Black Mesa: Blue Shift - 05 - Focal Point

[@Sexy_Nutella]

CHAPTER COMMENTARY: Black Mesa: Blue Shift’s Focal Point is an ambitious and jaw-droppingly massive retelling of Calhoun’s journey through Xen. While there are nods and direct callbacks to the original expansion’s short foray through the borderworld such as the river , the floating islands with the Manta using its beam, and even the Chumtoad’s Lair easter egg, even those areas have received substantial remakes amidst the plentiful new dramatic additions. And dramatic indeed they are - an entire forward research base that slowly comes back to life (alongside its Xenian denizens and less-than-stable crystal network) that gives off both Dead Space and Subnautica vibes while retaining horror elements typical of the Half-Life series. A section entirely dedicated to sabotaging a Xenian Sentry Emplacement. And of course, the gigantic jammer facility that bookends the chapter. Alongside these freshly realised maps are setpieces to match their scale. The M.O.U.N.T. ride around an unstable Xen Crystal as tall as a skyscraper. The beautiful and almost ethereal Manta ride to the Relay island (and subsequent chaotic end). The frenetic battles at the Relay and Interceptor Core. And to cap it all off, the movie-esque final escape from an exploding enemy facility as it comes down all around Barney, harkening back to the good ole days of MOHAA and the final run from Fort Schmerzen (I tip my hat to you if you’ve played this gem back in the day). Similar to what the Xen chapters felt like for Black Mesa, Focal Point feels like an episodic expansion to BMBS in all the right ways. The journey to the Relay itself becomes only half of the problem Barney has to contend with, and even then that takes him quite a bit of time, never mind the follow-up detour into the Interceptor facility to take care of the signal jammer. While I do feel that the extended length becomes a bit gruelling near the end (a bit of my PTSD from Black Mesa’s Interloper puzzles and platforming returned), as a whole the package feels like a “greatest hits” of BM’s Xen chapters with much of the fat removed; I appreciate and enjoy the greatly expanded story as the original Blue Shift chapter frankly starts and ends way too soon in comparison. HECU Collective’s efforts are to be commended ten times over. The quality on display is astounding, from the incredibly detailed locales, to the immersive first-person animations, to the god-tier score and sound design in general, to the way the team was able to cram so damn much into a single map and have it still work (looking at you Site Alpha). The replayability as a result is also very high and I found myself enjoying the experience much more on subsequent playthroughs once I was able to take it all properly in. I feel like I say this every time, but this really is HECUC’s best work to date. Given the treatments they’ve done to all of Blue Shift so far, I wouldn’t be surprised if the relatively tamer Power Struggle and Leap of Faith chapters will also receive a massive glow-up befitting of the mod as whole (although to call it just a mod now seems like a gross understatement). Looking forward to how it all ends with great anticipation.

[@kawahhh1034]

wake up babe canon barney gameplay dropped

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Yessir!! :)

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Thought I'd release the video a bit early - quite frankly I couldn't wait to get this out the door as I've already spent a solid 3 weeks on it. Gruelling to say the least, from the actual recording itself to the editing process to all the post-production work, but I do hope you guys enjoy the video and playthrough and that the quality is as you'd expect. Probably my most ambitious video to date and I will now retreat into my cave and hibernate for a bit to recover my sanity :') Have a Merry Christmas everyone, and see you all in the new year for what I'm sure will be an exciting one for Half-Life content.

[@terluj121]

thank you for your work!

[@Sexy_Nutella]

​@terluj121 you are welcome!

[@robottronTXH]

was gonna watch vid but im not gonna spoil myself, I will play black mesa blue shift some time in holidays. I love your content, you beauty.

[@tankingbeast1132]

Hell yes, this is what I've been looking forward to watching the past few weeks. I'm glad to see you released it a bit early.

[@Sexy_Nutella]

@@tankingbeast1132 Hope you enjoyed and thanks for the patience while I worked on it :)

[@TheEvilTacos]

One thing I really appreciate HECUC did is how much they expanded upon Xen and Black Mesa's exploration of it, cause there is a crazy amount of new assets - both alien and human - they made for this one chapter, and they even included stuff from Half Life: Alyx too, like the Xen Grenade, baby Barnacles, baby Tentacles, etc.

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Absolutely. The tie-ins to HL: Alyx and the inclusion of cut enemies from HL1 shows the dev team's true passion for the series :)

[@thewoodpeckers655]

I really feel like a more fitting word for chapters in BMBS is acts. Rarely do the chapters in black Mesa, let alone half life get clowns to even half the length of the chapters in this game.

[@reinhard745]

3hr. absolute cinema.

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Sure hope it feels that way! ^^

[@Ervonesque]

The stark difference between HL:BS and BM:BS is the length. Imagine being Rosenberg and waiting for Calhoun for hours, totally on edge because it's only a matter of time for the HECU and aliens to discover Old Black Mesa. But also with Barney's slowly but surely progressing through Xen, it also maintains the hope of survival.

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Yeah, it must have been a nerve-wracking wait for the crew back home. They wouldn't even know if Barney died.

[@Kezian2late]

I love how skillfully you handle the fights, while also making them look legitimately challenging in the way you move, look around frantically, and sometimes use slightly heavier weaponry than you strictly need to. But serious kudos to the mod makers as well: they've taken a little-loved, irritatingly short mod with what I remember as a very frustrating Xen section into a worthy part of the Black Mesa experience, once again showcasing the breadth of the border world, the expanse of Black Mesa's expeditions there, and the exotic beauty of the place.

