s additionally one of the best sounding, as Valve’s built-in, off-the-ear headphones ship a wealthy, full-bodied audio expertise that makes every part from intense Combine fights to squelching barnacle tongues sound unbelievable.
I had no hassle getting the Index to sit down comfortably on my face, as its rear dial supplied loads of adjustment with out making it really feel like I used to be subjecting myself to a medieval head vice. Its interpupillary distance dial additionally goes loads additional than different headsets on this checklist, and you may convey the lenses nearer or additional away out of your face as properly, providing you with loads of choices for locating the correct match and getting the sharpest potential picture.
The Index’s monitoring is second to none, too. I put its two SteamVR 2.zero base stations in precisely the identical location as I did the Vive Cosmos Elite’s base stations (which, I ought to observe, are solely the 1.zero model, reasonably than the two.zero mannequin you get with the Index), and I didn’t have a single technical hitch all through my whole play session. No jittery palms, nothing.
The Valve Index’s controllers’ finger monitoring is one of the best of the bunch as properly. Thanks to its gentle, outer monitoring band, the Index controllers can precisely map the place of every finger, even after they’re not urgent down on the rear grip and set off buttons. As I mentioned earlier, it doesn’t make an enormous quantity of distinction to your moment-to-moment gameplay, however it’s a fraction extra immersive to see your in-game fingers mimicking the actions of your precise fingers. Plus, the additional material band that slides throughout the again of your hand means you don’t all the time should be gripping the controller for it to remain in your hand, too, which eases the strain a bit when your fingers want a little bit of a relaxation.
The buttons themselves additionally provide loads of tactile suggestions, and really feel a lot lighter and extra responsive than the spongy triggers on the Vive Cosmos and Cosmos Elite. As a end result, pulling stuff towards you with the gravity gloves feels loads smoother and fewer irritating, and I by no means missed any vital ammo grabs from my backpack after I wanted to reload.
I discovered the Index’s cable was the least intrusive of the lot as properly. Valve have sensibly mounted it virtually all the best way to the very again of the headset so it correctly trails down your again reasonably than falling away in entrance of your shoulder, and it positively didn’t get in the best way of my arms as a lot as the opposite headsets on this checklist. There had been nonetheless odd moments after I felt it tangling spherical my legs a bit, however that’s a hazard of any PC-tethered headset.
Overall, then, it actually is tough to search out fault the Index, and for that reason I give it 5 bug-crushing Russells out of 5.
So, what it one of the best VR headset for Half-Life: Alyx?
Unsurprisingly, the Valve Index actually is absolutely the cream of the crop on the subject of enjoying Half-Life: Alyx in VR, however it’s also madly costly. For these of you who’d reasonably not spend virtually a grand on a VR headset, the Oculus Rift S is by far the following best choice for would-be Alyx-ers. At £399, it’s nonetheless a sizeable chunk of change, however its inside-out monitoring is excellent, it’s simple to setup and its consolation ranges are fairly good as properly.
As a end result, go for the Index if you happen to’ve bought the money, however for everybody else, one of the best VR headset for Half-Life: Alyx is nearly definitely going to be the Oculus Rift S.
Phew! Glad we bought that sorted. However, whereas we could have settled the argument over one of the best VR headset for Half-Life: Alyx, that doesn’t essentially imply we’ve sussed out one of the best VR headset total. Indeed, I’ll be taking a good nearer take a look at every of the headsets I’ve talked about right here over the approaching weeks, writing up particular person critiques of what they’re like to make use of extra usually, in addition to how their respective retailer fronts maintain up when it comes to unique games and VR experiences. Will the Oculus Rift S and Valve Index be capable to maintain onto their respective crowns? Only time will inform.
