Personal Reviews

Black Mesa Archive The Cafeteria
#61

GJ, that`s good game to play! :slight_smile:

Im sorry but I uninstalled game before completing it, for various reasons. Main reason is because, although game is great, but it lacks atmoshpere and anticipation, as I could quit game any moment without feeling any particular motivation to keep playing. Anyway I have bad PC, so, although game runs fine, but there are many places in game where it really starts lagging. I quit game at end of "Questionable Ethics", where bunch of soldiers comes down from helicopters and I couldnt shoot them due to heavy lags.

Anyway I dont have free space on my HD partitrion where my steam folder resides, so I had to get rid of something for sake of installing and trying other games. If it wasnt for that, then Id still be trying to get past that part. However thats where that first reason plays a role- lack of anticipation in game, so I really felt no motivation to keep playing to see what`s next.

Now, let me switch to review. Although I didnt complete this game, but graphics and level design are amazing. Models are amazing. Weapons looks amazing as well. However Im not sure what exatly caused this lack of anticipation of game, but I suspect its because gameplay itself wasnt that enjoyable. For following reasons:
-Because some weapons didnt feel very good: *my favourite weapon, magnum had unnaturally high recoil, so shooting with it lacked satisfaction; *its impossible to fire single shots with mp5, or it was due to my bad pc, idk. As I try to tap, multiple bullets are shot regardless. I dont like spray and pray style, so I didnt like that game denies my attempts to fire single shots with mp5.
*there is no feel of damage when opponent is beign hit, other than pain sounds. Its a common "paintball shooting disease" between fps games and Black Mesa suffers from it a lot. -I dont like that A.I., despite how strong it is, is very vulnerable and lets its guard completely down when it dont see player. Its like I can blow up a atom bomb in one room and guys in next room wont notice anything. -Fighting agains soldier A.I. is feels more like chore than fun experience, as they just starts spraying at you and so your only opinion is to take them down as fast as possible, to recedieve less damage. Of course, its possible to react faster than them and kill them before they react, however only after I have figured out theyr positions on map and reload save, witch feels so discouraging, because the first experience should be most fun, but instead in game reloading save is more fun, as beign low on health is hardly enjoyable on unforgiving hard game.
-volume of soundtrack is completely screwed up. Most of songs are 3x or even louder than sound in game.
-it feels as developers lacks basics of storytelling. To make game exciting and to develop anticipation while playing, a buildup is neccesary. However game feels like running through designed levels without feeling any anticipation.
-teleporter sound. Original sound was very distinctive, however teleporter sound in BMS lacks this charm.

Anyway, as for what I can praise developers for:
-graphics, level design, models, voice acting, dedication, game! Thanks!
-I really like basic combat mechanics of Xen creatures, because they, unlike in original games, are more dangerous and theyr behavior cant be exploited as much as it was possible on original games. Vortigaunts were hard as theyr attacking speed was so fast, so it was a exciting to fight them and it really added sense of danger. Houndeyes always manages to damage me when on close range, so I had to use any means neccesary to put them down before they can get chance to cast theyr shockwave, witch really added sense of danger. Bullsquids arent weak anymore and if in original half life theyr spits could be avoided easily, then in BMS they`re faster and bigger, so to dodge them I really had to focus on timing instead of casually observing the tiny spit pieces coming my way as it was on original game.

No score, because I quit halfway. But awesome work! :slight_smile:

p.s. I just remembered. Ah, nostalgy, why such things aren`t in Black Mesa Source as well… (original soldier pain sounds - “oh, Derek”, etc)

#62

First, let me say that the game is absolutely stunning! The level of attention and detail is mind-blowing, and I love how consistency with the original was kept, while improving just the right amount to suit new gaming mechanics and to give the whole thing a modern feel.

