Half-Life: Alyx vs Half-Life Deathmatch: Source
Half-Life: Alyx is an FPS horror game from Campo Santo (2020) while Half-Life Deathmatch: Source is an FPS horror game from Valve (2006).
Quick answer: Half-Life: Alyx rates higher, 8.6 to 6.5 on the GamingPickz Score, and Half-Life Deathmatch: Source is the cheaper at $9.99.
What each one is
Half-Life: Alyx is filed under FPS and Horror. In contrast, Half-Life Deathmatch: Source under FPS and Horror.
Half-Life: Alyx is Valve’s VR return to the Half-Life series. It’s the story of an impossible fight against a vicious alien race known as the Combine, set between the events of Half-Life and Half-Life 2. Playing as Alyx Vance, you are humanity’s only chance for survival.
Half-Life Deathmatch: Source is a recreation of the first multiplayer game set in the Half-Life universe. Features all the classic weapons and most-played maps, now running on the Source engine.
Story, characters and reception
Plot
Earth has been conquered by the alien Combine , who have implemented a brutal police state . In City 17, Alyx Vance ( Ozioma Akagha ) and her father Eli (James Moses Black) are arrested by Combine forces as part of a crackdown on the Resistance. The Resistance member Russell ( Rhys Darby ), an inventor, rescues Alyx and warns her that the Combine are planning to transport Eli to Nova Prospekt for interrogation. (Wikipedia)
Characters
Merle Dandridge reprised her role as Alyx for initial recording sessions in March 2019, but after playtests indicated that Alyx needed a younger voice, Ozioma Akagha was cast in September 2019. Akagha avoided using irritation in her performance, as "you don't want someone in your head that sounds irritated with you". Additional actors include James Moses Black as Eli, replacing Robert Guillaume , who died in 2017, and Rhys Darby as Russell, who added… (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reception Half-Life: Alyx received "universal acclaim", according to the review aggregator website Metacritic . According to the review aggregator OpenCritic , it was recommended by 97% of critics. By April 2020, it was one of the 20 highest-rated PC games on Metacritic. (Wikipedia)
Plot
At the underground Black Mesa Research Facility , the theoretical physicist Gordon Freeman participates in an experiment on a crystal of unknown origin. This triggers a "resonance cascade", which greatly damages the facility and teleports in hostile alien creatures. Eli Vance tells Freeman to get to the surface and find help. (Wikipedia)
Reception
Critical reception Reception On the review aggregation website Metacritic , Half-Life has a score of 96 out of 100, indicating "universal acclaim". Computer Gaming World s Jeff Green said it was "not just one of the best games of the year. It's one of the best games of any year, an instant classic that is miles better than any of its immediate competition, and—in its single-player form—is the best shooter since the original Doom . (Wikipedia)
At a glance
| Half-Life: Alyx | Half-Life Deathmatch: Source | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 8.6/10 | 6.5/10 |
| Steam rating | Overwhelmingly Positive (98%, 105,097) | Mostly Positive (76%, 5,582) |
| Critic aggregate | 93/100 | 96/100 |
| Price | $59.99 | $9.99 |
| Install size | — | 4 GB |
| Steam Deck | unsupported | playable |
| Released | 2020 | 2006 |
| Developer | Campo Santo | Valve |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Half-Life: Alyx vs Half-Life Deathmatch: Source, point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
Half-Life: AlyxFPS horror gameHalf-Life Deathmatch: SourceFPS horror gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
Half-Life: AlyxFPS, Story Rich, HorrorHalf-Life Deathmatch: SourceAction, FPS, ShooterThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
Half-Life: Alyx ✓Score 8.6 · 98% on Steam · 93 criticHalf-Life Deathmatch: SourceScore 6.5 · 76% on Steam · 96 criticThe GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Content and scale
Half-Life: Alyx105,097 reviews · 1 add-onHalf-Life Deathmatch: Source5,582 reviews · 4 GBReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
Half-Life: Alyx$59.99Half-Life Deathmatch: Source ✓$9.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
Half-Life: AlyxUnsupportedHalf-Life Deathmatch: Source ✓PlayableValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
Half-Life Deathmatch: Source takes 2 of the marked rounds to 1. That is only what a number can decide, not which you will enjoy more.
The two on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueHalf-Life: Alyx and Half-Life Deathmatch: Source on the axes the GamingPickz Score is built from, on the full 0 to 100 scale so each dot is its real position. Change either axis to compare them on any measure.
2 games have both
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
Which to pick, by what you want
- The higher-rated of the two: Half-Life: Alyx (GamingPickz Score 8.6)
- The cheaper right now: Half-Life Deathmatch: Source ($9.99)
- Better on a Steam Deck: Half-Life Deathmatch: Source (playable)
- The safer bet by weight of reviews: Half-Life: Alyx (105,097 reviews)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
FPSHorrorShooterSingleplayerFirst-PersonActionSci-fiAtmospheric
Where they differ
VRStory RichFemale ProtagonistZombiesBeautifulAliens
MultiplayerClassicRemakeViolentCompetitiveFast-Paced
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, Half-Life: Alyx is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. Half-Life Deathmatch: Source is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
System requirements, side by side
| Half-Life: Alyx | Half-Life Deathmatch: Source | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | GTX 1060 / RX 580 - 6GB | — |
| Minimum CPU | Core i5-7500 / Ryzen 5 1600 | — |
| Minimum RAM | 12 GB | — |
| Install size | — | 4 GB |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: Half-Life: Alyx · Half-Life Deathmatch: Source.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 6 accessibility features for Half-Life: Alyx and 5 for Half-Life Deathmatch: Source. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
If you like one, also try
Common questions
How different are Half-Life: Alyx and Half-Life Deathmatch: Source in scope?
Half-Life: Alyx has drawn 105,097 Steam reviews and ships 1 add-on. Half-Life Deathmatch: Source has drawn 5,582 Steam reviews and installs in 4 GB.
Is Half-Life: Alyx or Half-Life Deathmatch: Source better?
By the GamingPickz Score, Half-Life: Alyx rates higher (8.6 to 6.5). That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, not our taste. "Better" also depends on price, length and platform, which the table above lays out.
Which is cheaper, Half-Life: Alyx or Half-Life Deathmatch: Source?
Half-Life Deathmatch: Source is cheaper right now at $9.99, against $59.99. Prices move, so this is read live from Steam and can change.
Should I get Half-Life: Alyx or Half-Life Deathmatch: Source?
Half-Life: Alyx rates higher, 8.6 to 6.5 on the GamingPickz Score, and Half-Life Deathmatch: Source is the cheaper at $9.99. It also depends on what you want: the "which to pick" section above calls out which is cheaper, lighter on storage, better on a Steam Deck and the safer bet by weight of reviews.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
All comparisonsHow we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.