Until he hits me, of course.

Ive played Half-Life 2 countless times over the last two(ish) decades.

On the PS3 (Bad).

The player throwing a can at the guard in the station at the start of Half-Life 2, in Half-Life 2: VR Mod

I have liberated City 17 from Combine forces.

I have lobbed sawblades at other players in the bathrooms of Nova Prospekt.

I know the layout of Half-Life 2 better than some areas of the city I live in currently.

From behind the controls of an airboat, the player watches a helicopter drop bombs into a canal

I thought I did.

This impossible space is now tangible.

I am no longer just looking through Gordons eyes.

I am a physical presence where Gordon should be.

Male Citizen 07 is talking directly to me.

Im no stranger toVR games.

Ive played through Alyx twice now, and experienced nothing but agiddy sense of wonder.

But Alyx was new.

Half-Life 2 is the opposite of that.

Alyx was like embarking on a journey into the unknown.

Half-Life 2 VR is like crawling into a photograph.

I shouldnt be allowed to do that.

Why is everyone so weirdly proportioned?

In the distance the Citadel - the Combines regional headquarters - shrieks and shifts in response to my arrival.

I stand and watch as its exterior slides open, a stark sight against a dull horizon.

I was never meant to be here.

Not in this exact way.

And yet Half-Life 2 is perfectly suited to VR.

Its twenty-year-old(!)

Although combat is brilliant, its not why Im here.

I almost wish I could turn the (cuddly) Combine officers off entirely.

Half-Life 2 is gorgeous, and you dont truly realise it until you see it with your own eyes.