Half-Life 1 is an interesting game because the highs absolutely carry that game, but th lows are very low. Like many things in the late 90s and early 2000s, it's so freaking cool the rest becomes secondary.

I need to play Black Mesa. I recently played through the original series back to back and was exhausted by the end. I find the "single take" aspect of the series to drain me.

@TacticalTruth I completely agree. Xen and On A Rail aren't flat out bad but experiencing them right after playing through some amazing sections makes them feel significantly worse.

Xen still isn't a highlight in Black Mesa, they have fixed it to be more fun, added nice lore relevant details and it's very beautiful, but it almost feels like a different game to the previous chapters. They shortened On A Rail though so it's far more tolerable, I would really recommend it!