Half a Life Ago: The Return to Black Mesa, Part II

For Part I of this blog please see: http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?topic_id=368289

So, wow. This isn't just a mod people, this more or less is Half-Life. If you haven't played, or loved the original I highly suggest you get it now and revel in ~%84 of its glory. But allow me start from my beginning.

Preface: Launch Party
I would be remiss if I didn't mention the fluff surrounding the release of Black Mesa. Some of us have been waiting very patiently, others not so much, but there are a few things that I found rather amusing or interesting from the release of this game (err, mod...I'll get to that later). So from the main page of the Black Mesa website, there was a timer counting down to the amazingness to be had, and also a little preface from the developers. A short tidbit, but a nice touch we had the ability to read Gordon Freeman's Letter of Employment. I kind of liked that they tried to set the stage the way that Inbound did, by setting up the narrative.

There was another tidbit surrounding the timer. Many mods have suffered from less than spectacular launches, and Black Mesa has been no exception save for the fact that they probably fixed the technical issues quicker than almost anyone else. So we're waiting to see when the counter gets to 0 and we finally get under a minute, then 30 seconds...Then 10 Seconds. OMG it's happening!
5....
4....
3....
2....
1....aaannd
+ Show Spoiler +

Error 403: Forbidden

LOL. I can't express just how absolutely perfect the end to that counter was. So much tension, so much hype, people on the edge of their seats, and they are treated to an http error page. I'm still chuckling about it three days later. Fortunately, within an hour the release page was up and working, the files locations, torrents, and mirrors were working relatively well (I'm sorry for those who had downloaded %80 only to have it crash on you, I had my own initial issues). Within a few hours of the release I had the full install finished and loaded up ready to go. Now I would see how things have been changed, how they've been updated, and just what kind of nuance and details lie within.

Menus and Settings
I'd just like to talk about some of the settings and other things in game that bothered me or caused me to be more irksome that others. Coming from the gldsrc or source engine you would think that movement and aiming would be fairly similar. I played HL2 a bunch, and CS:S a bit, and have been consistently playing CS:GO lately, and the overwhelming feeling about the weapons in this mod is that most of the standard ones are very ineffective. Allow me to explain. This is perhaps due to the weapon spray or recoil, or just the sheer ineffectiveness of them, or in part some of the oddly default settings, but throughout my play through I never felt like I had very much control over the weapons, or that they just didn't do very much damage. I play on the hardest settings most of the time, and this was no exception, but especially when I encountered the military later and got the MP5 and Magnum I noticed that unlike my hours in counter strike, that I could not take out a hostile commando in a few hits due to these issues. Sure it made things a lot more hairy and on edge, but it did it in a less than optimal way that takes away from the original feeling of "i'm a complete badass" from the original incarnation.

The above issue was also compounded by a few default settings, which included view roll, and auto aim which were annoying. Oddly enough, and maybe others have experienced this as well but I found that every time I would load the game up that the game wouldn't remember my settings and put them back on default. I wished that I had paid more attention in the beginning so I could have found them and changed them a lot sooner which would have saved a little bit of frustration. Overall I eventually got more used to the feeling, though I still felt that my aim was just off/not precise, and that the weapons did very little damage, even less so than what I originally remember.

Finally, I don't have a beastly rig, but I can manage most modern games and only got a few fps slowdowns...that is until the lamba core. When the sequence is happening, more particle effects keep accumulating and I couldn't find which (it may be a bloom setting) but my PC dropped to a few frames per second there. This was the only time. Ok Enough about settings, here we go...

Chapter One: Inbound
Inbound was exactly what I expected it to be and was a great way to set up the mechanics, the story, the newer changes, and just how this game would play out overall. The most impressive thing was that I haven't played Half-Life in eight years, and everything immediately seemed familiar and recognizable. I remember the security guard banging on the door, the chopper outside, and the GMan in the train, though iirc he was alone the last time...

Chapter Two: Anomalous Materials
As you arrive at your main place of work in the Sector C Test Labs you are greeted by not Barney. I'm not sure why Barney isn't in this game at all, but I would be curious to see Blue Shift: Source as you playing as Barney. An interesting idea to ponder upon. At this point I really get to see how the game is being treated, and I can already tell from the level of detail in the graphics, down to the specific use of audio cues for all of the varying surface types, et al. that this mod really was going to live up to all the hype. I really should note a few gems here though. Valve is known for their sense of humor and this mod definitely took a page from their book.

