When the combine strike and Gordon Freeman is just about doomed, who shows up? Alyx Vance, the resident vixen and renegade of City 17 and she is more than most guys can handle. In fact she’s the total package when it comes to ladies because in addition to being very attractive and down-to-Earth, she’s able to handle herself in terms of combat and she’s very smart. Also: she gets major points for fighting head-crab zombies, which are known to normally make full grown men pee their pants.
Watch out combine, Alyx is one heck of a shot with that pistol.
Alyx is the daughter of Eli Vance so right off the bat it’s well known that she comes from a brilliant lineage, but it is shown that she has an adventurous side too. And that’s where Alyx gets interesting, since most brainy people in video games tend to stick to the labs when it comes to action games; Alyx runs right alongside Freeman during a good deal of Half-Life 2 and the additional episodes. She’s cute, smart and she’s not afraid to pick up a rifle and lead the troops into battle for the revolution. In fact, Alyx is responsible for saving Freeman from the combine when he first reaches City 17 and she is able to disarm and neutralize several combine soldiers within the time it takes Freeman to regain consciousness. Heck, forget about Barney being your back up ever again in a Half-Life game, because Alyx is ready to rock.
A fine looking woman holding a fine zero-point energy field manipulator gun
What made Alyx so likable and so noteworthy is her personality. I know it sounds strange since she’s nothing more than a computer character, but the facial emotions that went into making her should be recognized as outstanding as well her voice acting. With both of these aspects combined, it made Alyx seem like such a realistic person. To start off, Valve put a lot of thought into facial expressions showing emotion in Half-Life 2 and Alyx is a character that is given the widest range of emotions in order for gamers to connect with her. When Alyx meets Freeman; her smile seems genuine. When she gets into arguments with Dr. Mossman; it is easy to see her frowns and furrowed brow. And when you see the terror in her face when she says “we don’t go to Ravenholm”, you get the feeling that you’d want to stay the hell away from Ravenholm. However, she does have a lighter side and in some cases she even tends to break the tension with goofy remarks. For example, in Episode One, after a brutal train wreck Alyx tries to lighten the mood after discovering a combine/head-crab hybrid by saying “that’s like a zombine…get it?” While the joke is kind of lame, it was interesting to add that small bit of dialogue just for the sake of a small quip. But it does give Alyx personality and it does show that not all girls in video games are strippers or elves, in the Half Life franchise: they could be normal people and anti-heroes.
Alyx and her Father Eli having a heart to heart
Basically, Alyx’s emotions are what the player should be feeling during tense situations and she serves as a moral compass since Freeman’s face is never shown. For that reason alone she’s extraordinary and significant when it comes to all video game characters. But most importantly, Alyx proves to be a realistic character in many different ways. She’s not outrageous like Bayonetta or as unbelievable as Ada Wong; she’s just a simple girl leading a revolution.
