Half-Life 2 VR Mod Review And Setup Guide

Half-Life 2 is one of the most well known and respected video games of all time. Just like the original Half Life it is widely considered to be a classic that not only showcased some impressive technology for the time in the Source Engine, but also was another tightly designed and extremely well thought out experience that is full of memorable moments and superb gameplay.

Most players that have tried it can come to the conclusion that Half-Life 2 is a fun and good game. We already know that, so that’s not what I'm here to talk to you about. The question here is: As much as we've all loved Half-Life 2 on the flat screen, does that mean it is also fun in Virtual Reality?

The Gravity Gun is even better in Half-Life 2 VR

Half-Life 2 Is Amazing In Virtual Reality

Yes... yes it is. Seriously this game is somehow even better in Virtual Reality, and you can play it for free in SteamVR as long as you own a copy of the original Half-Life 2. This is crazy. I'd like to thank everyone who put time in to work on this. It is absolutely amazing and I've never loved a flatscreen to VR mod more in my entire life.

Though you, the reader, might want a little more detail than just my word that Half Life 2 VR is absolutely awesome and amazing and you should try it right now. So let's talk specifics. How does the addition of VR make Half-Life 2 better?

In any discussion of a flatscreen game being ported into Virtual Reality there are very obvious aspects that differ immediately between Virtual Reality and flatscreen gaming.

The most immediately apparent of these is the switch from a desktop monitor to two very little monitors shoved right in front of both of your eyes and cast slightly askew so that you have the illusion of being inside of a completely 3D space with the illusion of depth. Basically the magic that makes VR gaming so much more immersive than flatscreen gaming.

Aiming in Half-Life 2 VR feels so much less constrained when using your physical hands in Virtual Reality

Now you might think that this is where the Half Life 2 VR mod wouldn't be very impressive. Sure the mod makes it so that your head is exactly where Gordon Freeman's head is, basically putting you immediately into his shoes and making you feel like you really are present inside the whirlwind of combine gunfighting, headcrab zombie chopping, and antlion wrangling chaos around you.

Still, Half-Life 2 is about two decades old now, and concerning how far computer graphics have come, two decades is quite a long time. The source engine was impressive for its time, but does it really hold up twenty years later?

While you'd think that taking such a up close look at textures and technology that is so old would make it feel like you're living inside an eyesore, the look of the game still holds up very well. If you look really closely at the textures that make up your environment or other NPCs, then yea you can see that they are lower resolution than you're used to.

Oh, and being able to look so closely at those NPCs talk is sometimes a little uncanny, but Half Life 2 still looks better in Virtual Reality than a lot of modern games made for VR platforms.

The Half Life 2 VR Mod looks excellent as well. Even better than the original Half-Life 2 because of the more personal point of view

At the end of the day this comes down to good environmental design. While the technology is older, good design is timeless.

The various aesthetics of the maps that you explore and fight through in the Half-Life 2 VR mod still hold up as well as they did all those years ago, and taking a closer and more personal look at things just makes them even better to look at and experience. Though while I mentioned the NPCs can be uncanny to look at when they're talking, boy are they great when you're fighting.

Strapping a device to your head that displays the action directly into your eyes and tracks your head like you really are there standing exactly where your Gordan Freeman in the game is makes the combat feel so much more immersive. You really do feel like you're standing in a hallway in Nova Prospekt gunning down incoming combine prison guards almost as quickly as they can spawn in.

The Half-Life 2 VR Mod Feels As Good As It Looks

Even the scope on the crossbow functions excellently in the Half Life 2 VR Mod

Combined with the excellent hand controls that the Half Life 2 VR mod brings to the table, the full force of the VR effect comes crashing in on you in Half-Life 2 VR. You feel like you're really there, like you really can reach out and touch that soldier standing just feet away from you. Well, actually you can reach out and touch them.

That's the second half of the puzzle that makes Half Life 2 such an enjoyable Virtual Reality experience, the hand controls. They are absolutely superb. I've played plenty of recently released titles that were made for VR which had worse hand controls than those in this free Half-Life 2 VR mod.

