Single-player games like Half-Life
Below are 20 single-player Steam games similar to Half-Life, 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 page.
Ranked picks
- 1
Half-Life 2
Single-player alternative to Half-Life — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life.
Reawakened from stasis in the occupied metropolis of City 17, Gordon Freeman is joined by Alyx Vance as he leads a desperate human resistance. Experience the landmark first-person shooter packed with immersive world-building, boundary-pushing physics, and exhilarating combat.
- 2
Black Mesa
Single-player alternative to Half-Life — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life.
Relive Half-Life.
- 3
Half-Life: Opposing Force
Single-player alternative to Half-Life — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life.
Return to the Black Mesa Research Facility as one of the military specialists assigned to eliminate Gordon Freeman. Experience an entirely new episode of single player action. Meet fierce alien opponents, and experiment with new weaponry. Named 'Game of the Year' by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences.
- 4
DOOM
Single-player alternative to Half-Life — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life.
Now includes all three premium DLC packs (Unto the Evil, Hell Followed, and Bloodfall), maps, modes, and weapons, as well as all feature updates including Arcade Mode, Photo Mode, and the latest Update 6.66, which brings further multiplayer improvements as well as revamps multiplayer progression.
- 5
Quake
Single-player alternative to Half-Life — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life.
Developed by the award-winning id Software, Quake® is the ground-breaking, original dark fantasy first-person shooter that inspires today’s retro-style FPS games. With Quake (Enhanced), experience the authentic, updated, and visually enhanced version of the original.
- 6
Wolfenstein: The New Order
Single-player alternative to Half-Life — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life.
Wolfenstein®: The New Order reignites the series that created the first-person shooter genre. Wolfenstein offers a deep game narrative packed with action, adventure and first-person combat.
- 7
BioShock™ Remastered
Single-player alternative to Half-Life — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life.
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.
- 8
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
Single-player alternative to Half-Life — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl tells a story about survival in the Zone – a very dangerous place, where you fear not only the radiation, anomalies and deadly creatures, but other S.T.A.L.K.E.R.s, who have their own goals and wishes.
- 9
Prey
Single-player alternative to Half-Life — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life.
In Prey, you awaken aboard Talos I, a space station orbiting the moon in the year 2032. You are the key subject of an experiment meant to alter humanity forever – but things have gone terribly wrong. The space station has been overrun by hostile aliens and you are now being hunted.
- 10
F.E.A.R.
Single-player alternative to Half-Life — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life.
Experience the original F.E.A.R. along with F.E.A.R. Extraction Point and F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate.
- 11
DOOM 3
Single-player alternative to Half-Life — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life.
A demonic invasion has overwhelmed the Union Aerospace Corporation's Mars research facility. As one of only a few survivors, you must fight your way to hell and back against a horde of demons in this award-winning horror/action FPS and reimagining of the original DOOM.
- 12
System Shock® 2 (1999)
Single-player alternative to Half-Life — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life.
"Remember, it is my will that guided you here. It is my will that gave you your cybernetic implants, the only beauty in that meat you call a body. If you value that meat... you will do as I tell you." The cult classic sci-fi horror FPS-RPG has returned.
- 13
Singularity™
Single-player alternative to Half-Life — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life.
FIGHT THE PAST TO SAVE THE FUTURE. STOP THE SINGULARITY. Learn the truth behind a massive cover-up of the catastrophic SINGULARITY, an event that fractured time and threatens the world as we know it. Armed with powerful, advanced weaponry and the experimental Time Manipulation Device, fight enemies from the past, the present, and...
- 14
System Shock
Single-player alternative to Half-Life — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life.
A first-person fight to the death in the depths of space!
- 15
Abiotic Factor
Single-player alternative to Half-Life — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life.
Abiotic Factor is a survival crafting experience for 1-6 players set in the depths of an underground research facility. Caught between paranormal containment failure, a military crusade, and chaos from a dozen realms, the world’s greatest minds must survive against the universe’s biggest threats.
- 16
Dead Space
Single-player alternative to Half-Life — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life.
The sci-fi survival-horror classic returns, completely rebuilt to offer an even more immersive experience — including visual, audio, and gameplay improvements — while staying faithful to the original game’s thrilling vision.
- 17
Left 4 Dead 2
Single-player alternative to Half-Life — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life.
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.
- 18
Portal 2
Single-player alternative to Half-Life — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life.
The "Perpetual Testing Initiative" has been expanded to allow you to design co-op puzzles for you and your friends!
- 19
Portal
Single-player alternative to Half-Life — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life.
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.
- 20
Half-Life: Alyx
Single-player alternative to Half-Life — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action with Half-Life.
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.