Half-Life 2 VR is finally here and it’s free, looking astonishingly amazing as you get to see City 17 through new fresh eyes.
Half-Life 2 VR Is Finally Here and It’s Free
Classic FPS Half-Life 2 is playing in VR at the moment all thanks to a fan-made mod. And asides from that, it is looking really amazing.
After close to a decade of development and an outpouring of support from fans, Half-Life 2: VR mod finally has been launched on steam in open beta. The title is not just free but it also looks like a fitting successor to Half-Life: Alyx and also adds full support to the definitive FPS of Valve.
The mod will be sporting a full room-scale movement with motion controls that are tracked so that you can walk freely all through city 17 and pick up objects also with your hands. You should know that all weapons have been overhauled in a bid to support manual reloading as well as two-handed handling and optional laser sights. Additionally, a new radial weapon-select menu has been included alongside over-the-shoulder ammo storage to tie in with the VR controls.
The Game Is Playable On Any VR Headset That Is Supported By SteamVR
The game is playable on any VR headset that is supported by SteamVR and this is including the Valve Index, Oculus Rift, Oculus Rift S, and HTC Vive. You will however need to own Half-Life 2 on steam in order to play it as a mod. But the question here is why would you not already have one of the best FPS games that have ever been made?
Half-Life 2: VR Mod is Really Ambitious
The game, Half-Life 2: VR Mod is really ambitious if you know what I mean. It is developed by a team of volunteered developers as it looks to translate the original game to VR wholesale, with plenty of its changes based on the VR design of half-Life: Alyx. And if the final game plays efficiently as the trailer points out, then it should feel close to an official VR version of the classic shooter.
The game is only launching in beta, though, and the developers further reveal that it’ll be some time yet before the mod is completed. And while it is fully playable from the beginning to finish and features all gameplay elements, you should expect to run into a few bugs.
Weapons Will Need Extra Polishing Amongst Other Things as Per the Developers Roadmap
And according to the dev’s roadmap, weapons will need extra polishing, new animations, and improved handling. Game controls also need a bit of fine-tuning, and the team is investigating teleport movement as a direct alternative to direct controls.
But the team is wary that the levels of the game weren’t originally designed for that type of system. In the near future, textures will also be upscaled so that the game’s 18-year-old graphics appear less jarring in a VR headset.
The team however hopes to release VR conversions for Episodes 1 and 2 differently at a later date. And just maybe Half-Life 2 will make it onto our pick of the best VR games yet.