Though while the hands generally track really well and are responsive, they're not perfect. There are instances where your hands might get caught on the walls or floor around you, mostly I noticed this when physically crouching. The system that detects what object your hand is close enough to to grab was also a little finicky sometimes, but the fact that it works at all is still amazing. You can just reach an empty hand out to an object and hold down the grip to grab it, and the physics fun only gets better when the Gravity Gun comes into play.

With the VR mod you're also much freer when playing with the physics and just in general since you can use your physical hands in any way you'd like. You're not constrained to grabbing or aiming directly in front of you like you were in the original game.

There’s a fully functional hand grabbing system as well. It works amazingly well in Half-Life 2 VR

So now you can shoot from different angles, shoot from cover, or even blind fire around corners or above obstacles if you want to. While you don't have to play the mod like a more cover based shooter than Half Life 2 was intended to be, you certainly can if you like. Your weapons point where your hands point, and that not only feels amazing, but even expands the game and gives you as a player more options in how you want to play it.

Speaking of those weapons, they all feel fantastic. The entire arsenal of Half-Life 2 looks and feels amazing in this game. From the humble pistol to the combine assault rifle, each weapon has unique reloading actions that you can do with your actual, real hands. This isn't one of those flatscreen to VR ports where you just hit a button to reload your primary weapon. Nope, in the Half Life 2 VR mod you have to eject the old mag, grab another one from behind your back, and slam it home.

Weapons like the SMG or Pistol even have to chamber another round if you fire it completely dry before reloading. All of the weapons really come to life in the Half-Life 2 VR mod.

Even throwable weapons like the grenade feel great, and throwing that feels natural has been hard for many VR games to pull off. Basically you start your throw, and just pull the trigger when you would release, and a grenade is spawned from your hand going on the trajectory of the throwing motion you were just making. It feels so natural once you get the hang of it.

Tossing a grenade is easy in Half Life 2 VR

You even reload the RPG by putting another rocket in the tube. The shotgun is actually even a little overpowered because now you can pump it as quickly as your hand can move, meaning you can fire it a lot faster than you ever could as flatscreen Gordon. Now your reloading speed is dependent on how fast you, the player, can reload.

Oh, and since there aren't a bunch of number keys to use anymore, you now select weapons by just pushing in the stick on your dominant hand and then moving your hand over the weapon you want on the selection menu. It did take a little getting used to, but with some practice I could pull out a new weapon extremely quickly.

Eventually knowing where the weapon I wanted was on the selection wheel was just muscle memory. There are a ton of weapons, and so accidentally equipping one that you didn't want to occasionally does happen (mostly when panicking and getting shot a lot), but this beats hitting a button to cycle through every weapon in your arsenal any day.

Selecting weapons is fast and straightforward with this weapon selection wheel. Just move your hand over the weapon you want and let go

As for negative things, there are a few bugs, mostly I noticed some objects popping in and out of existence when you look at them from certain angles. The only bugs that were really annoying were the few times my hands were caught behind walls or objects, and for the record that was very rare and only happened once or twice.

The only part of the gameplay itself that is annoying is that when you dump a magazine you don't get the leftover ammunition in it back automatically, you have to pick it up manually instead. Now this isn't the worst thing ever, and is realistic if nothing else. I just would have liked an option to make it so that dumped magazine ammunition is automatically collected from the ground.

That's really about it. There are a ton of comfort and other settings that you can change in the game as you like, like adding a laser pointer to your guns if you aren't the best at aiming, or making it so that you actually have to physically grab and climb up ladders to use them. There are really a ton of comfort and utility options you can set in the game.

The Half Life 2 VR Mod Is Free And Runs Directly Through SteamVR

This mod is fantastic, and if all of this hasn't convinced you to try it, maybe the fact that it is free will.

The Half-Life 2 VR Mod is totally free! You just have to own Half-Life 2

If you own a copy of Half Life 2 just download the mod for free on Steam and run it, you don't even need to have the original Half Life 2 installed. There's no setup process, just play it like any other Steam VR game. If you are on a standalone device like a Meta Quest 3 or 2 then you can still play the Half Life 2 VR mod if you stream it from your PC to your headset.

