It's surprising how bold Black Mesa is in the latter regard. The low-key survival horror of Office Complex makes it my favourite level. To refine what works and, crucially, remove what doesn't. The willingness not just to replicate, but to attempt to improve upon the core experience of Half-Life. This, ultimately, is what defines Black Mesa. We're not messing around, nor are we slaves to every pixel of Valve's game. The carriage's welcome message now sounds like it's emanating from a speaker, while a whole new soundtrack plays its opening notes out as a 27-year-old MIT graduate begins his worst day at work. It isn't merely visual stuff that's changed either.

:: Doom Eternal secrets locations list - where to find every hidden item on every levelīlack Mesa is more populous than in Valve's original vision, with scientists loitering around the newly introduced railway station, and guards manning security checkpoints that didn't exist in the original. It gives you more time to notice the extra details they've added into the introduction. Extending it is a deliberate move on Crowbar Collective's part. It's odd to think such an iconic moment in FPS history was one of the less-liked aspects of Half-Life on launch. The introductory train ride is now longer, with many additional details.īlack Mesa starts with a ballsy opening gambit, an introductory tram ride that's longer than the one in the original Half-Life. But it's worth going over the work the studio did converting the Black Mesa facility itself into the Source engine, not least because they've made some further tweaks since 2012. Why bother?Ĭrowbar Collective has their own answer to that, which I'll get to in due course. Besides, who cares about Xen? It was always rubbish. Many such enthusiast projects never see the light of day, so to get even a partly complete remake of Half-Life felt like a minor miracle. For a lot of Half-Life fans, this was enough. The Black Mesa bit of Black Mesa has been available to play since 2012, while the whole game made its transition from amateur mod project to paid-for Steam Early Access title back in 2015.

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