Sixteen years after "Half-Life 2," "Half-Life 3" is still not out, but soon "Half-Life" will be: a prequel to HL2 called Alyx will be released in a few weeks. While it's nice to finally be able to play with the new Half-Life, the downside of Alyx is that it's VR-only, which means that longtime Half-Life fans without the right hardware will continue to suffer.

But it probably won't last long, or at least not forever, as Valve's Robin Walker told Game Informer in an interview that the series "means a lot to us," and that reconnecting with it through the development of Alyx Connecting with the series again through the development of Alyx is "incredibly rewarding."

"Some of the Half-Life: Alyx team members have been with Valve since Half-Life 2, while others have been with us since the original Half-Life. The team also includes some people who are new to Half-Life: Alyx working on the series, and many of them hope it won't be their last. We see Half-Life: Alyx as a return to the series: Alyx is a return to this world, not the end. [And for those of you equipped for Half-Life: Alyx: Alyx is a complete Half-Life game, a prequel, but one that tells an important part of the story.

"Half-Life: Alyx is a full-fledged entry in the Half-Life series, not only in terms of the amount of content, but also in terms of the importance and substance of the story when compared to the rest of the series. It is an important part of a larger story, one that moves the narrative forward."

Half-Life: Alyx will be available on March 23, and Valve announced today that the Index VR headset, which has been unavailable worldwide since mid-January, is expected to be restocked on Monday, but warned prospective buyers to expect an immediate sellout. Fortunately, Alix works with other VR headsets as well: we've got an overview of all of your best options here.