Reliving Rapture
What is it and who made it?
The application is called Return to Rapture. This is an 8 part mod for the game Half Life Alyx. The mod takes you into Bioshock’s World of rapture with a halflife twist. Instead of dealing with the ravenous splicers of that populate the world of Bioshock in this game, Rapture is full of Combine soliders and the undead from Halflife Alyx. This game can be found for free on the steam workshop. However inorder to play it you must own Halflife Alyx.
How is it?
This mod is an amazing experience. The feeling of horror is fantastic and the fire fights are exhilarating. Everything from the lighting to the models and the sound design are perfect. There is a constant eerie ambience as you explore the dank abandoned halls. However this ambience is often broken by the shrill cries of the undead or the crackle of a combine radio. However by the time you hear these queues you are often already seen and have to react quickly. This atmosphere is only enhanced by the phenomenal gameplay that Halflife Alyx brings to the table. When you start the mod, it is a bit on the slow side as they start the same way Bioshock starts with a plane crash and a long elevator ride into rapture. While this is a slow start the action quickly rises and keeps going as you encounter your first squad of combine. From this point it just gets better as you get new weapons and gadgets to play with.
It’s a good game but who is it for?
While this will certainly not be everyone’s cup of tea, horror lovers and fans of the Bioshock series will love this game. It captures the horror element the original game had made but adds more depth and immersion that comes with vr. The action scenes are also much more immersive. While you don’t get the classic 60’s inspired guns that were extremely fun to use, the guns you are given will do the trick and keep it fun. That all being said this isn’t the experience for those who don’t like horror or some good old fashioned shootouts.
How well is the VR implemented?
The use of VR in this game is fantastic and brings a whole new depth to the world of rapture. The game has 3 degrees of freedom (DOF) and uses them very well. The game has a ton of hidden ammo, explosives and other goodies hidden in spots that you’ll have to duck into peak over or open to get to. Additionally you still have access to the gravity gloves from Half Life Alyx that help negate one of the worst parts of many VR games today. Additionally there is plenty of haptic feedback to keep you immersed in the experience. When picking up items there is a vibration in the controller and sound to indacte it. Additionally when grabbing ammo from your back pack the controller vibrates to let you know you have something in your hand. Additionally when you are shot or hurt the screen turns red indicating that you’ve been hurt and are in danger.
The good!
This game excels at getting you to feel immersed. So many aspects of this game come together to make an immersive and enjoyable experience. The controls are extremely easy to get used to and are easy to learn. The shoot outs are really fun and make you think as the enemies take quite a bit to take down. Additionally the assets used really make the world of Rapture come to life in a way I always wanted to experience when I was a kid and first got my hands on Bioshock.
Where there could be some improvement
While overall it is a great experience but as with everything, there is room for improvement. One of the largest things being bugs. There were quite a few bugs that pulled me out of the immersion and made gameplay more than alittle challenging. For instance at one point my hand glitched out and was just a fist. Reloading my save fixed the issue but it was still annoying non the less. Additionally I had trouble grabbing some door handles. Instead of gripping the handle and opening the door, my hand would simply go through the geometry and locked me out from the cabinet or in one case, lock me out of an entire level. That all being said for a free mod made by a small team this is an amazing experience that I highly recommend.
To install this mod for free go to this page and subscribe
