You reach into empty air, and Alyx's hand actually grabs hold.

When the community picks on gut feel, no thinking, Half-Life: Alyx lands around the middle, neither ahead nor behind, but it's on very few votes, so handle with care. The criterion-by-criterion detail, though, leans hard toward the joy of play. The feel in hand edges past more than eight games in ten, the peak of its profile, and art direction climbs high too. On the other side, connection stays low and so does sound environment, again on few votes. The tension is clear: it's a game you admire for what it makes your hands feel, not necessarily the one you hold close to your heart.

Compared to other virtual reality experiences, Alyx remains the benchmark, the game that showed what the medium could deliver. Its gameplay score confirms it: it's through touch that it wins you over.

So, for who? For you if you want to feel a world under your fingers, to handle, aim, rummage. Much less if you want a story that holds on long after or a soundtrack that follows you home.