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Thanks - I took a bit more damage than I wanted to, but was otherwise pleased with how the recordings of those went, so I kept them. Agreed on the dev team's efforts though. Loved this rendition of Xen.

[@ClassicFalloutToddHoward]

I like how your gameplay feels like a gameplay trailer footage

[@Sexy_Nutella]

That is my intention so I'm glad it turned out that way :)

[@ClassicFalloutToddHoward]

@@Sexy_Nutella Is that the reason why it took so long to make? making the smooth gameplay over an hours and countless of attempts?

[@Sexy_Nutella]

@ClassicFalloutToddHoward that's a large part of it yup. I pretty much go through every map several dozen times until I get a run I like. Hardest part for me in this chapter was the first battle at the relay. I think I had a hundred takes for that alone.

[@thewoodpeckers655]

⁠@@Sexy_Nutelladude, your work on portraying these games in a cinematic manner is vastly under appreciated. I first saw your work and black mesa simultaneously through Soup Emporium’s video on it, and I keep coming back to watch your videos because they just tickle my brain. The way you pause and look around to highlight what may draw your eye, and ESPECIALLY your combat style highlights everything that it needs to. Amazing job.

[@Sexy_Nutella]

​@thewoodpeckers655 thanks for noticing the work that goes into stuff like this and glad you enjoy that playstyle :)

[@Sexy_Nutella]

CHAPTER TRIVIA: Feel free to add more interesting facts about the chapter below by responding! Focal Point is massive so I'm sure there's a bunch of things that I've missed. - Barney’s hands are shown to have received many cuts and bruises throughout his adventure, evident while holding and reloading any weapon - Unlike Gordon, Barney takes damage while going through the wormhole to Xen because he does not have a HEV suit (0:00) - It is implied that the Interceptor Facility prevented Barney from reaching his intended teleport location, resulting in him being teleported to a random spot in Xen (0:22) - The giant glowing pink crystal that Barney encounters in the Primary Habitat in Map 3 (the “Heart Crystal”) can be seen in the opening vista upon arriving onto Xen (1:22) - There is a specific type of Xenian flora that seem to be present whenever the game hits an autosave point (2:56) - The Shellsquid is a new Bullsquid variant exclusive to BMBS (3:56) - The tree branches will collapse after Barney crosses them even if Shellsquid mortars don’t hit them (5:24) - I accidentally murdered some Houndeye embryos at 5:44 - The Momeye is a new Houndeye variant which deals AOE shock damage upon attack as well as death (6:03) - It is revealed that the study of the Xen Crystals by Black Mesa destabilized them to the point of criticality, as seen at 20:31 and as mentioned on the whiteboard at 45:47 - The creature first encountered at 21:29 is the Archer, an enemy cut from HL1 and reintroduced in BMBS. Shooting them when they emit their electrical attacks leads to increased damage - The creature first shown at 21:52 is the Flocking Floater, also an enemy cut from HL1. These however appear to be passive in comparison, though they seem to have a parasitic relationship with Boids (1:10:35) - Older models of the HEV Suit are plentifully shown throughout the chapter (23:49). This is the MARK III as indicated on the whiteboard at 45:12 - One of the user flatline tones of the HEV zombies is a common baseball jingle (30:42) - A note saying “Cyv0 was here” can be found on the whiteboard at 45:09. Cyv0 is a gameplay designer for BMBS - The Heart crystal going unstable at 50:17 is reminiscent of the Lambda Reactor puzzle in Black Mesa - The Vort call at 1:09:57 is identical to the one the Victory Mine Vortigaunt performs in HL2EP2, down to the response from the second Vort - Destroying Orange Spires without killing the Vorts first (such as the one at 1:11:32) will still result in their deaths once they are freed from their mind control - Riding the Manta at 1:16:32 is a callback to a similar sequence in HL1 where Gordon takes a Manta to a portal in Xen - Mantas could not be destroyed by the player in either HL1 or Black Mesa. BMBS allows Barney to do so as shown at 1:29:17 - The Xen Grenade is introduced in this chapter (1:36:33) and is a reference to the same weapon in Half-Life: Alyx, and functions quite identically. The Vortigaunts also use Xen Grenades in their attacks back on the Earthbound chapters of this game - Baby Tentacles are shown at 1:41:05. They will not attack Barney and can be killed - The G-man can be seen at 1:47:23 disappearing behind a spire - The original Focal Point chapter’s relay puzzle is much more straightforward compared to BMBS’ - the power source is right next to the console and can be powered up right away, and the console simply requires Barney to turn two dials to pre-marked positions. The emitter puzzle at 2:06:28 in BMBS is a callback to this puzzle - Barney never gets a crossbow in the original game (2:03:50). The one in BMBS seems to be an older model compared to the one Gordon gets in HL1, requiring darts to be loaded after every shot - The crossbow’s scope is cracked due to use upon pickup as shown at 2:04:08 - The dead female scientist in the stasis tube at 2:32:03 is the same one that was kidnapped by the first Vort Barney encounters in the game back in Chapter 3 - The item at 2:33:25 is the Rosenburger, an easter egg that can be found in multiple maps of the game. It is a joke/pun at Dr. Rosenberg’s name - 2 Antlions and a Mortar Synth from HL2 can be seen in the stasis tubes at 2:33:53 - The screen at 2:35:24 displays the Focal Point Relay - The Interceptor’s core is very reminiscent of the Citadel Core from HL2EP1 (2:36:27) - Nihilanth’s Tower from Black Mesa can be seen in the distance at 2:47:44. It was not visible in the first map with the Relay as the Interceptor jamming signal obscured the skyline around the island - A green flash appears and shoots past Barney while he travels through the wormhole back to Black Mesa (2:51:11). Slowing down the video reveals that this is a person. The individual is in fact Dr. Gina Cross and/or Collette Green, characters in the co-op game Half-Life: Decay. In that game, both characters are caught in a “harmonic reflux” event while defending against Xenian forces, and catch a glimpse of Barney going through the portal back to Earth on their end. The green flash is thus a nod to Decay as well as provides the view from Barney’s perspective