I’ll just go over a few things I think need improvement:

  1. The HECU voices are often far too overplayed with an exaggerated bag-guy feel, which doesn’t fit in with the overall style of Black Mesa or Half-Life
  2. The tram voice could be a bit more “sci-fi annoucement system”-ish, as it sounds a bit too plain this way
  3. Often, you’ll have sequences with no particular action, except for a vortiguant teleporting, you kill it, then another teleports, you kill it, and this repeats 8 times, it feels a bit like target range practice. Most of the time this is well balanced, but on 2-3 occasions this stands out a bit.
  4. The end of Surface Tension feels very rushed and the whole vent-shooting and Garg chase is quite glitchy and doesn’t make much sense
  5. Weapon balancing: The magnum is such a good weapon and there’s so much ammo around for it that I ended up using it most of the time instead of other weapons. The crossbow’s telescope is amazingly done, but I think that when you’re looking through it, the zoomed in image should fill the screen more, just like it did in HL1 and HL2. The Gluon Gun eats ammo far too fast, so it’s kind of useless, especially when you have some great instant-kill weapons like the Magnim or the Crossbow with plenty of ammo.
  6. Lambda Core: the ending sequence had extremely low FPS for me, and I mean like 1 FPS on the lowest possible settings, while the rest of the game played absolutely perfectly on the highest settings. Also, if you hide under the teleporter, where the ladder is, you can sort of get away with not doing anything until it’s ready, and if you run fast enough you don’t have to kill anything.

These are some minor-to-medium things that I think caught my eye, especially when comparing to the rest of the game, which is overwhelmingly well done. I think that other than that, the game is pretty much on par with Valve’s games.

I think that the atmosphere, the levels, the lighting, the design, props, models and effects were particularly well done, and the game was kept at a constant level of interesting action and suspense, the way it should be.

Can’t wait to see Xen!

#63

Finally finished Black Mesa a while ago - took about 4 days to complete. Overall impressions are its rather “meh”.

First off, it crashed - frequently : In game and whilst loading on multiple maps

The graphics are nice and the sound is decent (although all scientists sounds exactly the same), but there are a few inaccuracies with shadowing. But is Gorden a midget (or rather, to be politically correct a vertically challenged person) ? Eyeline level reaches door knobs and everyone seems so dumpy and small, compared to the surrounding objects.

The fight just before the would-be teleportation to Xen slowed down a hell of a lot for me unfortunately, although the rest of the game was fine.

The main problem with the game is that it mainly consists of irritating, vaguely sign-posted puzzles, with three maps being considerably irksome : Waste Recycling, warehouse with mines and the Lamda Core section, and the occasional fight sequence tagged on. It isn’t helped by the need to use CTRL+SPACE to jump more than a centimetre off the ground - so if you want to jumo onto a ledge, you need to be pressng SHIFT+W+CTRL+SPACE to get to it. Not exactly finger friendly combination…

Whoever thought CTRL+SPACE is a good combination really needs to think again

The intro sequence is a good 4/4 minutes (and which can’t be skipped), and once you do arrive, you have little help in know what to do, where to go or who to see, which also applies to a fair few other levels…

I never brought Half-Life when it originally came out - I played a friends copy for a short time and instantly disliked it, although I do have HL2 (although brougth for me and not by me), playing this hasn’t really enamured the series to me.

Whether I’ll bother with the second part is unknown - would really depend on whether I can be bothered to download it…

#64

If you didn’t like half-life and you didn’t even play hl2 then this mod is clearly not for you. I assume you just decided to play it out of curiosity.

#65

It’s nice to hear an opinion from someone who hasn’t wrapped the half-life code around them like a warm blanket

#66

Everyone has his own opinion, I respect that, but you are complaining about some of the things that were exactly the same in Half-Life 1. Considering that Black Mesa is more or less “a remake” (with some re-imagining) of original, it is not wise to expect things like “intro sequence” or “puzzles” to be removed or changed so it would seem more modern-like. These are the things that were essential in original, they are here as well, and it is logical. Plus, one of the game’s main features is that all that you see everything Gordon sees, ie, game never takes you away from his perspective, so it is impossible to make “intro sequence” skippable, because Gordon was obviously not sleeping in the train.

