There’s a long list of popular and beloved games that I’ve never played, one of which being the original Half-Life. Having played its sequel and its two expansions what feels like a lifetime ago (or 2007, as some might call it), I never did get around to playing the original. Some of my friends even tried to right this egregious wrong, graciously gifting me a flash drive with a copy of the game… which I then proceeded to lose. It was an accident. I’m sorry. But all that’s changed now.
Black Mesa is a fan-made remake of the original Half-Life, one that not only gives the nearly 30-year-old game a serious graphical overhaul, but also adds entire sections and mechanics that were never before seen in the original game. The story is still the same, however: you play mute scientist/crowbar enthusiast Gordon Freeman, an employee of the eponymous research facility; during an experiment, things go horribly wrong… worse than a ruined microwaved casserole… and an interdimensional portal is opened, letting loose upon the facility creatures from another realm, hell-bent on destroying our world (and our remaining casseroles).
Black Mesa follows an arguably familiar gameplay formula, though one that’s occasionally plagued by pacing issues. You shoot your way through groups of enemies during a series of scripted encounters, solve some environmental puzzles, and learn more about what’s really going on at the Black Mesa research facility. It may not seem like it now, but Half-Life keeping its story beats in-game and not relegating them to a bunch of cutscenes was considered revolutionary at the time of its release – and for good reason. It honestly felt refreshing that, in today’s day and age, I wasn’t constantly having control wrenched from my grasp to watch a pre-rendered cutscene and was instead allowed to move freely about the environment as the story unfolded around me. Sure, it does mean that you can miss out on important story elements, but the game does a good job of calling attention to these moments and making you pay attention to them. But even then, the story is as simple as: interdimensional beings are invading, please stop them.
Where the pacing issues come in is during certain levels (looking at you “Surface Tension” and “Xen”). Some levels feel like they drag beyond what your patience can handle, and after the halfway point I was surprised to learn I still had about half a game left to go. This is definitely an anti-brainrot-type game. There are also some sections that feel tacked-on if only to pad the game time, and many of these feel like content cut from the original that the new developers dredged up and re-inserted without thinking how it might affect the overall pacing and progression. I will echo much of what the community has said regarding the Xen levels and how terribly long they are, but in my defence I just kept chugging away at them and eventually got to the final boss, beat it, and finished the game. Did these levels drag? Yes. Were they completely unenjoyable? No. Could they use some editing and trimming? Yes. Do I mourn that microwave casserole…?
There’s a healthy variety of weapons in Black Mesa, from pistols and machine guns to the ever-reliable shotgun, to more heavy-duty fare like rocket launchers, to even more unconventional weapons that would fit right into something on the SyFy channel. There’s usually a weapon best suited for every encounter, and the game encourages experimentation to find which work best and where. However, there were some weapons I barely used more than once, as the SMG proved more than serviceable for my needs across the dozen or so hours it took me to finish the game. Enemies are also varied, with a few boss battles sprinkled throughout, and the game is quite liberal (no, not like that) with health and armor and ammo pickups, so you should never feel underpowered or outgunned.
As I said before, Black Mesa benefits from a graphical overhaul, nowhere more noticeable than in the Xen sections. The interiors of the facility in the first third are both claustrophobic and cavernous, while the second third of the game brings you outside to marvel at just how wide and expansive the surrounding desert and mesas are, and the final third in Xen is just gorgeous, with much of the art direction seeming to take inspiration from James Cameron’s Avatar. Everything from the lighting to the shadows to the character models to the textures feels sharp and crisp, and at every turn and drop you can feel the love and care and devotion the developers have infused the environments with.
So, having finally played Half-Life (sort of), I can attest I see what all the hoopla was about. Great game, incredible remake… Half-Life 3 soon?
