I did my first ever play thru in vr not long ago, and yes I was around when it first released tho the closest I ever got to playing was counter strike.
I was very invested in the playthru even tho I was chatting with viewers. The story and mechanics were amazing, the jumping spots were a little hard the first time as I have a thing with heights. Absolute blast, it does show its age in how certain areas have infinite mobs till you pass a point but, like Abraham Simpson says - "It was the style at the time"
HL2:Episode 1 and 2 are also quite intense, and save yourself the torture of Half life 1 in vr hehe
Something like this would have been amazing for me when I started out, except on you tube