Half-Life: Alyx vs Half-Life 2 | Direct Comparison

00:00:03.080welcome back everybody to another

00:00:04.890episode up to Rhett comparison in

00:00:07.170today's episode we're gonna look at the

00:00:08.910recently released VR exclusive half-life

00:00:11.190Alex and see how it compares to the last

00:00:13.710main line entry to the series half-life

00:00:15.6302 now obviously this comparison is going

00:00:18.990to be a little different than usual

00:00:20.250we're dealing with two incredibly

00:00:22.260different styles of game here with one

00:00:24.269being a traditional shooter released

00:00:25.769back in 2004 and the other being a

00:00:28.529virtual reality experience built to take

00:00:30.929full advantage of the platform's

00:00:32.309interactivity but both of these

00:00:34.530experiences still share a bunch of

00:00:36.360similarities including character designs

00:00:38.520gameplay concepts and the unique city 17

00:00:41.489locale so we're gonna take a closer look

00:00:44.100at many of these aspects and see just

00:00:46.500how valve has managed to improve on what

00:00:48.239many consider to already be a

00:00:49.920masterpiece now for this video both

00:00:52.620games are being played on the PC where

00:00:54.870the graphical settings pushed as high as

00:00:56.370possible though while we're still gonna

00:00:58.440take a look at some textures and model

00:01:00.120designs the primary focus for this video

00:01:02.219will be on comparing the general

00:01:03.690gameplay mechanics and how they've been

00:01:05.489redesigned for virtual reality

00:01:07.520alright so to keep this comparison off

00:01:09.810let's start by talking about the general

00:01:11.640movement and control half-life 2 of

00:01:14.280course handles like any other

00:01:15.720first-person shooter you move around

00:01:17.820using the keyboard hold shift to sprint

00:01:19.590space to jump and control to crouch and

00:01:22.200you control your aim using the mouse

00:01:24.119pretty straightforward stuff but

00:01:26.310half-life alex is an entirely different

00:01:28.200experience there's no keyboard or mouse

00:01:30.509to control basic movement instead you

00:01:33.030need to use a combination of a few

00:01:34.229buttons on your VR sets handheld

00:01:36.119controllers along with your own personal

00:01:38.040body movements peeking around corners

00:01:40.320requires you to actually lean awkwardly

00:01:42.540to the side need to take cover from

00:01:44.579incoming fire get ready to do squats and

00:01:47.090want to walk across the room well you

00:01:50.280technically can but only if you have the

00:01:52.290space if you don't have a city 17 size

00:01:54.750space to walk around in you're probably

00:01:56.430going to need to move around the world

00:01:57.600either with teleportation or by enabling

00:01:59.939locomotion to smoothly walk in a

00:02:01.920specified direction it's a surreal

00:02:03.899experience being able to look across the

00:02:05.939rooftops of the city and travel through

00:02:07.649the alleys as you hunt for supplies but

00:02:09.390it can of course be exhausting to

00:02:12.590every turn and movement requires you to

00:02:14.390constantly be aware of how you're

00:02:15.709standing and what expensive monitor

00:02:17.840you're about to smack as you reach out

00:02:19.370to interact with something interaction

00:02:21.470is key here and one of Alex's most

00:02:23.450fundamental aspects that makes it more

00:02:25.160immersive than its predecessor

00:02:26.750when half-life 2 released one of its big

00:02:29.150selling points was how immersive its

00:02:30.950environments were thanks to havok

00:02:32.780physic's first can pick up almost

00:02:34.190anything that's not nailed down and toss

00:02:36.049it around you can pick up soda cans jump

00:02:38.780on a seesaw or even grab someone's TV

00:02:40.910and toss it out the window

00:02:41.989that would only shatter if enough

00:02:43.670momentum was applied Alex expands on

00:02:46.579this concept substantially allowing you

00:02:48.470to interact with practically everything

00:02:49.849in an unprecedented way even the most

00:02:52.519mundane activities like opening a door

00:02:54.410or a shelf are made more fascinating

00:02:56.660thanks to this new perspective this of

00:02:59.180course also extends to the amount of

00:03:00.680time you spend doing incredibly simple

00:03:02.329tasks opening a door and grabbing ammo

00:03:04.310off the shelf for example can be

00:03:05.599accomplished within a second and a half

00:03:07.010life - but with Alex you need to