About crashes - it’s purely individual experience, since I had none at all, so I can’t relate to this problem of yours.

When you arrive, you follow the officer of security, he opens the door. Objective is pretty clear: go through that door. After this, another officer of security tells you EXACTLY what to do: go to the test chamber as soon as you get into your hazard suit. So, you have to find hazard suit and test chamber… I had no problems there either, it’s pretty easy to do :slight_smile:

#67

What are you talking about, eye level is fine, at same heigth as heads of other npcs around and I dont remember door knobs beign at eye level. Is there any particular part of game where it is wrong? I just dont understand how and when did you detect such an issue.

#68

Nothing wrong with expressing your opinion on Black Mesa, but did you really need to make a thread about it?

#69

I’ve uploaded a video “Is Gordon Freeman a midget” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGY-OzrepW4) that describes some scaling problems, the most pertinent one being when you move towards a health regenerator. I was going to show the door things, but I wanted to quickly get it uploaded

If the average door height is 198 cm (nearly two meters), and the health thing is placed half-way, and you appear under it, then Gorden must be under 100cm tall…

I have played Half-Life 2, Episode 1 and 2 along with Lost Coast. It should be noted that the first 3 I never brought for myself.

One error message I did get whilst loading a map was :

#70

I got that message after swimming out of the shallow water from the Dam, at the map change, it’s only happened once for me so far.

#71

Lets do da reveew.

Gameplay :
It was awesome,sometimes it’ll bring you up with a fast paced awesome music like in WGH. Makes me lost lead to where im going. HECU’s was abit overpowered and too “six-sensed” like when i was in the surface tension,then climbed up a ladder,then sneak up 3 HECU’s. Then suddenly "SQUAD WE GOT FREEMAN > :frowning: " and then they all spreads away and bam bam bam bam bam. Also their accurateness that wasn’t the same as HL1. They were accurate,because they are pros. In HL1 they were just some bastards walking around with a little gun shooting around with no thinking of their life at all. In BM they just shoot everything and anything (with exception of the other him,of course) because they were clean up crews. I also love how blood splats to your weapons and hands when you shoot something close up. They also add more “reasonable” split up with another guys such at when OC,the Scientist refused to jump and sits when the Guard stands and cover him. Or at FAF when we open the pipe and the Guard stays to figure out another way.

Voice acting :
These weren’t pretty bad. Except for Eli,it sounds stupid (no offense to the actor). Maybe make him a little younger,man its 20 years before the HL2 story came up! The Scientist and the guard were also good. Scientist pointing to wanting to go to the bathroom. Guard pointing to want to get so goddamn drunk after the “end” of all this (when theres no end afterall).

Models :
Models are… badass. Scientist,Guards,Weapons,Grunts,Planes,Tanks,APCs. they were good. Except for the V of the MP5,theres no aiming finger in the end of it, and i prefer the older MP5 too,looks awesome. In the first stage of the trailer,the faces,it looks like crap. The female scientist faces is the used female faces from HL2. Things change. Oh yes, the MP5 Mag,it was bigger than the MP5 alone. Just put an MP5 besides a MP5 mag and see for yourself.

Sounds :
Sounds were good,I hate glock in the first HL but in BM,it become my weapon of choice because of it sounds.

Animations :
Animations were awesome,especially for that Hive Hand animation. “IM GOING TO RAAAPEEE YOU!!!”. The glock animation are also good,bettar than the vanilla glock. But theres a problem with the crossbow. You discard the mag,enters then theres 2 click when you were about to reach the lock. The Crossbow is also better,the scope i mean,not only you really scoped with the scope,but the scope reflex ALL things.

Weapons :
The weapon system have changes.
Glock no longer have the rapid fire system.
MP5 have burst fire thing each click.
The Hive hand is more effective than in HL1.
and some unnoticed other things i would have.

