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Black Mesa vs Original Half-Life
By G_Sergeant
This article focuses largerly on the major and important changes introduced in Black Mesa, since there's a large number of changes and covering them might take forever.
   
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Created by
G_Sergeant
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Category: Gameplay Basics, Modding or Configuration, Walkthroughs
Languages: English
Posted
Updated
6 Jan, 2017 @ 5:48am
4 Aug, 2023 @ 7:36am
7,950 Unique Visitors
64 Current Favorites
Guide Index
Overview
Notable Differences 
Multiplayer changes 
Weapon differences 
Gameplay changes 
AI Differences 
Level design changes 
Engine Improvements 
Differences between Steam and Free version of Black Mesa. 
Comments
Notable Differences
  • Levels were remade entirely from Scratch, using new assets Making them generally better looking.
  • Added Screen tilt similar to CD-Retail version of Half-Life.
  • High quality models with higher poly count for every object, enemy, ally ... etc
  • New Weapons models.
  • New First time weapon Pick-up animations.
  • Higher Quality textures made entirely from Scratch.
  • Improved character dialogues and all new voice acting.
  • All new sound effects.
  • New and original Music.
  • Blood and Hazards can splatter on your viewmodel (hands and weapons) [Disabled in the latest version].
  • Hazards can splatter on enemies and allies [Disabled in the latest version].
  • Improved physics.
  • Improved visuals and water effects.
Multiplayer changes
  • Multiplayer character customizer, allowing players to change character details like swapping their faces.
  • Multiplayer hand model will change depending on the character you select (Scientist hands, HEV Gloves or H.E.C.U Gloves or G-Man Suit or Security Guard hands).
  • New Multiplayer round announcement system.
  • Multiplayer Character-specific pain and death sounds.
  • Multiplayer Top 3 Players medals.
Weapon differences
  • Hand grenades now have an alternate fire mode.
  • The Shotgun takes longer to reload.
  • The Shotgun crosshair is bigger.
  • The Shotgun has been modified to be less effective on far targets.
  • Tau Cannon has no Kick back in Singleplayer.
  • Unlike the original Half-Life, Tau Cannon shots cannot penetrate through walls.
  • Snarks don't jump while chasing a Player.
  • Snarks don't chase the owner in Multiplayer.
  • Glock 17 Max ammo Reduced from 250 to 150.
  • .357 Magnum Max ammo Reduced from 36 to 12.
  • MP5 Max ammo per clip has been reduced from 50 to 30.
  • MP5 Max bullets Reduced from 250 to 150.
  • MP5 Max Grenades Reduced from 10 to 3.
  • SPAS-12 Shotgun Max shells Reduced from 125 to 64.
  • Crossbow Max ammo Reduced from 50 to 10.
  • RPG Max Rockets raised from 5 to 6.
  • Tripmine Max Raised from 5 to 6..
  • Crossbow Reload time increased.
Gameplay changes
  • Semi-automated crouching for mid-air jumps, similar to Half-Life 2.
  • Semi-automated Ladder climbing, Players can only move up-down and press use or jump to dismount (Not applied to Multiplayer).
  • a "Sprint Mechanic" was added, but with unlimited Stamina.
  • Long jump module can now be activated by simply pressing jump button mid-air instead of crouching then pressing jump button.
AI Differences
  • Headcrabs can now be killed with a single Crowbar hit.
  • HECU Soldiers act more like Combine soldiers and they follow a similar Squad behavior.
  • Bullsquids can no longer be distracted using meat gibs or dead Headcrabs.
  • Allies don't react to getting hit by enemies unless they're facing them.
  • Unlike the original game, Female Assassins don't investigate noise locations.
  • Tentacles no longer seem to enter their idle state when not hearing anything, and their attacks seem randomized forcing the player to throw more grenades to make sure they're distracted.
Level design changes
  • We got Hostiles indoor storage rooms and outdoor area were expanded to be larger, Forcing the player to slow down and take cover more often.
  • Removed the Rotating platform / lift challenge in the power generator room of Blast pit.
  • Surface Tension outdoor areas were expanded to be larger, Forcing the player to slow down and take cover more often.
  • On a Rail received a major re-design, players are no longer required to shoot arrows to change the railing direction, in addition, some of the areas were cut to make the level slightly shorter.
  • a new gimmick was introduced in On a Rail in the rocket section that leads to surface again, it involves disabling the lock-mechanism to prepare the Rocket for release.
  • The outdoor section of On a Rail was expanded to be larger, Forcing the player to slow down and take cover more often.
Engine Improvements
  • Black Mesa uses a newer version of Source engine, Unlike Half-Life 2 includes more advanced particle effects, hardware-accelerated facial animation, Cascade shadows, and support for multi-core processor rendering among other improvements.
Differences between Steam and Free version of Black Mesa.
If you want to know the differences between the Steam and the Free version of the game, Visit the Next thread to review a list of changes and new features.

Black Mesa Steam vs Free version.
13 Comments
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Comedy_Gold 4 Aug, 2023 @ 6:05am 
@noah This is possible to change with the on a rail uncut mod by chon kemp, however you can only change the railes at specific sections rather than just shooting the signs
noah 24 Apr, 2022 @ 11:02am 
How is it that I'm supposed to change rail directions? I've tried shooting the signs like in the original game (and then came across this guide saying that it doesn't work), and then spammed my use key on anything around the direction indicator that even looks like a switch to no avail.

Did they just remove the puzzle part of that part of the game? That was one of my favorite sections of the original Half-Life, flipping all the signs to see all the places the train would go. I understand not everyone shares that sentiment, but it seems kinda silly to nerf an entire section of the game because it's not obvious enough.
G_Sergeant  [author] 16 Mar, 2020 @ 4:04am 
@🆃🅸🅻🅳🅴 ⌬ yeah..... this article is a bit outdated now.
T͠ilde 16 Mar, 2020 @ 12:40am 
"Forcing the player to slow down and take cover more often."

Too bad this is impossible with the new AI
Remagen 23 Sep, 2018 @ 11:17pm 
Small detail: In SOME versions of Half-Life the smg is replaced with an AR-15 but with no stat changes.
Yorch 19 Dec, 2017 @ 2:10pm 
And last, original has Xen.
ThisIsMyToon 30 Sep, 2017 @ 7:45pm 
teah but that doesn't impact the game itself in any meaningful way to most people, and imo the original has aged, not very poorly, but it has aged quite a bit
PunkLady 27 Sep, 2017 @ 10:14am 
Tbh, the original has its flaws but I really love the original. I haven't played the black mesa in full, and I plan to, but, I will say, I really hate how it's harder to speed run black mesa, they added certain things to block you from doing things...and I think they removed bunny hopping :/
Tzanetos 19 Sep, 2017 @ 12:44pm 
Which game do you think is better?
DodoFTW 19 Sep, 2017 @ 2:47am 
I believe once Xen is released, the capacities will return because of 2 bosses Gonarch and Nhilianth.