In October 2020 we told you about a short mod for Half-Life: Alyx that took us to Rapture, the undersea city of BioShock fame. At the time, the mod was fairly short, clocking in at about 25 minutes worth of gameplay.
Today, that mod has seen some massive expansion and is now considered a full campaign. Return to Rapture combines the Half-Life: Alyx VR engine with assets and more from BioShock. This is an eight-episode release and includes enemies from Half-Life and its own distinct storyline.
Those of you who own Half-Life: Alyx can, and should, pick up the Return to Rapture mod from the Steam Workshop. It's a series of free downloads and is not something you will want to pass up.
The mod, created by wim.buytaert.1988, finds the Combine invading Rapture in order to find Andrew Ryan's missing suitcase. This suitcase reportedly holds the secret to ADAM, the chemical that can rewrite genetic material and bestow superhuman powers in people.
Return to Rapture includes environments that are taken straight from BioShock. Some assets have been completely reworked in order to be usable in VR, such as the vending machines like the Circus of Values. Alyx will be able to use plasmid powers and will, in addition to fighting the Combine, have to also deal with BioShock enemies like security drones. Atlas, voiced by a hired voice actor, will guide Alyx through the new story. There is even a new musical score included in the mod.
The mod author estimates that the average time to complete the mod will be around seven hours. That's pretty damn incredible for a mod that seems to have done so much and was made in less than a year.
