Didn’t find a thread about reviews so I decided to make one.
This is the only one I found so far.
Edit: Dr.Karamazov started a thread where community members can post their own reviews but I’m also interested in what the outside world has to say about this amazing remake/game (I don’t want to call it a mod anymore)… like, professionally written stuff by professional critics. I know, sounds crazy.
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-09-17-revisiting-black-mesa
another one, all reviews good so far.
a few people in the comments are calling for GOTY which is pretty sweet 
Just search “Review” and see what pops up…on the forums at least. There are several threads about reviews. I liked the first one you posted because it had both positives and negatives. A nice healthy balance.
“In fact, a recent survey has proven that the only people who don’t like Black Mesa are card-carrying members of PETH (People for the Ethical Treatment of Headcrabs). The rest of you – get going. There’s a crowbar with your name on it and the G-Man has his eye on you.”
Had to laugh at that…must be fatigue.
I was hoping there would be a sub forum for press/reviews to be collected in, but I suppose this thread will do. Could the OP not edit their first post to include all the links?
Ay-plus-plussity-plus in terms of the effort and care that is in every single section in the game.
The crowbar animation is a bit odd, but I don’t notice it as much in combat and I’ve actually been able to hit headcrabs better.
I’ve encountered several bugs, such as the elevator starting out going down when I load the… chapter when you see the surface and marines invading.
The Vorts seem to loose most of the fights with the marines, I’d really recommend you make them take a wee bit less damage against them. I also expected to fight more of them.
There are parts where I think I can go down, but it fades to black and loads the previous save unexpectedly. It was also very obvious that you triggered the barrels to become lit due to a trigger as a failsafe incase the player killed the Houndeye.
As for reviews done by other people, I have not seen any with that in the title. I have yet to look since the day before yesterday, so I might be mistaken.
CVG’s Black Mesa review: Half-Life still packs a punch in 2012 (with help from some modders)
beefjack.com - Black Mesa review
IGN PC have a video review so far: Half-Life Revised: Black Mesa Commentary
Hot hardware’s - Black Mesa: Half-Life’s Amazing Source Remake
TrendyGamer’s - Black Mesa Review
ValidGaming - Black Mesa Review
Gaming Owl’s - Black Mesa Review
Flesh Eating Zipper’s - Black Mesa Source Review: A Welcome Re-Imagining
GameFront’s - Black Mesa Review
And this is mentioned in separate thread here:
RoosterTeeth’s - Achievement Hunter : This Is… Black Mesa (Video review)
Dunno if I’m allowed to do this, but oh well, I’m sure a friendly neighbourhood mod will slap my wrist if I dun goofed.
I wrote up my review of Black Mesa yesterday. Have a gander if you will, ladies and gents.
The IGN video review is hilarious.
A great example of gamer/reviewers NOT taking themselves over seriously lol
It’s funny how in the IGN video, they got the purple texture bug, which is actually something that happens it any source game that I’ve had.
Hello. I review games on the side as a hobby and am a dedicated modder. I thought it would be fun to review the most anticipated mod ever. Please give me feedback as to fairness, grammar, and agreement or disagreement. It is from my review website.
Pros: Updated Graphics and Level Design, Beautiful Animation, Cheesy yet Poignant Voice Acting, Implementation of Physics, Great Soundtrack, Keeps the Old While Adding the New
Cons: Retro Gameplay can Frustrate and Clash, Guns Need A Re-Balance, No Xen Levels (yet)
This week was difficult to decide what to review. In the past three weeks I’ve played Jurassic Park: The Game, Tribes: Ascend,Blacklight:Retribution, ARMA 2, TF2′s stellar “Mann Vs. Machine” update, I Am Alive, Minecraft, and the Brothers in Arms trilogy. Jeez I feel lazy just saying that, even though I’m at a 48 hour a week job, full-time college, and married. But these games I can save for later updates, because they were just appetizers getting me to the game I really wanted to play for eight years: Black Mesa.
If you don’t know Black Mesa, that’s okay. If you don’t know Half-Life, the game that Black Mesa is updating, then get off the computer and walk out of the room. In 2004 Half-Life: Source was released to disappointment from the community. Considering the amazing detail Valve put into Half-Life 2 many people expected a totally new Source version of their old game, complete with smarter AI, physics engine, superior T&L, and gameplay tweaks. What they got was a straight port of an old game. A few modders decided to take the work into their own hands and -after gaining permission from Valve- began work on a game titled Black Mesa: Source which promised to build HL from the ground up using the Source engine.
Then it disappeared. For eight years a handful of screenshots and a trailer were all fans had to go by, and even though it remained the most anticipated mod ever it soon became a parody of itself and of vaporware in general. After the release of the infamous vaporware Duke Nukem Forever many wished that BM would remain untouched. Well do not worry citizens, because Black Mesa fulfills and exceeds its purpose. But what is that purpose? The game cannot be called an update or port. It is extremely different yet retains the familiar. I would hold that it even becomes its own game. If anything, call it a modern interpretation of a classic game.
