Black Mesa: fan remake of first person shooter Half-Life, probably my favorite game of all time. In reality don't have exact definite all time fav, but HL is the easiest to put here cause it's childhood game having big impact on me, my vidya taste and nostalgic value where I can remember the sounds of it and chapter names and plenty of level layouts. It's just so awesome revisiting that classic every few years and remembering memories surrounding game and period of life. So yeah, seeing remake on Source engine finally fully released after like 12 or something years of dev time was exciting and Crowbar Collective did such a faithful job like it's perfect mix of 1st and 2nd HL. It remains all clunkiness seen in HL2 and all that older type of game design. Obviously there are more visual/sound ques to lead player in right directions, but still getting lost is possible and levels are intricate, complex monsters to be solved. HL old school level design has such sweet spot for me. "Run think shoot live". Headcrabs still surrounding all vents and trying scaredy scare / crowbar still as effective and iconic as it was / platforming, many can hate, me love first person jumping. Gordon is geeky scientist, needs some sport activities and stuff / the whole train ride at beginning, still as long and still fantastic way to bring player in right mood. Whole typical day scenario which at the end turns bananas. Remember how out of this world original game felt when played it first time, the whole introduction... there was nothing like it in other games... oooh my brothers played it too a lot and remember watching and oooh game was actually quite violent and horrifying to be honest, but they allowed me to view and even play. Maybe the reason to my fucked-upness is right there. Yeah, remake still gives horror vibes especially Unforeseen Consequences and Questionable Ethics chapters. Ethics one is really amazingly remade and yea it is spookier than in original. All assets new (maybe few from HL2). Health rechargers with sound they make... awwww and now physics added so can f around with trash while listening to "Greetings, Gordon Freeman!".
Combat, FUN. No health regen, playing cautiously with all kinds of pacing depending on enemies and point of game like for example Surface Tension aka most actiony part of game, fighting soldiers, helicopters, tanks etc and then music kicks in and it screams "time to go Rambo mode!" and such stream of rush in veins and these soldiers aren't going easy on ya, but constantly flank, throw grenades and make screen go red and BEEP. Soldier AI was another thing which was crazy impressive in 1998 HL. Remake kept them more interesting and advanced than fighting metro police or combines from HL2... and then game slows down with something like zombies. It's slower taking these headcrabshots with suuuper satisfying revolver or suuper satisfying double barrel shotgun shot or just wasting a rocket to see ragdoll backflipping or something fun.
Every chapter adds a new thing. So much variety game offers. Despite player reception I kinda always liked every part of original game even hated ones like "On Rails" where endlessly moving with this train thingy, usually getting lost, but it's fun like every time when getting lost I don't get more inpatient, but usually at these moments I'm more here looking closer at things and immersion just grows on me and background ambience drills into brain and it all gets more memorable. "Residue Processing" another black sheep. I'm weird, have hard-ons with these factory type levels in games where machinery wants to killkill and moving through dangerous tight places, radioactive substances around, all danger danger, rusty metal and sounds it all makes. These loud pumps and steam coming from pipes and heat and... Yea, like all of that... and XEN, infamous chapter of original which again no dislike from me. Always were just intriguing and otherworldly and XEN is pretty much best part of remake and super improved and redesigned, and soooo beautiful to look at, and music tracks used here are the best with a sip of ethereal feels and soothing female voice. Super unique with all these alien creatures living in harmony and Gordon, unwelcome intruder trying to survive here. Interloper my fav part (damn me weird). It felt like ssuper long chapter and gave the most old school vibe from it's game design perspective and me love old games, and that place cool, and it reminded the final levels of Unreal 1998, and yea it gives weird alieny vibes. Fighting Gonarch epic, too. Blast Pit still one of faves (it has tentacle monster ;) ). Office Complex, great shootouts with vortigaunts and plenty of scientists going full monke mode there. Yea, seriously combination with fantastic pacing with all action and calmer moments, and a simple puzzle, and backtracking, and platforming, does wonders to make me feel constantly entertained and not have any borepoint.
Perfect remake.
Highlights: Anomalous Materials / Unforeseen Consequences / We've Got Hostiles / Blast Pit / Questionable Ethics / Surface Tension / All of Xen especially Interloper / Final Boss fight
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7vDsarvyoc