Maps :
Maps were better than the first,but you didnt get the crowbar in the place you supposed to have. I turned around to make sure i didnt miss it. And then i founded it locking a door! The only (i mean one of the) problems i have is in the RC,I spend hours trying to found out how to get pass that goddamn door.

Thats for all!

#72

What are you talking about, that video doesn’t show any scaling issues. Just a health regenerator that’s placed at eye level rather than below. The rest looks just fine.

#73

Both of the doors you looked at in that video aren’t what I would call an ‘average door’. In fact the last door you look at is a sealed door with an elevation. The health station you show has the display at eye level. This doesn’t seem like a problem to me. Hell even though you were on lower footing than the soldier you were sill at eye level with him…

#74

I’ve just finished the game and I enjoyed six weeks of it.
Downloaded on the day of release and played every evening, thoroughly enjoying every minute of it.
I was simply blown away by the intro. It set the scene perfectly for the rest of the game.
Most of the great things about the game have already been said and I would have difficulty adding to the praise.
The long wait was worth it, no doubt about that.
My only gripe would be the jumping, but I lived with that.
Only one crash to desktop; other than that smooth as anything.
:slight_smile:

#75

[INDENT] The graphics are IMPRESSIVE given the technology used. The models all look good, from alien to human, weapon to prop, it is all appealing to the eye. Probably the best part about the mod, and sometimes I wonder if it’s the main reason it was done in the first place.
[/INDENT]

[INDENT]Sounds are alright, while I prefer the original Half-Life sounds, its probably just me. Some of them may not be as memorable as the original but at least they pass.
[/INDENT]

[INDENT]The crowbar is a DISGRACE. I hate not only how they changed the placement for the weapon, but also the swinging style. It looks stupid! You would think that such a iconic weapon in the half-life series would get far more respect, but the developers spit all over it instead! I actually skipped getting the crowbar at the compactor chapter because I just didn’t want to pick up this horrible weapon. I felt that I did not need it and that it was bothersome to have, unlike in the original half-life.
[/INDENT]

Speaking of which, I do hate how easy they made the compactor scene in BM. I realize that even in the original, it was still quite easy, but they made this seem like a very easy cakewalk! It should have been more challenging by starting the player at the side and not to mention require them to think a bit when climbing to add to the challenge.

[INDENT]I will admit, the developers certainly have played the game several times, and do their best to recreate original elements in the game, like the main lobby in the beginning, the soldier conversation at the silo, some of the easter eggs, exc. But, some of the level changes are annoying! I realize that the developers stated that they took out the annoying elements in-game, but to me, I felt that they took out some annoying things and replaced them with others. Some examples:
[/INDENT]

[INDENT][INDENT]After the incident, when you go into the waterworks chamber, the layout is REALLY different, and it can be quite confusing as to where you should go.
[/INDENT][/INDENT]

[INDENT][INDENT]When you reach the first big cargo elevator, if you try to use the ‘slide’ trick to slide down safely, it blacks the screen out and takes you back, unless you power on the elevator first. Yet the cargo elevator that leads to the lambda complex doesn’t have this issue at all.
[/INDENT][/INDENT]

[INDENT][INDENT]For those of us who played the original, some of the weapon placements is just stupid. One example is after you pass the electric cable in the office complex, if you go down the one hallway and save the guard, you get a revolver instead of a shotgun, which doesn’t make sense given the close quarters combat being done around the area.
[/INDENT][/INDENT]

[INDENT][INDENT]Some of the battles are annoyingly difficult. The battle with the soldiers at the silo and the lobby that leads outside to the dam are just frustrating, but the worst of all is the helicopter battle at the cliff! The helicopter has way too many hitpoints, in my opinion, especially considering that the tanks and some other air vehicles take less firepower to destroy than that one helicopter. It’s madness.
[/INDENT][/INDENT]

