Your opinions: most/least improved chapter, weapon, enemy?

Black Mesa Archive The Cafeteria
#1

First of all, this game is amazing. I’m not just half-heartedly saying that either; I really feel it brings the whole concept of modding to a completely different level. Everything is so polished and professional, the thought that it had a practically non-existent budget and no publisher support is mind-boggling.

But anyway, now that the requisite praise is out of the way…
I’m curious how everyone feels the various elements of this game compare to the original. I mean, obviously the visual aspect of everything is improved across the board, but what did everyone think of the gameplay, balancing, usefulness of certain weapons, level design etc. in comparison to vanilla Half-Life? Here are my opinons, to start things off (emphasis on the word opinions).

Spoilers, obviously.

Most Improved Chapter: Unforeseen Consequences
Not only is it much more creepy (that zombie animation where it just rhythmically bashes its head repeatedly into a wall is fucking chilling), but I love the new-found sense of camaraderie you have with the survivors, and not just because Eli and Kleiner are there. Giving you the crowbar so late so you would have to rely on a security guard to get you through alive was brilliant- I never wanted a security guard to die from that point on. Also…headcrab in a microwave.

Least Improved Chapter: Surface Tension
This is admittedly just me being a nitpicky asshole. Surface Tension in the original game is my favorite hour-or-so of any FPS game to date, so my expectations were so high they were practically in fuckin orbit. This is the chapter where Gordon gets to go full-action hero in Half-Life, and that’s what I love about it. It’s so over-the-top and insane. Black Mesa is more difficult than standard HL though, and the enemies have a tendency to snipe you from a distance and tear your armor to shreds when they’re in groups of 2 or more. It all amounts to you needing to be much more careful, which removes the Gordon-Freeman-as-Rambo feel the original had. It’s still a standout chapter, but I just prefer the more run and gun style of the original.

Also, a few of my favorite scripted events were removed. Where is the alien grunt shoving a soldier through a wall, or the alien turret, or the tentacles rising out of the desert, or the moment where a marine throws a grenade into a pipe you’re climbing through and closes the hatch? I missed these things…but I have a feeling it’s just because I’m so attached to the original.

Most Improved Weapon: Hive Hand
After that surface tension rant I’ll be quick here. Basically, it’s actually useful now! Considering how accurate the marines are here, being able to shoot them while out of their line of sight is more of an advantage than ever.

I wasn’t ready for the animation of Freeman angrily fisting the hive-hand’s anus though…good God. My eyes, they cannot unsee that.

Least Improved Weapon: MP5(not counting crowbar)
This thing was my bread and butter in the original HL, here it’s just kind of “meh”. I mean, it looks and sounds great, and the grenade launcher is as glorious as ever…its bullets just don’t kill fast enough. I was surprised how little I used this against the marines. If it were just a little more accurate I’d like it, but weak and poor accuracy make it pretty much a fallback weapon when everything better is out of ammo.

Most Improved Enemy: Alien Grunt
I knew as soon as I saw a render of these things in the wiki that they would be fun as hell to fight, and they didn’t disappoint. There was nothing sleek about the design of these creatures in Half-Life- it’s like Gabe Newell requested “big monster” and the original model was e-mailed to him 5 minutes later. They looked like alien linebackers…they were big, but not scary. The one’s in Black Mesa though are terrifying as shit! It looks like their armor had to be applied surgically, and the way they charge you is intimidating as all hell (especially considering the derp-ey walk animation they had in HL).

Least Improved Enemy: Snarks (not counting headcrabs or barnacles, since that would be more a HL vs HL 2 discussion)
Basically, I’m just being a hater. I always thought fighting snarks in Half-Life was irritating as hell, and they’re exactly the same here. Once again, the design work in Black Mesa is gorgeous and impressive…I just hate this enemy type.

So what do you guys think? And if you actually read all that shit I wrote congrats on being king of the attention span.

#2

The ninja women, or black ops or whatever they are named, are WAY too easy (I’m playing Normal mode). They did only 40 damage to me and I blew them up with the MP5 grenades within 30 seconds. Sometimes they would run up to me and not fire their guns, and they’d linger long enough for me to pump them full of lead. I was expecting a real fight with them. After I killed them I couldn’t believe it and ran around for 5 minutes looking for more of them.

