Half-Life 2: Episode Two will get modded VR assist, making Valve’s sequel utterly playable in digital actuality
On: April 7, 2023
During the last seven months, the intelligent bods at Source VR Mod Crew have been including VR performance into Half-Life 2. The bottom game obtained all goggle-eyed final September, whereas Episode 1 acquired the VR remedy solely final month. Now, the group has added VR assist to Episode 2, finishing its objective of letting you expertise Gordon Freeman’s most expansive journey in stereoscopic 3D.
Whereas I have never performed Episode 2 in VR, I’ve taken vanilla Half-Life 2 for a spin on my (more and more decrepit) Oculus Quest, and Source VR Mod Crew’s adaptation is completely wonderful. Gordon’s eclectic arsenal has been cleverly reworked to utilize VR controls, letting you purpose, hearth and reload weapons as if holding them in your precise palms, with bespoke reloads for each weapon. Furthermore, the mod correctly borrows quality-of-life options from Half-Life: Alyx, relocating HUD data to show in your wrists, and deploying the same weapon-selection system that allows you to deliver up a Useless-Area fashion holographic menu and actually level on the weapon you need to wield. It does not have the identical “gravity glove” performance as Alyx, where you flick objects towards you after which catch them utilizing the grip buttons. However it nonetheless allows you to seize stuff at a distance by way of extra conventional VR telekinesis.
It is also spectacular how nicely Half-Life 2 transitions to VR. I anticipated sure chapters like Water Hazard to be borderline unplayable, because of the velocity at which you progress, and the way the hovercraft controls in typical play. However HL2’s extremely clean locomotion makes the game surprisingly straightforward on the abdomen, and the mod group has finished a effective job of adapting the management scheme for autos. This bodes particularly nicely for Episode 2, which is closely oriented round driving in its second half.
There is a trailer above that exhibits the mod in motion, and you may download the mod itself right here. Notice that as with Half-Life 2 and Episode One, you will must personal a base copy of the game for the mod to perform. As long as you have obtained that and a headset suitable with Steam VR, you must have the ability to download and play the VR mod as merely as another Steam VR game.
