Quote from: RagingDragon on Mar 08, 2014, 12:15:22 AM
Spoiler
Quote from: Vertigo on Mar 08, 2014, 12:12:29 AM
Just finished Black Mesa, with the additional mods to extend We've Got Hostiles, On A Rail and Surface Tension.
In case you don't know, Black Mesa is a complete remaking of the first Half-Life, in the Source engine, that's been put together by a modding team over the last nine years. They don't use any existing assets, except for a handful of things that're in Source anyway (headcrab models, some HEV suit noises), and the game isn't a direct port, more a re-imagining, within the context of modern technology and gameplay tropes. Still follows the same story, although there's no Xen currently as the final chapters are being developed for Black Mesa's 'retail' release on Steam.
It's very slick, there are barely any stability issues, and it's hard to believe it was all developed pro-bono outside the studio system. It feels not only like a professional game, but an extremely good and well-made one. The levels are jam-packed with detail, the combat's exciting, the level design is brilliant, the lighting in the maps is spectacular.
The funny thing is that Source isn't some cutting-edge technological showpiece anymore, and is almost as old-hat as HL1's Goldsource was at the time Black Mesa began development. But the levels are so well lit, textured and decorated, that the game looks utterly gorgeous nonetheless. Sensational piece of work, and the best game I've played since Portal 2.
I do have Half-Life 2, though I haven't played it in a while. To be honest, I've never been a fan of HL2. I don't like the drab, grey environment of City 17, or the small pool of enemy types, or the weapon feel, or the vehicle handling, or that none of the questions left hanging at HL1's conclusion were answered, or that you spend so little time with the NPC characters. I wasn't even particularly blown away by the graphics at the time, though it's nice they've added HDR lighting and better textures since then.
I remember after I'd first played it, back in the day: I realised I'd played something groundbreaking, not really like anything else before, and that it had made a deep impression. But I hadn't enjoyed it, and looking back through the chapter select, the only levels I felt remotely compelled to replay were the final levels in the Citadel.
Loved the episodes though, particularly 2. It resolved most of my issues with HL2 - getting out of ugly-arse City 17 for some stunning woodland and creepy subterranean nests, more enemy types presenting radically different combat, a
vastly improved vehicle section, memorable setpieces, a sense of ongoing narrative, a highly impactful sense of emotional involvement, and some astonishingly well-implemented NPC companionship which also alleviated the inherent loneliness of a single-player FPS. Episode 2's actually one of my very favourite games.
