With a stunning announcement trailer that sure, highlights the VR-ness of this brand new Half-Life game from Valve designed for SteamVR, but it also looks like the next AAA game set in the universe. Called Half-Life: Alyx players will take on the role of Alyx Vance in a story set between the events of Half-Life and Half-Life 2.

Check it out.

Valve, the creators of Half-Life and the Steam platform, today announced Half-Life: Alyx, a new, full-length virtual reality entry in the Half-Life series. Slated for release on Steam in March 2020, the title will be compatible with all PC-based VR headsets in March 2020.

Set between the events of Half-Life and Half-Life 2, Alyx Vance and her father Eli secretly mount the resistance to the brutal occupation of Earth by a mysterious alien race known as The Combine. As Alyx, players take the fight to the Combine to save the future of humanity.

Half-Life: Alyx was designed from the ground up for Virtual Reality and features all of the hallmarks of a classic Half-Life game: world exploration, puzzle solving, visceral combat, and an intricately woven story that connects it all with the characters iconic to the Half-Life universe.

Running on Valve's Source 2 engine it looks incredible, retaining the art direction and feel of Half-Life 2. And although "full-length virtual reality entry" could mean a shorter game than what we're used to this does not look to be an on-rails or cut-down Half-Life game. As per ol' Gabe below, it' an ambitious VR project.

"Everyone at Valve is excited to be returning to the world of Half-Life", says Valve founder Gabe Newell. "VR has energized us. We've invested a lot of ourselves in the technology. But we're also game developers at heart, and to be devoting ourselves to a VR game this ambitious is just as exciting. For that to come in the form of Half-Life feels like the culmination of a lot things we care a lot about: truly great games, cutting edge technology, and open platforms. We can't wait for people to experience this."

Half-Life: Alyx is due for release March 2020 and is available to pre-purchase on Steam right now. In terms of VR gameplay players will be able interact with the environment to solve puzzles, find ammo, and even rip a headcrab off Alex's face and throw it out a window. In a very cool move the game will ship with mod tools to allow players to build their own environments.