Although the beta enables you to play the whole game in virtual reality, there might be some glitches.
With Half-Life: Alyx, Valve demonstrated what the Half-Life universe would look like when viewed through a VR headset. Some dedicated modders are now prepared to show us even more. You can now play Half-Life 2: VR Mod for free on Steam after it entered open beta today. Tell Gordon Freeman to take off his glasses and strap a computer to his face.
You may complete Half-Life 2 in VR with the mod, which works with the Valve Index, HTC Vive, and Oculus Rift. It’s a beta, so the mod isn’t quite feature-complete and there may be flaws (and not just antlion bugs), but if you have a headset, there’s no reason you shouldn’t get into Gordon Freeman’s HEV suit and start using the gravity gun to fling objects around. Additionally, you can now actually pick up that can. The City 17 metrocops will surely be impressed!
However, you might require an iron stomach. While the mod does support full roomscale VR, the locomotion choices do not include teleportation, the movement method that resembles a blink and is present in the majority of VR games (including Alyx), which is frequently helpful to players who experience motion sickness.
According to the modders, “it is extremely difficult to eliminate any and all conceivable induced movement on the player due to HL2’s ever-present physics engine, and so it is not yet obvious if teleport can be implemented in a meaningful fashion.” “We can’t make any promises, but we are still looking into it.”
You may also remember that Half-Life 2 had some in-depth car scenes, including one in which Freeman races a janky scout car along the coast to Nova Prospekt after spending some time in an airboat through the canals of City 17. Imagine doing all of that accelerating, braking, veering, crashing, and bouncing in a virtual reality environment. There’s a fair probability that when you’re careening around, you’ll feel like whooping your cookies unless you have immunity to motion sickness.
But the mod’s creators have made great efforts to mitigate the drawbacks of driving in virtual reality. They claim that they did their best to minimise motion sickness by smoothing the view during those rides. “The rides still demand sturdy VR legs, though. We want to include a choice to switch the vehicle rides to a projected 2D image for those that have trouble with this. It may not be as immersive of an experience, but everyone should be able to ride the rides.”
The mod offers both smooth and snap turning, customisable controls, full support for left-handed players, and a laser sight for weapons to aid in aiming despite the lack of teleportation locomotion (apart from that offered by Dr. Kleiner’s facility). You only need to tap your head, which is convenient, to turn on your flashlight. Naturally, Half-Life: Alyx from 2020 will appear far more gorgeous than the 2004 game, but the concept of craneing your neck to stare up at the fortress in City 17 is really alluring.
