After 15 years of being in development, the fan-made-turned-official recreation of Half-Life, Black Mesa, was finally released in March this year, only to have a definitive edition already in the works!
If someone were to ask me what first-person shooters will come under the best of all time, I would, without a shred of doubt, claim that Half-Life is at least a candidate for the top spot.
I mean, it really wouldn’t come off as that big of a surprise, will it? That game singlehandedly revolutionized the first-person shooter genre, featuring a full-fledged story chock full of lore, graphics that were quite ahead of its time, and the use of real-time sequences instead of cutscenes, making it one of the most immersive games of its generation.
Of course, the game really didn’t age well, especially when compared to its sequel and Portal.
However, 15 years ago, someone took it upon themselves to rebuild Half-Life using the source engine instead of GoldSrc. The super ambitious project came into existence as Black Mesa.
The project was so good that even Valve decided to officially back it and help in its development, and as it stands, it is one of the best ways to experience Half-Life once more.
Or is it?
Looking to surpass itself in every way, Black Mesa’s developers revealed a ‘Definitive Edition’ of the game along with a huge blog post, explaining all the changes that will be coming to the game through this version.
This edition will bring a lot of retexturing to the game, along with some modifications to the locales to bring them more in line with the original Half-Life.
The Beta version of this edition has also changed enemy placements, smoothing the collision detection, and many other gameplay and quality of life improvements. Not to mention, the workshop support for the game has also been vastly improved, making it much more accessible.
Regardless, I’d say that once this edition is entirely out of its early access phase, it’ll be the best way to experience the fantastic story of Half-Life and everything the original game offered.
| Minimum Specs | Recommended Specs | |
| OS | Windows® 7 (32/64-bit)/Vista or Greater | Windows® 7 (32/64-bit) or Greater |
| Processor | 2.6 Dual Core Processor or Greater | 3.2 Quad Core Processor or Greater |
| Memory | 6 GB RAM | 8 GB RAM |
| Graphics | 2 GB Dedicated Video Card or Greater | 4 GB Dedicated Video Card or Greater |
| DirectX | Version 9.0c | Version 9.0c |
| Storage | 20 GB available space | 20 GB available space |
About Black Mesa
Black Mesa is a first-person shooter video game, developed and published by Crowbar Collective.
It serves as a retelling of the original Half-Life and has been made using the source engine, featuring improved graphics, gameplay and quality of life improvements.
Black Mesa was released on Steam, after 15 years of development, on March 6th, 2020.
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