So thanks to Valve for making a fantastic game two decades ago, and most of all thanks to the dedicated modders who created this absolutely fantastic VR mod. I have absolutely no idea how they pulled it off but if I didn't know better I would have thought that Half-Life 2 was actually made as a Virtual Reality game first and not the other way around.

So yea, give this mod a try and thank me later.

Latest Bootstrap Island Update Adds Building And Inventory

Now for a game that is really shaping up to be a fantastic VR Survival game and is definitely a Virtual Reality experience to try right now, Bootstrap Island.

This VR survival game has you in a Robinson Crusoe sort of situation. You are stranded on an island after being the only survivor of a nasty shipwreck. It’s a roguelike game that challenges you to explore the island as far as you can without perishing of dehydration, starvation, or being eaten by the many dangerous animals that come out at night.

Fighting off menacing beasts in the middle of the night is a core part of what makes Bootstrap Island such an intense Roguelike experience.

Bootstrap Island Gets Great, Consistent Updates

When Bootstrap Island first released it felt very bare bones, and had a ton of bugs. So many that reviewing or recommending it felt like it may have been unwise until we could see the development teams’ commitment to fine tuning a great game. Bootstrap Island has always had fantastic visuals and sound, but there was clearly some polishing that needed to be done on even the most basic interactions and mechanics.

Well, since the release of Bootstrap Island into early access some months ago the updates have been strong and consistent. Trying this VR game again hasn’t been a bug free experience, but lacked the consistent crashes and physics engine issues that the game previously had.

The satchel inside of a chest in Bootstrap Island, courtesy of the developer’s Youtube channel.

Most notably in this latest update two new items have been added that really show what direction this game is going to go, and reinforce my belief that Bootstrap Island will become a must play game for Virtual Reality survival game enjoyers.

One is a satchel, which if you unlock and then find within a chest in the game can carry a bunch of items. One of the early game hardships of Bootstrap Island is that you don’t have an inventory to speak of other than your hands. Well over several runs now you can actually carry quite a few things and give yourself a lot more options as you go deeper into the island.

Second and most notable is the addition of a book which lets you craft structures on the island. Currently the only craftable buildings using this book are a fence and a gate for this fence, which offers some defense against wild animals at night, but the intricacies of even this fledgling crafting system show what a commitment the team working on Bootstrap Island has to creating a realistic and finely tuned survival experience.

Building a fence in Bootstrap Island, courtesy of the developer’s Youtube channel.

A lot of VR survival games that heavily feature building are content to simply have to bring over the items needed to build something, select where you want to build it, and then maybe whack it with a hammer a few times.

Not Bootstrap Island, in this game you must drive each stake into the ground and then tie them together with a naturally occurring plant called cordage root. Just like building a fire, or loading a pistol, each step to build even a simple fence feels just like how building a fence in real life would feel, and that is the core of why Bootstrap Island is shaping up to be a fantastic VR game.

Another VR Extraction Shooter Is Coming - Astro Hunters VR

You might be interested to hear that Ghosts Of Tabor might be getting a little bit of competition soon. Currently this Escape From Tarkov inspired Virtual Reality Game has been the only example of its kind, and from its exclusivity as the only VR extraction shooter has been wildly popular.

However now it seems that other game developers have picked up on this fact and are seeing if they can get a slice of that sweet sweet Virtual Reality extraction shooter pie. Enter Astro Hunters VR.

Fighting an alien for his loot in Astro Hunters VR. A new VR Extraction Shooter planned to be released soon.

If you’re a big enough fan of the extraction shooter PVPVE genre then you might have heard of The Cycle: Frontier, a flatscreen PVPVE extraction shooter that had its servers shut down due to it simply not being very popular.

Well, Astro Hunters VR seems to be kind of like what The Cycle was. You’re a space man or space woman in a sweet futuristic vacuum suit. You buy equipment to use, and then find a quest to undertake before getting into a capsule to blast off down to a planet to fight, loot, try to complete your quest, and hopefully return alive.

