Im sure this question has been asked a million times by now and a full list exists somewhere, but searching the forums and Google doesnt yield very much for me. Maybe Im using the wrong keywords, but I’ve tried everything I could think of. So could anyone help me find a full list of changes between the original Half Life and this amazing remake? I never played Half Life before and bought Black Mesa on a whim. Now that im actually playing through it though im just hooked. I just got past the part where you fight the damned Apache. If a list of changes doesnt exist, then would someone be kind enough to list some of the bigger changes? Things like weapon performance I dont really care for, but if there’s dialogue or encounters that have been changed thats something I’d like to know.
This sort of list doesn’t exist because basically everything in the game has been altered to some degree- even in areas where the original level design has been kept basically the same, things like the width of corridors and the borders around doors have been modified, and all the assets (including textures, voices, enemies, decals, props, sound effects, whatever) are completely new.
Maybe it’s not the best video , but here are examples of differences :
youtube.com/watch?v=VDL138ZXFIA
note that the music has been totally remade too.
The game is pretty much just our interpretation of the original. The entire game is basically different. We don’t do anything EXACTLY like HL1, really - for better or for worse. Black Mesa was never intended as a HD reskin of HL1, but rather a modernised and unique version of it. You can’t replace a timeless classic.
Saw a complaint in the Steam discussion forum that this game remade too much.
Basicly they wanted the HD graphics with the Half-Life: source content.
Some people are never happy… 
I can understand that and thats your choice. I get that a LOT has been changed, but I wasnt talking about graphics changes or other little things. Basically I just want to know if its a good representation of the original, or if I should still find the time to play it. Im wondering if there are significant “story” changes. Like, do you actually fight a helicopter in HL? Was there a huge war between the “Xenians” and the military? Did you actually get to control a mortar? Did a marine really blow himself up playing with the Tau cannon? Big, or memorable things like that is what im wondering about. Because this is a long game and I want to know if I should find the time to go through it all again to see the original, or if this is “close enough.”
Right, well if that’s your question, then I would definitely say Black Mesa is “close enough”. It’s definitely still a close representation of the original from a story and experience perspective. Everything you just stated here was in the original, bar the last one about the Marine (it was actually a Guard, by the way) blowing himself up, which I believe was one of our additions.
I just checked because I was pretty sure that scene with the guard and the Tau was in HL1, and it was.
The soldiers talking about the latin sign in the same chapter were a new addition, though.
Awesome, thanks. It would still be nice if some sort of super fan went and made a list of the more noticeable changes, like if the two marines talking about Freeman outside the missile silo was original or not, since I cant very well sit here and ask about every single line of dialogue 
In any case, I will take “close enough” and I will await the release of Zen, with great anticipation.
We’re all superfans! The thing is, the game takes what… 8 to 12 hours to complete if you casually play? It’d be a long list to make.
The dialogue you mention is present in the original by the way, but the scene was redesigned a little.