This is the ultimate guide to the best Half Life: Alyx VR mods. In this guide, we’ll go over:
- The best Half Life: Alyx VR mods
- The best Alyx custom maps and additional stories to install to your game
- How to install Half Life: Alyx mods
This guide is similar to our mods guides for Skyrim VR, Blade and Sorcery, and Tabletop Simulator.
If you have a favorite mod, comment below and let us know what it is!
Underneath our list of the best mods below, check out step-by-step instructions on installing Half Life: Alyx mods into your game.
Types of Mods for Half Life: Alyx
Below, there are several different categories of mods for Alyx:
- Gameplay Adjustments: These mods change the fundamental gameplay in Alyx to keep things fresh and exciting.
- New weapons: These mods add new weapons into Alyx that you can interact with and use in the game.
- Custom maps: These mods add new levels into Alyx that you can play.
Half Life: Alyx on the Meta Quest
If you have either Oculus Link or Virtual Desktop setup, you can play Half Life: Alyx on your Oculus Quest 2 (or Quest 1) headset, including all of the mods below!
Click here to setup Oculus Link.
Click here to setup Virtual Desktop on the Oculus Quest.
The Best Half Life: Alyx VR Mods
#1. FakeVR Mod
The FakeVR Mod is the first attempt at a non-VR mod for Half Life: Alyx. It lets eager fans play through Valve’s latest title without the need of a VR headset and using a keyboard and mouse.
However, the mod creator stressed that the mod isn’t a full replacement. They also stressed that one feature of the mod required at the end remains incomplete.
While playing the game, most things are working, such as hand interactions, button presses, weapons, and movement. Hand interactions have been replaced with keyboard clicks instead. If you want to mix virtual reality with traditional PC gaming, the FakeVR mod for Alyx is what you want.
#2. bHaptics Tactsuit Integration
The bHaptics Tactsuit integration mod integrates three pieces of the Tactsuit lineup into the game. This includes the Tactot vest, Tactosy sleeves, and Tactal HMD face cushion.
The Half Life Alyx VR mod for the bHaptics Tactsuit includes a configuration to set the intensity of each effect. Whether it’s from specific enemies or weapons to subtle details like Alyx’s heartbeat and the sensation of catching something with the gravity glove.
If you haven’t played Half Life: Alyx all the way through, the settings menu may contain some light spoilers on enemy types and weapons.
The Tactsuit is the best full body tracking solution for VR today. Playing with it in Alyx is a big deal for owners of the suit.
#3.Sandbox
Another great Half Life: Alyx VR mod is Sandbox. Sandbox adds a spawn menu, which allows you to spawn different characters and items. Some things you can spawn include:
- Non-playable characters
- Props
- Ragdolls
- Weapons
- Entities
Spawning these whenever you want lets you interact with all the available objects. This mod is a great way to get a closer look at all the interesting models Valve built for the game. Maybe you’d like a closer look at Jeff?
#4. Glorious Gloves
Glorious Gloves is an add-on that works with any part of the game. By turning it on, Alyx gains the original Gravity Gun from Half Life 2. Now you can levitate, pull, or push objects away. You can also cause melee damage by punching with a closed fist.
According to the mod’s developers, you can complete 90% of the original game using only the Glorious Gloves without any guns. The gloves were very popular in Half Life 2, and many fans have been asking for them in Alyx.
#5. Magnum M6D
Magnum M6D is another Half Life: Alyx VR mod that gives you a sweet weapon to play with. This mod ports over the Magnum M6D from the Halo franchise and replaces Alyx’s pistol in-game. It works with most maps except for those that have custom weapons.
Magnum M6D features reload and fire sounds, custom model and sound, and works with all attachments. However, it will not work left-handed and sounds don’t always load correctly unless you reload the map.
#6. Jedi Alyx
The Jedi Alyx VR mod is a lightsaber training Mod that introduces the iconic weapon to Half Life. This mod contains three different styles of sabers:
- Standard
- Double Sided
- Very long
You cannot play the regular Alyx game with a lightsaber. This mod comes with a specific map filled with regular enemies from the game, which you can slash through.
Fight enemies with regular strikes or attacks that behave similarly to Force Throw.
