Black Mesa: Xen Review - Finally

[@Crazelord91]

*Every other game company:* A fan remake? Esp for a game we'll never remake?! CEASE AND DESIST! *Valve:* So what you're saying is that we can get a remake for our game with minimal to no work or cost to us while making us look good to the gaming community, and all we have to do is share some revenue with the devs? Sweet

[@GameFiend06]

truth

[@c0l1n_m45]

HATS FOR BLACK MESA CONFIRMED

[@LonelyKnightess]

That's not actually true though

[@Crazelord91]

@@LonelyKnightess How so?

[@serioussam909]

But that only works, because the game is actually good. Otherwise it would get a C&D ASAP.

[@hairy_cornflake]

Finally someone who understands the difference between remake and remaster.

[@beastlybeast2716]

Hairy Cornflake It’s downright shocking how many people don’t know the difference.

[@lildaffy1695]

@@beastlybeast2716 Blame Activision.

[@jay-zdenton6094]

Indeed. Like when Activision calls both the Crash N-Sane Trilogy and Spyro Reignited Trilogy "remasters" (it says on the box), which they obviously aren't. Mislabeling like that is fricken amateurish.

[@wiisolid]

Yeah, that bothers me more than it should. i dont get how people don't understand the difference, i had some saying that remakes are only when a game changes from the original, like Resident evil 2 remake...

[@drifter402]

Well they both are always bad so does it really matter?

[@indeimaus]

her name is big momma

[@spliffern2662]

thank you, indeimaus

[@admiralsand]

Or Gonarch (go-nark)

[@jorefad130]

Mommy sack.

[@felixgulya7735]

@Harrison Mayson bot.....

[@felixgulya7735]

@Princeton Bennettbot.....

[@solid-snake7336]

walking through the world of xen in this remake gave me huge feelings as if I almost walked back into Metroid Prime. the scenery, the fauna and music really made this a 100/10 closure to black mesa

[@dinovaldo9341]

I thought some of the tracks were very reminiscent of Metroid, especially in Interloper.

[@sahymakhtar7445]

Idk a lot of the music sounded like epic dubstep!1!!!1!1!11 more than the original ambient masterpiece

[@rayjaymor8754]

"It's a public beta so you'll see some stuff you're not supposed to see" Bethesda: Wait that looks pretty damn finished to us....

[@bachpham6862]

For Bethesda, it is too finished. How can you sell the solutions to problems that you fixed?

[@forthesakeofthenationalist9375]

Fuck Bethesda. They had ruined everything and should been close down for good.

[@skyecarbo8367]

@@forthesakeofthenationalist9375 Doom eternal's good tho

[@greenscreencarcrash]

The only good thing Bethesda has done is provide resources for more DOOM games

[@iangabriel5536]

@@skyecarbo8367, the only good Bethesda games are those not developed by Bethesda, but published by them, like DOOM or Fallout: New Vegas.

[@MaximG.]

8:38 - actually controllers could do this in the original too. Vortigaunts there are peaceful in Interloper until controllers show up and turn them into permarage mode. You could walk through first several maps of Interloper chapter (except for the first one) without killing any of vorts right until the alarm in the factory. The only difference here is BM's vorts snap back into peaceful mode when you kill controllers who are controlling them.

[@grunerd]

To the top with you!

[@GadukaRed]

Google translate or good english ? Slav Brother)

[@MrKrashmoney]

A good detail, shows very subtly that the vortigaunts, left to their own devices, would be peaceful toward you, but they’re being controlled against their will. Explains why they’re your friends in half life 2 and makes you feel a little bad for them here. But only a little. Those lightning bolts hurt man.

[@Boltscrap]

That, or they got work to do. Would you aggro someone in full battle armor during your work day?

[@jimthehermit8113]

"You could walk through first several maps of Interloper chapter (except for the first one) without killing any of vorts right until the alarm in the factory." I never knew that, I've always killed them.

[@homelessparty8994]

Your voice really can't show sarcasm and it scares me.

[@EvolvedSungod]

Are you joking or serious? That wasn't subtle at all

[@homelessparty8994]

@@EvolvedSungod well the scares me part was an exaggeration but yea it was really hard to tell if hes was being sarcastic even though I knew he was.

[@zimboiii9025]

@Matthew James Kirk Nah, he just sucks

[@MLATX512]

When he said the original HalfLife wasn't a big deal, I got triggered. I came here to write a scathing reply and saw your comment. Thank you. You saved me lots of time.

[@Dragonborn2262]

@@MLATX512 feel you man, triggered hard

[@NerdyGam3r]

This Xen level is some of the best looking shit I've ever seen in a video game. It really shows how game creativity has infinite potential yet game developers too often make bland looking levels which we've seen about a million times before.

[@antonkirilenko3116]

Fikachu Yes. Art design matters far more than technology. This game still uses DirectX 9.0 from 2002 and looks better than some games released this year.

[@MrKrashmoney]

Creativity has infinite potential. The main constraints are time and funding for the developers. If those were infinite too, imagine what we would get!

[@samwell8]

@@antonkirilenko3116 A bad worker blames his tools I guess. However I am assuming that Black Mesa is using a much newer version of Source, either the 2007 version or the Orange Box Engine/Source that newest HL2 uses. I dont think it would be using the older versions of source.

[@antonkirilenko3116]

@@samwell8 It uses 2012 version or newer. It's still a DirectX 9.0 game, though, so it misses a lot of fancy features provided by DirectX 11 and 12.

