Chapter Two of the Return to Rapture mod for Half-Life: Alyx is now available for download, featuring over 15 hours of BioShock-inspired gameplay that includes everything from dismemberment and Plasmids to secrets and new dialogue options. The first part of Half-Life: Alyx’s BioShock mod hit VR platforms in late 2020, allowing players to explore the decaying underwater dystopia in virtual reality.
PC and console players first ventured into the ruins of Rapture in 2007’s BioShock, an immersive first-person shooter that took the shell of System Shock and elevated its every facet. From the environmental storytelling and finely crafted atmosphere to the larger-than-life characters and political motifs, BioShock asked a lot of the user and offered much more in return. And nigh on 15 years after its initial release, the title remains the standard by which many narrative-driven interactive adventures are judged. As such, it should come as no surprise that series faithful continue to find new ways of revisiting the underwater metropolis.
Steam user and modder wim.buytaert.1988 (via MetaGamePort) recently uploaded Chapter Two of the Half-Life: Alyx Return to Rapture mod. The new chapter picks up where the first left off, with Half-Life’s Alyx Vance tracking down Andrew Ryan’s suitcase to recover the powerful contents within before Combine commander Seamus makes a move. In terms of fresh content, Return to Rapture Chapter Two adds over 15 hours of gameplay, 24 levels, characters, dialogue options, secrets, and new enemy types. Gameplay changes include the addition of dismemberment, extra weapons, Plasmids, and improved AI. The modding team’s YouTube channel, Patient 8 Games, shared a tease of the changes in the following video from January:
Return to Rapture Chapter Two features a fair few bugs that developers are working to iron out. On occasion, the Big Daddy characters will fail to react to damage inflicted by the player, for example. Another glitch results in Security Cameras refusing to work after loading a save. The modders advise Half-Life: Alyx mod users to update their add-ons whenever possible to stay up-to-date on bug fixes and the like.
Of the myriad Half-Life: Alyx mods available to download online, this BioShock-inspired build stands a cut above the rest in many respects. Capturing the eerie, claustrophobic atmosphere of Rapture in a mod for a completely different game is no easy feat, especially when the confines of virtual reality get thrown into the mix. It seems the Return to Rapture crew managed to accomplish as much and more in spades, however.
Half-Life: Alyx is playable across various PC-compatible VR headsets.