00:03:09.319position yourself properly at the door

00:03:10.879turn the handle either push or pull it

00:03:12.890open walk over to the shelf brush items

00:03:15.470out of the way and manually grab what

00:03:16.970you want to help speed this up alex

00:03:19.579features special hi-tech gloves called

00:03:21.560the Russells that can be used to flick

00:03:23.840distant items into the air and straight

00:03:25.459towards the player these share a lot of

00:03:27.769similarities to the gravity gun

00:03:29.180introduced partway through half-life 2

00:03:30.859but have the added benefit of working

00:03:33.049independently with both hands meaning

00:03:35.599you can do really cool things like

00:03:36.980shooting a gun while simultaneously

00:03:38.450grabbing an enemy's grenade and tossing

00:03:40.340it back at them what's possible and Alex

00:03:42.500really does feel limited to your

00:03:44.060imagination your imagination and your

00:03:46.519willingness to insert physical energy

00:03:48.109but if you're already familiar with

00:03:50.030virtual reality none of this should

00:03:51.889really be news to you so let's move on

00:03:53.900to talking about the weapons and how

00:03:55.609they've evolved over the course of the

00:03:56.900past 16 years both Alex and half-life 2

00:04:00.079are first person shooters after all so

00:04:02.150you'll spend a good chunk of your time

00:04:03.380in both games grabbing ammo and blasting

00:04:05.540away headcrabs and combine soldiers but

00:04:08.389where half-life 2 is fast paced and

00:04:10.130features large-scale battle sequences

00:04:12.040half-life Alex's combat is more personal

00:04:14.859enemy combat scenarios are smaller and

00:04:17.239scale often involving a maximum of three

00:04:19.880hostels at any given time and doing

00:04:22.219something as simple as reloading is now

00:04:23.960an entire process

00:04:25.880in half-life 2 reloading the weapon

00:04:27.680simply requires the player to press the

00:04:29.180R key but in Alex you need to mainly

00:04:31.970drop the spent magazine on the ground

00:04:33.560grab a fresh magazine from your backpack

00:04:35.690feed it into the gun and then pull back

00:04:37.700on the slide to chamber around it's a

00:04:39.800really cool feeling that makes you feel

00:04:41.660even more awesome when you follow up a

00:04:43.310fast reload with a satisfying kill but

00:04:45.980this also leaves a ton of room for user

00:04:48.080error and when things start to get

00:04:49.880really tense later on in the campaign

00:04:51.740you better have enough distance and

00:04:53.330solid cover to safely reload and return

00:04:55.340fire the weapons themselves are also

00:04:57.980different models entirely you half-light

00:05:00.560to Gordon receives a standard

00:05:02.2109-millimeter pistol that deals a pretty

00:05:04.580decent amount of damage against combine

00:05:06.200soldiers and the like but this weapon

00:05:08.540stays the same throughout the entire

00:05:09.950game and never improves making it less

00:05:12.710useful in the later stages half-life

00:05:15.170Alex's pistol is based heavily on the

00:05:17.210design of Alex's handgun from half-life

00:05:19.1902 with what looks like a heavily

00:05:21.230modified 1911 in fact when you first

00:05:24.350receive the gun from your friend Russell

00:05:25.970it looks like a regular old 1911 but

00:05:28.910throughout the game you can use pieces

00:05:30.320of resin to fabricate upgrades with all

00:05:32.810the upgrades appearing more like the

00:05:34.340original design

00:05:35.120Alex wields when you see her in the old

00:05:36.680games when firing the weapon in

00:05:38.660half-life 2 you simply aim with a mouse

00:05:40.760and click but in VR you have to hold the

00:05:43.520weapon steady for yourself and you can

00:05:45.350pretty much hold the weapon however you

00:05:46.820like allowing for a much more fluid and

00:05:48.800intense combat I particularly like how

00:05:51.380you can smash up and windows with the

00:05:52.820butt of your gun or open car doors to

00:05:54.590protect yourself if you aren't afraid of

00:05:56.990jumping out of a window in real life you

00:05:58.940can probably even dive to the side and

00:06:00.590shoot like a crazy person if you wanted

00:06:02.030to when viewed up close the weapons and

00:06:04.700half-life Alex look incredible with a

00:06:06.890significantly higher poly count higher

00:06:09.170resolution textures and more fine

00:06:11.000details there's also some new hardware

00:06:13.550never before seen in the half-life

00:06:15.230universe before like these digital