Barney not pictured

I was exploring the various areas enjoying the deep and nuanced conversations, looking at theoretical chalkboards and the like when I finally decided to head towards getting my HEV suit. I immediately though ran to the break room to see if I could blow up the soufflé, and oh yes. Could I drink the sodas? also yes. But that wasn't the best part. I enjoyed hearing the conversations and exploring new areas but I have to say the bathroom was one of the highlights of this escapade. The what?

Ok, explanation is needed. There's a scientist in one of the stalls and he's out of toilet paper and when you enter, he asks you if you could get him some. Fortunately for him there's a roll by the sink, and I diligently picked it up and handed it to him under the stall, not really expecting anything. And then he took it. And thanked me. My brother was watching over my shoulder when this happened and we both burst into hysterical laughter. This is the kind of detail you will be treated to people. :DDD

Two scientists agree...

Ok ok, so after getting more serious, I finally made it down to the test chamber where everything goes exactly as "ahem", planned. As a nice addition, and I was wondering this, they decided to introduce Dr. Kleiner and Eli Vance to you before entering the test chamber. It was a nice touch and I had figured that these two characters would surface as these exact people. Another check in the intelligent decision making column. On getting inside the chamber after a prep, we all know what happens. The Antimass Spectrometer penetrates a "unique" sample which goes horribly wrong...

This malfunction gives way to a massive resonance cascade, and more notably,

Chapter Three: Unforeseen Consequences

It is at this point that all of Xen is set lose upon the facility. In beginning my first bits of progression was a little unnerved that the crowbar was not in its original place, which caused me to search for it, but thankfully it had only been placed slightly later than where it was originally. Not having a weapon, or no ammo for the Glock that the dead security guard had it was a very nice touch to be able to have some sort of weapon, in this case flares, that would set zombies on fire.

One funny thing that has already been suggested is that Dr. Kleiner meets his pet headcrab Lamar when it teleports into a small specimen chamber. I immediately had the same reaction once he started talking to it and tapping on the glass case.

While I'm on the subject of headcrabs, remember that soufflé I talked about earlier? Well there's a headcrab in there now, and you can definitely microwave it to death.

Traversing the water station to get to the Office Complex was also interesting in that in meeting houndeye's for the first time I expected them to be sort of pushovers from the first game. Well about that, they kind of do a considerable amount of damage when point blank, and combined with less effective weapons made them a bit more dangerous than they originally were. A welcome change. Also their shockwave was neat looking.

I just want to mention one last moment, when you are on the freight elevator. Now I purposely tried to stay on the rail and deal with the headcrabs falling, but I wanted to mention how odd this choice was. Instead of having most of the headcrabs fly off the platform the way they did previously they actually defied physics and stayed. Made the decent harder, but it did it at the cost of defying physics....not the best choice I think.

Chapter Four: Office Complex

On entering the office complex I think it's a good time to talk about Vortigaunts. You have met one of them slightly earlier, but now you start to see quite a few more of them. I never felt that they seemed nearly as dangerous as previous. They attack more quickly, but don't pack nearly as much of a punch which in turn for me made them less unsettling of an enemy. Sure they're dangerous still, but not nearly as much as their original state.

Bullpits are also introduced in the freezer area and are essentially the same, though I feel that they got a slight buff to them making them a tad more dangerous than previously.

Overall it was very nice to see the Office Complex fleshed out more, with a cafeteria, and more stuff resembling an office. One thing also starts to assert itself that I was not as pleased with. The original game definitely had a humor to it, but I feel that the humor in Black Mesa is a little too much, out of place, or silly at times. This in a way undermines the underlying seriousness and narrative of the game a little and I'm not sure they needed to have so much humor. Perhaps if they had toned it back just a tad it would strike a good balance but as it is I felt like at times it was a little too humorous in a game of survival.

Chapter Five: We've Got Hostiles

Speaking of survival, do you remember how annoying turrets were in the first game? Yeah so they're just as annoying, and probably moreso. If laser trip wires and turrets and tripmines are enough, how about human combatants? This chapter also introduces the military, and they are probably my biggest frustration in this game in terms of enemies. I mentioned before about the lack of effectiveness of your weapons, well combined with that, the military have a mild aimbot feeling about them. I'm used to strafe firing in and out of cover due to Counter Strike, but from a mid to close distance, if I would pop my head out, I was almost always being hit when engaging the military. Yes this made things a bit harder, but I felt that it again was a detriment in that it felt like the game was cheating in order to be "hard". I would much prefer them to miss a lot more, but do more damage per shot, but that's just me.

