| 1 | %% |
| 2 | %% |
| 3 | %% Do NOT uncomment the commented examples unless is to extend them with a proper context. |
| 4 | %% See: Administrivia/HowToWriteAnExample |
| 5 | %% (ZCE) = Zero-Context Example |
| 6 | %% (WANE) = Weblinks are NOT Examples |
| 7 | %% (TLANE) = Type Labels are NOT Examples |
| 8 | %% |
| 9 | %% |
| 10 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/black_mesa.png]] |
| 11 | [[caption-width-right:350:''[[{{Tagline}} Run. Think. Shoot. Live. Source.]]'']] |
| 12 | |
| 13 | ->''"Morning, Mister Freeman. Looks like you're runnin' late..."'' |
| 14 | -->-- Security guard, '''"Inbound"''' |
| 15 | |
| 16 | ''[[https://www.crowbarcollective.com/games/black-mesa Black Mesa]]'' is a FanRemake of ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'' by [[http://www.moddb.com/company/crowbar-collective Crowbar Collective]] (formerly known as the Black Mesa Development Team), beginning life as a total conversion mod for ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' shortly after the latter's release in 2004. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | The game's first public release came [[SavedFromDevelopmentHell in September 2012]]. With Creator/{{Valve|Corporation}}'s blessing, [[https://store.steampowered.com/app/362890 a retail version of Black Mesa]] was made available on Platform/{{Steam}} in May 2015 as an Early Access title, which added advanced graphics technology and multiplayer. This also marked the cessation of development for the freeware version, though it remains available for download. |
| 19 | |
| 20 | Following seven years of development since the mod's first public release, four of which were spent in Steam Early Access, the final four single-player chapters constituting the events set in Xen were gradually made available for early beta-testing over the second half of 2019, with their full integration occurring on December 24th. On February 12th of 2020, the final beta updates were pushed to the public, with the full, final 1.0 release on March 5th. |
| 21 | |
| 22 | The time put into developing the game certainly shows: beyond the numerous graphical improvements and greatly increased environmental detail, each level has been updated and expanded, with the entirety of Xen having been redesigned from the ground up; characters behave in a more realistic and, in the case of enemies, challenging manner thanks to improved animations and AI enhancements. |
| 23 | |
| 24 | It also happens to serve as the foundation for a remake of another official ''Half-Life'' title. ''VideoGame/BlackMesaBlueShift'', a remake of the original ''VideoGame/BlueShift'' expansion pack by [[https://www.moddb.com/company/azure-sheep-remake-team HECU Collective]], is in active development and has four chapters released as of December 2022. |
| 25 | ---- |
| 26 | !!''Black Mesa'' provides examples of: |
| 27 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 28 | [[folder:Tropes A-C]] |
| 29 | * AbandonedCampRuins: There are several abandoned camps scattered around the alien world of Xen, ranging from a few stacks of crates and a couple of scientific instruments to elaborate field laboratories in air-tight tents. [[LateToTheTragedy Everyone working there is long dead by the time Gordon arrives]], victim to either the hostile local wildlife or Nihilanth's SlaveMooks. |
| 30 | * AchievementMockery: There are achievements for getting killed by your own snarks, getting killed by [[TheGoomba a headcrab]], cooking a grenade until it explodes in your hand, overcharging the Tau Cannon (which inflicts massive damage on the user), getting zapped by the Anti-Mass Spectrometer, getting flung into oblivion by the Gonarch, and even drowning in the Lambda Reactor Coolant System. |
| 31 | * ActionSurvivor: Much more pronounced for most Black Mesa personnel (including Freeman) in ''Black Mesa'' than in ''Half-Life'' between the fact most enemies had become more dangerous and all Black Mesa characters having more chances to shine. Under the right circumstances some security guards can take on whole squads of Xen monsters and HECU marines and win, and even the normally defenceless scientists got a few moments such as one who took out a Headcrab by smashing it with an old computer monitor. |
| 32 | * AdaptationalBadass: So many enemies were buffed in relation to ''Half-Life'' that the game has [[AdaptationalBadass/BlackMesa its own page]]. |
| 33 | * AdaptationalEarlyAppearance: |
| 34 | ** Barney Calhoun, Eli Vance and Isaac Kleiner, major characters introduced in ''Half-Life 2'', replace the guard banging on the door (according to ''Blue Shift'') and two of the generic scientists from ''Half-Life''. Eli ''[[RetCon is]]'' the scientist who sends you up to call for help and Kleiner greets you in the Spectrometer control room, then walks with Gordon to the elevator, [[CompositeCharacter also taking the role of one of the scientists panicking over the exploding machinery]]; their placement was based on comments by the series' writer, [[WordOfGod Marc Laidlaw]], and the fact Eli states that he is the one who sent you to the surface. |