00:06:17.330reflex sights that allow players to

00:06:18.860highlight enemy weak points for these

00:06:21.170cool new frag grenades that look like

00:06:22.940they've been built using old tape

00:06:24.200measures and then of course we have the

00:06:26.690shotgun and combine SMG that feature

00:06:29.330entirely new designs never seen before

00:06:31.550in the series and both have their own

00:06:33.500special reloading mechanics to master

00:06:35.450the only downside to Alex's Arsenal is

00:06:38.300how

00:06:38.670Limited it is there's no revolver pulse

00:06:41.040rifle crossbow or rocket launcher to

00:06:43.020play around with there's only three

00:06:44.730weapons in the whole game but as I

00:06:46.830mentioned earlier the combat is more

00:06:48.540intimate in close quarters than your

00:06:50.070typical half-life experience

00:06:51.690so a lot of those weapons may have no

00:06:53.940practical use anyway now the character

00:06:56.490models are even more interesting

00:06:58.350ALX features the return of practically

00:07:00.420every classic enemy faced in half-life 2

00:07:02.630there's headcrabs zombies barnacles

00:07:05.850combine soldiers and even ant lions and

00:07:08.640while they're all easily recognizable

00:07:11.040they also feature some distinct changes

00:07:13.250headcrabs for example now feature more

00:07:15.750realistic physical properties and move

00:07:17.970around more erratically in half-life 2

00:07:20.370headcrabs almost always pounce and hit

00:07:22.800the player dead-on but in Alex the crabs

00:07:25.260aren't quite as precise and often flip

00:07:27.540around the environment smacking into

00:07:29.220walls and stunning themselves it's

00:07:31.350pretty funny to watch and also helps to

00:07:33.420make the experience more manageable

00:07:34.740especially considering you have to

00:07:36.300mainly pull them off your face now the

00:07:38.550zombies handle very similarly they

00:07:40.710aren't quite as smart as they usually

00:07:41.940are typically zombies shamble directly

00:07:44.760towards the player swinging their arms

00:07:46.260once they get in close this general

00:07:49.020principle remains but they move more

00:07:50.880organically almost as if the headcrab

00:07:53.160host is struggling to control the

00:07:54.810unwilling corpse and it helps make the

00:07:57.030zombies more unpredictable what's really

00:07:59.910cool about the zombies now is that they

00:08:01.530come in a lot more variety than before

00:08:03.240there was only like one or two different

00:08:05.370zombie models in half-life 2 so this

00:08:07.980change greatly helps to make the world

00:08:09.540feel more realistic then of course we

00:08:12.180have the combine soldiers at half-life 2

00:08:14.910there were a few different types of

00:08:16.560combine like the Metro Police soldiers

00:08:18.930and elites all with unique masks and

00:08:21.210uniforms half-light Alex continues this

00:08:24.030trend the Metro Police for example can

00:08:26.130be seen roaming the streets during the

00:08:27.600intro and you'll run into plenty of

00:08:29.400different soldiers all throughout

00:08:30.480including brand new types like these

00:08:32.430heavy troops wielding shotguns and

00:08:34.050machine guns or perhaps they're the same

00:08:36.510soldiers from before but in VR they

00:08:38.940appear much bigger and more heavily

00:08:40.650armoured either way the detail is

00:08:42.990incredible you can make up actual

00:08:45.120texture along the combines eye panels

00:08:47.160and can even steal weapon magazines and

00:08:49.590grenades from pouches along their armor

00:08:51.390there's even weak points on some enemies

00:08:53.459that when damaged will cause the enemy

00:08:55.589to explode these weak points play an

00:08:58.110even bigger role with the antlions

00:09:00.120that can now have their limbs severed to

00:09:02.430reveal a critical weak point on their

00:09:03.990abdomen beneath their wings over all the

00:09:06.899complexity of various enemy and

00:09:08.610character models is undeniably a huge

00:09:10.740improvement something that's easy to

00:09:12.720notice when interacting with friendly

00:09:14.370NPCs like this vortigaunt everything has

00:09:17.160more personality now and helps to make

00:09:19.170the world a path life feel more alive so

00:09:22.110let's take a moment to talk about the

00:09:23.790world now in half-life 2 players explore

00:09:26.730an unspecified eastern european city

00:09:28.920called city 17 that has been overrun by

00:09:31.649an alien force called the combine this