[@adrianthe402nd]

- You can also see the first Xen island you come across from the lake besides the greenhouse at 40:01

[@jessiegunther1079]

nicely done! One thing I noticed at the whiteboards, which is a nice touch, showing that those survey started in 1981, the older tech used until 1997, when it was replaced by the current tech you see in the base game. Also, a log shows the fist camp had its last contact in 1994. It has an exact date, seen on one of the entry doors but i can't remember it, only the year. and those healing bubbles that regre, at first i thought those were like mines you had to avoid, as a star wars game had that

[@MaximG.]

04:08 - you can kinda see classic bullsquid death animation, complete with classic death sound 42:37 - it's interesting to hear Alyx's multi-tool sound in this context - I gave up on trying to list them down, but the Heart Crystal sequence (aka Map 3 climax) uses some very distinct Citadel teleport sound effects 2:21:55 - ah, a sewer level **dink** 2:51:11 - judging from her hair style, it's Gina. Speaking of, I'm so glad they got the timing of the Decay crossover right. I've seen some people thinking that harmonic reflux from Decay's ending happens at the same time as Blue Shift's ending.

[@SenyiKimmo]

The interceptor core visually resembles the citadel core in episode 1, but gameplay-wise it's more like the final part of the dark fusion reactor in hl2, where you blast all the panels off it repeatedly.

[@sirwannabeguy4886]

They reference Decay? Nice!

[@rx-0gundam393]

I've finally finished it. And unfortunately I do not have much to say, or something along in Breen's words; "Too vast for our limited vocabulary." It's peak cinema, ESPECIALLY the last 3 maps. This was, no, is AMAZING. And you made it better thanks to your playthrough. Kudos to you, and the Blue Shift Team. This was a wonderful experience of watching this masterpiece.

[@Sexy_Nutella]

@rx-0gundam393 im so happy you enjoyed the whole thing from start to finish! Agreed on those last 3 maps, the action and intensity just keeps ramping up.

[@adrianthe402nd]

I've just finished Focal Point for the third time a couple of days ago, and they did NOT disappoint Hats off for the team as a whole

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Yeah its definitely got a ton of replay value

[@coffeeman3319]

God I love the sound effect when alien gun projectile goes past you, gives me goosebumps all the time.

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Yeah, it sounds so deadly

[@mylonoceda]

Devs be like: "How many houndeyes should we throw at Barney?" Also devs: "Yes."

[@Sexy_Nutella]

The headcrab spam though. No wonder Barney hates those guys so much

[@LieutJAM]

I’m glad you kept up the act of being in a character’s shoes, like the long gazing of the xen sky or stepping in to the healing pool quick to test if it’s harmful :3 ❤❤❤

[@Sexy_Nutella]

I am glad you appreciate those little touches as they are always intentional :)

[@daversforce]

Wow, I didn't expect it to be so soon

[@Sexy_Nutella]

If I had it my way this video would've come out earlier. Nonetheless, hope you enjoy :) Looking forward to your track for the interceptor core battle!

[@tankingbeast1132]

Holy cow, Daver? Didn't expect to see you here.

[@tankingbeast1132]

​@@Sexy_Nutella btw Pawel did some tracks for this update including the track "Take Control". Which is the song that plays when fighting for the focal point.

[@aslanbeats2004]

@@Sexy_Nutella kzbin.info/www/bejne/j3rVhZ-aptiEp6M

[@Sexy_Nutella]

@@tankingbeast1132 Yup that's my favourite track from his score. The extended Focal Point theme being a close second.

[@thatsnowperson]

it's good to have you back, dude. i really enjoy your realism (and in-character) style gameplay and like that you're not skipping over anything. (i gotta admit they had me with the release date typo in the teaser though, lol.)

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Yeah that teaser was funny lol. Glad you liked the vid!

