After 13 long years, a new installment in the Half-Life franchise has finally arrived. (It's not "Half-Life 3," but let's put that aside for the moment.) This prequel follows supporting character Alix Vance as she tries to survive in the brutal and fascistic City 17.

Unfortunately, VR gaming makes me incredibly ill, so I cannot play this title myself. However, I've compiled a list of other critics' impressions, and it seems that theirs was Half-Life: Alyx is the VR game we've been waiting for. It's a meaty and satisfying experience, with intense gameplay, a worthwhile story, and a unique perspective on one of gaming's most beloved FPS series.

If you have a VR device and have even the slightest attachment to Half-Life, you'll want to pick up Half-Life Alyx.

Rachel Weber of GamesRadar+ has little but good things to say in her 4.5/5-star review of Half-Life: Alyx; the only major drawback cited in her review is "VR headset hair" (and yes, it's a problem I've had firsthand can be a real problem, as I learned firsthand). Among other things, she likes the game's story, the gunfights, the variety of enemies, and especially the hard-to-avoid monster called Jeff.

"Above all," she writes, "the game is a love letter to Half-Life, and the ending risks melting the brains of hardcore fans and turning them into nothing but a pile of happy goo.

Few games score a perfect 10 on IGN, but Half-Life: Alyx did. Dan Stapleton reviewed the game and liked almost everything about it: the combat, the environmental puzzles, the look and feel of City 17, Alyx's characterization, the supporting characters, and even the way Alyx moves through the world. Some of the shootouts could get tiring, he observed, but beyond that, this seems to be exactly the kind of game that VR technology exists to facilitate.

"Valve has set a new bar for VR in interactivity, detail, and level design, showing what can happen when world-class developers go all out on the new frontiers of technology," Stapleton wrote.

Nathan Grayson wrote in Half-Life: He didn't think the game was perfect, but certain aspects of it drew him in and wouldn't let go. He said that just seeing the head clubs jump at him in full VR gave him a sense of fear that he never captured in non-VR Half-Life games. He also appreciated how realistic the shooting controls felt - even if they were inaccurate and many of the combat sections were too long. Still, Half-Life: Alyx has the potential to be a template for future action-packed VR games.

"Half-Life: Alyx is a game of quiet revolution that is more than the sum of its parts, a game of pioneering ideas that may one day be unthinkable without VR games," he wrote.

Half-Life: Alyx delighted PC Gamer reviewer Christopher Livingston. He gave the game a score of 92 out of 100 in his review, claiming that he was "completely mesmerized and didn't want to stop playing," which is high praise considering the unwieldiness of VR equipment. He loved the realistic feel of City 17 and found it immersive, even just holding a gun, throwing things with a gravity glove, or turning on a radio. He is also looking forward to the story, especially for "Half-Life" fans who have been waiting 13 years for something like this.

"I had no doubt that Half-Life would be a great VR game: I had no doubt that Alyx would be a great VR experience - Valve manufactures its own VR headsets and software. But I was skeptical that Half-Life: Alyx could be a great Half-Life game."

Polygon's Ben Kuchera said Half-Life: Alyx is "a VR masterpiece."

Kuchera was not so sure, especially since it is a full 13+ hour Half-Life experience. The difficulty curve rises organically and each gameplay system feels logical and fully realized. Combat can be extremely difficult, sometimes too difficult. But the puzzles are just as logical as always, he claims, and the entire experience simply "feels" like Half-Life.

"Alix's dialogue and her evolving, apparently doomed mission greatly expands the lore of 'Half-Life' by answering some questions, raising new ones, and surprising us with big surprises just when we think we have things figured out," Kutchera wrote. He goes on to say.

Some of Half-Life's combat: Alyx's combat is difficult, and some of the puzzles seem either too difficult or too easy, but that's true of any Half-Life game; Half-Life:Alyx's story, gameplay, and scope are all excellent: Alyx's story, gameplay, and scope all seem to give players an experience that similar games don't, but that's always true of Half-Life games. [If you have a VR headset and have even the slightest attachment to the series, Half-Life: Alyx should be your next purchase. And after that, you should wait for Half-Life 3. I've waited long enough.