#7. Hardcore Difficulty Mod
If you want more of a challenge when you play Half Life: Alyx, then add Hardcore Difficulty to your collection. This mod makes the game much more difficult. You’ll have fewer weapon options, less opportunity for ammo, and more difficult enemies to fight.
To play successfully using the Hardcore Difficult Alyx VR mod, use the gravity gloves to throw an object into an enemy’s path. This will give you plenty of time to get past them. Plus, utilize cover during encounters with soldiers.
Hardcore Difficulty makes Alyx more unique than ever before and is only for advanced virtual reality players.
#8. Xen Thug Warehouse
Xen Thug Warehouse is a custom map for Half Life: Alyx. This is a horde-mode map, starting off with headcrabs and ramping up through the game’s cavalcade of enemies. Between each round of baddies, you can slot resin into vending machines to beef up your guns and ammo.
There are even secrets and unlockable areas to explore, should you find yourself surviving without too much fuss. Additionally, there’s always ways to power up your guns, secret areas, and more.
In Xen Warehouse, you have to survive as long as you can. This Alyx VR mod resembles the Call of Duty Zombies game mode.
#9. Alyx Plays Minecraft
Alyx Plays Minecraft is another custom map mod different from the rest. It is a map with all the Minecraft assets imported, making it look like a completely different game. You’ll be spawned in a Minecraft world where the Combine have stolen your diamonds, and you must fight them to get them back.
You’ll start outside in the forest, but soon you’ll enter the dark dungeons, just like in Minecraft. If you’ve played Minecraft, you will love to explore this one. If you haven’t, the contrast between Alyx and Minecraft graphics is entertaining.
This is one of the most ambitious Alyx VR mods you can install today.
#10. Crash Course
Crash Course was one of the first full-fledged custom maps for Valve’s Alyx. While it isn’t a part of a bigger story, it still has plenty to offer.
You play as an underground biologist whose work benefits the resistance. But now the Combine has been made aware of your actions and they’re coming for you.
You must escape the war-torn area full of creatures and Combine soldiers and break through a Combine checkpoint to get to safety. Just like Mine Break, this mod features scripted scenes, unique puzzles, and large open areas. This Alyx VR mod adds hours of extra gameplay, so check it out today.
#11. Return to Rapture
Return to Rapture is an ambitious Half Life: Alyx custom map based on the Bioshock game series. This Alyx mod features eight levels based on the Bioshock universe. It also features a ton of features that set it apart from amateur mods:
- An original soundtrack by RPM STUDIO for the expansion campaign
- New voice and sounds recorded by a professional voice actor
- Completely redesigned atmosphere and visual graphics
If you have played Bioshock, you’ll be happy to see that some components have been ported into Alyx. There are Vita Chambers to save your game, audio diaries to check out, and original vending machines to explore.
All these Alyx VR mods add some great content to the game and can add more hours to your playtime. They also open up a sandbox of activities to get into.
These are just the top of the list too; you can use plenty of other great mods. Half Life: Alyx is available on Steam and is regularly on sale if you check out our VR deals page.
Next, we will show you exactly how to install these modifications into your game.
How to Install Half Life: Alyx Mods
Steam Community Links
Installing these custom mods and new features into the game is easy. Most of the links above are Steam Community links directly to the Alyx Workshop page in Steam. To install:
- Click on the link above to launch the Specific Steam Community Page
- Click on the green Subscribe button
And that’s it! The next time you launch the game, all of your custom Alyx VR mods will be found in the Addons menu option in the Browse Workshop sub-section.
Installing Alyx mods from the Steam Workshop page is as easy as clicking the green “Subscribe” button.
Nexus Mods
A few of the links above take you to the Nexus Mods site. Nexus is a universal modding website offering hundreds of thousands of mods for some of today’s best games.
Nexus uses a program called Vortex Installer, making installing things easy.
We’ve covered the process of installing and getting set up with Vortex in detail twice now. Use the links below to get set up and to install any Half Life: Alyx VR mods found on Nexus.
Comment below and let us know what Alyx VR mods you enjoy for the game! If you are having trouble installing anything into your game, comment, and we will try to help you out.