[@DgmeOFFicial]

1:17:06 I loved this part, It's so good. Great video👍

[@Sexy_Nutella]

That was one of the most beautiful moments I've experienced in a Source game

[@RobertsSmoothieInstitute]

Oh Thank God! It's Finally Here!! This Chapter is Amazing! I bet HECU Collective are really proud of you as well. So, I'm very happy! Well done, Nutella. 👏👏👏👏👏

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Thank you very much and hope you enjoy :)

[@rx-0gundam393]

14:38 minutes in; I really like the track playing rn and the possible ones being the same Mysterious and actually alien, almost fantasy-80s'/90s' sci-fi-feel and vibe compared to Gordon's melancholic Xen tracks Barney's represent being sorta weirded out by all of this, while Gordon's being soothing and calm at times because it's a beautiful change of being somewhere after nearly DAYS of being in the massive facility with his own species dead around him in brutal or mundane ways to die The reason Barney's tracks are possibly like this is because he's the earliest to escape too, so the least to see the worse of the most traumatic things lmao

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Yeah this track really does standout for the reasons you mentioned. Rather a bit spooky

[@UmbrakineticMusic]

the catharsis of finally breaking those laser cannons at the sentry point, then going into the fortress and the mood shifting from "hell yeah!" to "oh. oh no"

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Yeah. Just like with BM, they really "humanized" the Vorts. Those guys went through a lot

[@thewoodpeckers655]

2:47:46 OH MY GOD I WISH I NOTICED THAT WHEN I PLAYED NO FUCKING WAY WHY IS THAT SO COOL

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Yeah, definitely a blink and you'll miss it moment

[@팻맷2025]

Saw it from start to finish in 2 years. This Xen is more evolved and scary than ever before, but your style of play was exciting that no one could match.

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Yeah, I do love that this Xen harkens back to the HL1 style a bit at the latter maps. Glad you liked the video!

[@NomadKolibria]

Performed a chef's kiss when you timed jumping in the portal at the last second. Truly, the Nutella guarantee.

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Took me a bunch of takes, sometimes I would literally miss it by a second and have to restart lol

[@Mrwebbob]

That was awesome dude , took me a while to watch it all but boy was it worth it , thanks for all the hard work , peace

[@Sexy_Nutella]

No problem and glad you liked it!

[@BlackLion-nb8fm]

The return of the king

[@Sexy_Nutella]

My personal favourite is Two Towers ;)

[@freemanishere]

This makes me appreciate barney more knowing what he goes through in xen. I always love watching your gameplay ❤

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Yeah, and Barney didn't have the benefit of a HEV suit! Glad you liked the gameplay

[@sansau4376]

Finally! We continue with the adventures of Barney :D.

[@Sexy_Nutella]

And what an epic one it is!

[@aresye]

25:05 I don't know why, but this cracked me up more than it probably should have

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Barney must be severely concussed by the amount of times he's rammed into walls and floors and shit in this chapter alone.

[@April_Six]

Yet another cinematic walkthrough, aaa. Very, very well done. I have been turning to your playthroughs for quite while since I cannot play stuff myself for some time (and also your style is better anyway lol) (For some reason I am a bit fixated on that one flower that opens, closes and opens again - so interesting. I missed that they were related to autosaves)

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Thanks for watching and glad I'm able to show good gameplay for you! Yeah, that flower is pretty cute; it's so shy when you get close to it lol.

[@charvelgamer664]

welcome back, missed you

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Thanks! Glad to be back

[@Harles03]

Finally absolute cinematic gameplay

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Glad you thought so! :)

[@rx-0gundam393]

WAKE UP, PEAK HAS ARRIVED IT'S EARLY CHRISTMAS, HALF LIFE BROS thank you so much for this btw

[@Sexy_Nutella]

No problem :) merry christmas!

[@thewoodpeckers655]

Sure there’s less structure and form in BMBS’s attempt at Xen, and BM’s Xen was much more finely tuned, but I guess it will forever be true whether it be Half-Life or Black Mesa, that Blue Shift will have the favorite use of Xen. Seriously I can’t get over how well fed us half life fans are. The total play time in original Xen including the expansions can’t be more than an hour, and now just through community effort (and over 25 years of patience) we’ve got a good 10 or so hours of Beautiful, passionately designed, triple A level quality content for an alien world that keeps showing just how much potential it has. God damn it I love this community ❤

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Yeah, I really love the reimagined Xen in the remakes

[@andrewdrawsstuff]

We are Focalling Some Points gentlemen

[@Sexy_Nutella]

We boutta escape Xen with this one 🔥🔥

[@Solariyal]

I absolutely love the remnants of the black mesa research facilities in xen especially the mark 3 hev suits HECU collective really outdid themselves

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Yeah, it's always nice seeing how Black Mesa operated before it all went to shit

[@jcdenton6427]

I find it funny and fitting that both versions of Blue Shift had much better Xen chapters than original Half Life/Black Mesa

[@Sexy_Nutella]

I love how BMBS' Xen expands on the foundation BM established and ran with it. The results are indeed staggering.

[@X-Red-XRGM-16]

I casually played this chapter, and I really like the presentation of it. It was the best-looking Xen levels that I have seen since Black Mesa Xen. Yes, there were tough creatures and got lost at times due to a lack of light sources, but I enjoyed it a lot. My personal favorite was the Manta flight scene, which was definitely not what I expected but was in the original Half Life that Black Mesa didn't have. I give my thanks to the devs who worked on this chapter and to you for making this video.

[@Sexy_Nutella]

No problem at all, glad you liked the video. I also was pleasantly surprised by the Manta ride. Like you, I was always bummed that Black Mesa didn't include something like that in their Xen levels.

[@TheCakeIsNotLie]

I'm so fukn pumped for when they release the last 3 chapters man.

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Me too man, me too

[@faber538]

Let's go!

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Thanks so much to you and your team for this grand experience!

