Black Mesa Impressions

Xen is ridiculously beautiful.

Black Mesa is a total remake/conversion of Half-Life to the Source engine by Crowbar Collective, an independent game studio formed in 2004 by a bunch of amateurs. It's quite amazing what they've accomplished, for Black Mesa is almost up there with Valve's own entries in the Half-Life series, and it's arguably the best way to experience the original Half-Life. Valve let Crowbar Collective release Black Mesa on Steam for the low price of 19 bucks, which is a hell of a deal, in my humble opinion. I played the demo years back, and I was fairly impressed, but after having played the released version, I'm floored at how well they've adapted Half Life. A few sections are changed (On a Rail is shortened, and most of the big battles between the Xen aliens and the HECU Marines are expanded), but on the whole, this is Half-Life, only with increased graphical fidelity. Of course, that higher fidelity is accomplished using a graphical engine released in 2004, but Source has never looked better. The environments might lack the detail of a modern game, but the superb effects and artistry on display more than make up for the potato-faced human character models. You'll flee in terror from the Gargantua in Power Up, dodge Marine fire from the new and improved MP5 (which has a much extended range compared to the sputtering original), and shoot rockets at that damn helicopter in Surface Tension. All of Half-Life's memorable moments are here and as good as you remember them. There are a few difficulty spikes that are frustrating, however, particularly the Lobby battle, which features waves of Marines who shoot with deadly accuracy, and the aforementioned helicopter has auto aim. But this difficulty is inherited from the original; having played a lot of retro shooters lately, I assure you that first person shooters were a lot harder back in the day. The Black Mesa section of Black Mesa is almost perfect. Then we have Xen.

Xen wasn't as bad as people remember. It was weird and different, and there were too many jumping puzzles, but it made narrative sense, and it felt like a fitting conclusion to Gordon's strange journey. My opinion is a minority opinion, however, with Valve seeming to agree with the majority that the Xen section sucked, considering they've never returned to the border world in any of their subsequent games. In contrast to the Black Mesa section of their remake, Crowbar Collective decided to drastically remake Xen, redesigning its four chapters and greatly expanding them. Technically, it's a brilliant accomplishment; Xen looks gorgeous, more Avatar than the drab H.R. Giger influenced direction of the original. However, much of it feels like padding. I'm halfway through the Xen chapters, and I'm about ready to be done with them. There are way too many puzzles, and although none of them are particularly difficult, they aren't particularly fun, either. The Gonarch battle, which is suitably epic, drags on and on, and there are sections where you have to wander through endless caves and flood caverns to reach another area where you'll spend more time running from a giant spider testicle that you can't kill until you reach the proper stage. Quality trumps quantity every time. I'll see what the last few hours have to offer, but I'm basically playing because I've invested 14 hours in Black Mesa, and I'd like to see it through. Regardless if Xen lets me down, Black Mesa is well worth the 19 bucks you'll pay on Steam. Go for it if you want to play one of the best shooters ever made.

Here's the big momma herself.