[@MozzaBurger88]

@@MrKrashmoney Limit-lessss potential *ftfy

[@Yoxiv]

It is amazing just how much dedication Crowbar Collective have been showing. They could have just remade everything and called it a day, and yet they're STILL updating the game as we speak. The Definitive edition of the game has shown quite a few improvements it's almost like they made an entirely new game, now that's the kind of commitment we need more of in this industry, with teams willing to revise and improve their products when the customers give feedback.

[@gamepad3173]

when I get the chance,I'm getting Black Mesa and a few Source SDK's just to play Wilson Chronicles (since it happens at the same time as Half life,Blue Shift,Decay and Opposing Force). along with 1187 since it happens after Half life and the start to the build up to Half life 2.

[@kalibruhmoment3032]

Recently I saw they might be remaking Opposing Force

[@gamepad3173]

@@kalibruhmoment3032 Nice,I'll include that when I get the chance.

[@TheDoctorOfThrills]

Thing is, I really liked the game balance toward the end. You're right in that the uranium crystals make the gluon gun feel like the overcharged gravity gun, but I feel like that's in the games favor. It shows that these enemies are incredibly dangerous and abundant enough that the game encourages, nay demands, that you freely use the power weapons to dispatch them. I also feel that the final elevator did a good job at both giving the player a massive God trip, and still making you feel vulnerable.

[@CAPTAIN_CLOCK]

i have to disagree on the final elevator though. i evaded most of the damage dealt by the controllers (when fighting them was not mandatory) by just running in circles.

[@jdn4070]

Yea I agree, I really enjoyed those areas of just having the pure power of a God to disintegrate any enemy which has annoyed you up to that point

[@brandfire1027]

@@CAPTAIN_CLOCK yeah he noob

[@witalian1]

@@CAPTAIN_CLOCK Why would you do that tho when you can blast them?

[@Fingeringmyboarddude]

"looks more aquatic than alien at times" GmanLives known alien architect apparently

[@Yveldi]

:O

[@CasepbX]

Taking aquatic things and putting them into movies and games as aliens is a pretty common thing to be fair. The amount of aliens in scifi that look like squids is ridiculous.

[@KristjanKahur]

@@CasepbX to me it looked aquatic for different reasons: some places (especially where this heavy green post processing effect was used) reminded me of Subnautica

[@j19aiden91]

A former Area 51 agent

[@Fingeringmyboarddude]

Holy fucking likes

[@Peluceus]

"Why would someone set up trip lasers, in a hostile environment, with monsters that literally latch onto your head and take control of your body and rip open your chest -- along with sonic doggos that will liquify your internal organs and make your insides outsides, for the area they have yet to secure and explore" good question

[@RafaelBenedicto]

The best use I had for the tripmines was against those annoying female assassins in two areas.

[@kristianstrm2375]

There's a body where you drop in, with tripmines on him. Seemingly, he ran in there and put them up to protect himself. It's not a good reason, but it seems to be the reason.

[@itezel2]

It's level design man. The whole Black Mesa facility doesn't make a whole lot of sense if you start to think of the logistics and practicality of it.

[@manhphuc4335]

@@itezel2 Actually, the actual way to get around the black mesa facility was by tram, which was destroyed when the resonance cascade happened and the tram to the Lamda facility disabled by the military when they arrived, and also locking up some doors. A lot of the black mesa levels are you going through either abandoned complexes or old industrial area that's no one but the janitor goes to.

[@HamguyBacon]

i had to keep reloading the quicksave because a random headcrab would jump and all the mines would explode.

[@pnutz_2]

10:30 finally something that lets me use the gluon gun for more than 5 seconds

[@Dargonhuman]

That's also the easiest way to get the "Premature Expulsion" achievement; stick close to one of the green energy crystals and just cut loose with the Gluon Gun for about a solid minute. I got it completely by accident by camping next to a freestanding crystal and dodging around it while knocking Controllers out of the air right after the factory sequence.

[@xhelixshotx]

I wasted all my regular weapons ammo here only to find out near the end of the chapter that the crystals charge my gluon gun

[@pnutz_2]

@@xhelixshotx at least they're beaming in more ammo at intervals to help, though it's usually grenades and rockets more than bullets

[@alanrodrigues1835]

@@pnutz_2 I literally had 0 bullets for the mp5 in the entirety of Interloper.

[@pnutz_2]

@@alanrodrigues1835 yeah it's balanced around the SCIENCE weapons at that stage so they stop handing out more ammo for the mp5

[@gohnjoodman4008]

Interloper wasn’t that bad imo. I actually really enjoyed the artwork of this industrial alien shit and just getting through all the “puzzles” weren’t that tedious. They were actually kinda cool at times. One that stuck out was the blood sac u have to shoot towards the end before the elevator and you’d have to dodge a series of lasers. I think they did a good job with the elevator part too. I’ve always wanted to just go ham with the gluon gun so it was just really satisfying for me to just go all out on the mind controllers. My only gripe with that chapter was that it was a little too easy but to me it made sense considering it was the end of a half life game. Besides the nihilinth boss made up for the difficulty portion.

[@xFluing]

I loved Interloper because the vortigaunt village looked like something straight out of Unreal.

[@RealHero101111]

Funny cause Interloper was easily one of my favorite parts of game. I liked it in original and in Black Mesa it's even better and longer. Besides that Interloper reminded me of games like Unreal, Prey

[@SirMcMuffintosh]

@@RealHero101111 Agreed, I just finished Xen today, and interloper was a ton of fun for me. I enjoyed the puzzles and combat, it just all felt very fun. The elevator part was epic, I loved the constant feeling of barely surviving by the skin of my teeth.

