Half-Life Alyx is now one of Metacritic’s top-rated PC games of all time

Half-Life: Alyx is now among the 20 top-rated PC games of all, according to review aggregation site Metacritic.

Valve’s VR shooter has a Metascore of 94 based on 49 reviews. The highest rated PC titles according to Metacritic are Half-Life 2, Grand Theft Auto V, The Orange Box, Half-Life and BioShock, which all have Metascores of 96.

Half-Life: Alyx is also the best reviewed PC game of 2020 to date, placing ahead of Doom Eternal (90), Ori and the Will of the Wisps (89), Monster Hunter: World – Iceborne (87) and Panzer Corps 2 (84).

Prior to Half-Life: Alyx’s release, Valve co-founder Gabe Newell said the game represents a chance for the company to prove “the magic still is there” after a couple of missteps in recent years.

Speaking to IGN, Newell said he believed Valve had “nailed it” with the VR exclusive, but he’s equally hopeful those outside of the company view it as a return to form for the Steam firm after disappointments including 2018’s digital trading card game Artifact.

“We can be right, and we can be wrong, we make mistakes,” he said. “We did Steam Machines, Artifact was a giant disappointment, you know we screw things up.

“And so, for us, this is actually a really powerful moment for us, because this is as good as we get. We want to know, we want to find out, are we on the right track? We want people to come back and say, ‘oh my God, the magic still is there’. These guys at Valve can take this kind of experience and build something that opens our eyes as designers, that thrills us as players, that reviewers look at and say, ‘this is legit’.

“And if not, then that’s also going to be super powerful and super useful for us. I think we’ve nailed it but for us, we’ve gnawed on this thing for a long time, it’s time for it to go out into the real world, it’s like you’re sending your kid off to college, let’s see what happens. That for us is incredibly important and part of our development.”

Half-Life: Alyx reviews went live when the game launched for PC-based VR headsets on March 23.

VGC’s Half-Life: Alyx review calls the shooter “a stunning return for Half-Life and an essential VR purchase – if you have the required equipment and space.”

For more on the game, the future of the series and VR, check out our recent Half-Life: Alyx interview with designer Robin Walker and programmer Kerry Davis.