[@lilpif337]

@@Sexy_Nutella thanks to you lol

[@zerdancraft32150]

Wow... What a nice video... Keep up the good work man, you're outstanding! ❤

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Thanks so much! Glad you liked the video

[@DgmeOFFicial]

2:28:43 Grunt jumped in front to save his friend🥲

[@Sexy_Nutella]

What a true friend

[@H1B04]

Brilliant as always :) 👍 And maybe I said this before, but I'm really happy that you're back to your KZbin channel. No joking, you making one of the best Half-Life (and other games) walkthroughs on *entire* KZbin! It's actually very rare nowadays.

[@Sexy_Nutella]

That means a lot to me, thank you for the kind words and I am always excited after I upload videos to read comments like these :)

[@ethanmarley678]

1:09:26 sad "uuuu" noises 💚 (Man I Love Xen)

[@Sexy_Nutella]

That Xen ambience 👌

[@superspider64]

God it has been a hot minute since I last saw your content!

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Yeah it's been awhile since I've been back here. I missed it :')

[@Pumpkin_Jackdaw]

*"Absolute cinema."*

[@Sexy_Nutella]

What I was going for so glad it turned out that way!

[@CharaGonzalez-lt7yw]

Wow, welcome back. Been a hot minute eh?

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Indeed it has! Glad to be back

[@superiordanzel]

Sniper shot! 1:41:54

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Once I found out nades were effective against them there was no going back lol

[@Ningen_Black]

Barney to the vorts be like: oh, now you don't wanna shoot lightning at me you multi-eyed freaks?

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Haha, his personality would definitely be like that

[@TestTubeBaba]

I took ages and multiple deaths to handle that Alien Controller + Alien Grunt fight (Relay section). Was waiting for your video to see how you'd tackle it. Excited for this gigantic ass chapter. Black Mesa Blue Shift is also my first youtube series, as an upload. Hopefully I can polish my game (maybe as much as you xD) and upload it some day.

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Good luck on the playthrough! Yeah that fight is tough

[@aleksandarvil5718]

*The King Has Returned !!!* 👑👑👑👑👑👑 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Hope you enjoy the vid man!

[@g11operator]

There are some extra HEV MK. 3 voice line references, such as one that reminds me of “you failed” sound effect It’s also weird to see Black Mesa personnel and equipment this deep into enemy territory at 2:36:43

[@Sexy_Nutella]

I believe the Survey team was there first, got killed by the Xenians, and then the Xenians established the facility around where the survey team was stationed. That, or that guy genuinely almost pulled a Freeman and managed to come close to sabotaging the core lol

[@timebomb42]

1:47:26 ..... Now that is something I didn't expect to see.

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Me neither. I didn't expect a G-man cameo in this mod lol

[@nguyenhuyhoang1010]

1:47:27 😮😮 G-Man, 2:47:46 Gordon leaves from Xen portal Nihilanth. 😮

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Yup. Altho Barney leaves Xen before Gordon ever gets there!

[@denifnaf5874]

Ah yes, a 20 minute adventure, like the og xen from hl1.

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Oh definitely ;)

[@antoniov6461]

Feliz Navidad amigo 😉🎄 Your content is always entertaining to watch and especially the gameplay.

[@Sexy_Nutella]

I am glad :) Thanks for the kind words

[@alejandrolombardo1190]

Poor Patrice 2 from Duty Calls, she was right about the aliens and Murdoch didn't forgive her before dying.

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Yeah :/ felt bad for her

[@sarminder4357]

Rosenberg really just sent an ordinary security guard here without any special protection or even telling him what not to touch and what alien fauna/microbes could be lethal to humans lol. He didn't even tell him how to use the relay device. I know this is done from a gameplay view but realistically it's just silly.

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Haha he could have prepped him more for sure

[@gordonneverdies]

2:05:47 That's my favorite sound from Half Life Xd

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Half-Life button sounds are honestly so good it's like ASMR to me.

[@lordofthegeckos533]

I really liked Focal Point. I've heard some people complain that it's too long, but I honestly didn't mind too much. I was definitely ready to return to Black Mesa by the end, but I think that's also partly intentional. Honestly fighting the HECU will probably seem really easy after those Alien Controllers. It makes me wonder what they'll do to spice up Power Struggle. Anyway, I thought it was really cool how they expanded Xen's ecosystem, adding new habitats and new types of houndeyes, bullsquids, protozoans, and even puffball fungi, and of course the archers and flocking floaters. Speaking of which, I wonder what the floater at 1:12:15 is doing to the boid. My first thought was that it might have been cleaning it like a cleaner shrimp does for fish, but I guess it could also be a predator or a parasite. My favourite part was probably the abandoned research base. I really liked figuring out what happened to the survey team. For me at least I didn't find the logs until after I'd picked up the final power cell, so the whole thing really unfolded in pieces like a little mystery thriller. The fact that the crystal network seemed to adapt and react to the scientists and their outpost being there, and the fact that Alien Grunts showed up just after the crystals detected Barney makes me wonder if it's really natural, or some sort of machine...and I mean, Xen has always blurred the lines between nature and technology ever since HL1, so it fits. Anyway, another great playthrough! You're the best my friend!

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Yeah that entire research base was one of my favourite parts. So many layers to it and lore. Culminating in the tram ride around the crystal was epic. I also wasn't sure if the floater on the Boid was a parasitic relationship or not. It looked cute so I just left them haha

[@lordofthegeckos533]

@@Sexy_Nutella Oh yeah, the tram ride was amazing, and I was actually sort of disappointed when it was over, kind of like the final elevator in Interloper lol.