[@sebigamer]

Yeah, really loved the atmosphere of that whole part! Reminds me the weird designs of late 90s/early 00s platformers like American McGee's Alice

[@tripleb5197]

I agree, I thought Interloper did get repetitive, and I found some parts to be really difficult, with the conveyor section almost absurd in how much shit you had to deal with at once, but for me it was just the right amount of difficulty that I enjoyed it. The art design and soundtrack were excellent too, loved the industrial-technological Vortiguant/Controller civilization contrasting with Xen’s natural beauty. I loved the elevator section the first time, too. Joel Nielsen’s soundtrack made me feel like such a badass.

[@Acheiropoietos]

They should do Shepherd next: Opposing Force. Such a great sequel seeing Half-Life from the soldiers angle.

[@celeb-seventeen]

They aren't doing opposing force or blue shift tripmine studios is

[@Acheiropoietos]

Flop Hey, thanks for the tip!

[@fellower]

@@celeb-seventeen honestly it'd be neat if they all joined up, make guard duty and obs go way faster.

[@paleokaijushmoe5568]

Unfortunately they won’t be remaking any of the expansions but there IS a different team working on an Opposing Force remake

[@jdmaine51084]

Yes, it'll be ready in 2042.

[@borat656]

When I finally played the entirety of vanilla Half Life, I was expecting Xen to be so bad. Like, achingly, testicle-crushingly awful. When I finally got there and it ended after an hour, all I could think was, "that's it? THAT'S what people were complaining about?". I can't even say if it's "good" or "bad" because my expectations were so out-of-sync with the final product that I was just shocked.

[@IskenderCaglarM41B441]

borat656 Crouch jump doesn't work properly sometimes, hard to navigate around, that crappy annoying flying alien controller, it is unclear where to go and what to do. Those are the main issues with that level.

[@peppermillers8361]

yeah, Xen is mostly overhated. The factory in Interloper sucked balls, though.

[@magnusm4]

Wait, this is it? WAIT it's already over?!

[@contramachina354]

If you're an intelligent person, you'll often find that the herd's common talking points usually don't line up with your perception of reality.

[@EnjoyCocaColaLight]

As a child it took me almost 3 months to complete the final boss fight because it was so unintuitive where you needed to go and how you needed to defeat him. After randomly blowing up one of the healt-regen-crystals it took me little over five minutes to finish the fight. But for three months I played after school, maybe an hour every day, maybe half an hour, of fighting the boss, eventually dying, and retrying. Also, it took me about five days before he managed to land a teleporter ball on me - and through this I learned that running out of ammo wasn't really a thing. But because I was so good at dodging his stuff and could navigate the level without needing to really look up, I never noticed him floating up to get zapped and thus regenerated - there was no boss health bar either, so I initially thought he was a bullet sponge on steroids. Imagine landing maybe a hundred rockets at a boss, and not giving up hope of defeating him, because you knew that he would just require a little more effort. And then one day actually missing a rocket and noticing a crystal breaking.. Fuckme it felt good to jump into his skull and beat him up with the crowbar.

[@gunsmithcat7542]

3:06 I remember back in the day, when I first played half life 1, I forgot all about he long jump (was shit at english back then and did not get it) so I used GRENADE jumps instead and only had like 1 HP left at the end of the initial platforming segment and I STILL finished the game.

[@ecdragonz]

Gunsmith Cat alright credit where credit is due. That’s actually cool

[@aperson6505]

That's actually pretty impressive

[@IskenderCaglarM41B441]

Nice work

[@peppermillers8361]

you didn't use the Tau Cannon?

[@levdomanski240]

lol same here years later after I played it again I realized how stupid I was, I thought I was probably the only one that did it that way

[@kudlaty83]

0:03 half life threemake is all i can hear

[@MordecaiTheAwesomeBluejay]

Half Life 3 confirm

[@li5up6]

@Katuri 2035: Half Life Three 2060: Half Life Threemake

[@Indigo_Gaming]

"Finally, some good fuckin' Xen." - Gordon Ramsay

[@L_Lawliet1907]

Lmfao

[@Randoman590]

"We may not have Half-Life 3..." ...Yet. Now with Half-Life: Alyx coming out and Valve as a company apparently springing back to life, there's now a renewed hope.

[@W.2026]

I wouldn't bet on it. Valve, you're dead to me.

[@RustingPeace]

@@W.2026 nobody cares. Im happy with alyx

[@RustingPeace]

@@Salomon_G false :P

[@lonestar6709]

Gabe said last year that valve are now once again focusing on their 1st party genres. So, he good as admitted it then. Half Life 3 is on the way. First Alyx, then 3.

[@devilsown1828]

@@lonestar6709 Dude i wish they release alyx on ps4 too.I so badly wanna play it as i dont own VR .

[@Greenskull]

We are all "Sonny Jim" on this blessed day

[@bensadfleck9972]

They finally released xen and yandere simulator is still on Alpha stage

[@ElliFong]

While the guy also have patreon money.

[@thepcgamer24]

it's one guy compared to a team like the crowbar collective. it's kinda unfair to compare the two

[@ElliFong]

@@thepcgamer24 The guy had a team helping him but he refuse to cooperate with them when they want to fix his codign and such.

[@rickdice2444]

Yandere sim? Now that's a title I haven't heard in a long time.

[@mcreally4300]

Not to mention, Half life Alyx, or technically Half life 3, was announced before Yandere alpha was finished

[@exile9024]

at times it ooks like Morrowind in space.

[@exile9024]

@TheBuragi yeah that was my point.

[@HaiThereManchannel]

This is a positive

[@Texelion]

Exactly what I thought when watching the video.

[@exile9024]

@@Texelion agreed

[@aegyobot1923]

@TheBuragi no shit

[@rippedpixel]

I feel like I’m one of the only people who actually played through the new Xen levels in this comment section- and I’ve gotta say... holy shit. It’s actually crazy how they ran with the stuff Valve left them, and the hours of gameplay added were really enjoyable. The end fight was also really enjoyable too.

