Fan Mod Makes Half-Life VR a Reality on Oculus Quest

The Oculus Quest is an impressive machine (read my review here), and the fact that it supports the sideloading of unofficial apps gives users the freedom to play (and create) things that would otherwise never see the light of day. One such project is Lambda1VR — a VR port of the original Half-Life.

Lambda1VR is in no way official, but it does require that people interested in playing the classic FPS in VR own the game already. The mod ports over the original game engine (Half-Life: Source does not work with this mod) so that the game can be playable on the Oculus Quest with additional VR mechanics included. Lambda1VR gives players full degree of motion with the game’s weapons, so you’ll be able to wack headcrabs with a crowbar just as you would in real-life.

To get started, simply download SideQuest on your computer and follow the setup process to connect your Quest. Full instructions on how to move over the Half-Life game files over to the mod, and then to the Quest, is available on the Lambda1VR website. The mod is still a work in progress, so expect bugs. But that’s a small price to pay for a free VR port of Half-Life! Between this and Black Mesa, these fan projects allow us to re-experience the world of Half-Life while we wait for Valve to do… something with it.