[INDENT][INDENT]And finally, I REALLY hate the teleportation core at the lambda complex. There are so many moments to have instant-death there its god-awful, mostly due to how buggy it is. The only other place where I died so often would have to be the helicopter battle at the cliff.
[/INDENT][/INDENT]

[INDENT]While some little moments could be done better, such as the microwave casserole, for the most part, they are done pretty good. Some could have been added in though, both from the original(Scientist falling off the collapsing tram catwalk) and something new(Getting food out of the other vending machine), but its not bad.
[/INDENT]

Overall, a lot of what I see in black mesa are things that should have been in Half-Life: Source in the first place, especially the graphics. While its not bad especially since its free, I felt that the level changes could have been done way better. I guess the best way to say it is that in a half-life game, I can usually find another way to do things and be rewarded for it, whereas in black mesa, I usually cannot. In some cases, I may even get punished with either a invisible barrier or taking me back to the last checkpoint. Not to mention this took 5 or more years to make, which is a really long time. In a way, I do feel sorry for the poor developers to put up with what they have. :[

For what its worth, black mesa is totally worth playing, whether or not you’ve played the original half-life. I certainly look forward to playing the Xen levels, even though the developers will no doubt be making many trips to and from hell to do so. But if you have not already, please, do get a copy of the original half-life and play it sometime! This mod is a overhaul, not a replacement. Shiny graphics don’t make up everything about a great game…

#76

[COLOR=‘Red’]Please stay on topic guys. Reviews, not bickering.

#77

BLACK MESA REVIEW[/SIZE]

I played Black Mesa over the course of about two months, very slowly and deliberately, and while paying close attention to as much of everything as I could take in. I played on normal difficulty, which I don’t feel the need to apologize for, being an average player looking for an average challenge. I reject these notions that average players are supposed to automatically play on easy, and that normal is actually for very skilled players and hard is for ‘elite’ players. It’s seems quite obvious just based on simple terminology that easy is for players who are looking for little challenge, normal is for players who are looking for average challenge, and hard is for players looking for significant challenge. But enough of that.

Please note that everything below is intended to be taken constructively. Bashing or criticizing just to criticize is silly, so hopefully this review will be taken in spirit in which it’s given, which is primarily to provide honest feedback, and secondarily to say thank you to the BMDT for an enjoyable (and free) gaming experience.

GRAPHICS 10/10[/SIZE]

BM’s graphics are simply superb and are easily its strongest suit. Maps are almost universally breathtaking and richly detailed and truly serve to update the Half Life experience in the most significant way possible. Characters and character animations are excellent as well, with the newly implemented facial variety being a refreshing change. Weapons look great across the board, animations are smooth and convincing, and the UI functions entirely adequately. Some specifics follow.

MAPS: I really can’t single out any of them as being better than others. They are all simply spectacular. I only noticed a very few misplaced textures or floating objects or strange water effects. By and large, the BMRF looks and feels like a real, living environment, thanks to a degree of skill and time and dedication on the part of the BMDT that I really can’t begin to comprehend. Outstanding work.

CHARACTERS: Favorites are the new zombies - both scientists and guards. There really are no weak spots here either though. Everything looks great and it’s all very convincing.

WEAPONS: I don’t share any of the negative views I’ve read about crowbar swings or anything like that. I had absolutely no problem with any weapons and found them all convincing.

USER INTERFACE: Rock solid.

SOUND 8/10[/SIZE]

Overall I found the sound design of Black Mesa to be adequate and at times inpirational, while at other times mildly irritating. Certainly no game breakers here though.

ENVIRONMENT / FOLEY: Most of this work was superb. Subtle room tones and 360 degree environmental sweeteners and effects generally served to enhance BM’s sense of immersion in a way that perfectly complimented the graphics, creating a totally convincing environment. The most prominent example of this I can think of is near the start of Blast Pit, when you first arrive at the rail station where the tracks wind out of sight around a curved wall in the distance. If you don’t recall anything special there, just go back and listen for a while. One mild disappointment was creature audio for the ichthyosaur, which I felt lacked fidelity to the Half Life version and was too muted and subdued.

