I have played through the original Half Life twice and Black Mesa so much I have lost track. I think all the maps do the original justice (including Surface Tension Uncut and the On A Rail Uncut Beta). I was, however, pretty disappointed with the cliff side in surface tension. It looks incredible, but it has more of the same shoot-and-run feel to it. There is less sniping (my favorite part of any FPS) in Black Mesa, and not being able to snipe here was a bit of a let down.
In Half Life, right after crawling out of the pipe (where the fighter jet flies by), you can shoot a marine and sentry with the crossbow, as well as the marine underneath you. During my first playthrough of Half Life, I actually killed every single enemy with the crossbow, without once being detected. It was a nice change of pace to sit down, take time lining up the shot, and move on to the next target. I really think for the final release of Black Mesa, the cliff side and troop placement should be tweaked to allow sniping. I also hope that they change the AI so they don’t detect you as quick. I just peak over a cliff, and the marines (hundreds of feet below) immediately shoot me in the face.
Also, on the cliff side, the wooden bridge doesn’t break like in Half Life. I miss that as well.
I don’t know if I’m the only one who is this critical of the cliff side portion. I haven’t seen any posts about this, although I haven’t really searched. This is my first time on these forums.