Half-life:
The time taken for the radioactivity of a specified isotope to fall to half its original value.
If you ever played the original Half-Life (1998) then the picture above may well fill you with nostalgia and if not, one day it could. Black Mesa (2013) is a remake of the aforementioned title created by fans of the original. Black Mesa faithfully adapts from the original source material, whilst including events that help it to stand slightly separately from it's counterpart along the way. Two examples featured below show new events/dialogue that occur soon after you take your first step off the tram heading deep into the facility towards sector C, where disaster looms.
These moments help the experience feel fresh for players - like myself - who 'hopped' through the original game multiple times and know many of the locations and scripted events like the back of their hand. This well versed knowledge of the game has created (in my own experience) an obligatory need to prevent scientists and security guards heading towards scripted paths of predestined death (that blast door always go down before the scientist can trip the claymore midway through the game). They never thank you though, they stand mute, confused and shuffling awkwardly in the advent of a continued existence. It's hard not to relate here, the realism is spot on.
Half Life was one of the first games to take out the cut scene element of gameplay, making for a much more personal and continuous feeling journey, despite the occasional "loading" pop up icon as you advanced down a corridor into the next location. Gordon's character is never revealed within the single player campaign and his thoughts and appearance are omitted, that is until multiplayer and add on storylines approached the events that occur around Gordon from perspectives of different characters. The moment shown in example 1, invites the player to consider these wider portrayals of the character, then contextualise them (because ponytails have apparently lost their 'cool' in recent times). This also enforces the idea that whilst a remake, sometimes the same is different. The dialogue of "you cut the ponytail" possibly encourages players to visualise the more modern Gordon of Half life 2 onwards that is depicted through artwork existing outside of the game world (the front cover of Half Life 2 for example). This relation to half life 2, brought me to place this game more inline with recent series installments, which is a good thing. The original game had become so distant from its successors due to its aging aesthetics. Thankfully, some things have stayed consistent within the history of Half Life, as Gordon hasn't been given a forced identity to prolong the series (Isaac Clarke - Dead Space, you suck). Into role play? Then take on the role of Gordon Freeman.
Both Half Life and Black Mesa play out as a mix between first person shooter and to a lesser degree, puzzle genres, with the original catchphrase of the game being the apt "Run, Shoot, Think, Live". An experiment goes wrong early on within the events of the game and the player soon finds themselves in an increasingly uncontrollable situation as aliens and humans alike stand against them in their attempt to escape. with an army of aliens and well... the army trying to stop you; a mere scientist, you soon find yourself armed to the teeth with complex weaponry that you can fire with ease. What do they teach trainee scientists?! It's fun however, so ignore rationality. Black Mesa heralds back to a time before regenerative, screens of red became the norm and so health and armour play an intrinsic part within your approach to each situation. This gameplay element works well for the game, as an atmosphere of survival and danger is ever present. The shiny new graphics are a welcome addition but also bring me back to example 2 (pictured above). This example glimpses the thoughts of the creators through playful, reflective voices. A group of scientists can be overheard discussing the relevance of replicating an experiment, one scientist suggests that the replication of a dated experiment allows a modern perspective to see how far things have advanced since. Is this progression achieved through Black Mesa? The scientific term Half-Life is defined as the time taken for an isotope to lose half of its radioactivity, after all. It is true that Black Mesa appears much more visually advanced than the original (pictured below), but whilst the visual aesthetic of the original has aged over time, the gameplay itself has proven it was always ahead of its time. A playthrough of Black Mesa supports this, never getting dull or the controls awkward. What Black Mesa achieves is an ability to bring a great game back into relevance, ponytails cut, with an attractive appeal to modern gamers and as mentioned earlier, brings the original Half Life closer to it's sequels which appeared much later on. I won't mention Half Life 3 here...
Download, shoot, think, love.
Half Life was one of the first games to take out the cut scene element of gameplay, making for a much more personal and continuous feeling journey, despite the occasional "loading" pop up icon as you advanced down a corridor into the next location. Gordon's character is never revealed within the single player campaign and his thoughts and appearance are omitted, that is until multiplayer and add on storylines approached the events that occur around Gordon from perspectives of different characters. The moment shown in example 1, invites the player to consider these wider portrayals of the character, then contextualise them (because ponytails have apparently lost their 'cool' in recent times). This also enforces the idea that whilst a remake, sometimes the same is different. The dialogue of "you cut the ponytail" possibly encourages players to visualise the more modern Gordon of Half life 2 onwards that is depicted through artwork existing outside of the game world (the front cover of Half Life 2 for example). This relation to half life 2, brought me to place this game more inline with recent series installments, which is a good thing. The original game had become so distant from its successors due to its aging aesthetics. Thankfully, some things have stayed consistent within the history of Half Life, as Gordon hasn't been given a forced identity to prolong the series (Isaac Clarke - Dead Space, you suck). Into role play? Then take on the role of Gordon Freeman.
Both Half Life and Black Mesa play out as a mix between first person shooter and to a lesser degree, puzzle genres, with the original catchphrase of the game being the apt "Run, Shoot, Think, Live". An experiment goes wrong early on within the events of the game and the player soon finds themselves in an increasingly uncontrollable situation as aliens and humans alike stand against them in their attempt to escape. with an army of aliens and well... the army trying to stop you; a mere scientist, you soon find yourself armed to the teeth with complex weaponry that you can fire with ease. What do they teach trainee scientists?! It's fun however, so ignore rationality. Black Mesa heralds back to a time before regenerative, screens of red became the norm and so health and armour play an intrinsic part within your approach to each situation. This gameplay element works well for the game, as an atmosphere of survival and danger is ever present. The shiny new graphics are a welcome addition but also bring me back to example 2 (pictured above). This example glimpses the thoughts of the creators through playful, reflective voices. A group of scientists can be overheard discussing the relevance of replicating an experiment, one scientist suggests that the replication of a dated experiment allows a modern perspective to see how far things have advanced since. Is this progression achieved through Black Mesa? The scientific term Half-Life is defined as the time taken for an isotope to lose half of its radioactivity, after all. It is true that Black Mesa appears much more visually advanced than the original (pictured below), but whilst the visual aesthetic of the original has aged over time, the gameplay itself has proven it was always ahead of its time. A playthrough of Black Mesa supports this, never getting dull or the controls awkward. What Black Mesa achieves is an ability to bring a great game back into relevance, ponytails cut, with an attractive appeal to modern gamers and as mentioned earlier, brings the original Half Life closer to it's sequels which appeared much later on. I won't mention Half Life 3 here...
Download, shoot, think, love.
The link below will take you to the developers site, allowing you to download the game for free.
http://www.blackmesasource.com/
http://www.blackmesasource.com/
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