Black Mesa (Half Life remake) | Forums

[nannerdw]

Has anybody played through Black Mesa? I thought the creators did a great job of recreating the original Half Life environments, and most of the changes they made were for the better; either to make the gameplay less frustrating or to improve on the visuals. Also, I really didn't mind that they left out the Xen levels. I wasn't a big fan of that section of the game. It just seemed to go on and on in a maze of weird, floaty first person platforming. Apparently, they left out that whole section so they could have an earlier release date, and Xen is going to be released later as a standalone mod.

The main complaint I have with this mod is that the ammo distribution is so unbalanced. I don't remember if it was like this in the original Half Life, but throughout the entire middle section of the game, there seems to be almost no ammo or health packs. I had to turn on godmode a couple of times just to reach the next health station. Some parts of the game were a little buggy, too; with a couple of brief outdoor sections having horrible framerate issues on my computer, while the rest of the game ran maxed out at a constant 60 fps.

Overall, I'd have to say this is one of the best sourcemods I've played. Even if you haven't played the original Half Life, I'd still recommend this one just to see the result of the 8 years of work that the team put into this project.

[IFTHISTHENTHAT]

I've been meaning to play this.

I have no source games so I don't really have the means to run it.

I loved the first Half-Life though. It puts Valve in a very special place in my book.

I just bought the Humble Indie Bundle 6 and have been playing loads of Torchlight lately.

[nannerdw]

It doesn't require any other Source games, just the free "Source SDK Base 2007"

[IFTHISTHENTHAT]

Oh wow, thanks!

I guess I misread the info. I'll be installing this shortly.

[AnttiKi]

I downloaded Black Mesa a day after it was released, but haven't had the time to install or play it. Now after reading your short review (no Xen levels - yay), I'll surely prioritize it.
By far it looks like the best (free) Source mod so far, even if it has a few bugs.

Also, if you (re)play the old Half-Life, you might notice that it's not as easy as other games on the market today. Games back then used to be harder and you had to try several times to get past some points in the game. In my opinion some of the games today are just way too easy. I don't want regenerating health, I don't want 20 enemies shooting at me and doing pretty much no damage and I also don't want to finish the game without having to replay (and try a different approach) some parts.

[rlmergeuser]

I just opened steam for the first time in ages to try and find this. No Dice. I wouldn't mind re-living the glory, so where do I pick this up?

Also, if you (re)play the old Half-Life, you might notice that it's not as easy as other games on the market today. Games back then used to be harder and you had to try several times to get past some points in the game. In my opinion some of the games today are just way too easy. I don't want regenerating health, I don't want 20 enemies shooting at me and doing pretty much no damage and I also don't want to finish the game without having to replay (and try a different approach) some parts.

I couldn't agree more. I recently played "Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time" again, and I kept telling myself, "This is supposed to be a kid's game! I WILL NOT go to a walkthrough!" I didn't, but man does that game pose some puzzlers. Games used to make you feel small and helpless, with odds stacked against you, leaving failure as the most viable option. I've been playing Boarderlands 2 recently, and the theme seams to be, "How do you want to dominate?" It's fun, but I miss the old way sometimes. I appreciate that you guys at RL still make things challenging. Thanks! I'm sure you've got some more hair-pulling controller-throwing fun for us just around the corner. Looking forward to it!

[nannerdw]

I just opened steam for the first time in ages to try and find this. No Dice. I wouldn't mind re-living the glory, so where do I pick this up?

In Steam, go to View : Tools, and download the Source SDK Base 2007 if you haven't already.
Then, you can download the mod from one of the links on this site:
http://www.blackmesasource.com/download.html

[IFTHISTHENTHAT]

I was going to download this, and then I saw that Morrowind was on sale for $9.99.

I couldn't resist. To me that game is along the lines of what you guys are saying in regards to not pampering the player.

I bought it, installed the newly released ModOverhaul Graphics Update 3.0 thingy and am now in Elder Scrolls heaven.

Now Black Mesa is going to have to wait. God I love Half-Life... but not as much as Morrowind.

Oh and thanks for the links nannerdw, now I can get it installed and ready for when I finish Morrowind.

...Next year sometime...?

[rlmergeuser]

In my opinion some of the games today are just way too easy. I don't want regenerating health, I don't want 20 enemies shooting at me and doing pretty much no damage and I also don't want to finish the game without having to replay (and try a different approach) some parts.

You have no idea how refreshing it is for me to hear that coming from a dev. Old games>New nine times out of ten....imo.

.(no Xen levels - yay)

I do not see many players problem with Xen, you get the new super jump which changes the three core gameplay aspects of HL- Combat, platforming and Puzzles, a complete change of scenery which is what is also lacking in many modern games- level variety, and it was just interesting to explore and find out where these aliens actually came from. Xen was badass, very memorable for me.

[D2Dahaka]

I downloaded Black Mesa a day after it was released, but haven't had the time to install or play it. Now after reading your short review (no Xen levels - yay), I'll surely prioritize it.
By far it looks like the best (free) Source mod so far, even if it has a few bugs.

Also, if you (re)play the old Half-Life, you might notice that it's not as easy as other games on the market today. Games back then used to be harder and you had to try several times to get past some points in the game. In my opinion some of the games today are just way too easy. I don't want regenerating health, I don't want 20 enemies shooting at me and doing pretty much no damage and I also don't want to finish the game without having to replay (and try a different approach) some parts.

Agreed, that's why I appreciate gems like Trials and the Souls games. Games that dont hand everything to you on a silver platter are so much more satisfying and tend to last a whole lot longer.

As for the topic on hand, Black Mesa makes Makes Half life Source look embarrasing.