| 35 | ** Upon taking the portal to Xen, [[spoiler:the Nihilanth makes a quick cameo, having not appeared in ''Half-Life'' until the finale level in which he was fought]]. |
| 36 | * AdaptationalExplanation: |
| 37 | ** There's now a justification provided for why the two soldiers who capture Gordon and throw him into a trash compactor [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim don't bother making sure he's dead]]. They're shown to have been attacked by headcrabs before they could ensure Gordon's demise in the compactor, with one zombified and the other reduced to meaty chunks, presumably having panicked and blown himself up with a grenade. |
| 38 | ** The presence of several marines and a tank outside the Lambda Complex goes unexplained in the original game. Here, they're part of a convoy trying to flee Black Mesa after the order to pull out is given, and are forced to fight Freeman after an Alien Aircraft destroys their exit. |
| 39 | * AdaptationalHeroism: While players familiar with ''Half-Life 2'' onwards already know that the Vortigaunts are nowhere near as malevolent as they seem, ''Black Mesa'' takes pains to show that they really were in a bad way before Gordon killed the Nihilanth, emphasizing their sympathetic traits. In the original game, the Vortigaunt slaves in Xen would attack Gordon Freeman on sight... except in the first area of the factory, where they would only retaliate if Gordon attacked them first. In ''Black Mesa'', the Vortigaunt slaves in Xen are clearly shown to be oppressed and will never attack Gordon unless explicitly controlled by an Alien Controller, [[spoiler:and they even help him progress by shutting down forcefields and alarms]]. In general, the "Slave" part of their [=HL1=]-era name[[note]]monster_alien_slave[[/note]] is played tear-jerkingly straight. The very first time you find any Vorts in Xen, they're being brutalized for no reason by a pair of Alien Grunts, several Vorts crying and begging for mercy. Throughout the remainder of the game, you can find plenty of evidence of their sorrowful state, and [[spoiler:TheReveal that Alien Grunts are merely Vortigaunts who have been twisted into hulking monstrosities]] only drives the point home. The Vortigaunts are being forced to [[spoiler:operate the machinery that is turning their kin into horrible monsters, and given their shared consciousness, odds are they know it.]] |
| 40 | * AdaptationalJerkass: Certain characters are significantly less sympathetic than their original versions, whether by nature or because they're stressed out by the ongoing disaster. |
| 41 | ** The security guard found at the beginning of "Forget About Freeman" is now less than overjoyed about having missed the last evacuation flight out of the facility, and will snark at Gordon if he gets lost while escorting him around. |
| 42 | --->'''Security guard:''' Dead end full of bee-shooting monsters? You're just full of ideas, doc. |
| 43 | ** Hunter, the security guard stationed at the Supply Depot in Level A of the Lambda Reactor Core is much more abrasive towards Gordon than in ''Half-Life'', as is one of the scientists stationed there as well. |
| 44 | ** Dr. Smithers, the scientist found next to the rocket test silo's generator, is notably paranoid and shamelessly admits to leaving his colleagues for dead, declaring the situation is "survival of the fittest". |
| 45 | ** Clifford, one of the scientists hiding in the Administration Center, offers his female colleague to be taken in his stead when he mistakes Gordon for an alien. He chooses to stay behind and wait for "a more commodious rescue squad" and calls Gordon and his crew fools under his breath. |
| 46 | * AdaptationalSympathy: |
| 47 | ** While the Gonarch is ''significantly'' more aggressive toward Gordon here than it was in the original game, it's actions are given more nuance in ''Black Mesa'', as the BossBattle with it lasts ''the entire chapter'', during which Gordon not only kills many of its offspring but also tears apart its nest trying to find a way to the Nihilanth's tower. [[spoiler:It even tries to retreat during its final confrontation with Gordon, only for its strength to fail, forcing it to fight Gordon to the death]]. |
| 48 | ** Since ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' confirmed that the Vortigaunts are indeed the Nihilanth's slaves, ''Black Mesa'' goes out of its way to emphasize this so that we sympathize with the Vorts -- they are forced to live in slums, are regularly beaten by Alien Grunts, [[spoiler:and it's eventually revealed that they are ''forcibly converted into Alien Grunts'']]. Additionally, they only attack in Xen if forced to by Alien Controllers, becoming immediately docile once the Controllers are dead. You even get an achievement for not killing a single Vortigaunt in Xen. |
