Significant chunks of Black Mesa are Crowbar Collective’s own, to the extent that ‘reimagining’ might be a more appropriate label for the game than ‘remake’. There are rooms, sections, encounters, set pieces and entire levels, almost, that have no graphical antecedent, simply because in the first game they didn’t exist. Surely, in the years and years that this remake spent in early access, a feature like this would have been among the most frequently requested by the huge community of fans surrounding the game?īut I soon realised, of course, that the reason something like this isn’t there is because Crowbar Collective have expanded so much upon the original game. That such a toggle is not included I initially thought was something of an oversight. In fact, it had me pining for a toggle that would allow me to switch between the original and updated graphics, similar to those found in the anniversary edition of Halo: Combat Evolved or the recent suite of redrawn Lucas Arts adventure games.
Every asset, model and texture has been lovingly (not to mention painstakingly) rebuilt in the Source engine, but the overall aesthetic still retains enough chunkiness and blocky geometry to be reminiscent of the original 1998 release. The most noticeable of these is a complete graphical overhaul. Like 2019’s Resident Evil 2 remake and Bluepoint’s 2018 reimagining of Shadow of the Colossus, Black Mesa keeps what made the original such a special game while introducing additions, omissions and broad quality of life improvements that make it more accessible for modern players. Which isn’t to say that the game’s appeal is purely nostalgic. Playing Black Mesa over the last couple of weeks – Crowbar Collective’s originally unofficial but then Valve-sanctioned remake of Half-Life, in the making for the best part of 16 years before finally reaching version 1.0 in March 2020 – it’s been quietly pleasing to find these fragmented memories suddenly brought back to life.
Something about the game’s lonely, forbidding atmosphere stuck with me, however. Probably my mum caught me playing what was very obviously not a game designed for ten year-olds and it was confiscated. Maybe it became too scary, or maybe I got stuck and gave up. Lots and lots of air ducts.īack then, I never got any further than the first few chapters. Glimpses of a mysterious man in a grey suit. The sound of my suit flatlining when I died. Eviscerated zombies crawling towards me horrifyingly quickly. I must have been about ten years old when I played the original Half-Life for the first time.
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