Black Mesa Review (Unfulfilled obligations)
Very important note:
JER! GALING JER! GALANGA! GALALANG!
Review:
I played HL1 back in the days like 25 years ago. I was a kid with zero knowledge of English. I genuinely thought the game is bugged because I couldn't stop a tram nor leave it. I was like "what on the Earth is wrong with this game?". Restarted it several times and the "bug" kept showing but once in my afk I got to a destination point and finally could touch gameplay. Nevertheless it made no difference because of the same reason - I was absolutely clueless and naturally got soft-locked at one of the initial locations. Should I tell what impression of the so-called GREAT HALF-LIFE SERIES I carried through the years?
My friend advised me to play Black Mesa not long ago and I decided to give it a second chance. Now I know what the fuss is all about. This game has elegant harmony of storytelling and gameplay which most of modern games lack. No pretentious "deepness" - just solid and straightforward but engaging plot. It's all due to Valve although Collective Crowbar added no lesser value.
This is an absolutely fantastic remaster. Visuals look good even in 2024. Xen is beautiful. Music is nice but a bit loud. Fights are cool and movement... I usually love all that movement thing and unfortunately I discovered interesting mechanic too late. It would make my journey even more enjoyable.
Here is the mechanic: when you got to Xen you obtain a Jetpack allowing you to double-jump with high velocity. So after double-jump you need to hold crouch and you will be sliding on the ground with high speed. Moreover if you jump again then your speed will be kept. In other words you can do something like bhop without strafe.
The highest difficulty as always allows you to get full experience so it's my permanent recommendation. Unless you do rerun for Hat&Pizza achievements. You can but why.
The first time I completed the game and looked through achievements to understand what's left I was unpleasantly surprised that you need to bring two objects to the end of the game. It seemed stupid. But I wanted to get them all so I started a new game. There is no challenge to carry one thing (either hat or pizza) it's just boring and time-consuming. But if you decide to carry both of them I assure you'll have so much fun. The whole gameplay had changed for me. I was very sceptical and irritated at the beginning but eventually I loved it. I could bring them to the place with 8 jump pads, there I spent two hours trying a lot of ideas but gave up, made a save and proceeded further with one thing. What a run was it, a puzzle after a puzzle, what a pleasure to solve them. Don't google how if you stuck, just think and try.
In conclusion I wanted to talk about expansions. As of now - 21 December 2024 - a different team is working on the mod Blue Shift. And it needs Black Mesa to run. I know Valve allowed to earn money for Crowbar Collective and I would be so happy if all of them somehow resolve situation to the point where Blue Shift could be published as an official DLC for Black Mesa or as a separate game. I am not into mods and in addition I love steam's game progression system with all these achievements, playtime and cards. I hope I am not alone in my infantile desire.
Anyway, enjoy the game, enjoy the achievements and don't forget GALANGA and GALALANG.