00:09:34.290world was revolutionary for its time

00:09:35.970with the immersive physics effects and

00:09:38.010it's dark moody atmosphere on top of

00:09:40.680that

00:09:40.980halfway to introduced a sophisticated

00:09:42.959alien hierarchy to help make the

00:09:44.730experience more believable combine

00:09:46.649soldiers for example has specific ranks

00:09:48.720and jobs to help keep the peace and make

00:09:50.850use of several different synths like

00:09:52.260hunters and Striders to complete tasks

00:09:54.180this is expanded even further in Alex we

00:09:57.930can see a few new uses for things like

00:09:59.579Striders as they install power cables

00:10:01.620for the Citadel we also get more

00:10:03.930glimpses of combine soldiers raiding

00:10:05.730homes and taking prisoners and there's

00:10:08.339even some new biological organisms

00:10:10.170introduced to help keep it all fresh

00:10:11.690what's more we get to see a lot more of

00:10:14.399the interiors of these old abandoned

00:10:16.079structures with an up-close and personal

00:10:18.120look at headcrab nests and other weird

00:10:20.430alien flora in the quarantine zone the

00:10:23.190architecture of these structures feels

00:10:24.720more complex

00:10:25.829which is apparent within the first

00:10:27.449moment when the game world is revealed

00:10:28.880something that took me by surprise

00:10:30.720simply by how insanely real it all

00:10:32.699looked when sitting there in person the

00:10:34.740sheer depth and complexity of these

00:10:36.420environments is unlike anything I've

00:10:38.040ever witnessed in VR and easily has set

00:10:40.410a new standard for the platform it works

00:10:43.320well and tricks your brain pretty easily

00:10:45.209into thinking you're in a real place

00:10:47.060what's more these environments are

00:10:49.260beautifully decorated every single

00:10:51.810alleyway hallway and bedroom is loaded

00:10:54.120with physics based objects that can all

00:10:55.709be played with I found myself constantly

00:10:57.540getting distracted by silly things like

00:10:59.399shelves lined with alcohol a working

00:11:01.470piano a spinning globe this cute little

00:11:03.779snark

00:11:04.320trapped in a bottle and of course these

00:11:06.270functional dry erase markers you can use

00:11:08.970to draw images on windows at the start

00:11:10.680now half-life 2 obviously doesn't

00:11:13.140feature environments this detail you'll

00:11:15.540often walk into a room and find a little

00:11:17.280to nothing left inside this can be

00:11:19.800explained by saying the combine took

00:11:21.480everything from these people but you'll

00:11:23.430find the same empty rooms in the Raven

00:11:25.260home areas as well but half-life 2 did

00:11:27.630spend a lot more time in wide open

00:11:29.730spaces avoiding the need for richly

00:11:31.770detailed interiors you can even drive

00:11:34.140around in vehicles which are not

00:11:36.030available in Alex at all next let's talk

00:11:38.460about the lighting lighting in the

00:11:40.320source engine was a big deal back in

00:11:41.8502004 it was a major step up from what

00:11:44.400was possible in gold source and

00:11:46.200eventually with regular updates and

00:11:47.910tweaks allowed for some forced HDR

00:11:50.250implementation in more natural bloom

00:11:51.900effects giving the additional episodes

00:11:53.940an even more polished look

00:11:55.580Alex's lighting is on an entirely

00:11:57.840different level it's incredible just how

00:12:00.240real these effects look everything feels

00:12:02.670natural

00:12:03.240with the Sun slowly descending

00:12:04.620throughout the course of the campaign

00:12:05.660eventually causing God ways to pour into

00:12:08.130dusty interior spaces and making way for

00:12:10.740the city's fluorescent lighting to cast

00:12:12.630soft blue and yellow light all around

00:12:14.520and then there's the sequences where you

00:12:16.620need to use your flashlight attached to

00:12:18.180your hand to see which feels far more

00:12:20.400immersive and horrifying the old

00:12:22.050flashlight in the center of the screen

00:12:23.340offered in half-life 2 the environments

00:12:25.650have a much more natural tone and color

00:12:27.540palette and Alex but the world retains

00:12:29.730its same general aesthetic as his

00:12:31.260predecessor with lots of earthy tones

00:12:33.690contrasting heavily with the dark metals

00:12:35.790of the combine architecture reflective

00:12:38.130surfaces have also been improved a great

00:12:39.480deal

00:12:40.140there are some nice reflections from