[@kumi6797]

THEY'RE BAAACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOP WOOP!!!!!!!!!!

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Lets gooo

[@rihno4046]

this was a phenomenal chapter the HECU collective the Retelling of Barneys trek through zen was peak, but I do have 1 complaint. unlike in the original blue shift I felt like they extended the xen part too long? When I was plying the chapter, it felt like hours before I got to the Rely and even long going into the factory to turn it back on. But other than that, a really good chapter the HECU collective design of the black mesa habit was so cool it was like an old horror movie at times. I was really excited to see you tackle the puzzles in zen because they took me a while to figure out especially the rely one with the codes and the doors with the force field too. Great gameplay Nutella

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Thank you! I did feel that some parts of the chapter dragged on too long when I first played it, but on subsequent playthroughs I actually really appreciated the pacing haha.

[@OnyxNuva]

I just finished this chapter and I will say that I am quite impressed with the visuals, the tweaks to the story, amd the new enemy varients from Xen! It was quite mystifying. That said, I feel like this chapter kinda suffers like Xen in Black Mesa for 1 of 2 reasons: as beautiful as it is, the puzzles and lemgth seem to drag just a bit, where by the Jammer islamd I honestly felt more keen on rushing to the end. I akso felt like the Alien Controllers were a bit unfair to fight even on just Black Mesa difficulty, and the enemy density left me running around with my head chopped iff while trying to manage my health and the objectives. Overall, still a good chapter and i look forward to the last 2-3 chapters!

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Yeah, when I first played I also thought it overstayed its welcome. That being said, my subsequent playthroughs were much better once I understood the general pacing of the chapter and I grew to appreciate it much more. Perhaps the same will happen to you, and if not that is totally fine and I get where you're coming from :)

[@SgtSarge-bd4mt]

Overall very impressive design and worth the wait time. HECU Collective's Xen adds more variation to Crowbar's Xen and add so much that I cannot compare to the original Blue Shift anymore. You can see how HL: Alyx and Dead Space inspired the hostile Xenian overgrowth in the lab. I would wish to see more active elements in this - like that one part where a wall burst open to reveal a light-stalk. You can see a HEV guy covered in root and think that must happened for a long time ago until you realized what the plant-life in Xen is capable of. If more of this is shown, players can even be afraid to touch the funguous-gory walls - instead only the Xen tree-impalers proved any danger and you shoot them once with a shotgun. The semi-open map design in Site Alpha is also quite neat albeit I must admit that I lost the plot within the spectacles and info drip. You stumbled on the site and at best try to power the doors so you can keep moving on so I don't understand why I had to deal with the big purple lazer crystal and the experiments, some of which would prove too dangerous to bother as they were not the main objective. Hopefully some tweak can be put in to give players some sense of direction. The moment where you whack the old HEV container unit (let me in) gave me the idea that Barney could also benefit from visiting the site to get better gear,: maybe an HEV chestplate so that he can get better protection/movement and use the HEV batteries laying around. A cool moment that became weak later on is they decided to have an Alien Grunt stalk you throughout the level. I at first did not get a good look at it and, with the horror-themed lab, thought that they were going to tease a Gonome boss fight. Later you see what it is and, while I understand that it is Barney's first encounter with a Grunt, I realized it wasn't anything important to deal with after all - just spooky moments. The mantarays shooting lazers was a nice call-back and the xen towers having controller effect is an interesting idea in terms of story-telling. I haven't played the rest yet so maybe I will share more later but I would expect Barney to immediately give Rosenburger shit the moment he made it back to Black Mesa because this is some Gordon-Freeman-level threat that you would not ever send a lone security guard in without support. And Barney did all this with just his standard issue equipment which I found quite unbelievable. Maybe the doctor realized after the tank battle that Barney may have plot armor that they can exploit. Poor guy.

[@Sexy_Nutella]

To be fair Rosenberg unfortunately didn't have anyone else more suitable than Barney at that moment. Though he definitely could have maybe outfitted him with a HEV suit if they had one hahaha

[@DgmeOFFicial]

2:51:10 Half life decay.

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Yeah, that was a nice lil easter egg

[@lordofthegeckos533]

Not sure if this was intentional, but I spent a minute looking around in the control room at 1:39:40, and the Vort made the "follow me" gesture towards me and walked to the shield generator in the middle. It might have just been a random sequence but I like to think he was showing Barney where to put the grenade to shut down the forcefield. A way of saying "hey, you're fighting the bastards who enslaved us, so you're cool."

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Oh wow, i do wonder if that's scripted then. Would be in character

[@Dafuqinator7]

Note to self: do not watch this without a prodigious supply of popcorn.

