It’s easy to say Half-Life 2 (2004) is one of the greatest video games of all time. A towering achievement by Valve.

Now, after a 12 year gap, a new installment is here! ZOMG!! It’s what the internet has craved for over a decade… but there’s a catch or two.

Half-Life: Alyx

What a birthday present this was for us! Since the Half-Life 2: Episode 2 installment in 2007, no other Half-Life stuff has hit the shelves.

The yearning wait for Half-Life 3 has been astonishing. Fanboys have been annoying Valve about it for 12 years. All the developer did is focus on its enormously popular Steam digital distribution service.

And then out of the blue, on 21st November 2019, there was this announcement.

We’re thrilled to announce Half-Life: Alyx, a new full-length entry in the Half-Life series, built by Valve for VR.

Return to Half-Life in March 2020. Pre-purchase now on Steam. pic.twitter.com/GZkhp2Prx1

— Valve (@valvesoftware) November 21, 2019

Whilst we’re sure the toxic far right sect of gamers will be raging that the focus is on the female protagonist Alyx Vance, this is a most incredibly welcome return for what we consider the greatest FPS of all time.

The only problem is it’s on Steam’s VR thing, meaning it’s a virtual reality game.

Innovative, sure, but that stuff has hardly taken off yet. And it also turns out you’ll likely need a top end laptop or PC to play the thing. As well as the VR headset stuff.

So, basically, when Half-Life: Alyx launches in March 2020 only a select few will be able to play the bloody thing.

It’s fantastic the series is back and, hopefully, this’ll help shake up the often generic FPS genre. As well as bring about more Half-Life titles.

The issue really is who’s going to be playing it? Will it finally trigger off a VR craze?

Well, Valve is now under incredible pressure to deliver an instant classic. And you’ll need SteamVR hardware to play the thing.

Steam’s HTC Vive Virtual Reality Headset is £500 ($600).

Valve is essentially bringing back one of the most beloved and acclaimed games series of all time to hawk its VR software.

Well, at once we’re delighted and a bit miffed. We’ll see how this one plays out. You can pre-purchase Half-Life: Alyx right now on Steam.

But we’re waiting for some reviews. And for VR to warrant spending £500 beyond one game. We shall sea shells.