Along the journey, Bubby and Benrey start to grow tired of Gordon leading them, and Dr. Coomer becomes unnerved when he accidentally no-clips outside the map and finds nothing there.

After going towards a health station, Gordon is betrayed by Bubby and Benrey and attacked by the military, who cut off his right arm and throw him into a trash compactor.

Darnold fits Gordon's missing arm with a machine gun, and the team fight their way to Black Mesa's Lambda Complex, where they teleport to Xen.

Emily Rose of Ars Technica called it "exceptionally hilarious" and suggested HLVR: AI's style of virtual performance was the next stage in the human narrative tradition.

[3] Kotaku's Zack Zwiezen stated it was "as good as [Freeman's Mind and G-Man Squad]", two other well-known Half-Life series, calling it "a funny and oddly compelling show".

[4] Quint Iverson of The Pacific Index stated that "the frequency at which Half-Life VR but the AI is Self-Aware turns me into a laughing mess is unparalleled".

[7] In contrast, Esther Warren of Loud and Clear described it as "trash" and "Frequently stupid, frustrating, and hard to follow," but agreed that it still had moments of "unalloyed greatness.