Before you reach the surface for the first time there's an elevator you have to take to get there, and out of it comes a single soldier who is supposed to shoot a scientist. Thankfully I shot him in the head before he could fire his gun, but what I didn't expect was that I killed him right where the doors would close, thus triggering a pretty funny ragdoll physics dance from the corpse once they closed. Oh physics. : rollseyes:

Chapter Six: Blast Pit

YES. So this is one of the more memorable areas from this game. Once you've gotten past the initial military force you have to get through the silo. At first you hear an incessant loud foreboding banging, which eventually introduces the Tentacles. These guys...

so that's what's making all the noise

I always loved this section of how to get past them, so I was interested to see how this would play out. Compared with the Tentacles of the original, they seemed a lot more sensitive to sound this time around. Crouch walking seemed to give away my position, so getting past them was a lot more difficult than previously. I however had a knight in ~~shining~~ blue armor to help me. There's a security guard who's scripted to die a horrible death, but for whatever reason his death is never triggered and he was left in the blast pit to distract the enemy while I did whatever I wanted. Pretty sure this is a bug, but a funny one. It made getting through this whole section very easy. So was it that he was invincible, or just lucky? Well this image says it all

Get out dude! ....Nah man, I got this.

I should also mention that this is the first place where you are introduced to the technique of duck jumping. The idea is that you duck after you jump so that you can jump slightly further distances by lifting your legs, and this technique is employed a lot in this game, and I was very glad to see it here.

Chapter Seven: Power Up

The only really pertinent thing I have to mention about this section is that the Gargantuan seemed a tad more dangerous than previous, though not by much. Again I have to fight a bunch of military, and I also get the satchel charges, which from what I could tell do less damage due to a smaller blast radius and are less effective because they don't deploy as far as they used to which was an odd thing to get used to.

Chapter Eight: On a Rail

If most of the game has been pretty much left intact at this point, On a Rail diverges quite a bit from the original level layout. I noticed while progressing through that the entire section seemed considerably shorter, and that things I was expecting to happen, or places were heavily modified, or more accurately truncated. I'm not sure why they changed this section save for perhaps they felt the whole area was a little too long or redundant, though I was expecting rail puzzles and I didn't get them... The launch area was also slightly modified but I think that decision was ok... I just missed the Explosives puzzle in getting to the launch command center. It's interesting that I immediately noticed this because this was the first section that seemed overly unfamiliar, or just off to me.

Push the button Gordon, like any good ever came from that...

Chapter Nine: Apprehension

Once you've launched the satellite rocket for the Lambda science team you get to meet the Ichthyosaur, which like many of the enemies, more dangerous than its original incarnation. It is however so worth it as you get my favorite gun, well, second favorite of the entire game, the crossbow. For the most part even on hard, the crossbow is a one hit kill, but unlike modern games, you actually have to account for projectile drift, speed, and leading your enemy, things that I really appreciated.

Apprehension also introduces a much more dangerous enemy as well, the Black Ops Assassin. These ladies in leathery black are fast, hard to see, and very deadly. Also, they apparently due to their incredible acrobatic skills have the reinforced boots that Chell has, which was a nice subtle explanatory touch to the athletics. I'm not sure I liked the glowing red lights as it takes away from the introduction a bit in being able to see the security guards assassin, but considering they have a cloaking field as well the change regarding tracking was probably necessary. I don't think I agree with this change, but it's certainly not a terrible one.

these ladies are scary

One thing that I also began to notice a lot more at this point was that the propagation of footsteps is almost nonexistent which made tracking enemies a more visual task. At least with the assassins and military this is sort of suboptimal but I didn't have too much issue with it.

Chapter Ten: Residue Processing

After being knocked out and left for dead by the military in a garbage compactor you make your way through the residue processing plant. Again like chapter eight there are a few places that felt truncated, but it's mostly all there. I also had been noticing this at the blast pit, but there was a visual reaction to being near radioactive materials as well in the form of noise. It was a nice touch on a subtle indicator.

Chapter Eleven: Questionable Ethics
After traversing the plant we finally reach the biodome complex, another one of my favorite sections. Questionable ethics is the first place where you start to see that some of the scientists actually have some idea of what's going on. I especially liked the anatomy diagrams and other little tidbits strewn here and there, but I also finally get to have my favorite gun in Half-Life, the Tau Cannon.

Before this however we get a nice treat. You meat a security guard who leads you into the atrium of the complex where two soldiers are stationed. I was expecting like many times before that the NPC's would be idiots and just start shooting, but to my surprise the security guard crouched down and quietly walked to cover before he started shooting. Wait, really? neat.