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Haha yes

[@Dafuqinator7]

@@Sexy_Nutella Okay, watched it, and it did NOT disappoint. 38:00 "Open up! I want an HEV suit!!" 45:02 Hey, they referenced Allied Processing! It was meant to be the site of a cancelled HL1 expansion starring a Junior G-Man as a player character, and the Team Fortress Classic mercenaries as NPC allies. That entire series of boards tells a pretty harrowing story. I love it. 55:48 Love the little nod to the classic train interface. The entire Giant Crystal sequence at the end of the Primary Habitat map was very intense. It's as if the crystal itself was alive and actively hostile to Barney and Humanity, and trying to summon Bullsquids to fight you on its behalf. I am still shocked they put that much content into a single map. 1:36:35 Oh look, a Xen Grenade! Nice to see an HL:A reference in this. I also love how you portrayed Barney being a bit curious and confused about it, then realizing he's holding a hot potato and yeeting it into the distance. Also, I love how the Vortigaunts simply don't seem to care much for an alien intruder roaming around and causing a mess. They're more like "oh no, the boss is gonna kill me..." when Barney wrecks the force field generators. Still, nice of you to save them from the grunts. 1:41:08 Baby tentacles! Is it possible to kill them, or are they invulnerable? 1:47:46 I find Gman's presence puzzling given he doesn't seem to have any interest whatsoever in Barney, so it's strange to have him seem to keep track of his progress. Though given his appearances have been sparse, it might be his equivalent of glancing over to see what this guy's doing as opposed to his focus being on Gordon and Adrian. Also, dayum that vista is enchanting when combined with the music. 1:55:50 I love the implication that the Nihilanth's forces are just as much of a mess upon Xen as humanity is, where they just pave over the stuff that was there without any kind of cleanup. (which makes the Nihilanth's accusations of Gordon killing the Gonarch rather hypocritical) 1:57:50 Roll Credits! 2:00:36 I like how we see Mark IV suits among the dead, showing it was just being phased in alongside the Mark III ones seen previously. 2:03:02 Whose photo is that on the desk? Looks like Charles Darwin. 2:03:21 I just couldn't help but laugh at the overkill. Barney must be getting sick to death of headcrabs. 2:03:53 A crossbow in Blue Shift? Now that's a pleasant surprise. I love the patchwork look of the crossbow. Would actually fit better into HL2 than the one we had in the base game. The way it's put together also reminds me of the Metro games. 2:04:17 Barney peers into the Postal 2 Main Menu. 2:05:02 That's... counterproductive on the hand of the Survey Team if they're the ones who set up the force field. If it's the aliens, it looks like it'd be more of an annoyance than any real hindrance. 2:09:37 Giving that Grunt the double barrel to the beat drop is just (mwah!) 2:15:00 It would have been so easy to just use a normal water texture, yet they went out of their way to make it contour around the islands. It's wonderful. 2:15:35 The "organic factory surrounded by smog" look reminds me of the HL2 Beta (and the start of Our Benefactors from Retail). Looks like the Nihilanth was more inspired by his former enslavers than he'd like to admit. 2:24:18 Interloper flashbacks. 2:32:05 I love Barney's first instinct being to check if the scientist and guard are alive and if he can save them. 2:33:54 Antlions and a Combine Mortar? Very unexpected, but not unwelcome callback (or Call-forward?) to HL2. 2:35:30 This reminds me of the Citadel Core from Episode 1. Heck, I think the core's model is even visible in the heart of the jamming device. Meanwhile it's destruction obviously echoes the Dark Energy Reactor at the end of HL2. 2:47:46 A brief faraway wonder for Barney, ignorant that his friend would go right there not even a day later. Man, that final escape sequence was VERY harrowing, but you made it in the nick of time. Fantastic work! General Notes: The Mark III HEV suits look like they were based on the old Ivan The Space Biker model for Gordon. They are yellow colored and bulkier than the Mark IV. I think it's a shame they removed the auto-extinguishing feature as it could have made for a fun little sequence where if you ignite an HEV zombie with a flare, it would extinguish and keep coming for you. Given how many Houndeyes and Bullsquids Barney kills in this chapter, I get the impression he's singlehandedly responsible for them being outright gone by the time of HL2. The Manta Rays are notably much more fragile in this than in Black Mesa, where they effortlessly engaged in dogfights with military jets. Here two rockets are enough to shoot one of them down. It also showcases how tough the Bullsquids and Alien Grunts are, as a full rocket is barely (or not, in Grunt's case) enough to kill them, not gib. All in all, BMBS's rendition of Focal Point is simply glorious, and absolutely worth the wait. The Interceptor area was a bit Interloper-y, but definitely trimmed the worst of the fat from that chapter. And your playthrough was worth it, even if I ran out of popcorn before the first hour was up.

[@Dafuqinator7]

@@Sexy_Nutella After watching it over the course of 5 hours (frequently pausing to read text) I must say it was a great and cinematic playthrough. Unfortunately, it seems KZbin deleted a detailed comment I wrote as I was watching for reasons unknown. Sadly I can't be bothered to rewatch the entire thing just to rewrite it from scratch right now (but may do so in the future if I'm really bored)

[@Sexy_Nutella]

@Dafuqinator7 i do still see your comment, at least on my KZbin Studio app. Hopefully it gets restored for you! I appreciate the detailed comments and insight and am glad you enjoyed :)

[@Dafuqinator7]

@@Sexy_Nutella Glad to hear that!

[@gabrielmelo635]

Masterpiece waiting opposing force version

[@Sexy_Nutella]

You and me both!

[@ConnyZGames]

Good gaming! 👍

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Thanks! Glad you liked it

[@LieutJAM]

Sexy Nutella you’re back :D ❤❤❤❤

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Glad to be back! :)

[@WastedPotentiaI1]

Excuse me this chapter is 3 HOURS LONG?! Goddamn, this one chapter feels longer than all of og blue shift.

[@Sexy_Nutella]

It most certainly is!

[@WastedPotentiaI1]

@@Sexy_Nutella Still fun chapter, except that big fight near the end. (My dumb ass wasted all my ammo during the second phase not realising I already did wat I had to and had to do the third phase with 50 health, a shotgun and a rocket launcher.)

