I actually have that in my library because I bought the Index but haven't played it yet because I wanted to play the first 2 games first. I didn't play the first game for very long tho because I got stuck at some point early into the game and haven't felt like continuing yet. You can also really feel the age of that game, controls and that kinda stuff. Not sure if I should just punch through that game or just say fuck it and play Alyx.
If by "first game" you mean HL1, you could try playing "Black Mesa" which is a fan remake of the game, in the same engine that powers HL2. It's not a 1:1 recreation, but it's close enough (and I feel it improves on some things).
HL2 is also 3 seperate games (HL2, HL2 Episode 1, HL2 Episode 2), so make sure you have all of those in your library.
At the very least, I'd suggest playing HL2/EP1/EP2 before Alyx, since those would provide the expected background for Alyx, despite it technically being a prequel-ish thing.
Well you're in luck because there are VR mods available free for the older Half Life games. Just get the Orange Box or something with all the half life backlog and VR mod them for free.
Half life 1 just got a new big update that makes it much better to play this day and age and fixed a bunch of bugs. Either way you could skip 1. As a kid I never played 1 and went straight into 2, then 2 episodes 1 and 2 with the orange box. I still haven't finished 1 but with this new update I think I'll go back to it some point soon now.
Am not sure there's a way for them to release HL3 and don't disappoint huge number of people. Not because they suck at making games but because expectations have grown so so so much they are downright unachievable now.
Game tech has also moved very far away. Alix was a great game, but it looked and felt so dated when it was released. If Valve won't licence Unreal Engine 5, I don't think people will be happy.
S2 has a lot of geometry limitations and can't handle open areas. Loading screens should not exist in this day and age. It's not just about the looks, but the whole experience provided by the engine. S2 is very dated and needs a major rewrite. Don't forget why the original HL was epic - they took the old id Tech engine and added a lot of "looks" like skeletal animations and stuff, these features improved the way you interact with the game and how you feel playing it, not just visual bells and whistles.
Modern gamer expects an uninterrupted journey. Modern gamer expects highly detailed world. Modern gamer expects freedom of actions. HL games used to deliver what was not possible before and if HL3 doesn't deliver modern features and a few new ones on top, it will fail miserably.
I enjoyed game physics and the story in Alyx, but my god it felt claustrophobic... It felt like Doom 3 all over again.