First of all, for those who don’t know Half-Life, Half-Life was created by valve (which is responsible for the steam platform) and is one of the best games ever. It was released in 1998 and paved the way for many community made mods and maps like by example Counter-Strike and Day of Defeat. After Half-Life, some expansions were made and also Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2 : Episode 1 and 2 have been released. Since Episode 2 in 2007, people have been waiting for a new installment in the Half-Life series, but nothing has been announced yet.

So if you’ve missed out on Half-Life, there’s still hope for you.  Because now you will be able to play a re-imaged version called Black Mesa Source which is made by fans on the source engine. Also if you need something to pass the time while waiting for a new Half-Life game, this might help.

Check these screenshots to see the differences or check the video below:

Black Mesa itself is free, but because it is created on the Half-Life 2 source engine you do have to install the Source SDK Base 2007. The reason I’m saying that Black Mesa has been released partly is because this release will only includes the game up until Lambda Core. Even though this will give users a solid 8 to 10 hours of gameplay, if you haven’t played the original Half-Life I would suggest you wait until all levels are released so you can play through the complete game in one go.

Another crucial part (at least for me) that is missing, is the multiplayer. In Half-Life 1 I’ve spent countless hours playing Half-Life Deathmatch and I was not bad at it. What I liked about it, where the multi-level maps with lots of routes, freedom and flexbility This combined with innovative guns and high speeds resulted in addictive gameplay (and high telephone bills because there was no unlimited broadband back then).

Black Mesa Source is currently only downloadable from their website, but I expect it to be available soon on steam as well through the Steam Greenlight program. If you want to see more screenshots made by users, check out steam.

If you want to show your appreciation towards the fans who developed this great re-imagination or discuss some things, please visit their twitter, facebook or website.

If you want to see what other Dutch people think about Black Mesa, or if you want to leave your own comments, I suggest you go to this thread about Black Mesa on the Dutch forum gathering.tweakers.net.

Have a great weekend.