When it comes to mods, anything is possible. Players can play through some of their favorite games in a whole new way. Some games, like Skyrim, can be played with all new items, weapons, campaigns, and even character mods that change the way players experience the story. Like those in Risk of Rain 2, some mods let players take control of characters from out of the game’s canon, playing as Samus Aran, or characters from the original game. Risk of Rain 2 also comes with its own VR mod, where players can check out VR and experience it from a whole new perspective. 

One of the games with the best VR experience is Half-Life Alyx when it comes to VR mods. When the mod tools for the game came out, players started working on their modifications, creating new assets, making new models, and even turning the game into something completely different. A good example is a mod that replaces the resin with LEGO studs, making the same sound as in the original LEGO Star Wars games. 

However, the Return to Rapture mod combined two of the best sci-fi series. This mod from developers Patient 8 puts Alyx into the world of BioShock, where the Combine has come to scavenge the place after the first game’s events. Hoping to find Andrew Ryan’s briefcase, the player is sent to intercept the case before the Combine has the chance to get it. 

The mod already has its first part out, with eight maps to go through for the whole campaign. Players will be wandering around Rapture, as the mod uses hundreds of assets from the remaster of BioShock and the models to introduce the splicers and even have the big daddies wandering around the world. Even some of the Half-Life world bleeds into the BioShock world. A video shows the second half of the mod, which has some things that Alyx can do during her adventures in the mod. 

For one, players can use the machines in the game like the Gene Bank to replenish their health, as the Health machine in Half-Life Alyx the Gene Bank requires players to find a bottle of liquid to put in the machine. At the same time, Half-Life Alyx has the player finding a bug to be crushed. The mod asks players to find a bottle of ADAM. There’s also the use of plasmids in the mod, giving Alyx the same abilities as the original game. 

When Alyx gets her hands on the gravity gloves, she’s also treated to a television showing a BioShock-styled video about what the gloves do. While most players will already know how the gloves work, it’s a nice little addition to which players are treated, filling the world and making it feel more like Rapture.

The music from the walls also plays quietly as the player sneaks through the maps. Combine technology is also present as the player will run into Combine soldiers who will have custom dialogue throughout Alyx’s journey through the sunken city. However, the dialog is more in line with BioShock than Half-Life. Other BioShock mechanics have been transported into the VR world of Half-Life Alyx, including the ability to get medkits by shooting the health stations and finding audio logs around the world that will play once picked up. While the first half of the mod tells players that they’re not going to fight any big daddies or use any weapons from the original game, players will be happy to know that they’re going to get all of that in the new chapter. 

It’s been mentioned by the developers that they’re planning on adding slot machines, changing the system from the original mod to replace resin with money like in the original game, adding custom weapons like the Broadsider pistol from BioShock Infinite to take on both splicers and big daddies.

The original mod came with eight maps to explore Alyx’s first journey through Rapture. This new mod is promising even more. Players can experience fan fiction between two of the best FPS series by coming together for a one-time wild rollercoaster ride that will throw players into the unknown and expect them to fight back.

The developers say that the mod will come out sometime before the end of the month, but there’s a chance it will spill into November, so players should keep their eyes out for the release of Return to Rapture.