Enlarge / Artist's conception of VR players watching calmly as non-VR players run to finally try Half-Life Alyx for themselves. (credit: Valve)
When we named Valve's Half-Life Alyx as one of our favorite games of 2020, we added an important caveat that the game was wholly inaccessible to a "majority of interested players who either don't own a suitable VR system to play it or have no intention of getting one." Those non-VR players can rejoice this week, though, as there is now a "NoVR" mod that makes Half-Life Alyx completely playable without a headset.
Since launching on GitHub almost a month ago (and hitting "early access" on ModDB in late March), the NoVR mod has attracted "thousands" of players, according to its creators. But it wasn't until Script Update #6 this weekend that the "entire game can now be played from start to finish" without a VR headset, the creators wrote.
Installation is as simple as copying a downloaded folder into your Steam installation and adding a short text string to the launch options. And while the mod doesn't work with any save files created in the VR version of the game, you can use a handy level select to jump to your favorite parts without getting into virtual reality.
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