This game is a masterpiece
>>720735636Up until Xen it’s great. Fuck Xen. Goes from a 10/10 shooter to 8/10
>>720735636I like it way more than HL2, in fact, I don't like HL2.But if I were to replay it I would rather play Black Mesa, even if HECU is more annoying.
No, it irrecovably ruined the FPS genre
>>720735925Here comes the quake autist
>>720735719whats the issue with xen?
>>720736130Gameplay sucks. Everything about Black Mesa is carefully laid out to give a good experience. It all makes sense. You aren’t fighting with retarded low gravity controls or extremely awkward jumps while ALSO shooting at an enemy who’s hitting you from 2 floors above you.
>>720735719Xen is a huge pile of shit
alf thread, KYS
>>720736845the movement in hl1 is the tightest thing about the entire game, there are zero awkward jumps in xen and by that point of the game you have the jump pack allowing you to zoom all over the placethe map layouts are exactly the same as the entire rest of the game, it is literally just a straight tunnel going from point A -> B, with the occasional side track for extra ammo. there is absolutely no way you can get lost or be confused on where to goxen enemies spawn in with a huge animation and sound, and have sound cues whenever they idle, aggro and attack, all the xen enemies have projectile or chargeup attacks that you can dodge and sidestep unlike the HECU marines in the earlier stagesdirectional sound in goldsrc is pinpoint accurate, you cannot be confused on where they are attacking you from and they are objectively more 'fair' to play againstthere are no situations where you need to do """jumping puzzles""" as you are dealing with enemiesIts been years and I still have never seen anyone actually able to articulate a functioning argument on why xen supposedly suck
>>720737998>there are zero awkward jumps in xenThat’s simply not true. >the map layouts are exactly the same as the entire rest of the game, it is literally just a straight tunnel going from point A -> B, with the occasional side track for extra ammo.By the end of Xen you are starving for ammo + the combat is completely different from the rest of the game which encourages short range fire fights whereas now you are fighting enemies across the entire map, flying up in the sky, shooting at you while you go up multiple platforms etc. This not how the game played before at all.
I started a replay of it yesterday. Meh. You need to be in a specific mood to play it to get the most out of it. HL1 gets by with a lot of shit because it never really takes away the natural controls of the gameplay, but that gameplay in question isn't up to par with a lot of FPS games even older. Combat with HECU just doesn't feel right and it gets interrupted very frequently with traversal and puzzles. People shit on keyhunts in classic FPS but all the greats also have high volumes of combat by comparison and have proper stun and pain states. I put Half-Life down and started up Blood on Well Done and had more fun.
>>720735719Xen is what makes HL. Without that it feels incomplete like a generic shooter without bite really.When the accident happens and you get to take a glance at it, you feel like you want to see more of it. And then the game just gets you there (The first time you do is very memorable) and the world being human agnostic requiring you to long jump everywhere is what sells it as a proper border world. That's why I think BM ruined the feel, it looks like a weird amazonian jungle where humans could adapt to live, and becomes a bit like a generic alien world from oddworld with normal physics. It's almost welcoming in a sense.
>>720738439>That’s simply not true.this is a schizo tier liethe only jumps you have to do are at the start of xen where you use the jump pack a few times at stationary large platforms, and then you regular jump onto a few moving ones throughout the levels as they slowly approach you and then you hop across a couple of stationary platforms into the bossif you do not have spatial control of your character to handle just jumping onto something right next to you at that point in the game you are objectively mentally impaired, you have already done much harder jumping puzzles several hours ago>By the end of Xen you are starving for ammothere is ammo literally all over the fucking place including the ammo for all the power weapons that you actually have been starved on the entire gamejust because the walls have been removed and there is a space skybox doesnt mean the actual engagement range has gone up, all the maps are still small and you are always fighting in short rangethere is only like 1 room where you have enemies that are slightly away from you, they spawn in with loud audio and animations and you have access to all the weapons in the game and you can just dodge their slow projectiles, unlike the above ground HECU sections that are the same size or larger but you have way less effective weapons and the marines are all hitscanyou simply dont remember how xen plays out
>>720738897>It isn't the best game ever made so meh
>>720741882Odd thing to say. There is no best game. However, when I'm really itching to get into amazing FPS gameplay, I generally don't turn to Half-Life and those are my reasons.
>>720736845When the remake Black Mesa came out I was hoping they made Xen better, its by far the worst slog I have played through.
>replying to yourself everytime your thread gets to page 10i would pay good money to see you blow your own head off with a twelve gauge
>>720735636What the fuck is Gordon holding?
>>720743837I like the new xen levels>>720743869
>>720735636Half Life 2 goes from a 10/10 to a 5/10 the moment you get the airboat.
>>720737998This. Xen hate is reddit hive mind think. “Oh no, how will I jump across these platforms in low gravity in the game that literally let me save scum ever two steps if I want to”.People jerk themselves off about “game immersion” in normgroid games like Hollow Knight, but cry out when Xen doesn’t leave them an unmissable stack of ammo crates and medkits in the middle of the alien factory. It’s one of the most interesting parts of the game on a first playthrough. By then you are sick of marines anyway, so the change in enemies, scenery, and map design is a breath of fresh air. Actually getting to learn about the aliens ENTIRELY through the player’s observations (no cutscenes, no dead guy logs), and realizing that Black Mesa had been to the planet multiple times even before the incident, was masterful storytelling.
DONT TELL ANYONE I PLAY WITH AIM ASSIST WITH KBM
I love HL's Xen and I loved BM's Xen even more, the Gonarch fight, chase, music, and choice to let you advance without killing her was pure kino.
>>720748247Black Mesa sucked so hardCan't believe i got tricked into playing it
It is a really good game. I like Quake's multiplayer better (like a lot better, it is one of 3 games I still play) but Half-Life's is still really good while having a single player that is miles better than any Quake level, official or custom.
>>720735636I played it for the first time this year. Xen is mediocre and the platforming is pretty bad.
>>720748749At least they knew this so it was shortBlack Mesa didn't understand so they made it 4x longer.
I prefer Black Mesa and I played the original firstIt didn't get everything right and Interloper was too goddamned long though
>had to go through BM's Xen 3 times for all the achievementsThat was something, at least after so many times things are more automatic
>>720735636>only secluded areas>feels like a puzzle tutorial the whole timeIts not impressive nowadays, at least HL2 had some wonderful visuals, narration and somewhat open areas.Plus when this game was at its peak, the pc sellers showcased Unreal Tournament instead, which is still more fun. I could add : Wheel of Time, Oni, Soldier of Fortune, Max Payne, all more memorable than HL.