Edit: Okay, well I’ve beat the game since this post and I found the second fight with the black ops to be more of a challenge, and a lot of fun. Still relatively easy to kill, but harder in a larger group.

#3

SPOILER

The HECU ambush at the end of Questionable Ethics on hard. I decided to avoid listening to the song for this part until I played the mod, and I am so glad I did. That battle with the music had my heart pumping and I was on my toes each time. I died a lot, but I actually ended up strategizing my fight against the HECU’s (which helped me win a lot) and I just kept smiling. It was also nice to actually have to use my head during the battle, too many shooters either make it so you can run around and barely take damage, or you are forced to stay in one spot unless the game tells you to.

Seriously, this mod is way better then HL2, and even better (for me) than HL1. I haven’t actually enjoyed a game this much in YEARS

Hats off to the devs, Brav-fucking-O. Knowing how fun this mod is, I would gladly have accepted a 60$ price tag, and we get it for free.

#4

Haha, I thought they were ridiculously hard on Hard mode. I died sooo many times in the container room before [COLOR=‘Orange’]Lambda Complex. :fffuuu:

#5

I know. That Hivehand pick up animation…

#6

My sentiments exactly. I actually feel bad for this NOT costing money.

Most Improved Chapter: Unforeseen Consequences/ Questionable Ethics
I just can’t make up my mind between these two. UC looks and feels so much more real and alive and makes much more sense, but QE had it’s own huge make over and now has a title that makes sense. Also that surprise fight was so great, and the music to it was satisfying as hell.

Least Improved Chapter: Office Complex
Maybe the purist asshole in me is coming out, but I did not like how dark and dirty it was. I know, disaster, lights go out and stuff, close proximity, blah blah, but looking at every other chapter, it was too dark. I’m not gonna say it didn’t look amazing, or that I didn’t enjoy it, but the dark red look didn’t have as much nostalgia as it could have.

Most Improved Weapon: Glock
I found myself using this a lot more than I imagined. I’m not sure if it’s just me, but I used this in place of the MP5 (except when I needed the nicely improved grenade launcher), and my top 3 used in order are .357, Spas-12, Glock 17. It’s accurate, does about if not more damage than the MP5, and for some reason kills with it are so damn satisfying. Much more useful than it ever was. Which is a nice contrast to…

Least Improved Weapon: Spas (I’d say crowbar, but what could you improve with that?)
Ther’s not much to this weapon. It’s a shotgun, point and shoot is all it needs to do. Decent range and damage. Same formula as ever.

Most Improved Enemy: Houndeye
The houndeyes are actually a threat in this game. Originally they were just annoying hams with potential to hurt you a little, but not here. Not only are the effects amazing, but these little fuckers catch you while they’re in a group? You better run like hell and spray.

Least Improved Enemy: Blast Pit’s tentacle
I know there isn’t too much to do here, but I give it this not becase they didn’t add anything, but it’s functionality didn’t seem to work properly at times so they kinda went backwards, there. They either were too alert, even when you were crouching, or oblivious to everything, including you and your grenades.

#7

I agree with Unforeseen Consequences being one of the best improvements, but I’d go one up and vote for Blast Pit. I’ve always loved that sequence, and despite being shortened a tad, I still love it. Only now it doesn’t look like ass :slight_smile: The creatures are a bit harder to deal with, but the whole of that rocket test silo is just gorgeous.

My vote for least well adapted sections is split between On a Rail and Surface Tension, mostly because large chunks of both are clearly missing and both end up feeling very short. On a Rail, in particular, felt like a whole adventure in itself in the original Half-Life, with miles of train tracks and multiple stops necessary to open the way forward. Sure, it had a lot of padding, but I enjoyed the atmosphere. In Black Mesa, it feels like the whole section was cut apart and only the set-pieces stitched back together until it becomes little more than a footnote. I get the feeling the development team didn’t like the section and just decided cut it down to only what they strictly had to keep.

For weapons, I think the Gluon Gun got best deal of the lot, and that’s a hard choice when so many of the weapons are so cool. Its beam used to be unrefined crap in Half-Life but here? I can’t get enough of it. Same goes for the Tau Cannon to a lesser extent, since its beam is smaller. Personally, I think the crowbar got the raw end of the deal. It looks great, but its swinging animation just looks weird enough to where I can’t look past it.

