Who Needs The Last Of Us Season 3? Play These Upcoming Games Instead

HBO pausing the production of The Last of Us season 3 sparked the rumor mill into action, with suggestions of an imminent cancellation. However, with the World Cup season starting in Vancouver, HBO probably just decided to wait until the end of the sports event and a return to normality to continue shooting. Even if season 2 garnered a fairly mixed response compared to its predecessor, it was still likely successful enough to warrant a continuation, especially since the series still needs to adapt half of The Last of Us Part 2.

While I hope the production continues as planned, and we get the full adaptation, we don't really need The Last of Us to get our horror, zombie, or parent-child dynamic fix. Ellie, Abby, and Joel's story is ultimately old by this point, and gaming produces so many fantastic new games that don't get the attention they deserve. If nothing else, these titles should help you kill some time before the show's return. Turn to your consoles or PC instead of your TV.

The Sinking City 2

An Upcoming Lovecraftian Horror Game

A follow-up to a liked but not beloved game, The Sinking City 2 might slip through the cracks when it launches in August 2026, perhaps unfairly so since it looks pretty great so far. Similar to The Last of Us games, Frogwares' original title leaned heavily into atmosphere instead of pure scares, although it still throws out a few moments that can be genuinely intense.

Set in a Lovecraftian universe, The Sinking City 2 drops you in the submerged Arkham, where the dead roam the streets while under the watchful eye of an eldritch god. Exploration, puzzles, and inventory management take precedence over action, as you play a character who can hold his own but is more of a thinker than a fighter. The Sinking City 2 is not trying to be The Last of Us, but it can mimic the beautiful tragedy of exploring a world that's been reduced to ruin by forces beyond humanity.

Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy

A New Story In A Great Franchise

A Plague Tale tends to be a great recommendation for The Last of Us fans, as both series emphasize an adult-child dynamic and take place in harsh worlds where humans might be bigger threats than monsters (or rats). The upcoming Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy will be a bit different since it doesn't continue Amicia and Hugo's journey, instead opting to travel back in time about 15 years to tell a prequel story. This time around, you play as Sophia, a treasure hunter who's running for her life and towards her past. She sets out to visit Minotaur Island, where she hopes to learn about herself, and she ends up connecting with a person from history.

So far, Asobo Studio hasn't really set a foot wrong with this series, and this detour should mark a refreshing new chapter. Sophia appears to be a more capable fighter than Amicia, allowing for more visceral and intense combat (one area the previous games struggled with). A Plague Tale combines history and fantasy/supernatural, and Legacy seems set to lean even more into the mythological side of things, hopefully opening up the world even further.

Silent Hill: Townfall

Silent Hill Goes For The Trifecta

Once upon a time, Silent Hill appeared to be dead and buried, reduced to a part of history by a publisher seemingly uninterested in expanding its legacy. Then, we got Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill f, two of the best horror games of the last decade. Will Silent Hill: Townfall continue that trend? Hopefully, yes; however, Screen Burn Interactive is taking things in a fairly different direction, including switching to a first-person perspective.

Similar to Silent Hill f, Townfall moves away from America, with it being set on an island in Scotland. Konami has also priced the game at $49.99, suggesting a slightly smaller experience than the previous two releases. I don't wait to overhype Townfall, as expecting something on the same level as Silent Hill 2 is just asking for disappointment. This should just be a solid horror game set in a franchise that nowadays seems to be receiving way more love from the powers that be.

Metro 2039

A new Metro game is always a cause for celebration, and the 2027 release really does seem like it might be 4A Games' most ambitious entry to date. Like The Last of Us, Metro envisions a world ruined by humanity, where survival means living a hellish existence defined by suffering, pain, and hopelessness. Metro 2039 finds the remnants of humanity trying to reclaim the surface, a war led by a dictator known as Hunter. You play the "Stranger," a recluse who gets called into action and embarks on a trip into the belly of the beast (Moscow).

Metro has, so far, blended action, horror, and survival almost perfectly, even if some entries favor one genre over the other. Metro 2039 seems to emphasize the "horror" element more than Metro: Last Light and Exodus, while still offering the latter's more expansive locations. The developer also opted to move away from Artyom as the protagonist, which could help bring in new players who haven't been around since the start.