Oh and if you're wondering, yes I have questionable ethics. For more information see below:

If you're wondering, we're having barbecue tonight

The biodome complex is also where we get to meet the alien Grunts. Speaking of the Grunts I'm not sure I liked the introduction of the hivehand weapon. One of the more interesting concepts to postulate about was how you got this weapon. I always had thought that it was part of the alien's arm that you had severed to use for your own purposes, which puts a very different light onto getting and using one. Thankfully this weapon was again a "oh shit I don't want to waste my precious ammo, let's use this instead".

Overall there were a lot of visual niceties strewn throughout the complex that were very much appreciated.

Blast shield down

Blast shield not down

Chapter Twelve: Surface Tension

After being indoors and underground for so long it is nice to be oustide with the sky above your head. Oh crap, an apache is firing on us? maybe not so much then. Surface tension is the first chapter in what is really all about getting to the Lambda complex and fighting through an entrenched military presence to do so. The change in scenery and set pieces themselves are quite nice, but I was looking forward to the cliffs, like many.

pretty, if it weren't for the apache of it all

A few things to note about this portion is that the background landscape is much more fleshed out, but also plays a small narrative role in that one of the further away facilities gets bombed by aircraft and you get to watch the whole thing. this is directly next to one of the more unsettling crouch jumps as you have to traverse a very open and dangerous area.

This challenge is not in the original game however, though there is something vaguely similar, and along with a number of other modifications this may be one of the more modified sections than the original, though they haven't been so much cut as rearranged in a subtle if clever way. This was probably the most noticeably different section behind On A Rail.

a nice view

with a precarious jump

glad I wasn't there just now

Freeman 1, Tank 0

A couple of interesting changes is that the Gargantuan chasing you follows you to an open area and not have to break through a door. On top of this you don't have to bomb the wall surrounding the door, and you also don't have to blow up the door via air strike. I'm not sure I agree with the platform being a metal mesh texture as it seems as the Gargantuan should have been able to just point up and roast you to death, that's ok though because I air struck his ass with a clutch timing.

He's coming from behind!

He's still coming from behind

There are some other sections that are modified, or heavily truncated, or omitted entirely but they are relatively minor things here and there.

Chapter Thirteen: Forget About Freeman

The second section of sorts progresses to the Lambda Core having you fight through hordes of creatures from Xen as well, and they think they have initial set up a great trap from which to ambush you in the opening spot. There is however a manipulatable turret, which quickly turned their ambush into mine (insert maniacal laughter).

Here lies a nameless hero, who thought his trap would work

The rest of this chapter follow pretty much what you would expect with a few minor tweaks here and there, though I still wish I had the ability to control that tank like I did originally.

Chapter Fourteen: Lambda Core

Upon reaching the outer complex you are greeted with headcrabs, vortigaunts, grunts, bullsiquids, and oh yes, black ops assassins, all before you are allowed to get into the actual complex. Once you get inside you have to get to the reactor, flood and overload the core and then be treated to the pre-portal portal puzzle. Combined with the reactor explosion this part was a very neat set of obstacles to traverse, all to reach the actual Core Lab and portal apparatus. I appreciated that the entire complex from what I could gather was all there, nothing changed.

Finally, we have arrived

Steam on Linux

Remember to practice your long jumping

I was also interested to see just how the controllers would play out in the lambda core, and I thought that they did a good enough job, though I do miss the eerie howling sounds that they produced which added to their ferocity, if in a subtle way.

The deep breath before the plunge

Current Endgame and Overall Thoughts

This is of course not where Half-Life ends as there are four additional chapters to be experienced, but this was a far as the Black Mesa devs felt was appropriate for the release, and it has been a sound decision as this is a good breaking point. Let's just hope it doesn't turn into another EP2 cliffhanger that we have to wait X years to get closure (though it's not exactly the same).

I've talked about some of my experiences, and some of the changes or similarities, but have tried to leave out my experiential feelings of the mod for the most part. In my opening preface you'll note that I said that this was essentially Half-Life, and that is both a comment on just how much enjoyment can be had with this mod, and how much time and effort in details that the developers put into. It is perhaps the most succinct laud that I can bestow upon them as this has felt like Half-Life the entire way, despite some of the liberal changes in places, or interface or weapon issues. I greatly anticipate the conclusion of this project, and yes I liked Xen, and wouldn't be surprised if Valve eventually hired these guys on for their considerable and impressive work.

I'd love to hear how everyone's experiences around Black Mesa turned out, whether you've played the original or not as it could contain some interesting perceptions or insights. Feel free to comment or share your thoughts, and if you haven't played it already, to coin a phrase "they're waiting for you..."

Half a Life Ago: The Return to Black Mesa, Part II

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Ongoing

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