I’ve taken a look at the Volcano planet, which is explorable in the publicly available free demo that is free during this year’s Steam Next Fest. I have to say that one of the most impressive things about this demo is the scenery and setting.

Other VR games like Red Matter and Red Matter 2 have shown that the vast reaches of space can make for extremely fantastic spectacles to view from a first person point of view in VR, and that’s where Astro Hunters VR really shines.

The scenery in Astro Hunters VR is pretty nice.

Landing on the planet and looking around at it is pretty awesome. From the epic skybox to the alien terrain and the creatures that mill around. There is clearly a lot of creativity behind the portrayal of Astro Hunter VR’s alien worlds. Though the visual fidelity could use a little work in some places, and a lot of NPCs and objects will pop into existence not very far away from you.

Still, there are all sorts of creepy crawlies, giant turtles with huge triangular mouths, sky jellyfish, and so many more types of enemies and alien animals roaming the planet.

Fighting off alien turtles in Astro Hunters VR.

There are a ton of things to do, like mine materials such as crystals and ore using various tools, and collect loot from containers spread across the map. Mostly though like any extraction shooter of PVPVE game, Astro Hunters VR has you focused on fighting, collecting stuff, and trying to survive to extract.

Unfortunately it is in the fighting and surviving that the demo reveals that this Virtual Reality game still needs a lot of work. Those many different animal designs I mentioned earlier? Well they all seem to have very similar behavior, mill around unless a player comes too close. If a player does then the NPC just runs closer and attacks as soon as they are in range. They’re kind of dumb.

Walking around camps of aliens feels like avoiding enemies in World Of Warcraft. You can plainly be in their sight, yet they won’t see you. Oh, and the shooting doesn’t feel great and lacks punch. The same goes for when you get hit. The gunplay is extremely basic and obviously needs a ton of work at the moment.

Mining a crystal in Astro Hunters VR, an upcoming VR PVPVE extraction shooter.

While the Astro Hunters VR demo shows that the game still needs a lot of work until it is ready for release, there is some promise here.

The design is ambitious in quite a few ways, like making extraction capsules come back to pick up players every three minutes or so, while the location of the capsule and the time it arrives is globally visible. So everyone knows where and when the extraction arrives.

This could lead to an epidemic of extract camping, but at the same time could also lead to protracted combat over extraction zones, practically guaranteeing there is no free lunch in Astro Hunters VR.

The demo is available from June 10, 2024 to June 17, 2024 on Steam. You’d think that would mean that there is a demo on the Meta Quest as well, but I couldn’t find it in the Meta store. Regardless it seems that Astro Hunters VR plans to release on both platforms.

Hopefully this will be the start of more competition in the VR PVPVE and VR Extraction Shooter genres.

Free Gorilla Tag Horror Games That Are Scary And Fun

Gorilla Tag is a ton of fun. There are all sorts of maps and places to explore, and while a few like the Gorilla Tag caves map are a little spooky at times, they’re not really scary.

Well if you want to have a scary Gorilla Tag experience you’ve come to the right place. There are some Gorilla Tag knock offs and mods that are a lot like the base game, but they aren’t afraid to be as spooky, scary, and downright horrifying as they can be.

If you want to play Gorilla Tag, but scary, then try one of these Gorilla Tag horror games. They’re all guaranteed to make you shiver with fear! (But in a fun way)

All of these Gtag games have the same kind of movement that Gorilla Tag does, and you can get all of them on the Meta App Lab, so you won’t need SideQuest for any of these. Just look up the name in the Meta Store and install it. Oh, and these are all all free Gorilla Tag games!

Big Scary

The Big Scary logo

If you want a Gtag horror game then Big Scary is the first place you should look. It’s by far the smoothest, most finished feeling, and most fun of all the scary Gorilla Tag games out there. It’s also much longer than the other Gtag horror games and has a ton of levels and features.

So once you start the game you leave the room you start in and notice that it’s really really dark. Luckily you’ve got a mining helmet with a flashlight on it. Of course that light is only so bright, and only goes so far.

The eyes of the monsters in this scary Gorilla Tag horror game glow in the dark

The darkness helps make Big Scary as frightening as it is. It’s always dark, but you can still see in front of you thanks to the light. Though you can always see the glowing eyes of the monsters hiding in the darkness.