[@aidenator00]

It was an amazing experience. Gman is just being a whiny bitch in this video. Every HL fan should play through the new Xen.

[@spideyjtw]

@@aidenator00 agreed. he is so nitpicky.

[@NaruSanavai]

Yep, Interloper especially (for me). Just the subtle show-and-not-tell lore with the Vortigaunts, really tied it all together. After the village battle with the Controllers, one of the Vorts was dead at the door you're supposed to leave through, and one of the others cried over the corpse; being as old as I am, I know it was a scripted event to serve as something of an objective marker ("hey, go this way!", since that was the only Vort behaving differently from the rest), but even then, even in its simplicity, even as a long-time fan of the franchise - it made me _feel_ for them (and the Vorts, in general). I did dislike the conveyor section, but mostly because I got unlucky with spawns (the Controllers kept breaking the crates housing the Grunts, and they kept knocking me to my death while I was focused on the Controllers) - but, I did not _hate_ it. Apart from those deaths, and a few to Nihilanth or whatever, I pretty much breezed through the last two chapters. My only _major_ complaints are: the first pillars in the factory you have to jump across (with the first few cord puzzles) kill you _way_ too quickly (I died from just 3 damage ticks on Normal, with full health and suit charge), and one of the later side rooms (the one with the lasers and dead Vorts inside) has exactly _no_ exit...but, there is a checkpoint that activates inside, thus leaving you trapped.

[@gerorodriguez6575]

I just played it today and I got to say man that Xen was beautiful, but I do have to agree that the last couple of hours were weak and boring, until I got to the boss fight wich I REALLY enjoyed

[@justaneditygangstar]

It is literally the most incredible part of Black Mesa. I finished the game and all I could say is...

[@boxcast7470]

Wow, I didn't know how many people hated the ascension section in interloper, I consider it hands down one of the most spectacular fights in a videogame, especially for the amazing music

[@blueshit199]

black mesa does way too many "dramatic" moments that are completely unnecessary. in the time it takes to get through that stupid elevator ride alone you could've just beaten the entirety of Xen levels from original Half-Life 1

[@BloodyArchangelus]

@@blueshit199 bruh

[@ElChuntyCabra]

The ascension part felt more like an awesome relief after the awful interloper gameplay of plugging in 10,000 alien outlets

[@feritye767]

@@ElChuntyCabra I disagree, the plug puzzles kept introducing new stuff and it felt satisfying to figure out, plus they did a good job of designing linear platforming without it being immediately obvious that it's linear, to make it feel more natural

[@AlecLeigh]

I actually thoroughly enjoyed Xen in the original, even as a young teen when it came out!

[@michaelhoerr2468]

Replayed it recently and enjoyed Xen more than I expected to.

[@DJBV]

I also enjoyed it, it was a huge change felt like playing a different game or an expansion pack

[@zedrising9430]

I love Xen, maybe wholly for the reason it's such a huge change in such an already great game. There's nothing lazy about it at all; the chapters may be a little short but it's still an amazing part of the game.

[@threecats8219]

I thought Zen was the magic that glued Half-Life together. It was weird, as well as alien, but weird perfect weird. Before Zen, to me, Half-life was slipping just a touch into being a bit regular.

[@claudiustanescu6651]

You're dead to me

[@luiscastro6204]

"There's some people who won't pick up on my sarcasm." I wonder why. It's not like you are using the same monotone voice throughout the video.

[@IskenderCaglarM41B441]

Luis Castro Yeah, it is really really hard to understand sarcasm when you have kind of sarcastic voice.

[@midgeot]

Sarcasm is not just the tone of voice. You know that, right?

[@Mayhzon]

@@midgeot He made deadpan state-of-fact sentences with flat voice and no hint of sarcasm. In fact he has the same voice throughout the entire video. Don't be tryhard edgy, it's not convincing anyone.

[@midgeot]

@@Mayhzon tryhard edgy? LMAO. Sarcasm is not always tone of voice. In fact, if it was, no one would understand written sarcasm. It has to do with context, phrasing, and what not. Dear god

[@Mayhzon]

@@midgeot Yes, and it was poor application with no hint of sarcasm. Quit being pissy because your favorite youtuber has flaws.

[@alphatonic1481]

There are people who don't like "on a rail" ?! WTF there even is a good mod that adds it back into black mesa. I like how it takes the tempo out of the game for a while before it gets hectic again. I like it when games give me a breather every now and then ... it's called pacing i think.

[@Pyke64]

Maybe I'm mistaken but didn't they end up including that mod in Black Mesa?

[@chairshoe81]

im more of a fan of the xen levels than on a rail

[@MKR3238]

@@Pyke64 the dev got hired and I *think* they reworked the level? Don't know if they straight up included the expanded mod map tho

[@Lagahan]

@@Pyke64 They did, just replayed it start to finish when the beta came out. The tracks don't electrecute you anymore though which is nice, and it feels shorter than the original - replayed all of original HL before starting BM.

[@zubiddydoodoopop]

I liked everything about the OG Half Life other than that do or die introduction to Xen. If that portal warm up period slowly lowered the gravity to Xen's then I probably wouldn't have died as many times as I did

[@DuBaas007]

Tbh i didn't mind Interloper that much in Black Mesa, and the end boss is just really well done, it was really fun, and i usually hate gimmick bosses.

[@alexradice8163]

"gimmick bosses" bosses that are more than just hitting them

[@cpt.shmitt7387]

When I first encountered Black Mesa's Xen level, I spent almost 20 minutes just looking around that first panoramic view soaking in the color pallet, lighting and sounds. Xen makes a GREAT first impression despite some frustration later on.

[@cyrushansen5378]

Now they got to do Blue Shift and Opposing Force.

[@lambdasignal2065]

Operation:Black Mesa and Guard Duty exist.

[@RafaelBenedicto]

@@lambdasignal2065 Guard of Duty: Barney Warfare

[@kristianstrm2375]

Fixing Blue Shift sounds nice, actually.

[@fgrcdefeatkiller7724]

@@kristianstrm2375 I still haven't finished blue shift because I'm stuck in the puzzles

[@kristianstrm2375]

@@fgrcdefeatkiller7724 Which one?

[@lolrus5555]

Interesting how over the years, GmanLives has gone from someone who initially didn't like Black Mesa at all to outright calling it phenomenal and appreciating that, for all the valid flaws he pointed out about it in his first review, it's still an impressive video game made by a group of people who were genuinely passionate about seeing this ambitious project through, despite the (mostly) fully completed product taking more than a fucking decade to create.

[@sirjoey3137]

How is it a valid point mentioning how long it took them to make? It's their first project, they wanted to make it perfect and I'll say they did a damn good job.

[@lolrus5555]

@@sirjoey3137 I never said that. Don't put words into my mouth.

[@sirjoey3137]

@@lolrus5555 No sorry not you, I meant Gman. One of his main negative points is the fact the game took them so long to finish.

[@lolrus5555]

@@sirjoey3137 oh, gotcha. Thanks for the clarfication. And yeah, in that regard, I agree with you that was a shit criticism on Gman's part.

[@UOHCUNY]

I hated Black mesa. The shooting mechanics are awful

[@HairyHog77]

Hopefully they'll take the feedback about Interloper and improve it drastically before full launch, you're definitely not the only one to have issues with it.

[@zubiddydoodoopop]

Yeah it looks like the pacing needs to be dialed down a pinch. It doesn't appear to give the player sufficient time to pick the timing for dodging. To me it looks like spam the space bar, strafe, attack a bit then repeat till it's dead. Plenty of tweaking room there

[@spookson5679]

Yeah but how? They'd have to completely overhaul it, whtich would be nice but the devs want to move on and do original stuff, they didn't even fix all the bugs

[@HairyHog77]

@@spookson5679 all that really needs doing is cutting a few Controllers here and there and shortening the length of the conveyer belt section

[@spookson5679]

@@HairyHog77 no one had issues with alien controllers, no one, I've been actively checking black mesa discussions and none of them complained about alien controllers, Also how are they gonna shorten the conveyer belt section? It a part of the map they can't just shorten it they'd had to overhaul it, before saying that the devs should something think about how they're gonna execute it

[@HairyHog77]

@@spookson5679 I read the exact opposite, quite a few complaints about controllers

[@grrre87]

It makes perfect sense that they'd set up traps when they're surrounded by alien beasts...

[@contramachina354]

Exactly

[@Yetoob8lWuxUQnpAahSqEpYkyZ]

But they are in a tunnel where there are exploding plants that they are bound to know of at that point and destruction will obliterate them if any of the traps were to go off.

[@F1stBr34k3r]

​@@Yetoob8lWuxUQnpAahSqEpYkyZ Maybe the science team blew the previous exploding flowers, which might be how they naturally spread their pollen.

[@barney10240]

@@Yetoob8lWuxUQnpAahSqEpYkyZ well shit, there is also a corpse down there too.

[@TechInspected]

It's rigged to blow everything in that level and instant kills Gordon. You wouldn't rig explosives to hurt yourself so it doesn't make any sense. There was no spot where the rigger would be safe.

[@duncanfleming4980]

"this might be an issue on hard mode" You could say that again - Gonarch was honestly harder than the boss fight at the end but I still loved every minute of it

[@alexb.e7498]

I think that "You're dead to me" is becoming more iconic then "sonny Jim"

[@MosoKaiser]

Or " shiiieet"

[@simonaspalovis1204]

@@MosoKaiser And don't forget "like a lil' bietch"

[@Snauss]

Don't forget the "your mother" jokes.

[@threecats8219]

Yeah, am not sure about, "punching kittens in the face", without a 'don't try this at home kids'.

[@Bukkarooo]

Schwacked

[@jthompson6189]

oh awesome I'll actually play it!! "its almost done" ok, I will check back in another 2 years then.

[@bazzy5644]

Its an OPEN beta, not a closed one just go into the games properties on steam and select the xen engine and it will already start downloading the thing, you do not even need a save file, casue you get a chapter select form the get go.

[@Enoonb]

It's done already.

[@vegeta1885]

Done with bugs

[@frankwalker3362]

It's released now. You waited 2 weeks instead of 2 years. Have fun.

[@MozzaBurger88]

It's just not "officially done" as in v1.0 "out of Greenlight" but everything is released and playable.

[@lordfriedrick7911]

Now all we need is a Unreal remastered and we're good

[@h4724-q6j]

This channel is doing that kzbin.info/www/bejne/rKrSloJner2Di5Y

[@ouroldhouse3674]

Or even better: *Remake*

[@frajecz]

Now that would be awesome

[@lordfriedrick7911]

@@h4724-q6j I think there's still a lot of work to do for that remaster but i think it is on a great track

[@ahandsomefridge]

​@@h4724-q6j I'm gonna keep a close eye on that one.

[@dylanevans7529]

As a Surveyor, seeing Total Stations and 3D Scanner's on Tripods really blew my mind with the level of detail in this remake.

[@EMBrown801]

Xen is so gorgeous to look at and it adds so much world building. I love when you walk through the scientists lab that they setup and find it’s been overrun by head crabs. Makes you really believe they were there for a long time conducting research. Plus the level design is some of the best I’ve seen in a game. Some great puzzles to solve.

[@witalian1]

When I went thru the black mesa base on zen for the first time it really felt like "the thing". It was a great trip.

[@tim36d]

"I don't want to say that I hated it, because 'hate' is such a strong word... Strong like your mum's hamstring muscles." *_SCHWACKED_* (pls bring it back)

[@Ogata123]

Tim Thomas it was definitely missed there

[@kidSwift236]

yeah i know he's missed it in the last couple of videos, but the moment i heard "your mum" i was sure he was going to say it... bring back schwack!

[@EchoDissolve]

#BringBackSchwacked

[@tazamane9705]

"The latter who have the ability to turn the Vortigaunts against you" (8:37) Welp, just like the original but with *WAY* more stuff build around it. I wonder how Operation: Black Mesa (Opposing Force Remake) is doing...

[@ethhics]

They seem to be doing great, cannot wait for it, Opposing Force impressed me on so many levels when I first played it, I think it's better than Half Life in some parts

[@Bizargh]

The Tripmine Team have been recently keenly showing off their weapons for Operation Black Mesa & Guard Duty, and stellar work is already being displayed: kzbin.infovideos

[@IskenderCaglarM41B441]

I am still waiting for that mod

[@waldevv]

I played it from start to finish in one day. Absolute masterpiece, it's been years since a game has had me glued to the screen like that, usually I get bored of most games in an hour or two and quit for the day and most of my library consists of partially completed games

[@MegaChickenfish]

6:23 I mean to be fair, why in the hell did someone spend all that time wiring Black Mesa's nuclear arsenal with that many exploding tripwires?

[@SemperSmash]

Imagine being the guy doing this and trying to go about the rest of your day knowing that you could be vaporized in a giant explosion at any given second.

[@They_are_Arthur]

I actually really liked the part when the Gluon gun gains unlimited ammo, and the part with the slow elevator. It felt like I was ascending my way towards the ultimate final showdown.

[@sillkthashocker]

That part was bad ass

[@icata12345]

Same and the soundtrack while ascending was epic as hell

[@JNST2023]

It felt so great it made me think of something from a Metroid game. Hats down to you for this amazing mod Black Mesa team !

[@petev5789]

Gman: "You're dead to me" Me: *sees the YOU DIED screen from Dark Souls*

[@whoooadude4804]

The factory looks similar to ascending Breen's tower, except with more projectiles and hazards.

[@Nevermore2790]

And fleshy... note some stitches on some parts... oh, and if the shit water in Residue Processing is worse. This is way worse... by this chapter, as you are heading to the tower, you are following and going into shit water that is a million times worse especially if you're really Gordon Freeman.

[@viper0111]

Xen looks amazing but I think the levels could've been significantly shortened, I really felt the game dragging in the Xen levels.

[@swedish_sadhguru3854]

Agree, the cable part was horrible.

[@Demolicious51]

facepalm... The whole point of it was to extend and improve the Xen levels. You have your opinion, but for me the Xen parts are just perfection.

[@noizepusher7594]

Honestly, I just loved the gameplay loop of Interloper a lot more than others. I just loved the Vornigaunts and I loved doing weird science with them. I couldn’t get enough of the weird mechanisms and the puzzles. I can see why people wouldn’t like it for being long, but i didn’t care. The reactor section was one of my favorite parts as it just gave you all you needed (a gluon gun and a bunch of health) and just let you loose to battle the waves of controlers while the soundtrack blares.

[@danpaz9485]

@@Demolicious51 Just because you like it doesn't mean other people will. At least you had the decency to not invalidate @Swedish_Sadhguru

[@tsrenis]

it just kinda felt like: "HEY LOOK AT HOW PRETTY THIS IS ISNT IT SO PRETTY WE SPENT LIKE 140 HOURS ON TEXTURING AND MODELLING THIS ONE PART OF THE GAME THAT NO ONE LIKES"

[@HJHunters]

I honestly liked interloper’s elevator, it basically felt like Doom except you used the jump jet a lot.

[@leetylr]

I would enjoy it more if my framerate did not chug along during that entire scene.

[@alexsilva28]

@@leetylr Yup. I was hitting single digits lol

[@greenbow7888]

Yep agreed. Intereloper was one of the parts of Xen that I remember.

[@hannibalburgers477]

3:33 summary of the whole video. *IS NICE*

[@hannibalburgers477]

@Tom Nye Real men coom, dont stalk

[@Youssless]

I thought you literally went bananas when you said like only 7 people played it and it wasn't a big deal.

[@theclipman9283]

He said 6

[@Youssless]

@@theclipman9283 SEE!!! I freaked out so much I lost my hearing and comprehension skills.

[@theclipman9283]

It's okay

[@Vollification]

"Burn him!" - Abe Simpson

[@madphantom92]

Smh

[@mrduffbier000]

Not playing hard mode? You're DEAD to me

[@Chasodey]

I just finished that. On hard mode. From start to finish. Yes, that was awesome and gorgeous but I m tired so much now

[@Architector_4]

Same about the OG HL1 clips. The twitching of the crosshair when he's aiming at an enemy is the indication of autoaim, which is turned on automatically when you play HL1 on "Easy" difficulty.

[@RustingPeace]

I never played it on hard. Because I played hl source... It's not even possible to change the difficulty there..

[@half-lifescientist1991]

I think I'd rather play Daikatana than play this on hard. Having played Half-Life on hard, BM's easy mode is about equal to that. There seems to be a trend in games where the devs will have the mindset of harder = better, and I don't get it.

[@tamasperci4168]

There are games where difficulty is fun, and there are games where difficulty is only about flexing how much ass fuck you are willing to take, and this game is in the latter category. It doesn't make the game better. Doom? Sure, go hard, it's not bad. Half-Life games? Fuck no, they have always been horrible and have always relied on saving. I mean, it is your choice, I don't mind if you play on hard, but this is a game where not playing on hard doesn't make the experience any worse, it might just make you have to load your saves less often and you might have a bit more time to spend on other things. Visuals are great, lore is sometimes great, gameplay has always sucked dick and I feel like in Black Mesa it does even more so, but otherwise I wouldn't call the game a horrible product.

[@CoryMcCarvilleSchueths]

I actually enjoyed 'On a Rail'. It wasn't my favorite chapter, but it broke up some of the monotony by being different. It was also quite a technical achievement (at the time) to create a vehicle segment in the modified Quake (Goldsrc) engine, even if it could only move forwards or backwards.

[@synergy021]

Just got this game on sale. I don't know if it's been improved since this review three years ago but I absolutely loved every bit of it. Especially when you see how the vorgons are enslaved and going up and up and up. Excellent game.

[@sbraypaynt]

A lot of Xen was giving of some Avatar vibes and I’m not complaining

[@cornerboy8557]

The floating rocks and the lush jungles reminded me a lot of pandora too,

[@fugazicoverband]

Just finished myself, really enjoyed it. I think the Gonarch needs a bit of tuning, but it was enjoyable and rewarding once I beat it. Worth the wait. Cheers

[@protostar5946]

These guys should join Project Borealis, to be honest.

[@Vantud391]

PB using Unreal Engine so they can't, only choice left is Boreal Alyph team.

[@spookson5679]

@@Vantud391 an engine doesn't effect your level design, animating skills, also they can use unreal engine 4, in fact, they're planning to make their original games on it, they shouldn't work on neither of them since they should focus on fixing can bugs, and on their own stuff

[@spookson5679]

No they shouldn't they should focus on fixing xen making original games, also project borealis doesn't pay so it would be a waste of time

[@NaruSanavai]

@@spookson5679 An engine doesn't _inherently_ affect your animation skills, but as with anything, if you're unfamiliar with a particular, integral part of something, it can (and often does) hinder your performance with said skill until you _do_ become familiar with it.

[@bubbleburster2813]

A reason I can think of for those tripwires being in Xen is the scientists realising there's a houndeye nest there and trapping it to try to kill the houndeyes.

[@EricLefebvrePhotography]

They certainly did a better job than "Hunt Down the Freeman" LOL! I'm going to buy this tonight.

[@NaruSanavai]

That's not hard to do, all things considered lol

[@xhelixshotx]

Everything's better than Hunt Down The Freeman.

[@Nomad-bl4yw]

*Who ate all the donuts*

[@DJL3G3ND]

what the hell interloper was my favourite chapter lol, probably mainly thanks to the gargantua chase section

[@gatgetmeteeng6878]

Gonarch boss fight goes about 30-45 minutes. Me who went for the Rarest Specimen achievement: 2 hours take it or leave it.

[@sordidspectacle7393]

Or the one where you had to deal the last blow with your crowbar. So many goddamn tries

[@firespawn01]

I cant wait for the remastered remake of this remake to be remastered, masterfully.

[@42Core]

When I first got to Xen in BM, I literally stopped and stared, then walked around looking at *everything*. I was almost mad at the game for having enemies because it forced me to stop looking at the levels.

[@levthederg]

Ticking on the "Always Run" setting in the Black Mesa Tab in options, makes the strafing and dodging a lot easier.

[@ThatGenericPyro]

Jumping's a bit slippery though...

[@justletmechangemynamegodda5156]

0:57 "I mean that is true I guess, the first game isn't going to fully impress everyone but I'm pretty sure when the sequel rolled around that's when-1:07..........god dammit"

[@ajshell2]

I actually really liked Interloper. I never used the Gluon gun much in my original playthrough of Half Life, so I tried to use it more in this playthrough. I found that I really liked it. Then those infinite energy crystals showed up... The first time that happened, I put on "Feuer Frei!" by Rammstein and just went into "murder rampage" mode. SO GOOD! Also, the final boss was my least favorite part of the original. Here, this is no longer the case.

[@f9w99]

Recently bought Black Mesa and enjoying it very much. Haven’t gotten to Xen yet but I’ve heard good things so far.

[@simondaniel4028]

03:19 "WELCOME!" .... These videos of yours, man. Just, across the board. Even back from the beginning. Great stuff.

[@Pantherboss-ue6ue]

it took 15 years finally god ive been waiting for this since birth

[@hamankarn7857]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought Interloper went on WAY too long. They really could have left some stuff on the cutting room floor for that chapter.

[@MarksBigOlHam]

Black Mesa is not just a remake. It’s a BEAUTIFUL remake.

[@LC-bk8mp]

Played the game on hard mode all the way through, the gonarch boss fight was fine, I actully enjoyed it even more on hard mode. Masterpiece of a game, defiantly worth the buy.

[@point-bl4nk]

Steam page: "Complete Beta" Me: *...bruh*

[@therobot1080]

Thats a gamma

[@robertsloth8804]

"ok I guess" *wins over 50 GOTY awards* this comment was brought to you by: my lack of sarcasm comprehension

[@Fools_Requiem]

"Hell, it's about damn time!"

[@imaginsharky]

I actually quite liked the elevator scene, when coupled with the music and infinite ammo, it felt awesome

[@fuffilicious]

Exactly how I feel. It's one of the most epic moments in any game I've played, tbh.

[@S1nwar]

back mesa's xen was a rewardingly epic increase in difficulty and a beautifully faithful artistic reimagening. i dont see any of the problems you mention, i couldnt get enough of it...

[@thebigcheese4453]

I never finished Black Mesa because interloper was way too damn long, it completely killed my enjoyment of the game. I sure do love Classic Half Life.

[@haris300tt]

I actually liked the Interloper chapter in Black Mesa. It was a more creative take on the factory with enough puzzles (although easy) to keep me busy between some intense fight sequences. Some of the stuff mentioned like the texture work was a bit bland in parts but the overall art and design made up for it. The platforming elements were pretty fun too. I absolutely hated Interloper in the original game so I was surprised I enjoyed in Black Mesa. Also they totally ripped off that laser room where you get the BFG in DOOM (2016) ;).

[@El-Duderino-His-Dudeness]

This was awesome. Xen was incredibly long. I never got bored though. I liked the puzzles. I feel like people forget Half-Life is like half exploration anyway.

[@NaruSanavai]

Perfect summarisation, honestly. "Long, but I never got bored." Hell, to me, the part of Interloper that somewhat properly "introduces" you to the Vorts is my favorite. Just the subtle nods to already-established canon and the show-and-not-tell little pieces of lore, just... 👌

[@FrogworfKnight]

To be honest, it could have used a little bit more polish. One part in particular, when doing the plugs, there was this circular vent opening that I thought at first I couldn't go in, because I tried before and it didn't happen. Turned out I needed to do a small half jump to enter in. I swear I had to look it up to confirm that yes I could go in. That being said, the positives vastly outweighed the negatives. The visuals, the story telling with the vortigaunts and the black mesa outposts, hell I even liked the mob fights that the video didn't like apparently (never used the gaus gun in the original as it always felt too awesome to use with how quickly it goes through its ammo).. All these things hit it all out of the park.

[@SemperSmash]

With how disappointing OG Xen was, I was ecstatic to find that Xen had been lengthened. I didn't realize it at first until I noticed that nothing was familiar lol and it had been going on for quite a while... but I loved the environment, how everything is alive. And the scenic introductions to new areas.... *chef kiss*. Such a beautiful area of the game with so much creativity. Some puzzles got a bit tedious, but the devs knew how to stretch it juuuuust far enough that as you're having the conscious thought "oh man I don't know how much more of th-" suddenly you find yourself in a new area. They also did a good job telegraphing the length of potentially tedious sections by making you do a series of 3 things to unlock the next area, so you always felt you had a goal to work toward. Never bored, never wanted to stop playing at any time.

[@ardiankk2949]

even Gabe himself said that he hate the xen level edit: i mean the 1998 game not Black Mesa

[@quiver5756]

And we care about Gaben opinion because...?

[@Wiseguy909]

@@quiver5756 because he helped make the game. If someone hates part of their own game, it matters.

[@mitsured420]

was great to see your character arch over the course of your black mesa vids.

[@djp1234]

I'm playing Black Mesa Xen right now and HOLY SHIT. They created a whole new game and a whole new universe inside this game. I can't believe how much creative new content there is in the new Xen. It feels like a completely different game, made by different people and it feels like a game made 10 years in the future from the first half of the game.

[@kontrfile4443]

2:07 ah my favorite, playing Half-Life while taking a shower.

[@metelicgunz146]

I agree with you, I had to force myself to get through the factory in Interloper.

[@colkillervin3560]

I like xen a lot the music in this area is perfect

[@blueshit199]

if you like it for the music then simply praise the music instead of giving false advertising to the levels themselves

[@laszlodajka9914]

6:30 setting up those traps maybe keep the permieter in check? especially in an uncharted alien world where you never know what threat is in store for you.

[@spark9189]

honestly, i personally loved interloper in this, especially the elevator section

[@myfellowsonicfans7131]

You didn’t use the original Long Jump module to dodge...?...

[@auroriasolaris]

It is me, or those red-orangeish landscapes of Xen looks like DOOM?

[@Nevermore2790]

Interloper as a whole... yep... going into hostile territory now... oh, and one of the rooms is literally DOOM 2016.

[@MrCalhoun556]

They even have fleshy and bleeding walls.

[@mamawau]

Those people did an amazing job on this remaster!

[@PjRorke98]

Did... did you watch the video? It's a remake, not a remaster.

[@Baba-yv6ml]

I love how towards the end of Xen I mastered the jump-pack, compared to the start where I under or overestimated how far I could jump. I really knew my limits (or, actually, lack thereof).

[@MrSevoliciouS]

Your review speaks to me on another level! I agree with every single thing you said. I love you man.

[@Zoddom]

Idk, I like how good it looks, but Im not sure about the design yet, gotta play it myself. Always loved how alien it looked. The remake now even looks too earthly imo, with those factory machines, plugs etc... And even the landscape looks too familiar, with loads of rivers and plants. The original had something clearly Lovecraftian, something so alien, that it feels absolutely out of place. But thats what Xens supposed to be, a world thats out of place.

[@tino9117]

*"And if you call it otherwise, well, you're DEAD to me"*

[@frataltay4543]

Now all we need is Project Borealis. Then we are good.

[@ducreat]

Operation Black Mesa and Guard Duty first, then Project Borealis.

[@Yetoob8lWuxUQnpAahSqEpYkyZ]

Boreal-Alyph is going to be more authentic since its using source.

[@borkfate7795]

the difference between remake and remaster is not a rant its education

[@MauricioJara]

Despite the new Xen being nice, I am slightly bummed. It absolutely ignores what the original Xen was supposed to be. Xen isn’t supposed to be some exotic, beautiful, wallpaper place. It’s supposed to be a horrible and very alien place. I wish it had that living organism look the original had. Still, Crowbar a Collective did a great job at their take of Xen.