Oooooh baby, this one's controversial.
I had read some criticisms of Black Mesa before playing the game, so I knew roughly what to expect, yet I was still astounded (not delighted, not dismayed, but astounded) by some of the decisions that Crowbar Collective made when working on this Valve-certified fan-made remake of the beloved and iconic Half-Life. Obviously, when you're playing a remake after having played the original, it's impossible to consider them two distinct experiences; one must always be comparing the two versions of the same story, the same characters, and the same levels. Fortunately, though, I did only play the original six or so months ago, so I at least evaded the nostalgia goggles.
Black Mesa is weird. It takes a bizarre approach toward remaking Half-Life in which it both seeks to preserve the content of the original game (often to an annoying extent) while also scrapping entirely large chunks of its predecessor and enforcing massive overhauls. This makes it difficult to compare, as the game spans an extraordinary spectrum of Remake Philosophy.
I'll start with some basic stuff.
Music. As it happens, this is what introduced me to Black Mesa. I heard some of Joel Nielsen's soundtrack months before playing Half-Life (though also months after playing Half-Life 2). I liked it and was surprised to later find that people didn't. Then I played Black Mesa. I can see their problem now.
I still hold that the soundtrack for the game is good, or at least fine. "Questionable Ethics 1" is obscenely good, and despite the outcry from many, I think it - along with a few other tracks - possesses some of the spirit of the Half-Life series. That said, the music in this game has a tendency to play at the worst times. It's really indefensible. Every now and then, you have cool moments such as the aforementioned "Questionable Ethics 1" playing during the badass fight in the Lambda Complex lobby; most of the time, it plays at seemingly random points during levels. I got the sense that Joel Nielsen was given concept art for each chapter and was told to compose tracks based off the general vibe without taking into consideration the actual position of the player (a fantastic example is the dramatic and bombastic "Blast Pit 3" playing as the player is attempting to sneak past the stupid fucking tentacle creature).
Overall gameplay. Honestly, Black Mesa feels good to play. The movement and gunplay are both considerably improved from Half-Life for the most part. The movement is so much better in fact that the extended platforming sections in Xen are actually enjoyable (I'll get to Xen later on). Crazy, I know.
Chapters. Here is where the game starts to go off the rails (haha) a bit. The first half of the game is pretty much the same as the original. Minor alterations to the beginning levels were made, but as far as the layout and everything goes, it's the same deal. Once you get to the blur that is Questionable Ethics through to Lambda Core, things get hectic. Once you get to Xen... wow.
Xen is obviously a very controversial location, even in the original Half-Life. The three levels set there were notoriously rushed, and playing through the original iteration of the iconic alien borderland, yeah, you could feel it. Platforming felt terrible in the Black Mesa levels, so forcing you to adapt to the bizarre geography of Xen with dogshit controls was particularly cruel. I've seen some people defend it with the Dark Souls logic of "oh it's supposed to be bullshit and unfun, silly", but I don't buy that. It's just a lot of platforming forced into a game that is not suited to platforming combined with the same shitty enemy spam as previous levels (seriously, anyone who thinks the HECU are actually significantly worse in the remake are delusional. They sucked ass in the original game too).
So, what about the redone Xen? Well, 'redone' is a misleading word to use. Not only is the setting totally different, but so is the level layout. Xen is no longer a bare wasteland, but rather it is colourful and awe-inspiring, populated by all manner of flora and fauna. To some, this is awful. I think it's fine. The only reason the original Xen holds any appeal to me is because I have a thing for old video game graphics and large, empty liminal spaces. Putting that preference aside, I can acknowledge the original location as being just okay. Reworking the alien world entirely is fine in my opinion, though it is certainly a bold and slightly insane choice on the part of CC. I also am not sure exactly how I feel about the loooong scripted chase sequences and slightly repetitive level design. I do really like the platforming segments though.
Well, I'm realising there's wayyyyy more I could say about Black Mesa, but I don't think there's any reason to make this review much longer than it already is. The point I should have reached by now is "it's okay". At times, it's just as cool as Half-Life. At times, it's just as aggravating as Half-Life. At times, it is better than Half-Life. At times, it is worse than Half-Life. At the end of the day, I can respect it for what it is and accept my very mixed feelings on both the game and its source material.
