Eight years after Nibre’s MotherVR mod put basic VR support in Alien: Isolation, a different modder is attempting to complete the job with a full overhaul. Read on for our first impressions of the GRAND-MotherVR Mod.
When shown at E3 in 2014, Creative Assembly’s Alien Isolation had a VR mode that could be accessed with early Rift developer kits, much to the delight and horror of enthusiasts. This was exciting because it came at a time when consumer-facing virtual reality headsets were not yet available and VR gaming was still a niche contained within a small community of hardcore enthusiasts and software developers. Sega unfortunately never pursued further development outside of the demo created to showcase the Oculus DK2 and confirmed in a tweet that this was just a prototype and not meant as the precursor to a full game,
A little over 3 years after the game’s initial release we saw the first version of MotherVR by Nibre. This mod activated the code for the unfinished immersive mode and added a few other improvements for VR, but it lacked the polish that many players had hoped and dreamed of. In 2020, MotherVR got an update that brought the use of motion controllers into the game, but only as mapped onto the inputs for a traditional gamepad. This new version didn‘t give many players what they really craved… proper motion controller support with hands shown in the game.
Now in 2025, the GRAND- MotherVR mod by JayP has been publicly released on the Flat2VR discord server. This mod isn’t just an update to the initial foundation laid out by Nibre’s classic, it’s more like the complete overhaul many of us had dreamed of seeing all those years ago. JayP’s mod has introduced improved motion controller support with 6DOF tracking, along with various other quality-of-life improvements and even a nice graphics update.
GRAND-MotherVR transforms Alien: Isolation into an even more nail-biting experience than ever before, capturing the claustrophobic tension of Sevastopol station and adding newfound fidelity. You can see some of these improvements in the live game stream linked below:
Getting the mod up and running is not plug and play, and requires some file manipulation and a basic knowledge of your PC’s directory structure. Even though in my case everything was verified as being installed correctly, I still ran into a few issues getting the game to start. Over the course of a late night Discord conversation however, JayP was able to help me get everything working.
The two main issues I encountered during the setup process were needing to ensure that Meta is currently configured as the runtime choice in the mod’s in-game menu. If this is set incorrectly, it can lead to floating hand models that hang in front of you in an almost Frankenstein’s monster-like position. The second bug was a bit more difficult to track down. Although I had the correct runtime selected, the game was still crashing to desktop at each startup. After about an hour of Google-fu, the solution finally presented itself after reading through an old forum post. I learned that I needed to disable the Nahimic service that was running in the background of my PC. Once this was done, the game started normally and I was finally on my way back to Sevastopol station. This workaround may not be needed for all players, but if you are like me and keep seeing the game crash on startup, hopefully knowing this trick saves you some time and frustration.
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As for what else the mod brings to the table, I can say now that after playing this game for years with somewhat janky controls and poorly implemented 6dof tracking, the QOL improvements in the GRAND-MotherVR mod are a standout. The reworked controls enhance interactions within the environment and those once painful to use terminals are now much more accessible. Visual improvements introduced from the graphics overhaul are also very nice, especially when it comes to the previously blurry text that now is easily readable.
The graphics overhaul also amplifies the game’s dark and creepy aesthetic and adds something to the already atmospheric nature that exists inside Sevastopol station. This new polish all comes together nicely, pulling players deeper into the sense of dread that is brooding as you are constantly hunted by an aggressive Xenomorph. Scale issues are still there, but were much less noticeable during seated play.
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Players’ hands are also now represented in the game, and just having the hand models present now seems to add another layer of immersion. Waving a lit flare for example and watching the sparks and smoke dance through the air while creeping through shadowy corridors is mesmerizing, and even something as simple as this basic action seemed to heighten the sense of realism I was feeling while using tools like the motion tracker, which later in the game becomes essential for continued survival.
At times while traversing through the gritty depths of Sevastopol, I couldn’t help but think of how this experience could have inspired parts of the most recent game in the franchise, Alien Rogue Incursion. the big difference here being that Isolation focuses more on the terror experienced while being hunted by a single and very aggressive Xenomorph, whereas Incursion is all about run-and-gun tactics against an onslaught of the terrifying beasts.
Overall, the GRAND-MotherVR mod by JayP is an impressive accomplishment and quite frankly one that many in the VR community thought we might never see. While it’s still not perfect, GRAND-MotherVR has once again revitalized this classic game, refreshing the somewhat aging yet still terrifying gameplay for a new generation of VR players. So, if you’re yearning to revisit Sevastopol station in VR or are ready to make the trip for the first time, this mod is your invitation to do so.
