Ahh, the oh so elusive Half-Life 3. If Valve announced or even just tweeted a cryptic message on Twitter about it being real or even just a possibility that it might be real, I’m positive the entire gaming community would go nuts. Just about everyone is still waiting for it even though the likelihood of it actually existing one day is slowly dying out.
But”¦ luckily we can quench our Half-Life thirst with the beautiful modern day remake of the original Half-Life dubbed as Black Mesa. Black Mesa is the award winning fan-made re-imagining of Gordon Freeman’s landmark journey through the Black Mesa Research Facility published and developed by Crowbar Collective.
Black Mesa was released all the way back in 5th May of 2015 where the Xen level, the end part of the game was still not completed and was not part of the Early Access. Players have been waiting a few years for this game to finish and finally the Xen trailer was revealed on the 20th anniversary of Half-Life. They plan to release it in the second quarter of 2019. Those who have already purchased the Early Access of the game will get it as a free download finally making the game complete after 4 years.
Now some people are angry that it took so long and some people are just happy that it’s coming. The way I see it, being a fan made project I salute these people for just making this remake. Clearly Valve had no plans of any Half-Life remake and Half-Life 3 is probably never happening, so being fans of the series and caring enough to give this to us is enough for me.
With fresh modern re-skins, updated graphics, New soundtracks, all new voice acting, some Crowbar Collective original gameplay parts and of course to top it off a boat load of nostalgia, Black Mesa is something the Half-Life community should celebrate because it’s been a long time coming. You can purchase Black Mesa from Steam or wait for a sale but it’s totally worth it either way. Time to wake up Mr.Freeman”¦
Let me start by saying that Crowbar Collective did such a beautiful job with this remake that I just hope Valve sees this and recruits them to make Half-Life 3. Hey it’s good to dream right? Well they did such a good job that it might just happen who knows.
In Black Mesa Gordon Freemans journey in the original half-life is beautifully overhauled in such a way that is great for the young gamers of this generation to get started with it and remains that much similar with the original that the veterans like us that played it so long ago will be hit with a dose of nostalgia.
Expect tremendously detailed environments, old-school tough-as-nails combat, and a gripping story with memorable characters. The all-new soundtrack, voice acting, choreography and dialogue create a more expansive and immersive experience than ever before and fits in beautifully with games of this era.
Black Mesa is currently in Steam Early Access and you can start playing 8-12 hours of the single player campaign and multiplayer deathmatch. Xen is not part of the Early Access release.
