The start was cool, with the Gargantua run, but the factory segment was a massive, massive slog. Was that in the original? I can't remember, but it was great here. I liked a lot of the small touches they added, like a lot of evidence of the science team's activities and their abandoned biolab. Xen and Gonarch's Lair are amazing, and Nihalinth and Gonarch are some of my favorite FPS bosses ever now. Of course Black Mesa's biggest claim to fame is the complete reimagining of Xen. That was by far the lowest point of the Black Mesa chapters though, and I blazed through the rest. On a Rail to Apprehension to Residue Processing is a claustrophobic gauntlet of jumping puzzles that I was glad to have behind me.
There were still some slogs, though part of that is the original game. The Black Mesa remake thoroughly reinforces how groundbreaking Half-Life was, and still is. No codex or supplemental novel necessary. When you walk into the lab in Questionable Ethics, the scope of the Black Mesa project immediately expands, and darkens, right before your eyes. When the scientist runs towards the military praising that they're saved, only to be gunned down, you know the stakes have changed.
So much exposition is laid out in the actions and environment around you, without cutscenes or emails and audiologs. It also reinforced how great Half-Life was at environmental storytelling. The last time I played through Half-Life 1 was probably in preparation for Half-Life 2, so a lot of my memory of the original was foggy, but so many times I found myself in awe of how good the new take on an old area was. There is a massive reverence for the source material, and for the most part, any changes seem organic. I'm so glad I waited, because holy shit this was a fantastic remake from start to finish (with some bumps along the way).įirst off, you can tell this was developed by fans first and foremost.
Just finished my first time through Black Mesa a few days ago, which was sitting in my library for over year while I impatiently awaited 1.0.
0 kommentar(er)