#8

Agreed on the houndeyes. Those fuckers had me running for my life when I walked into that room in QE with a ton of them.

I still want to play through entirely before I answer something like OP, but I do have one enemy I’d like to mention.

Least Improved Enemy: BullSquid

Visually, it looks fantastic, and scary, but gameplay-wise…all it does is spit. Sure it does a lot of damage, and you have to avoid it, but they don’t charge you, they barely try to run away or avoid your fire, and you can antagonize them and if you run away they will stay in the room you left them as if you never even fired a shot at them. Right now they feel like sentry turrets with an acidic grenade launcher and a melee attack, instead of the “OHSHI” enemies they were on hard in HL1.

Most Improved Weapon (So far, this may change for me): Tau Cannon.
Seriously, this weapon is fucking amazing. I’m sure I’ll change to the Gluon gun once I get it, but holy fuck. The detail on everything, the “oomph” when you fire this baby, the charging/overheating effects it outputs:
SPOILER FOR TAU EFFECTS

And the way it gibs enemies, just HOLY FUCK. It puts a smile on my face every time I use it.

#9

I haven’t beaten the game yet, but here are my thoughts so far:

Most Improved Chapter: Questionable Ethics
I love the atmosphere and lighting now, especially in the very beginning when there is no sign of human life anywhere. Very creepy. I also liked the changes to the surgical equipment.

Least Improved Chapter: Surface Tension
I, too, miss all the cool scripted sequences that you mentioned. I’m unsure why they were removed. Additionally, I feel like the building containing all the explosives is much harder and more frustrating.

Additionally, as someone else mentioned, On a Rail and Blast Pit feel a lot shorter. I can only hope Surface Tension, On a Rail, and Blast Pit receive the chunks missing in the final release.

Most Improved Weapon: Hive Hand
For same reasons as above.

Least Improved Weapon: MP5
For same reasons as above.

Most Improved Enemy: Houndeyes, Bullsquids, & Grunts
I love the new effects given to the Houndeyes’ attack. I also love how terrifying the Bullsquids are now. I was actually pretty anxious around them at first, something that never happened in the original. However, the lack of a charging attack is pretty disappointing. Grunts are pretty terrifying now, too.

Least Improved Enemy: Vortigaunts/Black Ops
I’m not sure. They’re all pretty fantastic. One of my complaints would have would be with the Vortigaunts. While I’m aware their sounds were taken from Episode Two, it feels like their voices are pretty limited. I only hear about two tops when fighting them. But maybe that’s just me.

Or perhaps the Black Ops, now that I think about it. I found their animations kind of silly, to be honest, especially when they were flipping around for no reason. And I agree with the above poster: apart from their speed, they were pretty easy.

#10

Most Improved Chapter: Questionable Ethics
The atmosphere, the combat, the security guard companion, dat laser blasting dat gooey molten hole through the wall, dat surgical unit… so much to love about this chapter.

Least Improved Chapter: Forget About Freeman
For me, this whole chapter was just so… blah. At least when put up against the rest of the mod. Nothing really stood out as a super-awesome moment.

Least Improved Chapter, Honorable Mention: Lambda Core
Don’t get me wrong: this level is absolutely gorgeous, and I love each and every area redesign. I was just surprised that it remained so centered on jumping puzzles. This is a Half-Life remake, but jumping puzzles are an element of Half-Life that are almost universally complained about.

Most Improved Weapon: Gluon Gun
God, this weapon is just a joy.

Most Improved Weapon, Honorable Mention: Hivehand
I didn’t actually use it much - I only tended to use it at this point in the original game when I was hoarding ammo for my other weapons, and I didn’t feel as much need to do that in Black Mesa, so the Hivehand saw less use. But it gets props for the pickup animation alone.

Least Improved Weapon: Crossbow
The bolts had a frustrating tendency to whack into things en route to their target, throwing them off and making me miss. Seems like a hitbox issue of some kind.

Least Improved Weapon, Honorable Mention: .357 Magnum
I would have loved to use the ironsights, but they fell flat on their face: I thought I was aiming properly with them, but my shots never connected.

