After years of waiting for Valve to finally release some newHalf-Lifecontent, player have recently been rewarded with a brand new VR title from within the franchise,Half-Life: Alyx. However, whileSteam VR’s new flagship gamemay have finally given fans the return to the developer’s most successful franchise, there was something that many noticed to still be missing.
The crowbar, one of the most iconic items from theHalf-Lifeseries and Gordon Freeman’s trademark weapon, never found its way into Alyx’s hands throughoutHalf-Life: Alyx. Robin Walker, a programmer and designer working on the game, has commented on this omission in a recent interview with Kotaku, explaining why the crowbar was removed both tokeep gameplay fluidand for story purposes.
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According to Walker, the main reason that Alyx never uses a crowbar, is that the the physics of the hooked object would interfere withmovement in VR, causing problems for a year and a half. Apparently, the shape of the crowbar, while helpful for puzzle designs and prying objects open, wasn’t practical in VR thanks to the way that most players would hold their hands and the crowbar itself at their sides while moving. This would often lead to the crowbar getting stuck on objects while players were walking around and passing through hallways and around doors, making it far too easy to either lose the weapon or get trapped when trying to continue forward.
The physics issues weren’t the only reason that the crowbar got cut, although the physics and gameplay were some of the most notable examples, especially with melee combat never really coming together during development. However, one of the primary reasons for the iconic weapon being left out was actually its iconography and how closely associated the crowbar has became to Gordon Freeman, even thoughHalf-Life: Alyxactually stars Alyx Vance for the roughly15 hours of VR gameplay. According to Walker, while Valve was still attempting to implement the crowbar, too many players would both assume it was a melee weapon, and report their experience as Gordon Freeman, even though they were playing Alyx Vance.
Considering how wellHalf-Life: Alyxhas performedso far without the crowbar, it was likely for the best that Walker and his team decided against keeping the item in the game. It’s still unclear if this latest title is meant to be a new rebirth for the series, or a start for Valve’s new focus on Steam VR. However, regardless of what the game means for the company, it has become a hit with fans, with our without the most recognized weapon in all of gaming.
