Update Two Hundred and Eighteen: 25 August 2018
Black Mesa
22 hours, 25 of 25 achievements
5/10
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
It’s about fuckin’ time, huh?
Half-Life 2 was a big part of my adolescence, and as much as I knew dumb lore about it, I never played the original Half-Life. I’m a bit of a haughty bitch when it comes to graphics, so going back and playing very old early 3D games is hard for me. Luckily, with Black Mesa, now I don’t need to!
I don’t know how good of a thing that is.
Playing this was hard. Not hard as in difficult (that’s what buddha mode is for) but just hard as in… about 60% of the way through the game Madison and I were going ‘cool, when is this over?’ and we had 40% more shit to do, which is why it took so long. There’s sparklings of greatness, of where Half-Life 2 springs from, but it’s so bogged down in just repetitive environments and uninspiring gameplay. Half the time we had no idea where the fuck we should be going, and by the time I finished objectives I’d forgotten why I had to have done them. We took turns playing because one person playing straight was just too god damn fatiguing.
Since I know enough that virtually everything in the game had changed, but not from what, I don’t know how much I can put the responsibility on Valve or on Crowbar Collective. Whoever was responsible for the ‘Residue Processing’ should be frowned at until they feel really uncomfortable and sad about themselves. I would have given up at that point and just shelved the game had it not been for all the work we had already put in to do the fucking hat achievement.
When one of the most satisfying moments of a game is getting to shout ‘FUCK YOU!’ at the screen because we finally put the fuckin hat in the fuckin portal and that meant we didn’t have to play the game anymore, it’s not great.
Here’s what Madison had to say about it:
“So I originally thought Black Mesa was a pretty 1-to-1 reskin of Half Life but apparently that’s not the case? Man. I gotta rewrite my review. Okay. Let’s see….
Man this thing was a slog. I wonder if the original Half Life 1 was this aggravating and long? I wonder if it was this poorly sign-posted and designed. It was difficult to get through, and whatever touch-ups they did… Eeesh. I don’t know, was the original better or worse?
Who can tell! But this was troublesome. Good in parts, but not so good in others- knowing that it was pretty heavily reworked, I can feel like the Crowbar Collective was VERY MUCH TRYING to be Valve-like. And they… messed it up in some spots.
Half Life this is not.”
Next up: A game that’s been sitting in my backlog for years AND one that is coincidentally very fitting for WEIRD AUGUST? Tsupertsundere and Tsupergirlfriend play -
See you soon!
half life is constantly praised as godgabens gift to gamers but as I dislike FPS games I couldn’t slog through more than up to the swamp in the second one let alone touch the first one
good luck with among the sleep it looks scary…I’ve been pushing aside all horror games but after soma idk anymore >_<
tell me how it goes :3
I don’t mind FPS gameplay, but like everything else I need a really strong story to get me through, or a really interesting world to explore. Not just the same rusty damaged metal pipes and hallways. I swear to god the fourth time I saw big complicated array of metal platforms and railings and stairs I like groan-shouted out loud.
There’s SOME variation of place, but not enough, and it’s always a good half hour or 45 min past where we’d been begging ‘PLEASE SOMEWHERE NEW’. I never felt that with HL2.
We will! I’ve been feeling peppy this weekend, so we might begin to take a crack at it today - during the daytime.
I didn’t realize Black Mesa was a reskin of HL 1. I only recently finished Half Life 1, and although there are some props to give, I didn’t enjoy it all that much myself. Particularly that final boss, and some very annoying (and mildly confusing sequences). Luckily I was able to speedrun some areas, through some sheer luck, but I also share the sentiment of “Please let this be over soon”.
I appreciate the continuing additions of Madisons reviews in this, getting two people for the price of one post :3.
Among the Sleep is something I need to get to as well. Pretty sure it was one of the first 25 to 50 games in my library (I’m over 1,100 now), and still haven’t touched it. Looking forward to (possibly both) your reviews on it to know what I have yet to experience. Keep fighting on Assassins! ^_^
At first I thought it was the same thing - a reskin - but apparently a great deal was changed. So much so that Madison rewrote her whole review once I passed on some dev updates and forum posting. It’s an ‘updated, modernized’ version.
Oh yeah, and we didn’t even play through Xen yet - they’re still working on those levels. I’ve heard negative things about the original Xen levels, soooo I’m not looking forward to when it actually comes out.
Awww, thank you! Yeah, I like it, too! It gives a different perspective, and I like including her in a hobby (review writing) that I previously used to do just by myself.
We’ll get on it! Thank you for your really sweet comments! Yeah, fighting!
Reminds me of playing the original Deus Ex a few months ago. I felt pretty much the same: “Let that be over soon!”. There are old classics that translate well into a modern gaming world and ones that simply do not, no matter how great or groundbreaking they were at their time. That’s unfortunate for those that never experienced them in the first place, but on the other hand there are so many good games out there worth playing…
It reminds me of our little discussion we had when I posed the question whether the release date of a game influences the way you see a game…it’s just hard to measure old games to the same standards as modern ones. And yes, Black Mesa is not just simply a 1-to-1 reskin, but I think my points still hold true.
When you’re not there to experience a particular classic during its moment, you’re still able to get an equivalent effect - experiencing everything that that classic influenced, and all the ways those new things improved upon the original. Like how leftovers from a great meal return to the soil to grow more good food!
Yeah, absolutely. That was one point that helped us continue through - to see the bones on which Half-Life 2 grew from. It’s all context.
Also seeing all the little places the G-Man popped up. I kept spotting him but Madison was always too slow!
I never thought about it like that, but you make a good point. It’s completely right that we today experience the legacy of older titles in form of new games. I guess it’s just harder to see and therefore I never thought about it that way.
Yeah, so probably that holds true for most of the classics, that don’t look too hot today anymore. I’ll try to think like you two did next time I’m stuck in a classic game :)
Some experiences can’t be salvaged, but I hope it can help those that can! That’s a really flattering thing to say and I appreciate it, Vito!
I enjoyed Among the Sleep. I didn’t know there was an ehanced edition. Hope you both have fun
Neither did I, though apparently this update was all the way back in 2017.
I’m looking forward to it! It looks really interesting, and I really like the update added a museum-like exploration of the game’s assets and progress stuff. That was my favorite part of the Stanley Parable and I’m glad to see that concept return as a way to showcase the art and design of a game.