In this game, you can…

• …use bullets as money, so every firefight is also a spending decision.
• …pump your flashlight by hand, wipe your gas mask, and check your watch for survival info.
• …earn a better ending by doing things like giving to beggars, listening to conversations, sparing people, and even playing instruments.

In this game, you can…

• …fight while managing your gas mask: put it on, swap filters before you suffocate, and wipe blood and rain off mid-shootout.
• …spend the same bullets as both ammunition and money, choosing between winning a fight now or affording supplies later.
• …survive the Library by lowering your weapon and not making eye contact with the monsters, turning the encounter into a slow standoff.

In this game, you can…

• …survive a plane crash, find a lighthouse, pull a lever, and descend into a glowing art-deco city built under the ocean.
• …hypnotize one Big Daddy to fight another, then wade in while they tear each other apart.
• …kill a Big Daddy, then choose whether to harvest or rescue the Little Sister it was protecting.

In this game, you can…

• …carry a garden gnome through the entire game, hauling it in and out of the car without losing it.
• …trigger an antlion invasion by stomping their grubs after being warned the nest will hear you.
• …run out of rockets in the finale and improvise by using the car and throwing tree trunks at towering enemies.

In this game, you can…

• …spend roughly a quarter of the campaign in a rebuilt Xen that plays like its own ecosystem, with new creatures and reimagined spaces.
• …get hunted for a long stretch by a giant alien behemoth, then finally turn and fight it when there's nowhere left to run.
• …trigger an experiment that rips open reality and starts an alien invasion, all while you stay in control and the story never cuts away.

In this game, you can…

• …use a gravity gun to turn junk into weapons, tools, and stepping stones mid-fight.
• …launch a saw blade and slice an enemy clean in half.
• …pick up a random can, throw it at a guard, and watch him chase you down.

In this game, you can…

• …split your metal pipe into two weapons, dual-wield them, then snap it back together into a sledgehammer.
• …watch the story pivot into occult chaos with ancient relics, flaming zombies, and something huge waking underground.
• …find hidden Wolfenstein 3D-style nightmare levels tucked into the campaign as secret throwback missions.

In this game, you can…

• …watch soldiers drag a couch or vending machine into place as cover, then detour through cleared rooms to ambush you from behind.
• …have the last surviving soldier go silent, stop using his radio, and hide to ambush you from a spot you already cleared.
• …fire a Penetrator and pin enemies to walls with nails, or blast them point-blank with a shotgun while time is slowed.

In this game, you can…

• …watch sand, snow, and water foul your guns until they jam, then stop to clean them by hand.
• …patch a cracked gas mask with duct tape mid-mission, then hunt down a workbench before the next toxic area.
• …ride a modified steam locomotive across Russia as seasons shift from spring to nuclear winter.