Is there an Alternate Reality Game hidden inside of Half-Life: Alyx?

Half-Life: Alyx might feature an ARG, or Alternate Reality Game, with hidden clues found in the VR exclusive game.

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I've now just finished Half-Life: Alyx and while I need it all to sink in before I write it over the next few days, an interesting development has happened in the form of an ARG.

What is an ARG you ask? An ARG is an Alternate Reality Game, where some gamers have begun to pick up clues of an ARG hidden within Half-Life: Alyx. The ARG itself begins at the start of Half-Life: Alyx where you will be faced with a radio, if you tune the dial clockwise you will access a radio station playing fuzzy music.

But, if you pull the antenna out and slowly turn the dial with your other hand, you will access a "numbers station". Over on the /r/GameDetectives subreddit, gaming sleuths have begun digging through Half-Life: Alyx and seeing what the hell this ARG is all about -- which is something I want to see completely ripped apart and detailed now.

Valve isn't a stranger to ARGs hidden in their games, where the original Portal having radios that led right into the announcement of Portal 2, and seeing ARG players rebooting GlADoS. It's an interesting game-within-a-game trick by Valve, and considering it's within the Half-Life universe it makes it all the more interesting.

Does this mean Half-Life 3 confirmed? Not just yet, but with over 500,000 copies of Half-Life: Alyx sold, and reviews of the game absolutely beaming (I'm personally calling it a masterpiece), it would come as no surprise to see Half-Life 3 in the near future.

More on Half-Life: Alyx

Is there an Alternate Reality Game hidden inside of Half-Life: Alyx? 11

PC hardware and VR headset recommendations: If you want some PC hardware recommendations like CPU, motherboard, RAM, and graphics card then I have a Half-Life: Alyx Buyers Guide right here. In this article, I cover the important hardware required to run the game, as well as the VR headsets you'll need (as Half-Life: Alyx is a VR-only game) to play it.

Anthony joined the TweakTown team in 2010 and has since reviewed 100s of graphics cards. Anthony is a long time PC enthusiast with a passion of hate for games built around consoles. FPS gaming since the pre-Quake days, where you were insulted if you used a mouse to aim, he has been addicted to gaming and hardware ever since. Working in IT retail for 10 years gave him great experience with custom-built PCs. His addiction to GPU tech is unwavering and has recently taken a keen interest in artificial intelligence (AI) hardware.

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