It’s no secret that we love Half-Life around here – but, while Half-Life 3 might still be a pipedream, Abiotic Factor promises to offer the Half-Life co-op game of our dreams on Steam. This ‘sci-fi survival adventure’ from Deep Field Games makes no secret of its influences: from moment one of the announcement trailer, the inspiration drawn from Gordon Freeman’s original 1998 adventure for this multiplayer FPS game is immediately apparent.
“Trapped by a trans-dimensional experiment gone sideways, the greatest minds on the planet must escape their doomed facility.” Sound familiar? Abiotic Factor makes no bones about the vibe it’s going for – and it won’t be long before you’re thwacking a number of small, terrifying headcrab-like creatures with a length of pipe. Given the ongoing wait for more Half-Life and the fact that co-op in Valve’s series has previously been the territory of mods and the somewhat obscure PS2 expansion pack Half-Life: Decay, the potential for a game designed for it from the ground up is certainly enthralling.
As a multiplayer survival experience, Abiotic Factor also offers a little more character customisation than its main influence. You can choose from a number of good and bad traits based on your scientist’s hobbies and talents, and you’ll be putting that education to good use by crafting a range of tools, gear, and weapons to help overcome the alien onslaught. There’s even cooking – so if you’ve ever looked at the vaguely chicken-shaped corpse of a headcrab and wondered how it would taste, Abiotic Factor lets you live out those dark fantasies.
You can watch the Abiotic Factor announcement trailer below:
There’s even a cheeky nod to Abiotic Factor’s throwback design on the game’s Steam store page, where the planned release date is listed as ‘1997 2023.’ You can wishlist it now, or follow the game’s development on the game’s Twitter page. Developer Deep Field Games says, “No, it’s not like Left 4 Dead, but curious and imaginitive minds are exactly what we look for at the Gate Cascade Facility!”
While we continue to mull over the ever-evolving history of Half-Life 3 to date, Ion Fury sequel Phantom Fury looks to evoke both Half-Life and the Duke Nukem school of classic PC games, and mod Half-Life 2: VR is out now featuring full Oculus Quest 2 support.