Most Improved Enemy: Headcrab Zombies
I love Black Mesa’s zombies. They’re disturbing again, which HL2’s weren’t. They’ve also got a nice, long reach, which makes them a more dangerous enemy than HL and HL2 players might be used to. They’re no longer just meatshields.

Least Improved Enemy: Tentacles
They look great, but they didn’t wreak enough destruction on the environment. I wanted to see great chunks of metal ripped off the silo walls; I wanted their beaks to come tearing through the walls of the silo after I’d made it through the doors. Also, while their deafening roars and clanging from Half-Life could get annoying, I found myself missing it a lot: they need to be louder, so you get a sense for how powerful they are.

#11

Assassins on hard are like the hardest enemy in the game to fight imo… invisible bit**** that deal quite enough of damage and are very hard to hit.
Too bad there were only a few of them.

#12

I just wanted to echo what everyone else is saying- Questionable Ethics was amazing. The only reason I went with Unforeseen Consequences over that chapter for my most improved was because QE was a better chapter in the original game to begin with. The Black Mesa version has all of the great moments of the original, but also sells it as a real place where people do research. And the snark canon, holy shit was that hilarious. Very Aperture Science.

Also, even though it was tough as nails, that HECU battle was so badass. I really hope the Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade reference was intentional (“Look what you did! I can’t BELIEVE what you did!”).

Another runner-up for me would be the garg in the most improved enemy category. Gargs have always been awesome, but when I first saw this thing I shit bricks. It’s somehow more intimidating than a tank/dinosaur hybrid sounds on paper. I love how it bends down and sweeps its flamethrower back and forth through doorways- WHAT A DICK MOVE.

#13

Bump. This thread is too young to die…:fffuuu:

#14

Just my experience - I couldn’t direct the tentacles to one side of the room, but what I COULD do was use a grenade to lure them onto a different level (either above or below me). A grenade on the same level made one tentacle attack there, a grenade on a different level moved them all up or down. This was on normal though.

#15

Most Improved Chapter: Questionable Ethics
All of the lab environments looked fantastic and were the most rewarding to explore for details and clever takes on the old maps. Whilst the three main labs already had distinct identities in HL1, Black Mesa does a fantastic job of differentiating them. I like how Anomalous Materials has this slightly lower priority funding feel to it: the antimasspectrometer is more industrial looking, everyone is using big CRTs. It feels like Black Mesa built AM twenty years ago, whereas the lab in Questionable Ethics is five years old tops.

Questionable Ethics was always one of the best chapters, but I was taken aback by how much genuinely new and exciting stuff there is. Best of all, I love the quiet intro to the level, the deserted lower levels with moody blue lighting and a single security guard holed up in an admin / cafeteria area (as opposed to being dumped in a random corridor, as in the original).

Least Improved Chapter: Residue Processing
Now, RP is something of a thankless chapter anyway: jumping puzzles and a nonsensical setting, as well as a lack of action (pacing wise it makes sense, but Half-Life is hardly short of its “Gordon Freeman slips under the radar” moments). I found it odd then that of all the chapters in the game, this was the one that seemed most faithful to the original. Not without merit by any means - dodging machinery in the sewer stream felt genuinely dangerous and there were welcome revisions to certain jumps… but I don’t think the remake would have been compromised by ad-libbing a little more daringly.

Weapons: Honestly, the guns operate pretty much as well (or as poorly) as they did in HL1. All look fantastic and sound great.

Most Improved Enemy: HECU Marines
A version of Half-Life in which already cunning Human opponents don’t blow themselves up with their own grenades? I’ll take that.

Least Improved Enemy: Bullsquid
AI-wise, there were a number of times when enemies would sort of switch off and fail to react to enemy fire (usually because I was a certain distance away, or because I was just around a corner). But it never seemed like the Bullsquid was ever ‘on’ to me. Seems to amble about aimlessly, takes too long to pick a shot, takes an age to notice you. Of course, once it spits at you it does a fair bit of damage, but I definitely feel like it worked better in HL1.

Miscellaneous Most Improved: Lambda Teleporter
This whole chamber was a massive wow moment for me (in fact, a vocalised “woah”). Huge, detailed, beautifully animated, attractively lit. What a high-note to go out on.

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.