| 49 | ** The HECU is given a couple of moments to make the player empathize with them, such as a wounded marine being given triage instructions by a medic over the radio, only to expire mid-conversation. Another scene has two marines wonder why they are even fighting here, with one admitting it feels wrong to gun down scientists who won't fight back. Finally, the last major surface battle has the HECU desperately trying to retreat from the facility, with those that fight Gordon becoming trapped after an alien craft fries all of their vehicles except a tank (which can't clear out the wrecks, leaving it trapped in the area as well). |
| 50 | * AdaptationalVillainy: Played straight with the Alien Grunts and Alien Controllers. In the original game, Grunts never attack Vortigaunts, and the relationship between Controllers and Vortigaunts was only subtly implied. In ''Black Mesa'', a Grunt is shown beating a sick Vortigaunt to a pulp on Xen, while the Controllers explicitly force the Vorts to attack the player. |
| 51 | * AdaptationalWimp: |
| 52 | ** The first Alien Grunt in "Questionable Ethics" originally needed to be unleashed from its pod in order to get past the room. Now, Gordon has the opportunity to euthanize it with fire, electricity, toxins, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking or just leave it trapped since the door ahead is no longer locked]]. |
| 53 | ** Alien Grunts in general are a situational case of this. In the original ''Half-Life'', they could tank large amounts of damage and were very accurate due to their hornets actively tracking their targets, which allowed them to attack from around corners where the player couldn't return fire. In ''Black Mesa'', they're slightly less durable, and their hornets lack tracking capabilities altogether. [[AdaptationalBadass The ones in Xen aren't as weak, though...]] |
| 54 | ** Zig-zagged with the HECU Osprey. It's far less durable than its original counterpart, but it can now deploy up to six soldiers at once, as opposed to the original only deploying two at a time. |
| 55 | ** The Xen Trees in the original are indestructible (even with explosives). Here? While still deadly they're actually killable (and can be gibbed). |
| 56 | * AdaptationDistillation: |
| 57 | ** Quite a few areas have been removed or combined, mostly the vent maze from "We've Got Hostiles", as well as parts of "On A Rail" that were thought by the developers to drag on too long and add nothing. "Surface Tension" was originally cut in length, but that was more due to one of the developers quitting in the 11th hour and leaving a chunk of it unfinished. |
| 58 | ** [[VideoGameTutorial "Hazard Course"]] was removed completely, because it was felt to be a waste of development time, and the addition of on-screen hints invalidates the need for a tutorial level anyway. |
| 59 | ** Another subversion occurs with the EarlyBirdCameo of Xen from the moment of the resonance cascade, which was fully restored to the game when the Xen chapters entered public beta. |
| 60 | ** Gordon never teleports from "Gonarch's Lair" to "Interloper", instead taking a more direct exit between them. |
| 61 | ** A minor example, but there was one particularly annoying puzzle in "Residue Processing" involving three conveyor belts with crushers. Not only did you have to pick the right one, but had to flip a switch to stop the crushers and run through in a very short period of time, and if you stopped the crushers in the wrong position you'd be unable to get past due to one or both blocking your way. This entire puzzle has been replaced, and, unlike the other changes, no one seems to miss it. |
| 62 | ** In the 1.5 ''Definitive Edition'', "Power Up" was reworked, moving the power generator right up next to the tram turntable, all but removing the Gargantua ChaseScene and forcing the player to go that way first (so they could identify what they actually needed to do). |
| 63 | * AdaptationExpansion: |
| 64 | ** Other areas in the Facility (most notably Sector G Hydroelectric Dam and Sector E Biodome Complex) have been significantly expanded, along with extended NPC reactions and why quite a few of them can't come along with you (for example, the first security guard stays to attempt to contact the surface, a scientist in a dumpster [[BringMyBrownPants craps himself when he sees a headcrab fly at him]], the scientists in "Office Complex" are either too cowardly, or can't leap across the broken elevator shaft, etcetera, etcetera). |
| 65 | ** The variety of human [=NPC=] appearances in ''Half-Life'' was [[YouAllLookFamiliar limited to four faces for scientists and soldiers and only one for guards]], all of them male. ''Black Mesa'', however, provides a grand total of 22 different faces that can be used between all of them. There are also female scientists this time, something that was left on the cutting room floor of the original game, and the game's Face Creation system can randomize the facial shapes and accessories of individual characters for even more variety. |
