Using it during a section of the game taking place in a canyon really made me feel like a badass cowboy.Īll sorts of enemy creatures roam the Black Mesa facility. And a powerful revolver you find at some point in the game can put any of the game’s enemies to rest with a couple of shots. The shotgun’s alternate fire mode does turn some enemies into a pile of gory goo a bit too easily though, making it feel overpowered at times. It’s also a plus how the game’s early weapons remain useful throughout the game: the crowbar remained my favorite weapon with which to smash Headcrabs and blast crates open throughout, while there’s nothing I loved more than blasting Barnacles to death with a good shotgun blast. If anything, there may be too many weapons in Black Mesa, but at least the game gives you plenty of options to dispatch the many foes you encounter in your journey. And then there’s the rocket launcher when you need that extra firepower too… You also get to play with a couple of alien weapons too, which are as cool to use in Black Mesa as they were in the original Half-Life game all those years ago. These include Half-Life’s iconic crowbar, a pistol, shotgun, submachine gun, crossbow, a variety of explosives and other, experimental, energy-based weapons you get hold of later on. Thankfully, though, you get to acquire plenty of weapons with which to dispatch these foes in your journey through Black Mesa. There are plenty of other enemies roaming Black Mesa, including the zombies, giant lizard-like creatures which spit acid and the alien grunts, which make an appearance later in the game. Half-Life fans have gotten to know these creatures’ names by heart over the years: enemies like the Headcrab (which bear a resemblance to the face huggers in Alien), the Barnacles (which stick to ceilings ready to catch passersby with their slimy tongues) and the Houndeyes, alien dog-type enemies which emit a shock wave which can injure Freeman and destroy objects. Seeing Freeman don his hazard suit, indicators for health and energy appearing onscreen and hearing the HEV suit voice again (well, Black Mesa’s version of it) is still heart warming.Īnd once in the test chamber were the famous “resonance cascade” experiment goes wrong and all hell breaks loose, I still felt the same sense of awe and wonder as when I played the original game for the first time all those years ago.Īfter things go awry at the Black Mesa facility, creatures from the alien world of Xen start warping in. It’s remarkable, though, how Half-Life’s plot, scenes and set pieces have lost none of their impact since the first game hit shelves back in 1998, and all are wonderfully recreated in Black Mesa. Other details reveal the fact that this is a remake of a game which is over 20 years old, such as the CRT monitors littering the Black Mesa offices once Freeman arrives at work. This might be a limitation of Valve’s Source engine, the latest version of which powers Black Mesa, or simply the developers sticking to the original game’s structure, loading pauses and all. This happens throughout the entire game, although thankfully these loading pauses don’t happen so often and are relatively brief. It’s jarring, though, to see Freeman’s tram ride interrupted by a loading message, something which takes you out of the action. This is a sequence which has been imitated in many games since, and definitely sets the tone for what is to follow. This is a project which had been going on for a whopping sixteen years, which came to a conclusion when the team behind the game (Crowbar Collective) recently put out a full PC release of their Half-Life remake on Steam.Īnd the good news is that Black Mesa succeeds at bringing Half-Life up to date, delivering the same thrills as the original game with a fresh coat of paint and other enhancements, but suffers from the same weakness as the 1998 classic: the final part of the game taking place in the alien world of Xen is a disappointment, while other flaws prevent this from being as great a first-person action experience as it could have been.īlack Mesa begins with the iconic tram ride which takes protagonist Gordon Freeman into the bowels of the Black Mesa Research Facility in rural Nevada, US. They named their remake Black Mesa, after the famous research facility where Half-Life takes place. This was none other than Half-Life, Valve’s revolutionary first-person shooter which won a myriad of accolades and became the new benchmark for PC action games overnight.Īnd while people have been criticizing Valve since Half-Life 2 came out in 2004 for not releasing another entry in the series yet, an industrious group of fans set out to remake Half-Life not long after its award-winning sequel hit shelves. The year 1998 will surely be remembered for one game. Note: This review was updated on Decemto cover the changes in Black Mesa: Definitive Edition.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |