I created this thread because there are some things I would like to comment on that really bothered me in black mesa, and perhaps may warrant some discussion.
The first thing, and to me, the most important was the lack of introduction of new gameplay elements. To save time, I will copy some of what I have written before.
In all half life games, every new concept is introduced in its basic functions, and gradually shows you how to apply the concept in a new and unique way. In fact this is part of what makes half life so great for many people.
In black mesa, I believe a major problem with is it’s reliance on the player’s knowledge from playing hl2 or episodes, eschewing some of the sequences that introduce to the concept and allow you to become familiar with it. It is for this reason that Im not fond of the anomalous materials sequence, especially the placement of the crowbar. Valve had already designed the pacing and progression of the gameplay to a very high standard, but talking specifically about the crowbar, its location in bm seems to have come from the goal of changing it to surprise veterans, rather than for the actual improvement of that section.
I’ll explain:
In the beginning of the game, the tram sequence is used to allow player to familiarize himself with basic movement, offering the the player the freedom to walk around and observe, among other things. He gets off, and along the way to the test labs, he learns to interact with people, and push buttons and pick up stuff.
Shit goes down in the test lab, You push a button, you utilize the crouching and jumping abilities to navigate hazards (like evading lasers), and you move debris blocking your way. At this point in normal hl, you are introduced to the crowbar, who’s basic function is to break stuff and interact with some obstacles in the environment. You use it to break a window, allowing you to pass. Only after you learn that the crowbar is used for breaking stuff, did the game throw enemies at you.
In bm, you witness a set piece and then are forced to rely on a guard with crappy ai (or just wait and watch him die from general retardedness.) The actual area where you get the crowbar, (and you might already have a pistol,) its when you know that you will have to fight the enemies as soon as you pick it up (new players might not even know they can dislodge the crowbar between the doors an even pick it up.) This does not allow the player to experiment and become familiar with the crowbar before being forced to use it. It also removes a lot of the interaction actual interaction before that sequence, reducing mainly to a series of set pieces or scripted events. I personally find that needlessly boring, and even annoying, considering the amount of enemies in that area
While there are flares which one can use to light some enemies on fire, they
are not well introduced or explained, and actually aren’t used at all after that sequence, which would make it seem kind of redundant.
It may sound stupid, but for new player, that subtle difference of crowbar placement can make a huge difference.
In regards to this issue, the crowbar isn’t the only example, though it is the one that sticks out the most in my mind.
Somewhat related to my previous point are some things like the crouch jumping, the charging time of the vorts, and the accuracy of the marines. However those have been discussed in abundance, so I won’t talk about those.
The other thing that bothered me was the omitting of some of the visual design used in all the hl games. Perhaps some areas are so detailed that just finding an objective may be difficult. In general the problem seems to be use of green and red lights with objects which the player cannot interact with.