Single-player games like Half-Life 2
Below are 16 single-player Steam games similar to Half-Life 2, ranked by player overlap. Every pick carries Steam's Single-player category, so multiplayer-only titles or always-online games don't sneak in. imho.run pulls the category data from Steam directly — Single-player here matches what the store labels.
Want the full alternatives list (paid + free + Steam Deck + cheaper picks)? See the parent games like Half-Life 2 page.
Ranked picks
- 1
Half-Life
Single-player alternative to Half-Life 2 — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life 2.
Named Game of the Year by over 50 publications, Valve's debut title blends action and adventure with award-winning technology to create a frighteningly realistic world where players must think to survive. Also includes an exciting multiplayer mode that allows you to play against friends and enemies around the world.
- 2
Black Mesa
Single-player alternative to Half-Life 2 — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life 2.
Relive Half-Life.
- 3
Portal 2
Single-player alternative to Half-Life 2 — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life 2.
The "Perpetual Testing Initiative" has been expanded to allow you to design co-op puzzles for you and your friends!
- 4
Left 4 Dead 2
Single-player alternative to Half-Life 2 — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life 2.
Set in the zombie apocalypse, Left 4 Dead 2 is a co-operative action horror FPS takes you and your friends through the cities, swamps and cemeteries of the Deep South, from Savannah to New Orleans across five expansive campaigns.
- 5
BioShock™ Remastered
Single-player alternative to Half-Life 2 — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life 2.
BioShock is a shooter unlike any other, loaded with unique weapons and tactics. Complete with an arsenal of revolvers, shotguns, and grenade launchers, players will be forced to genetically modify their DNA to become an even deadlier weapon.
- 6
Dishonored
Single-player alternative to Half-Life 2 — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life 2.
Dishonored is an immersive first-person action game that casts you as a supernatural assassin driven by revenge. With Dishonored’s flexible combat system, creatively eliminate your targets as you combine the supernatural abilities, weapons and unusual gadgets at your disposal.
- 7
Metro 2033 Redux
Single-player alternative to Half-Life 2 — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life 2.
In 2013 the world was devastated by an apocalyptic event, annihilating almost all mankind and turning the Earth's surface into a poisonous wasteland. A handful of survivors took refuge in the depths of the Moscow underground, and human civilization entered a new Dark Age. The year is 2033.
- 8
Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Director's Cut
Single-player alternative to Half-Life 2 — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life 2.
You play Adam Jensen, an ex-SWAT specialist who's been handpicked to oversee the defensive needs of one of America's most experimental biotechnology firms. Your job is to safeguard company secrets, but when a black ops team breaks in and kills the very scientists you were hired to protect, everything you thought you knew about your job...
- 9
Half-Life: Alyx
Single-player alternative to Half-Life 2 — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life 2.
Half-Life: Alyx is Valve’s VR return to the Half-Life series. It’s the story of an impossible fight against a vicious alien race known as the Combine, set between the events of Half-Life and Half-Life 2. Playing as Alyx Vance, you are humanity’s only chance for survival.
- 10
Portal
Single-player alternative to Half-Life 2 — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life 2.
Portal™ is a new single player game from Valve. Set in the mysterious Aperture Science Laboratories, Portal has been called one of the most innovative new games on the horizon and will offer gamers hours of unique gameplay.
- 11
BioShock Infinite
Single-player alternative to Half-Life 2 — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life 2.
Indebted to the wrong people, with his life on the line, veteran of the U.S. Cavalry and now hired gun, Booker DeWitt has only one opportunity to wipe his slate clean. He must rescue Elizabeth, a mysterious girl imprisoned since childhood and locked up in the flying city of Columbia.
- 12
Titanfall® 2
Single-player alternative to Half-Life 2 — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life 2.
Respawn Entertainment gives you the most advanced titan technology in its new, single player campaign & multiplayer experience. Combine & conquer with new titans & pilots, deadlier weapons, & customization and progression systems that help you and your titan flow as one unstoppable killing force.
- 13
Crysis
Single-player alternative to Half-Life 2 — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life 2.
Adapt to Survive An epic story thrusts players into an ever-changing environment, forcing them to adapt their tactics and approach to conquer battlefields ranging from newly frozen jungle to zero-gravity alien environments. Suit up! A high-tech Nanosuit allows gamers to augment their abilities in real time on the battlefield.
- 14
Bastion
Single-player alternative to Half-Life 2 — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life 2.
Discover the secrets of the Calamity, a surreal catastrophe that shattered the world to pieces.
- 15
F.E.A.R.
Single-player alternative to Half-Life 2 — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life 2.
Experience the original F.E.A.R. along with F.E.A.R. Extraction Point and F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate.
- 16
TimeShift™
Single-player alternative to Half-Life 2 — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life 2.
Master time to become the ultimate weapon! Dr. Aiden Krone has made a Time Jump across the space-time continuum - a reckless act with frightening consequences. Now, a disturbing alternate reality has evolved within the bleak and rain-soaked Alpha District.