A gameplay reveatrailer for the ambitious Levitation mod campaign for Half-Life: Alyx has been released during the Summer Game Fest PC Gaming Show. Levitation, an impressive looking mod that’s set to feature a new 4-5 hour story within the game’s sci-fi world, will be free for everyone with the game when it releases later in 2022. Aren’t mods great?
Levitation is expected to release later this year, coming from SFM animator Corey Laddo and level designer Shawn Snelling, AKA FMPONE. The new video gives us a good long look at a 7-8 minute stretch of gameplay, which includes a pretty hefty bit of combat. They’ve done a great job of building this slice of action with lots of world interactivity as well, right down to hiding something in a portaloo – not a poop, thankfully.
The story will put you in Alyx Vance’s shoes once more, tasked with hunting down Maya and Barry, a pair of rebels that have disappeared after going against orders to not investigate a spooky floating building in Sector X. PC Gamer has pinned this down, reckoning it takes inspiration from concept art for Zona, a Spanish television series based on Roadside Picnic, which was in turn the story that inspired the STALKER series.
Half-Life: Alyx was and remains a fantastic showcase of what VR gaming can be. While handing it our Best VR Game award for GOTY 2020, we said:
“There is far more to the experience than fan service, as Half-Life: Alyx combines (pun intended) some of the most detailed and beautiful visuals available in a VR title with a thrilling narrative and gameplay that genuinely feels like it belongs in the Half-Life series. Gunplay is responsive and enjoyable, environmental puzzles are present and correct, and the new Gravity Gloves are an inspired way to work with the best aspects of VR control. Eliminating the need to find the fiddly hitbox for interactive objects that plagues so many VR titles, these gloves also fit perfectly with the story and setting of the game.”
Half-Life: Alyx is out now for PC, but there’s millions of PSVR and PS5 owners out there crossing their fingers that Valve’s VR magnum opus comes to PSVR 2. Here’s hoping! This mod will almost certainly stay on PC, though.
