A new update to Lambda1VR adds support for Half-Life’s second and final expansion.
With Half-Life: Alyx nearly a month away from release, there’s never been a better time to dive back into the original series. And while you could opt for a standard playthrough on PC or console, why not soak in all that 90’s nostalgia from a brand new perspective?
This past July, developer Simon Brown released the first version of Lambda1VR, an ongoing fan-conversion of the original Half-Life game for the Oculus Quest. While not an official release, players could download a free APK of the experience and sideload it onto their headsets for an immersive rendition of the classic Half-Life campaign.
While originally a simple tech demo, continuous updates have transformed Lambda1VR into a fully-functioning Half-Life emulator, including online multiplayer as well as support for the popular Half-Life: Blue Shift expansion campaign, in which players play the role of a Black Mesa security officer. For our younger readers: expansion packs were the early-2000’s equivalent to DLC. Back then developers would finish the entirety of their game before beginning work on additional content, as opposed to today’s practice of developing a full game and then cutting out specific portions to sell at an additional cost.
This week the developer announced another major release for the app, this time adding support for the Half-Life’s first—and best—expansion, Half-Life: Opposing Force. If you’re unfamiliar with this legendary expansion pack, here’s a bit of context:
The original Half-Life you taking on the role of Gordon Freeman, a talented physicist working at the mysterious Black Mesa Research Facility who accidentally opens a portal to another dimension. Staring down the face of a catastrophic alien invasion, you are then forced to navigate the ensuing chaos and quell the advancing threat. Along the way, you encounter waves of hostile aliens, as well as special military forces tasked with snuffing out all trace of the alien invasion, including any witnesses.
In Opposing Force, we had the unique opportunity of experiencing these same events from the perspective of an enemy soldier. Players stepped into the boots of U.S. Marine Corporal Adrian Shephard, one of the members of a special military team referred to as Hazardous Environment Combat Unit assigned to regain control of Black Mesa. Unfortunately, not all goes according to plan; you quickly find yourself isolated from your unit and are soon forced to work alongside Black Mesa workers and scattered members of your unit in order to reach the extraction point and escape the facility.
Whether you’re a long-time fan of Half-Life or just classic first-person shooters in general, Opposing Force is an experience you won’t want to miss on Quest. Not only is it an incredible campaign on its own, but it offers an entirely new angle on an already-beloved story; a move considered extremely rare at the time.
Half-Life: Opposing Force is available now via Lambda1VR. Simply follow the instructions here. It’s important to note that you will need to own a copy of both Half-Life and Opposing Force in order to access the app, both of which available for purchase via Steam.
Along with Opposing Force, this latest update adds new menu settings that allow you to change options such as snap turning and control modes without having to edit the configuration file, as well as support for single-controller mode. A full list of the release notes can be found here.
Image Credit: Valve Inc, Gamepressure
