New Steam Shooter Is Basically Half-Life 2 And It Rules

I’ve probably written this before on this very website, but every time someone asks me what my favorite video game is, my default answer is half life 2. So any game that tries to capture half life 2The excellent mix of exploration, action, puzzle solving, and emptiness has my attention. And if that game is successful and what’s more includes its own gravity gun, well I’m over the moon about that. Lucky for me and for the others. Half life fans, the newly released indie shooter adaka is one of those games.

Posted last week, adaka it’s a first person shooter that’s a self-described throwback to the late 1990s and early 2000s. This was the “linear shooter but not stuck in hallways” era. Things like half life 2, auraY Very far. The kind of shooter games where, yes, you only have one path through each level and play area, but the areas are bigger than Condemn‘s corridors, are interesting to explore and often full of environmental puzzles. And while adaka is pulling from a lot of these shooters, it’s more similar to all half life 2and not by accident.

Within the first 20 minutes of adaka, they give you a gravity gun-like arm and force you to fight space cops who emit a loud blast of static and electronic screeching sounds when killed. And as Gordon Freeman, the main star of Valve Half life series, your main character never speaks on his long, uninterrupted journey from point A to point B. If you’ve played half life 2 or its later episodes, this should all sound pretty familiar. But if it’s not broke…

The only developer who did adaka he clearly understands what he did half life 2 and his contemporaries work. For example, one of the first sections involves a train, a desolate bridge, and not much more than the sound of a distant crow. While limited, the level works, mainly because having to time when to move forward and when to squeeze to the side to let the train fly by is made more intense by all the space cops shooting at you. Of course, just like in half life 2, you can also grab a large box and use it to block some of the bullets. Or throw it at the bastard that’s shooting at you and knock him off the bridge entirely.

Another level features limited ammo and a bunch of small items you can throw at zombie-like enemies. Or you can use the bigger ones to create obstacles to slow them down while you figure out how to escape. You always have options in Adaca.

What makes this indie shooter stand out is how routinely it masters flow and rhythm. a Half life play, even if parts of it feel less polished than Valve’s classic shooter. This is most noticeable in some small areas, like stairs, where it will go through walls or stairs. Other times I ran into performance issues or empty rooms that seemed unfinished. And the characters have no voice; Instead, they do Banjo-Kazooie “squeak” thing. None of this made it harder to enjoy adaka, it just reminded me of the scale of the game and its limited resources. It was also a reminder of how exciting this game seems to be.

When adaka is working and nailing that half life 2-I feel, it’s one of my favorite games I’ve played this year. anyone who loved half life 2 either alyx or any of the episodes you should at least watch the free demo of the game.

I haven’t even mentioned that this game what’s more contains a full alternative open world campaign. So once you get tired of reliving the past, you get a completely different mode that plays more like a large-scale modern shooter, like the recent one. Very far games. What value!

adaka is available on Steam Y Itch.io for PC. It also has a free demo available to play now if you want to try it out before you buy.