What makes Big Scary so much fun is that it’s not just about running from the monsters. As you go through the levels in the game you’ve got to make sure the monsters don’t catch you and solve a simple puzzle or complete an objective at the same time.

You have to complete the objective to get to the next level and they can be all sorts of things like finding an item and using it, or pressing some buttons. If a monster catches you then you lose.

It’s also a really scary Gorilla Tag horror game, though it would be nice if it had levels that were a little less flat. It would be more fun to run away from the monsters, and more scary if there were more interesting things in your way for you to climb over or objects to climb around to try and escape.

Each level in Big Scary has an objective you complete while staying alive, which is really unique in Gtag horror games

Big Scary is the best Gtag horror game out there, but it’s lost some of what makes the original Gorilla Tag fun. Still, this is the best and largest Gtag horror game out there. It’s the biggest scary of them all.

ExperiApe

The ExperiApe logo

ExperiApe is a really straightforwardly scary Gtag horror game.

When you start the game and walk out of the first room you automatically join a public lobby, and I’ve always found a full one without any problems. The monkey models for players are also really nice.

They look like the outline of a monkey without directly putting a monkey face .png on it or looking too much like those from Gorilla Tag to the point that they feel like a copy. These player models feel unique and still look like monkeys.

Entering the scary caves in ExperiApe, a Gorilla Tag horror game

Anyway, once you join a game it’s pretty straightforward. There’s a glowing barrier in front of a cave. When you cross it you are enter the game and your flashlight activates, which is good because the cave is extremely dark.

You’ll probably immediately notice some really strange and scary sounds coming from deeper in the cave, so you better move if they come close to you!

The whole environment is very cramped, and how small the caves are really feeds into how terrifying the monsters chasing you are. When you hear them get closer to you it’s easy to panic and run into a wall while you’re trying to get away

The caves in ExperiApe are cramped and dark, which is what makes it one of the scarier Gorilla Tag horror games

ExperiApe is a simple but really fun and free Gorilla Tag horror game that makes it harder for you to see and move in the dark and cramped caves while making you use your hearing to try and avoid the very loud monsters that lurk within it.

Stay as far away from them as you can, and don’t let them catch you for as long as you can. They sound really loud and scary, and running from them is hard and a ton of fun.

Capuchin Horror Mode

The Capuchin logo

Heard of Capuchin? Well if not it’s one of the best Gorilla Tag clones out there. It’s got adorable Capuchin monkey faces for you and all of your fellow Gtag enjoyers in the game, and is generally a really fun alternative to Gorilla Tag.

While Capuchin isn’t meant as a purely horror Gorilla Tag game it does deserve a spot on this list for its horror game mode.

A player being chased by ghost gorillas in Capuchin

If you want to be chased by scary monkeys then try it out! Capuchin might not be a horror Gtag game otherwise, but this one game mode is plenty scary, and it’s free so you’ve got nothing to lose.

Scary Monkey

Scary Monkey is kind of a weird one. It’s not a fantastic scary Gorilla Tag game right now, but with some work could be pretty decent.

The first weird thing about it is how low to the ground you are, though that could be a good thing. Being small kind of makes your surroundings seem larger and a bit more scary.

Scary Monkey makes you extremely small, which makes everything around you in this Gorilla Tag horror game seem bigger and scarier by comparison

You can join a server by hitting the “Join Public” button on the terminal to connect to a public room. There weren’t a ton of people playing Scary Monkey, but enough to fill a lobby or two, and that’s all you need to enjoy a Gorilla Tag horror game.

Though Scary Monkey really relies on there being others because well… it’s not much of a horror game right now. Once you join a lobby there are a series of huge rooms and hallways for you to run around through but not much that is scary inside of them.

Most of the map is just… empty, but the game is still clearly being worked on and new things seem to be planned to be added. Despite the general emptiness the scary parts that are there are REALLY scary. All I managed to find while playing Scary Monkey were a few of these Gorilla Tag ghosts running around, making loud and terrifying noises while chasing me.

