Certainly does not beat the original Half-Life, but is rather an entirely different design philosophy, as few as its changes might be. Not as cartoonish or slap-stick as the original, more grounded, and grittier, as its Source sequel; Black Mesa is a "reimagining" of Half-Life as well as a remake. It is a beautiful game and looks almost like a Source 2 engine title. Xen has been revamped to be half of the game's length, while superior to the original Xen, kept some of its annoyance.