So... Black Mesa

[Bagged Milk]

Music is great, better than the original.

Spoiler

My god, yes. That part made me feel like such a bad ass and it was all thanks to the music. although that broken elevator shaft at the end was really annoying since the soldiers kept bugging out and were almost impossible to kill

Also, it's set at least 15-20 years before Hl2. So Eli might not have developed his warm, fuzzy, amazing voice yet.

the jumping is pretty annoying as well.

 

[Olas]

Should I feel bad that this will be my first playthrough?

Damn strait. You should feel terrible. What's wrong? You couldn't fork over the measly $5 steam charges to download one of the greatest FPS classics of all time? How can you even call yourself a gamer?
But all joking aside, a part of me envies you since you'll get to experience everything in the game for the first time in this glorious new quality. Another part of me thinks having played the original will give me fuller appreciation of what this mod is and has done. Perhaps the mod will be so different it won't matter. Hopefully I'll begin finding out in about 46 minutes.

 

[K1CKER]

lol your speeds are funny

here`s mine:

I was actually thinking of replaying the old Half Life, good thing this came out before I did.

I envy you and you download speeds at my highest speed I push around 900kbs and you trippled looking forward to this my first half life game yay

uhm.. not sure if you misspelled or not but

900kbs = aprox 100KBs and 1MBs = 1000KBs

sooo my speed is actually aprox 60 times bigger that yours for this particular torrent

just sayin, 60x is a lot more than triple and my highest possible is ~10Mbs so 100x


anyway, it`s a shame you never played the original, it`s harder to appreciate the changes; hell this might not even be such a good game for 2012 if you don`t know the first one

 

[ToastiestZombie]

I'm currently downloading it and have waited so long for this. I actually wish they made a deal with Valve to make it retail because they really deserved to make money off of it. I would have gladly paid for it.

Damn servers! I want to play damnit! I've been waiting so long! Argh!

Will edit when I get to play.

The torrent only took about an hour-ish to download. And it should be even less now since there are even more seeds.

I don't get torrents, way too fiddly and risky in my eyes. Still, the download is at 1.9gb out of 3.1gb at 175kb/s. My internet is shit like that. I'm gonna wait.

Ouch 175kb/s if that is the best provider and speed in your area I would seriously move. I'm not even exaggerating. I thought my 2 MB/s was getting unbearable.

Well I can't exactly move since I'm 14, and I don't think my parents would really want to move just to get better internet. But, once BT or Virgin gets of their lazy arses and makes it so that my specific street can get fibre optic broadband then I'll get that, and hopefully it'll be better. My worst experience is probably waiting 4 DAYS to download Max Payne 3. It was about 27gb at 70kb/s at most. That shit was excruciating.

 

[DugMachine]

Great so far. The graphical update and layout changes are a welcome sight to such an aged game. Really enjoy the new character models as well. Getting back at it right now

 

[zombiekiller1907]

Good, I'm already downloading it. I've been waiting for this game for god knows how long. Now I wonder if they'll make an updated version of freeman's mind...

 

[SajuukKhar]

Im currently up to the hydroelectric dam, and I got to say the game is awesome.

They did cut some things, mainly On a Rail got major cuts in length, but overall its just SO DAMN GOOD.

Black Mesa really feels like an actual game, and not just a mod.

 

[dando300]

It is amazingly well made , I spent 90 minutes talking / harassing people before reaching unforeseen consequences.

 

[Saulkar]

Played it for a while (made it to the bottom of that horizontal elevator) and I must say I am enjoying far more than the original.

 

[SajuukKhar]

Well I beat it...... as much as anyone can beat a unfinished game that is...... gotta say, the Lambda teleporter, it's beautiful.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

The movement feels a bit weird as well, whenever you strafe the camera angles a little,

here's the website [http://release.blackmesasource.com/]

You can disable it, go into Options, Black Mesa, and tick disable view bob.

 

[ohnoitsabear]

I want to add that there are a few things in here that are improvements over the rest of the half life series. It's super nice to not have to worry about your flashlight running out, for example. And the gun mechanics are much improved over half-life 2 (at least, the guns I've used so far).

Also, this game is hard. As in. harder than the original. Just something you should know before going in.

 

[Patrick Buck]

Set it downloading now. Should take half an hour apparently. I'll watch Dr Who while I wait...
I'll need something to get angry at before I play, so I can take out my rage on a headcrab or two. :')

 

[Spitfire]

I've only played two chapters in, but here are my opinions of BM:S so far.

The developers did a great job updating the levels of the original Half-Life, though for some reason they're not quite as intuitive to play this time around, at least in my opinion.

The music is really good, and is more emotional and somber than in the original game.

Voice acting is.. good enough, I suppose, though nothing to write home about.
Of note is the voice of the security guards, with the voice actor pulling off a really convincing impression of Barney Calhoun. It's just a shame that he uses that same voice to portray Eli..

The movement feels a bit weird as well, whenever you strafe the camera angles a little, but I got used to it.

I don't know if this has been mentioned already, but you can adjust that in-game. Go into Options>Black Mesa, and either lower the View Roll, or click Disable View Bob.

 

[captaincabbage]

[EDIT] Holy shit, I expected at least a graphical upgrade but I didn't expect THAT! Entirely new sections, changes to setpieces, Kliener and Eli actually looking like their HL2 counterparts and more! This is all I wanted it to be and more. Also, the weapon models are amazing. Valve should hire these people now.

My Thoughts when meeting Kliener for the first time.: "Oh my god Kliener! You look so young!!"

OT: Yeah I've very impressed right now, I've just played past the first sections and am making my way back to the surface and everything I've seen so far has made my jaw drop.

Y'know when you're a kid and you play games, and you use your imagination to fill out the old polygonal worlds with detail? Black Mesa has brought to life how I always imagined HL1.

 

[Baron von Blitztank]

Looks like it downloaded overnight on Utorrent. Guess it didn't take 3 years after all!
Anyway, I've just completed it so what can I say about it?

What I Liked:
Removed several annoying parts of the original. Most favourably the escorts!
Looks and plays beautifully
AMAZING SOUNDTRACK
The voice acting is great
Feels like a LOT of effort was put into the long development time, especially for a mod.
Love the redesigns of the old Xen Aliens
Security Guards are now worth a squirt of piss when taken into battle

What I Didn't Like As Much:
AI is a little TOO good
Can get confusing when some parts of the original are skipped over
Loading times are much longer but there are fewer of them
Water seems to reflect everything but doesn't let me see through it unless I'm directly above it


What I Hated:
The jumping has somehow gotten worse
Crashed a few times. It fixed itself when I restarted but still...
Have to wait for Xen