When I first booted it up, all I could do was marvel at the amount of detail inherent in the game. The developers didn’t just revamp textures, but added and cut material as they see fit. Because of this sections of the game look extremely familiar, but so many sections just scream of a AAA title in the making, especially of the first third of the game. It is astonishing for unpaid workers to come up with this on their free time. My favorite part were the many signs dotting the game, just like in a real facility, each one speaking volumes. These developers understand how to tell a story and setting without dialogue and do it amazingly, and though it can sometimes overwhelm the player with bright lights on a control panel it still retains the familiar while creating its own narrative- a theme that will be repeated throughout the game. The AI is improved, and the additions of physics and physics puzzles is a welcome addition. All the sound has been remade and dialogue re-recorded. It tends to be jarring when you hear the same voice for three or four different people, but then again it’s not incredibly distracting and adds a nice retro feel. A soundtrack was also recorded with original music, which follows a lot of the same stylings as Half-Life 2 (except for some piano bits which stand out as just weird to me) and is one of the greatest praises. It is also good to see that G-Man, Barney, Dr. Kleiner, and Eli Vance all have been given small cameos as well in the game. And of course, the shadows and particle effects (which, by the way, are better than Valve’s own effects) are much better and set a much more ominous tone than they did back in 1998.
There is, however, a fatal flaw that the poor developers just couldn’t get around. I’d say it is almost impossible to get around for a remake of an old game. By placing the game in a modern interpretation one begins to see the flaws of the past stand out that much more. This isn’t the fault so much of Black Mesa, but cannot be avoided when the new and the old come together. The story, while good on paper, just doesn’t translate well in dialogue when held up against the masterpiece that is Half-Life 2. The enemies of Xen and humans become almost hilarious to look at and aren’t really that scary or daunting at all when looking at many of the most recent games (exception: Headcrab zombies still make me $%!# my pants). That isn’t to say they aren’t rendered or animated terribly (the very opposite), but an Alien Grunt doesn’t look intimidating next to this generation’s enemies. Level design for the first few levels is fantastic and build up tension, but even for all the bells and whistles added the later levels become nothing more than linear, narrow corridors and blocky movements. In 1998 that was the shiz, but now as a gaming community people are used to an openness not unveiled here. There are many good moments in the level design that speak volumes to how games should be done nowadays (introduction levels build up tension perfectly, and the addition of a sequence in which one must keep enemies at bay with nothing more than a flare eases this in perfectly to more combative levels), but with everything being so beautiful it becomes jarring. Weapons could be better balanced, especially the SMG, or perhaps the enemy accuracy toned down. And let’s not forget the platforming. No one liked it then, and no one likes it now. 1st person platforming ought to be outlawed, especially when Black Mesapunishes failure with death every time. So having at least an hour’s worth of platforming is evil. The game is much more challenging than most of today’s standards, and while frustration occurs I found that okay considering I at least wasn’t ducking under boxes and becoming Wolverine just to pop up again at full health.
These aren’t nitpicks in a game, either. These are flaws that have been fixed within the industry ages ago, which is why it becomes jarring to find them again in a game of 2012. I don’t think I’d argue either except that Black Mesa obviously takes a bit of liberation with its methods, adding and cutting to levels. To change some of these things would have been easy, but then again I don’t know if it would be a good interpretation then of the game that started it all. I guess that’s up to the gamer to decide.
The moment that describes Black Mesa in a nutshell occurred later in the game. I was finishing up the dreaded trip mine room, frustrated with the platforming and skidding physics but still keenly interested. My frustration turned to interest as I picked up the HiveHand. I had always wondered how Gordon held this gun, and my fascination turned to horror as Gordon stared at the wriggling entity for a bit before plowing his hand straight up and into the beast from what looks like its colon. I left the room giggling with glee at the new weapon and updated…um…effect, trip mine room forgotten in the moment.
What I’m trying to say is for its flaws Black Mesa more than makes up with what it adds. It is a game that should be kept in your library next to Half-Life 2, and the developers should at least be contacted by Valve for a job well done.
8.5 / 10
Notes: Did I mention it’s free? Just download Source SDK 2007 and you are good to go. Also, the Xen levels are MIA but they are to be added in an update later.
hahahah i lol’d so hard at the ign play through when they ran into the purple checkboards missing textures. Thats so unfortunate
This makes me sad… we even give an installer and they still fuck it up… :fffuuu:
Founded in 2004, Leakfree.org became one of the first online communities dedicated to Valve’s Source engine development. It is more famously known for the formation of Black Mesa: Source under the 'Leakfree Modification Team' handle in September 2004.