VOICE ACTING: Also generally very well done, with scientist voices and the tram/PA work being the highlights. I didn’t care for the HECU voices, but it was less an issue with quality of work than with placement and questions of theme and art direction. I personally wouldn’t have made them what they are, but I can live with them.

WEAPONS: Everything was fine here, and I can’t relate to complaints about any lack of robustness in discahrge sounds. They were are all suitably convincing and effective.

SOUNDTRACK: Mildy disappointing in that the music, when it played, was generally too loud and over-compressed, causing ear strain and bringing about premature player fatigue. Generally, when a new piece played upon arriving at a new area, I would wait until it was over and then proceed. I like listening to game music this way, but I was also concerned I wouldn’t hear pertient environmental audio under the loud music. Aesthetically I liked the ambient and classical themes, but didn’t care for the rock and electronic pieces. The main theme and end credits pieces were the highlights.

GAMEPLAY 6/10[/SIZE]

Here is where I had some issues, unfortunately, finding my preferred stealth playstyle to be rendered invalid for the most part.

DIFFICULTY: It’s not that Black Mesa was terribly difficult in the big picture. However, I nonetheless found myself dying a lot, which is a buzzkill to me. I don’t really want to learn how to do something or overcome an obstacle by dying repeatedly and meta-gaming the curve to succeed. I’d rather at least have a shot at doing it right the first time. On normal difficulty I found that an HEV suit charge of 100 would often be reduced to nothing in a matter of seconds. More buzzkill, as I worked so hard to get it charged up only to see it blasted away by the curiously accurate and fatal pellet of a shotgun blast at 150 feet. Also, IMO ichthyosaurs should be more dangerous, and bull squids should be more inclined to charge.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: As has been lamented elsewhere to great extent, I found the HECU’s reaction time, accuracy, and inclination to shoot (and shoot well) at long distances irritating and immersion-breaking. Poking my head around the corner of a new room and having it promptly shot off, first thing, is not my idea of fun. As a stealth player I like to be able to sneak around and scout things out, which I was largely unable to do effectively in BM no matter how careful I was. One exception however are the assassins, which I thought were great fun. Ironically, they were vulnerable to stealth tactics. The Blast Pit tentacles were a bit disappointing in that their aural dependency seems to be nerfed or gone.

ENVIRONMENTAL: One gripe I have (and this is primarily with the Source engine I suspect, not BM), is the tendency to get stuck on random things like door knobs or any even mildly protruding surface of a wall. I can’t count how many times I had to endure being shot or electrocuted when I should have gotten to cover due to the fact that I somehow got stuck on what should have been a surface I just skimmed over or rolled off. Also - and I’m sorry for jumping on the bandwagon here, but - I hated crouch-jumping, largely because it seemed necessary to do it even for very short elevations. (I guess Gordon’s vertical jump isn’t too impressive, lol.) Further, there seemed to be some issues with blocking and line-of-sight. It was not uncommon, for example, to have an enemy lined up in the sites of the crossbow (on the rare occasion I could use it stealthily, ha-ha) and then find that the bolt didn’t make it there, despite no visible obstructions. Lastly, getting on and off ladders was cludgy. I know how it’s supposed to work; it just didn’t work that way all the time.

PERFORMANCE: For the most part BM played trouble-free. I believe I only had one crash throughout, and my framerate didn’t really suffer until toward the end, when it pretty much went in the toilet during the final Lambda Core jump episode. No real complaints aside from that though. The game seems to have been fairly well bug-tested in terms of performance issues.

