People hating on hl2vrai for the crew making the story their own and exciting have 100% never played hl2, the majority of the game is gordon running from point a to b with minor story in between, following the "story" of hl2 would just be silent gameplay basically
its arguably the most point a -> point b + Don't Die part of the game. there is world building in seeing new combine tech and the expanse of their dominance. things like the headcrab shelling, which we reacted to a bit. there were a few rebel interactions that didnt happen,