Being ambushed by these ghosts in Scary Monkey is terrifying

Running through the huge empty hallways being chased by these ghosts was extremely intense and very scary. When I was doing that I felt just how afraid a Gorilla Tag horror game could make me, and thought that Scary Monkey might end up being one of the best Gorilla Tag horror games.

It’s just that after running into that ghost once or twice there was nothing else that was scary at all about it, just a map that looked like some sort of underground facility. There were some intersting objects spread around to give the rooms some character, but not much to actually do.

Hopefully, with some more work Scary Monkey can be a very scary Gorilla Tag game.

Anyway, that’s it for the scariest free Gorilla Tag horror games around. Honorable mention to the original Gorilla Tag Horror, which unfortunately isn’t around anymore, but maybe one of the spinoffs and copycats of it will be as scary and interesting as the original. Another honorable mention to Scary Monke Horror, which seemed scary and interesting, but there were no other players every time I tried it.

Whichever of these Gorilla Tag scary games you try out, enjoy!

Dedicated VR Hitman 3 Game Is Coming To The Meta Quest 3 - Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded

In yet another recent release following the trend of big IPs and higher quality titles coming to the Meta Quest before other platforms, Hitman 3 VR has been announced specifically for the Meta Quest 3, likely to try and take advantage of that headset’s greater processing and display capabilities when compared to older Meta Quest devices.

Sorry Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest Pro enjoyers, I guess this one is not for you… at least yet.

For this Hitman title dedicated to Virtual Reality, UK based XR Games has partnered with Hitman series developer IO Interactive. They’re making a version of Hitman 3 built completely from the ground up for Virtual Reality, not the terrible halfway finished feeling PCVR port that we’re used to.

From the name of the game, we can possibly assume that the missions you’ll be able to take within it will be the same as the original Hitman 3. Though officially the only reference I’ve found is this from the Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded store page.

“Agent 47 returns as the world’s top assassin for the most important contracts of his entire career.”

— HITMAN 3: RELOADED VR META STORE PAGE

So the breadth of what content will be available is up to interpretation, though the studio has promised a bevy of features that you can tack on to what you might already expect of a Hitman VR game, which I’ll quote for you from their press release here.

“● Dual-Wielding: A series first, HITMAN 3 VR: Reloaded introduces dual-wielding, allowing players to use two weapons or items simultaneously, adding a new dimension to strategic gameplay.

● A brand new cel-shaded art-style: See Agent 47 in a whole new light with a stunning new cel-shaded visual style.

● Enhanced Interactivity: Experience a new level of realism with interactive environments that respond to every action.

● Overhauled user interface: HITMAN 3’s UI has been completely redesigned for VR, ensuring intuitive control and navigation.

● Improved movement options: HITMAN 3 VR: Reloaded now offers fluid and natural locomotion options, making it easier than ever to navigate complex environments with speed and stealth.

● Many more improvements throughout: From visual enhancements to refined gameplay mechanics, this is the most immersive untethered HITMAN VR experience to date.”

— XR Games

The cell-shaded art is probably more to keep the game looking good while not setting a Meta Quest 3 on fire, but these features do sound very enticing.

Of course it’s not uncommon for press releases to overhype features that may or may not be useful or even apparent in the finished product, like Vampire: The Masquerade - Justice claiming to have an open world in an almost entirely linear game. In games, and really most media, this is a tale as old as time though.

As usual, I’m actually very optimistic about Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded. The studio behind it seems pretty solid from their previous work on titles such as Jurassic World: Aftermath. However, a lot of the titles from this studio seem to be far smaller potatoes than the first Hitman game completely set in Virtual Reality. Most of them are smaller experiences like a cornhole game, a pool game, or a cashgrabby feeling Zombieland VR game.

The question remains, will XR Games deliver the high quality Hitman VR game that would be amazing to experience in VIrtual Reality? We’re ready for a HItman VR game, but will we get one that matches our expectations of the franchise?

I guess we’ll have to find out soon, as Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded is slated to release in the Summer of 2024 for 29.99$ on the Meta Quest store. You can preorder it before release for a 10% discount.