OVERALL 8/10[/SIZE]

Despite my occasional whining above, I really have nothing to complain about. Black Mesa was an enjoyable experience and a fun distraction for me for nearly two months, and for that the BMDT has my gratitude and my admiration for staying the course on such a long and bumpy ride. Cheers. :slight_smile:

#78

Hey everyone, I am a huge fan of Half-Life series and I have just tried Black Mesa… Waited a long time for it, but it’s finally out :slight_smile:

Ok, let’s start:

  1. Music - Just EPIC! You have made an awesome music, thanks to the guy that made them :slight_smile:

  2. Sounds - One word, AMAZING! All in-game sounds, doctors, security guards, etc… Are just epic, great job!

  3. Models - They are great, too. Pure Source Engine style :slight_smile:

  4. Graphics - Awesome, total redesigning of Half-Life graphics, as we know them. They are 200% better now.

  5. Gameplay - It is really good, I taught that the little motion when you turn left or right would suck, but it’s opposite, they are GREAT!

You just love playing the great game with everything 100% better then before.
Overall opinion: THIS ROCKS!

Thanks Black Mesa Mod Team, wish you all the best in the future work on this project. Keep up the good work :slight_smile:

#79

First off, BMS is one of the best games I played in years. Big fat fun to play, great story, fantastic design, super awesome voice acting, amazing magical music, very polished and balanced gameplay too. Top enjoyment for eyes, ears, and brain. Deserves a game of the year rather than MOTY. Kudos to all contributors!

Few things annoyed me at times.

  • satchel charges do very little harm, are practically useless. I thow one into a group of doggies or soldiers, most of them survive.
  • the invisible edges of walls and objects are pretty large. I have to leave my cover quite far to get my shots past its edge. Shooting through grids or guard-rails involves a big amount of luck. With the crossbow I hit nothing when firing through a guard-rail.
  • on the other hand Ive seen AI grunts firing and hitting with their weapon deep behind a corner
  • the zoom function of the crossbow needs its own mouse sensitivity
#80

Lumbergh, I’m really sorry, but I cannot believe my eyes. O_o

In 2012, and you can still talk like that? :fffuuu:

HL2 had very well-designed environments. EP2 too. I think EP2’s environment’s are more well-designed than BM.

In 1998, HL1’s graphics were the bomb. In 2004, so were HL2’s.

But despite an update in 2007, as compared to other games today, Source really sucks.

Portal 2 holds up better, but it has been overtaken by GoW, and even more recent games like Hitman: Abs and FarCry 3. And in FC3 they dumbed down the graphics because open-world is very GPU intensive.

And compared to CryEngine and Frostbite 2, what is Source? I wouldn’t even call Frostbite 2 “stunning”, just “great”.

Perhaps you meant it differently, but I just wanted to point this out.

Given your extremely favorable comments in the first section, its surprising that you pulled out a 6/10. Interesting.

Sorry for my rant. I’m now gonna give my review.

I was a little disappointed when I first saw the released game as they had made much improvement to the maps.

The graphics are quite outdated. The game is not very immersive, and all of the HL2 series fare better in this aspect.
I think some of the maps are good, but most of them are very plain. Although there is some detail, it is quite repetitive. More could’ve been done to create a “fuller universe”.

There are some beautiful scenes, but unfortunately these are quite scarce.

The gameplay is standard, but I like the tougher zombies and houndeyes. Other than that, nothing much to say here.

Map loading occurs way too often. Now most computers can support larger maps, devs should take advantage of that.

The music is pretty good. Quite moving. An A-list soundtrack.

As for the characters, it seems that they have not implemented their “face-changer”. If they have it ain’t working very well. There are only one or two voices, completely ruining the immersiveness.

BM is a solid remake, but does not contain the “adventure-oriented” feel of HL1. I can say that it feels really boring in comparison.

Final thoughts: For a mod, it is pretty good. But if it had cost 40 bucks, I would not buy it.

My review may be too unfavorable for some, but I do hope the devs would stop bitchin’ with one another ( lol ) and consider the criticism. Thanks.

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.