00:12:41.760water surfaces in half-life 2 but alex

00:12:44.340features some nice baked reflections and

00:12:46.110objects like this television that while

00:12:48.450definitely not reflecting in real time

00:12:50.100still look pretty impressive shadows

00:12:52.410have also seen a huge improvement with

00:12:54.510much softer edges and more environmental

00:12:56.640projections from things like trees the

00:12:58.890only downside to the shadows I found was

00:13:00.840when interacting with objects objects

00:13:03.210held by the player don't appear to cast

00:13:04.980shadows all the time but as soon as

00:13:07.410those objects are released the shadow

00:13:09.000projection will slowly materialize this

00:13:11.190is strange especially considering these

00:13:12.930shadows still function in real time and

00:13:14.790will move in relation to those objects

00:13:16.440if they're pushed around or hit

00:13:17.939something else but it also seems

00:13:20.039deliberate and was like we done to help

00:13:22.169improve performance and then of course

00:13:24.539we have our effects now I've spoken a

00:13:27.239great deal already about how the physics

00:13:29.009define both of these games and you can

00:13:31.049probably already tell from the sponge

00:13:32.429what I mean by that but it is worth

00:13:34.859mentioning that half-light alex also

00:13:36.539features some soft body physics as well

00:13:38.399with things like pillows and paper

00:13:40.470actually being malleable and bending

00:13:42.419realistically it's just another

00:13:44.579incredible detail that blew my mind when

00:13:46.529I first started messing around with it

00:13:47.909though it isn't perfect and if you start

00:13:50.729to really push the effect it can't end

00:13:52.649up going out quite a bit but the one

00:13:54.779thing Alex doesn't seem to feature at

00:13:56.429all or water effects this was a really

00:13:59.099surprising omission I don't recall even

00:14:01.379seeing any ponds or fountains throughout

00:14:03.059the game one of half-life 2's really

00:14:05.189impressive features when it released was

00:14:06.839this water simulation which features

00:14:08.789some great reflective properties that

00:14:10.470really put it ahead of other games at

00:14:12.119the time but Alex's environments never

00:14:14.429offer an opportunity for us to really

00:14:16.139see what the source 2 engine can do with

00:14:18.029water now there were a few examples of

00:14:20.789fire to look at which unsurprisingly

00:14:22.379looked better in the new game though

00:14:24.569explosions were a bit of a

00:14:25.679disappointment

00:14:26.429they certainly looked better don't get

00:14:28.529me wrong but the effect just doesn't

00:14:30.299feel as authentic when compared to the

00:14:31.739rest of the game world and finally let's

00:14:33.809listen to a few sound comparisons which

00:14:36.059game do you think has the better audio

00:14:37.739design

00:14:49.450[Music]

00:16:02.890[Music]

00:16:09.700[Music]

00:16:30.470[Music]

00:17:10.820and that wraps up this episode of direct

00:17:14.970comparison over all half-life Alex is a

00:17:17.850revolution in graphical design it's been

00:17:20.790a while since I've booted up a game and

00:17:22.320have been genuinely astonished by how

00:17:23.910good the graphics looked though I guess

00:17:25.800I shouldn't have been too surprised this

00:17:27.600is valve after all and it's kind of

00:17:29.520their thing to always push the envelope

00:17:30.750and build breathtaking experiences with

00:17:33.270state-of-the-art technology and fresh

00:17:34.860ideas sadly this experience comes with a

00:17:37.860hefty price tag so a lot of gamers won't

00:17:40.380be able to experience this any time soon

00:17:42.030but if you've been looking for an excuse

00:17:44.460to finally dive into VR this is that

00:17:46.860reason everything from half-life 2 has

00:17:49.050been recreated here with some beautiful

00:17:50.850new character models advanced animations

00:17:53.220incredible environmental designs and

00:17:55.380some truly immersive gameplay mechanics

00:17:57.570setting a new standard not just for the

00:17:59.670half-life series but for the industry as

00:18:01.620a whole but what do you guys think are

00:18:04.170you impressed with half-life Alex or do

00:18:06.000you still prefer the design of half-life

00:18:07.5602 let me know in the comments section

00:18:09.600and of course don't forget to Like and

00:18:11.940subscribe for more videos posted every

00:18:13.920week

00:18:24.610[Music]

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