We've seen plenty of games ported to the Oculus Rift, but perhaps none have been as exciting as the prospect of Half-Life running on the virtual reality platform.
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The video below shows footage from Half-Life 2 running on the VR platform, which is an enticing look into what shooters could be like in the future. The immersion provided by playing in first-person VR--especially in a game world that already offers an engrossing narrative--is something that everyone should at least want to watch or try.
The game footage is from a project known as Half-Life VR, which is a piece-by-piece port of Half-Life 2 onto the Oculus Rift. Its website can be found here, and states that the latest release of the build will contain playable Half-Life 2: Episode One.
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The project isn't stopping at just Rift support, though--the player is also using Razer's Hydra motion-sensing device. The wearable motion controller reflects the real-life movement and orientation of your hands in-game, adding even more immersion to the experience.
The next update will include a HUD (noticeably missing from the build used in the video), which will make use of the fact that Hydra shows your hands in-game by displaying the health on Gordon's wrist, which you can look at "like a watch". The update will also include some physics that work better with Hydra, and new visual effects for weapons.
In short, the experience will be getting more realistic while using more of the VR and motion features available, even if it's not playable to most. It's still easy to appreciate the advances, which may one day become commonplace for gaming if the Rift and other VR platforms succeed.