[@kotohime]

I can't help but to feel strange when I look at the SMG reload animation. He just reinserts the clip he had removed.

[@Sexy_Nutella]

I believe Barney already has a fresh mag that he slips in while swapping out the old one (if it still has bullets). If he completely expends the magazine he actually just discards it on the floor.

[@lilpif337]

yeah it's just tactical reload woes. I think I got the same comment with the glock anim I made back in the day

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Love your animations ​@@lilpif337! The new crossbow is 👌

[@lilpif337]

​@@Sexy_Nutella it was a pretty spontaneous addition, although we were thinking about it even before we started the development of the chapter. The anims for it are not the best lol

[@Sexy_Nutella]

@@lilpif337 I still really liked them regardless haha :)

[@SenyiKimmo]

Does the Manta Ride contain a reprise of "Interdimensional" (the track that plays upon the opening vista in the chapter)

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Not entirely sure. It sounds a bit different, at least to my ears.

[@lilpif337]

@@Sexy_Nutella Daver said to me when making it that he tried to take some older tracks and tie them in for important moments. For manta ride I think he used Revival as some underlying moments. Even tho it's hard to make it out and I'm not sure if it's still that way. The interceptor core fight uses some elements of The Coordianate and The Origins uses a lot of elements from both Trains and Rails & Meta-Collide

[@varahunter68]

the entire area in 1:54:03 is site theta edit: lol nice vid

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Oh I didn't catch that! Thanks!

[@zartanecbavarskiy4523]

Зен - такой недружелюбный и такой красивый....

[@hecucollective]

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Woah! A comment from the official HECUC channel. I can die happy now :')

[@some_cool_random_guy]

cool

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Glad you thought so!

[@untemperance]

I did get a bit frustrated at times playing the chapter because it undergoes a lot of the same issues as the Xen chapters of regular Black Mesa (really obtuse level design on occasion and no frame of reference for where to go because, it's, well, alien; as well as some frustrating platform segments) but overall HECU have really figured out what makes Black Mesa's expansion on Half-Life so unique and interesting with so many fantastic setpiece environments and beautiful visual design, to an extent that I feel they get this right even better than Black Mesa itself does. I remember thinking that the whole cinematic stretch of the teleportation labs in Captive Freight felt eerily reminiscent of Valve's setpiece work on Portal 2, and I can say these abandoned Black Mesa outposts on Xen continue this trend and are even better than the already really cool Crowbar Collective ones. I also did love how many enemies made me use the revolver. Usually it feels like the revolver's one tap ability is too worthwhile to waste on anything, and I end up just not using my ammo ever. This mod introduces a bunch of fairly oppressive enemies and a more limited arsenal, such that the revolver is often the most inexpensive way to deal with them quickly. It's great!

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Yeah, BM and BMBS' re-envisioning of Xen is ambitious to say the least. Ditto on the revolver, it's probably the best weapon in the game, even more so than the xbow (deifnitely less reliable in a pinch I find with it having to reload after every shot). I do appreciate that they didn't cop out and give Barney the Tau or Gluon as it really highlighted how much more difficult it is for him to survive Black Mesa.

[@khrisbro]

oh my god, i'm tripping

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Hopefully in a good way!

[@rhodnill5906]

HISSS BAAACCKKKKK ❤❤❤

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Yessir!

[@rhodnill5906]

nice to watch your video again bro ❤ love it. ❤❤​@@Sexy_Nutella

[@yiyipthegruntmajor]

Does anyone get major flood vibes from this area in particular 35:10? Looks a lot like the flood infested areas in halo 3 (high charity and the covenant ship in floodgate) all those fleshy pustules and tentacles creep me the hell out

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Oh my god, I am getting the "Covenant" level PTSD. Nothing is ever as bad as the Library in Halo 1 though.

[@lilpif337]

the old Survey Base always gave me heavy Alien Isolation vibes when Cyvo first showed it to us. It was actually a super difficult decision to whether keep that design and basically everything you see in the final version. It might've been cut cuz Faber and some other team members were questioning how the hell did they build that thing in Xen, with fire sprinklers and pipes, tall walls with wayfinding and stuff. I really liked it the first time but after some time and comments about it, I was also feeling a bit like: "yeah that's a bit overexaggerated...", but we've kept it and many people seem to like it so far

[@AdminHouse]

Suggestion: HL2 MMOD playthrough

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Probably don't have the time for that right now unfortunately.

[@santinodelossantos7152]

Look awesome , but ill wait till the full release , im done messing with the vpk files within the folders of the base game , so im gonna wait for a final release completely apart from black mesa , like entropy Zero 2 Is separated from half life 2.

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Fair enough. I'm sure the full release will have a bunch of polish done by that point :)

[@ryzdeon4013]

I can't play chapter 5 for some reason. Im still stuck at the end of chapter 5

[@Sexy_Nutella]

Chapter 5 is indeed Focal Point. Unless you mean you're stuck at the end of Chapter 4?

[@ryzdeon4013]

​@@Sexy_Nutella im stuck at the end of chapter 4

[@lecombine9141]

29:58 "Shit"

[@Sexy_Nutella]

That animation of it rising up was creepy

[@Kalbimdesin08]

🩷💕💜💙🩵🩵💚🩷💕

[@Sexy_Nutella]

😎