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Hypetrain: Black Mesa Source
by Tom
24.12.08

If you look at the video game market today then you’ll see a swarm of remakes clogging places like XBOX live or the PSN, when thinking of major remakes two games come to mind: Bionic Commando and Black Mesa Source. The latter is a remake of Half Life, made in 1998 by Valve, it is one of the most influential games in the FPS genre.

The game itself puts you into the role of Gordon Freeman, a scientist working in the Black Mesa research facility. Plot-wise: an experiment goes wrong and opens up another dimension. Freeman, our protagonist, goes to look for help, finds that the Government wants to cover up the incident and then tries to escape the Black Mesa facility. The story may seem a little generic but all the pieces in the game really add up, making the total experience greater than the sum of the set pieces. The aliens are cool and impressive, the army grunts have a terrific AI, better than most games today, the sound is perfect for creating a bleak solitary atmosphere in Black Mesa. In short it’s a brilliant game and a fresh lick of paint is all that’s needed to freshen-up the game to make it stand alongside it’s newer sequels in the franchise.


Since those humble beginnings, Valve have gone on to make numerous successful games. Half Life 2, its sequels Episode 1 & Episode 2, two online shooters Team Fortress 2 and Counter Strike Source, and the revered Puzzle game, Portal. And each game is a classic brining in something new to the FPS genre and hence dominating sales with games like the Orange Box (which by the way is a must buy, 5 genre defining games for £20!). As you can see Valve practically dominate the genre with classic after classic games.

It came as a surprise then that Black Mesa Source was not developed by Valve, instead being made by a small independent group. The group are updating the game using both the upgraded physics and graphics engine of Half Life 2. It would be easy to dismiss a fan made product as lousy and full of problems; however after following Black Mesa Source for a year now I’m convinced, this is has the potential to be great, in fact the most extensive game mod yet. The graphics, soundtrack, voice acting, are all on par with some of the best games in the market today. So I’m looking forward to it. It is set for download on the PC at some point in 2009 for PC, but I’m hoping that a company will snap it up and make it downloadable on the PSN or XBOX live. So if you're new to the Half Life games (or played the really bad console ports) download it and play one of the most awesome games ever created. If you’ve played Half Life before go retro and remember how brilliant the game is, in full Source engine glory.

Black Mesa Source trailer: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/43237.html

Tom

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- Tom

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