Refraction for Windows

Free fan-made Half-Life game

Refraction is a free-to-play action game from Buzzsaw game studios. This fanmade first-person shooter follows mankind after the great war against the Combine, the alien species that serves as the antagonist for the Half-Life series. Follow the robot named Tealbug as he repels unexpected attackers bent on enforcing the Combine’s ideologies.

With a premise that parallels Freeman’s adventures and visuals at home with the Valve classic, Refraction is a good attempt at being the unofficial sequel to the canceled Episode Three. Instead, you can try Half-Life 2: Episode One and Half-Life 2: Episode Two for the full story.

Half-Life, but with robots

Refraction tries to navigate the Half-Life universe after the major war between humans and the Combine. However, reeling from the irreversible effects, humans have started uploading their consciousness into robots. In this game, you follow Tealbug, a converted robot from a dumpster trying to make a living in the new world. One day, his workplace is attacked by a terrorist cell bent on reviving the Combine.

Aside from the unwilling participant premise that looks a lot like how Gordon Freeman started, it does a good job of expanding the established lore and storyline. For the gameplay, it introduces an all-new world and a cast of characters to match. Instead of the usual aliens and human enemies, most opponents this time are robots of varying sizes and forms, creating a refreshing experience for fans.

The premise has already set the game up as a good indie title in the Half-Life franchise. However, the actual gameplay experience reveals its flaws. Some animations in the game remain blocky and inconsistent, with intermittent issues regarding movement and collision. Similarly, some assets in the game do not yet load smoothly, creating visual issues as you play the game.

A good game that could use polishing

Refraction is on the track to being a timeless addition to the Half-Life franchise. It dares to offer a sequel to the canon games that is both plausible and entirely different, going for robots instead of aliens and humans. It also introduces a new protagonist that mirrors Dr. Gordon Freeman in the original. Unfortunately, the technical aspects of the game could still use more work, particularly its assets and animation.