Black Mesa, as you've probably heard 10000 times now, takes Half Life 1 and brings it to the modern day, both visually and in game play, many will say Half Life aged well, and compared to many other games of its time it did, but it still is pretty hard for modern gamers to go back and play, even I struggled my way through Half Life 1 due to many things that just aged poorly (I will forever live with PTSD from the pain on a rail put me trough)

to say I don't recommend Black Mesa would be to say I don't recommend Half Life, which would be a bold faced lie

now for people who have never played Half Life before asking "Black Mesa or Half Life" my answer is Black Mesa as I see it as the better game, now obviously it could not exist without the masterpiece that is the original, but I do think it is better

what I would recommend for people who have never played Half Life, play Black Mesa first then go back to the original game, but doing that, do keep in mind Half Lifes age and try and stay away from comparing it to Black Mesa


Edit after completion: Black Mesa in the final chapters that I will not name as to avoid spoilers but any Half Life fan knows the chapters I am referring to, blows it out of the water, these chapters in the original game always fell a bit far from what they could of been due to Valves at the time limited game development experience, its easy to forget that the masterpiece half life 1 is was Valves first ever game, but the later chapters fell short

Black Mesa corrects this and I would go as far as to say surpasses any of Valves works in 1 major area it wouldn't be a fair review if I did not spoiler it so spoilers ahead

Xen in Black Mesa is just incredible, the best looking Half Life game by far even surpassing Alyx even if graphical fidelity is technically worse, the art direction Black Mesa goes for with Xen is just incredible and the change in length to make Xen much longer is very much appreciated with just how beautiful it was made to be.


The Nihilanth boss fight is better then any boss fight in any of Valves own games, geuninly Crowbar Collective surpassed Valve with it

As a more recent Half Life fan, only playing Half Life 2 when it was made free with the release of Alyx but who has gone back to play Half Life 1, Crowbar Collective not just improved the game, they made the definitive Half Life 1 experience.

I consider this game the canon Half Life 1 because of that. For anyone whos unfamiliar, Valve lets fans decide canon, not in a way where the community controls the writing, but to summarize how Valve sees it "We just make games with stories, the player can decide what they see as canon" Valve has no official canon themselves that you have to listen to, so you as a player get to decide what you see as canon, and for me, Black Mesa is Half Life 1, its not only faithful in the small story changes it does make (nothing major just some additions that Valve never intended) but they fit the lore and story of the game, they respect the story Valve laid out and adds on top of it

overall, 11/10

Black Mesa, as you've probably heard 10000 times now, takes Half Life 1 and brings it to the modern day, both visually and in game play, many will say Half Life aged well, and compared to many other games of its time it did, but it still is pretty hard for modern gamers to go back and play, even I struggled my way through Half Life 1 due to many things that just aged poorly (I will forever live with PTSD from the pain on a rail put me trough) to say I don't recommend Black Mesa would be to say I don't recommend Half Life, which would be a bold faced lie now for people who have never played Half Life before asking "Black Mesa or Half Life" my answer is Black Mesa as I see it as the better game, now obviously it could not exist without the masterpiece that is the original, but I do think it is better what I would recommend for people who have never played Half Life, play Black Mesa first then go back to the original game, but doing that, do keep in mind Half Lifes age and try and stay away from comparing it to Black Mesa Edit after completion: Black Mesa in the final chapters that I will not name as to avoid spoilers but any Half Life fan knows the chapters I am referring to, blows it out of the water, these chapters in the original game always fell a bit far from what they could of been due to Valves at the time limited game development experience, its easy to forget that the masterpiece half life 1 is was Valves first ever game, but the later chapters fell short Black Mesa corrects this and I would go as far as to say surpasses any of Valves works in 1 major area it wouldn't be a fair review if I did not spoiler it so spoilers ahead [spoiler]Xen in Black Mesa is just incredible, the best looking Half Life game by far even surpassing Alyx even if graphical fidelity is technically worse, the art direction Black Mesa goes for with Xen is just incredible and the change in length to make Xen much longer is very much appreciated with just how beautiful it was made to be. The Nihilanth boss fight is better then any boss fight in any of Valves own games, geuninly Crowbar Collective surpassed Valve with it[/spoiler] As a more recent Half Life fan, only playing Half Life 2 when it was made free with the release of Alyx but who has gone back to play Half Life 1, Crowbar Collective not just improved the game, they made the definitive Half Life 1 experience. I consider this game the canon Half Life 1 because of that. For anyone whos unfamiliar, Valve lets fans decide canon, not in a way where the community controls the writing, but to summarize how Valve sees it "We just make games with stories, the player can decide what they see as canon" Valve has no official canon themselves that you have to listen to, so you as a player get to decide what you see as canon, and for me, Black Mesa is Half Life 1, its not only faithful in the small story changes it does make (nothing major just some additions that Valve never intended) but they fit the lore and story of the game, they respect the story Valve laid out and adds on top of it overall, 11/10