What if I told you that Half Life 3 was coming? Well, I could tell you that, for sure, but unfortunately, I’d be lying to you, and that’s just not in my nature.
Half Life 3 is one of the most anticipated games ever, and it seems like Valve has no intentions of dropping it any time soon. The company is releasing plenty of other sequels to its other franchises, but Half Life remains stagnant with only the occasional tease coming from Gabe every now and then.
While you sit patiently, longing for the day that Half Life 3 graces you with its presence, why not play some of these other games that feature similar gameplay and themes to Half Life to keep yourself busy. Will they replace Half Life 3? No, but they just might make the wait feel a little painful.
Rage lacks the aliens in Half Life, but it really does a great job of capturing much of the dystopian feel that made Half Life so amazing. It adds in a heavy dose of driving around in the world, but when you are fighting in the smaller battles with enemies in the game, it has an atmosphere that feels a lot like Half Life. After all, the aliens are only a small part of what makes people love Half Life, and Rage has a lot of the other things we all love so much.
Rage comes from id software, so you know the shooting mechanics are top notch. It’s not the best game ever made, but for anyone looking to capture the feel offered by Half Life while waiting for Half Life 3, Rage will most certainly do the job, and if you’ve never played it, you will almost certainly love it.
Resistance is a shooter that came early in the life of the PlayStation 3. While it doesn’t feature the staggering level of storytelling of Half Life, the story is interesting enough to keep you moving from action point to action point. Like Half Life, it’s a first-person shooter that sees the player trying to fight off an alien invasion. It’s not as dystopian as Half Life, but that’s because the game doesn’t jump as heavily into the backstory. Presumably, there is some of dystopian nonsense going on behind you, but the the plot focuses more heavily on the actual war being fought from your perspective.
Resistance: Fall of Man is a solid game, and while it won’t fill the void left in your life by the lack of Half Life as far as the story goes, fighting aliens from a first-person perspective should at least help you sleep a little easier at night as you patiently wait for Valve to bestow the greatness of Half Life 3 upon you.
Crysis is a game that most people talk about when they want to cite one with mind-blowing visuals. At the time of its release, it pushed PC gaming to its limits, and it was the metric gamers used to determine just how powerful their PC was. Aside from that, it’s also a very Half Life-like game in that it’s a first-person shooter that features aliens invading in a post-apocolyptic setting.
I will admit, that Crysis can’t hold a candle to the storytelling of Half Life, but from an action perspective, it’s right there with it. That’s not saying the story is bad, because it’s not, and it’s quite interesting, but Half Life sets the bar so high. Still, if you want to shoot some aliens, any of the games in the Crysis series have you covered, but the first one is definitely the best, and if you only play one, it’s the one to grab.
Serious Same has an incredibly deceiving title, because this game is not serious at all. Instead, it’s a highly entertaining romp that sees the player mowing down hordes of aliens with some of the most insane guns you will ever encounter in a first-person shooter.
There is none of the subtlety of Half Life in Serious Sam: BFE, but that’s okay, because there is still plenty of alien goodness to keep you busy. It’s lots of fun, and you should definitely check it out.
While there is no game that features all of the elements of Half Life, these games are pretty close. If you just can’t wait to play Half Life 3, these will keep you entertained in the meantime. If you want even more, you should make sure to download some Half Life 2 mods, as they will extend the game a great deal and give you more Half Life.
What games do you think do a good job of filling the void until the next Half Life game? Hit the comments section below and let your voice be heard.