I had read some criticisms of Black Mesa before playing the game, so I knew roughly what to expect, yet I was still astounded (not delighted, not dismayed, but astounded) by some of the decisions that Crowbar Collective made when working on this Valve-certified fan-made remake of the beloved and iconic Half-Life. Obviously, when you're playing a remake after having played the original, it's impossible to consider them two distinct experiences; one must always be comparing the two versions of the same story, the same characters, and the same levels. Fortunately, though, I did only play the original six or so months ago, so I at least evaded the nostalgia goggles.
Black Mesa is weird. It takes a bizarre approach toward remaking Half-Life in which it both seeks to preserve the content of the original game (often to an annoying extent) while also scrapping entirely large chunks of its predecessor and enforcing massive overhauls. This makes it difficult to compare, as the game spans an extraordinary spectrum of Remake Philosophy.
I'll start with some basic stuff.
Music. As it happens, this is what introduced me to Black Mesa. I heard some of Joel Nielsen's soundtrack months before playing Half-Life (though also months after playing Half-Life 2). I liked it and was surprised to later find that people didn't. Then I played Black Mesa. I can see their problem now.
I still hold that the soundtrack for the game is good, or at least fine. "Questionable Ethics 1" is obscenely good, and despite the outcry from many, I think it - along with a few other tracks - possesses some of the spirit of the Half-Life series. That said, the music in this game has a tendency to play at the worst times. It's really indefensible. Every now and then, you have cool moments such as the aforementioned "Questionable Ethics 1" playing during the badass fight in the Lambda Complex lobby; most of the time, it plays at seemingly random points during levels. I got the sense that Joel Nielsen was given concept art for each chapter and was told to compose tracks based off the general vibe without taking into consideration the actual position of the player (a fantastic example is the dramatic and bombastic "Blast Pit 3" playing as the player is attempting to sneak past the stupid fucking tentacle creature).
Overall gameplay. Honestly, Black Mesa feels good to play. The movement and gunplay are both considerably improved from Half-Life for the most part. The movement is so much better in fact that the extended platforming sections in Xen are actually enjoyable (I'll get to Xen later on). Crazy, I know.
Chapters. Here is where the game starts to go off the rails (haha) a bit. The first half of the game is pretty much the same as the original. Minor alterations to the beginning levels were made, but as far as the layout and everything goes, it's the same deal. Once you get to the blur that is Questionable Ethics through to Lambda Core, things get hectic. Once you get to Xen... wow.
Xen is obviously a very controversial location, even in the original Half-Life. The three levels set there were notoriously rushed, and playing through the original iteration of the iconic alien borderland, yeah, you could feel it. Platforming felt terrible in the Black Mesa levels, so forcing you to adapt to the bizarre geography of Xen with dogshit controls was particularly cruel. I've seen some people defend it with the Dark Souls logic of "oh it's supposed to be bullshit and unfun, silly", but I don't buy that. It's just a lot of platforming forced into a game that is not suited to platforming combined with the same shitty enemy spam as previous levels (seriously, anyone who thinks the HECU are actually significantly worse in the remake are delusional. They sucked ass in the original game too).
So, what about the redone Xen? Well, 'redone' is a misleading word to use. Not only is the setting totally different, but so is the level layout. Xen is no longer a bare wasteland, but rather it is colourful and awe-inspiring, populated by all manner of flora and fauna. To some, this is awful. I think it's fine. The only reason the original Xen holds any appeal to me is because I have a thing for old video game graphics and large, empty liminal spaces. Putting that preference aside, I can acknowledge the original location as being just okay. Reworking the alien world entirely is fine in my opinion, though it is certainly a bold and slightly insane choice on the part of CC. I also am not sure exactly how I feel about the loooong scripted chase sequences and slightly repetitive level design. I do really like the platforming segments though.
Well, I'm realising there's wayyyyy more I could say about Black Mesa, but I don't think there's any reason to make this review much longer than it already is. The point I should have reached by now is "it's okay". At times, it's just as cool as Half-Life. At times, it's just as aggravating as Half-Life. At times, it is better than Half-Life. At times, it is worse than Half-Life. At the end of the day, I can respect it for what it is and accept my very mixed feelings on both the game and its source material.