This might prove controversial, but I'm not sure I need Half-Life 3. Sure, a concluding act to the tale of Gordon Freeman, Alyx Vance, et al would be nice, but I think I'm getting all the Half-Life I crave courtesy of Deep Field's survival game Abiotic Factor. Heavily inspired by Valve's shooter, specifically the underground world of the Black Mesa lab, it's set to hit 1.0 this summer after more than a year in early access, during which time it's racked up a 96% rating. In a fresh look at what's in store, Deep Field reveals some transformative new features that I can't wait to get my hands on.
If you've yet to check in with survival game begins, as you, and optionally several friends, set out to reclaim the facility and secure your safety.
The Abiotic Factor 1.0 update is titled Cold Fusion, and takes us to the frozen Residence Sector in an attempt to restore its climate to safe living temperatures. There's also the introduction of other features such as the Enhancement Bench, which promises to help you stand up to the dangers that lurk ahead, but now Deep Field has another showcase filled with some real essentials.
Top of the list are office cubicles. An ideal option to organize your base in an efficient, space-saving manner, these should help provide a lot more structure. They're also the first piece of furniture to benefit from a new feature: grid snapping. This will ensure you can line them up as seamlessly as possible with limited effort; Deep Field teases that it's just including this for cubicles to start with, but might expand the option if it proves popular.
A new tier-four Compact Crate is perfect as you get into the later game and find yourself with a lot of things to put away and increasingly less space to fit them around your homestead. Arguably even more useful is the Void Chest; with a singular, shared inventory between them, this allows you to store items that can then be accessed from any other Void Chest anywhere in the world. Whether you're keeping essentials to hand or ing materials across the map to your friends, it's certain to be a game changer.
We previously caught a glimpse of new 'Power Leeches' (floating anomalies that will suck up energy from your batteries and power supplies if left alone). In an attempt to fix them, Dr. Thule has been working on "something or other," but it appears to have resulted in a different problem in the form of a larger, faster anomaly that spouts frequent electrical discharges.
Rounding out today's preview is a new decontamination shower, ideal to quickly strip off any grime, muck, or radiation you've accumulated in quick order, and a new food stop called the Taco Mine. If it all goes completely awry, there's not much that a good taco won't fix.
The Abiotic Factor 1.0 update, Cold Fusion, is set to launch in summer 2025. You can grab the game on Steam now if you're eager to get your feet wet before it leaves early access.
Otherwise, we've highlighted the best crafting games if you just can't get enough of making stuff.
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