Reality Bytes: Half-Life 2: VR Mod is a fantastic adaptation of a classic - Rock Paper Shotgun

Half-Life conscionable works successful VR

Half-Life 2 was the archetypal crippled I ever played successful VR. Back successful the primordial days of 2013, I was fortunate capable to get my ungainly sausage-mitts connected an Oculus Developer's Kit – the prototype headset that yet led to the Oculus Rift. Understandably fixed the name, determination were not games for the developers kit extracurricular of a fewer incredibly basal demos. But determination was Half-Life 2, for which Valve had implemented a hacky VR mode that you could activate with immoderate console tomfoolery.

What you got was this weirdly retrofuturist experience, arsenic you explored a grainy, letterboxed mentation of City 17 that was nevertheless wholly there, enveloping your imaginativeness similar a headcrab. Suddenly, the introductory bid presumption became a vast, vaulted religion to misery and implied threat, specified that you had to crane your cervix up to ticker doc Breen spout harvester propaganda from his giant, rectangular display. There was an added burliness to Civil Protection, making their shoves and riot-stick thwacks that overmuch much physical. At 1 point, I dropped down immoderate nondescript drainage chasm successful Route Kanal, and my tummy physically lurched arsenic the crushed rushed up to conscionable me.

It was astir apt the astir cyberpunk happening I've ever done, a glimpse of the aboriginal viewed done memories of my past. And past it was gone. The dev kit went backmost to my editor, and Valve disabled Half-Life 2's VR mode for reasons I tin nary longer Google, due to the fact that the algorithm has latched onto the precocious released Half-Life 2: VR Mod.

This caller mod is simply a fan-made, Valve-blessed task that's escaped to download connected Steam, but requires you ain vanilla Half-Life 2 to function. Unlike Valve's spit-and-paper mentation of Half-Life 2 VR, this is simply a acold much broad conversion, adding interaction controls, reworked weapons that relation with said controls, VR-compatible menus, and truthful overmuch more.

The game's opening has been somewhat tweaked, with the camera effects removed truthful that G-Man stands alternatively awkwardly successful beforehand of you arsenic helium reels disconnected his stuttering monologue. But past you're stepping disconnected the bid into City 17, and gazing up astatine Doctor Breen's exquisitely manicured beard erstwhile more. Now though, you person hands, letting you really prime up that tin (and really propulsion it astatine the Civil Protection officer's metal-encased bonce). The VR mod doesn't see the aforesaid click 'n' flick object-grabbing strategy arsenic Half-Life: Alyx, alternatively opting for a much straightforward "hold down the trigger to pick-up". That said, you tin inactive drawback worldly from a tenable distance, meaning you don't request to perpetually crook down to cod ammo and medkits.

Other ideas person wisely been borrowed from Half-Life: Alyx, specified arsenic attaching UI elements to your in-game hands. Your HEV suit's wellness readout projects holographically from your near hand, portion your ammo number is disposable at-a-glance connected your right. The mod besides borrows Alyx's method of limb selection, wherever you clasp down the right-stick to bring up the limb menu, past hover your manus implicit the applicable limb icon to select. It's each designed to assistance support the fluidity a shooter requires. Firing a burst from your pistol astir a corner, past rapidly glancing astatine your wrist to cheque your ammo, is simply a precise earthy movement.

Speaking of pistols, the existent wizardry of the VR mod is recovered successful its reworked weapons. Not lone tin you freely purpose and occurrence each limb with your hands, they've each been fixed new, VR circumstantial interactions. The submachinegun tin beryllium fired single-handed, but is overmuch steadier erstwhile held with some hands. Weapons are besides reloaded manually, with you pulling ammunition from implicit your enarthrosis and inserting them into assorted points connected the weapon. This works amended for immoderate weapons than others. Inserting clips into the pistol and SMG is much satisfying than reloading the revolver, for example. But it each works, and works well.

Other weapons are enhanced successful antithetic ways. Freed from its situation connected the bottom-right of your screen, Gordon's crowbar is fixed a caller lease of life, letting you physically smash your mode done ammo creates, and whack manhacks for six. But the highlight, arsenic it was erstwhile Half-Life 2 primitively launched, is the Gravity gun. Unlike astir different weapons, which are somewhat much challenging to usage successful VR owed to the much nuanced aiming requirements, the gravity gun's highly analogue quality makes it adjacent easier to usage than successful the basal game. You tin enactment up sawblades to chopped done aggregate zombies with frightening precision, portion punting explosive barrels astatine harvester soldiers comes arsenic easy arsenic breathing.

In short, Source Mod VR Team has done a fine, good occupation porting Half-Life 2 to VR. But we should besides recognise Half-Life 2's ain publication to this mod. The game's highly creaseless locomotion makes question precise casual connected the stomach, portion the physics-enhanced satellite fits perfectly with the tactile quality of VR. My biggest concerns related to the conveyance sections, which I afloat expected to crook maine greenish faster than a prawn smoothie. But I played done the full of Water Hazard with lone the slightest hint of nausea, which was arsenic astonishing arsenic it was a alleviation (incidentally, the spot wherever the chimney collapses successful Water Hazard is simply a existent "Holy shit" infinitesimal successful VR.)

There are a fewer areas wherever the mod struggles to conceal Half-Life 2's flatscreen origins. Some of the characters look a spot weird successful VR. Alyx, for example, is disconcertingly thin, portion you tin truly spot the polygons successful Eli Vance's head. It's besides worthy thing that Gordon Freeman is canonically 6'2, truthful if similar maine you're what's technically known arsenic a "shortarse" this adds a somewhat weird vibe to immoderate of the quality interactions. More generally, immoderate mid-to-long scope combat encounters tin beryllium a spot tricky, arsenic are definite sequences successful Route Kanal wherever you request to combat portion swimming successful water.

But these are insignificant quibbles. Half-Life 2: VR Mod is simply a fantastic adaptation of a classic. If you ain a VR headset, it's astir arsenic overmuch of a must-play arsenic Alyx itself. More than that though, it besides intelligibly demonstrates wherefore Valve opted to marque the adjacent Half-Life VR, beyond the hard-nosed concern justification of it helping to displacement Valve Indexes. Half-Life simply works good successful virtual reality, everything from the satellite plan to the combat to the highly tactile quality of its systems. Who knows if we'll ever spot different Half-Life game, fto unsocial different VR Half-Life game, but until that time comes, this is simply a perfectly acceptable stopgap.