Just finished Black Mesa – I can’t believe that effort started in 2005 and concluded in 2020. Fifteen years of a passion project.

I watched a video of the last 4 chapters of the game (set in Xen which were apparently not well received) and I think personally Black Mesa greatly improved this part.

  • The long-jump pack (!!) is great to use and functions basically the same as the one in Abiotic Factor :D.
  • The environment was so much nicer with what I felt like was a lot of art inspiration from Subnautica.
  • The power scaling at the end with the experimental weapons felt much better than it looked in the original.
  • Certain plot points were woven in from Half Life 2, making it more obvious that the Vortigaunts were enslaved and not just hostile inhabitants.
  • The new OST for Black Mesa is a real nice enhancement.
  • Enemy and boss combat in particular vastly improved.

Abiotic Factor has so many little references, even down to the “window wipe” sound that you hear constantly – that’s a sound in Xen apparently but sounds more like it’s coming from an unseen organism.

They’re not exactly subtle, but here are some of the connections that struck me while playing Black Mesa:

  • Organism-as-a-weapon (hive-hand)
  • Certain sound effects (window-wipe)
  • Long-jump pack
  • Laboratories and level design (vending machines, biological labs)
  • Portal design
  • Scientist voices (obviously)
  • LASERS

It is super odd that I never found the motivation to play Half Life even after playing Half Life 2 so long ago and loving it; I can’t explain it, I have no excuses. But I think Black Mesa is a great upgrade and worthy as the entry point for Half Life – even over the original which is obviously quintessential but dated.