| 66 | ** The LaserHallway building in "Surface Tension" is greatly increased in size and there are even MORE mines in it than before. As part of Update 1.0, "Surface Tension" received a gameplay overhaul, which included even '''''[[NoKillLikeOverkill MORE]]''''' trip mines in the warehouse. |
| 67 | ** Several new scenes are added to "Surface Tension" that show the HECU slowly being overwhelmed by the Xen invaders, culminating in the end of the level, where several Ospreys and Apaches can be seen flying overhead in retreat. |
| 68 | ** The final surface portion of the original (set at the end of "Forget About Freeman!") consisted of the player fighting a pair of HECU troopers and a tank. In the mod version, the soldiers are more numerous, a trio of Ospreys is fleeing the base, and several alien aircraft are engaging Apache gunships and jet fighters in battle. In the release version, [[SerialEscalation the HECU has several vehicles but all of them, save for the tank, are destroyed by an alien aircraft]]. |
| 69 | ** All of the chapters taking place in Xen, from "Xen" to "Nihilanth" have been expanded significantly. Where ''Half-Life''[='=]s Xen chapters could be played within an hour, ''Black Mesa'''s take on the chapters now take about four-six hours, assuming you don't explore. New areas include [[AbandonedLaboratory overrun expedition labs]] and [[BubblegloopSwamp lush swamps]]. New enemy variants also appear, including [[spoiler:two new species of Houndeye and ZEV (HEV Zombies)]], and a couple of sections are dedicated to puzzles that are completely seamless with the new environment. Plus, in addition to the healing pools from ''Half-Life'', energized blue crystals appear which charge up the HEV suit just by standing near them. |
| 70 | ** "Gonarch's Lair" deserves a mention as well -- the BossBattle with the Gonarch now lasts ''the entire chapter'', with there being several crystal formations, lakes, and caverns which the titular creature chases Gordon through. |
| 71 | ** The ending segment with the G-Man is notably expanded upon from the original, [[spoiler:opening with the Nihilanth's lair [[CollapsingLair exploding in the wake of his death]] and demonstrating soon after that the explosion created a black hole in its place. Adding to this, the sequence shown after refusing the G-Man's deal now results in him leaving the tram just before it breaks apart and gets sucked into a portal -- only then does Gordon land right in front of the last remaining members of the Nihilanth's army.]] |
| 72 | * AdaptedOut: |
| 73 | ** The Leech enemy from ''Half-Life'' is absent here. |
| 74 | ** Gargantuas no longer have a ShockwaveStomp attack. |
| 75 | ** The HECU Artillery gun from the dam segment of "Surface Tension" is gone, having instead been replaced by an M2 Browning machine gun emplacement, with the primary opposition instead being several squads of soldiers and the Apache. The Tentacles encountered in the next map are also absent, with a mine-turned-toxic waste dump in its place. |
| 76 | ** The Alien Turret seen at the end of "Forget About Freeman" has been replaced by a couple of HECU Sentry Guns. |
| 77 | ** There's no manta-ray riding segment in "Interloper". Instead, the chapter opens up with what's left of the tentacle corridor leading into the Vortigaunt ghetto. |
| 78 | * AIIsACrapshoot: Like the original, the Black Mesa ceiling turrets do not discriminate between friend or foe and will gun down whether they are Black Mesa employees or the Xen aliens. Justified as it's implied that the HECU took over the facility's defence systems (like they did with the announcement system) and reprogrammed them to attack any employee inside as part of their cover-up operation. This doesn't count for the turrets outside the Supply Depot in "Lambda Core", where they recognize Freeman as friendly, being one of the facilities that weren't taken over by the HECU. |
| 79 | * AlasPoorVillain: Compared to their ''Half-Life'' depictions (where they were no more than additional {{Mooks}} to shoot at), ''Black Mesa'', especially the Steam release, will make you feel sorry for the HECU Marines once the tide is turned against them. Of particular note is one heartbreaking conversation between a mortally wounded marine and a corpsman heard on the radio near the conclusion of "Surface Tension". |
| 80 | * AllDesertsHaveCacti: Inverted. While the 1.0 release did feature plenty of cacti outdoors, they were all but removed in the 1.5 ''Definitive Edition''. Lead level designer Chon Kemp explained that the reason behind the removal was that the type of cacti seen previously was not native to New Mexico. |
| 81 | * AlternateRealityGame: [[https://forums.blackmesasource.com/t/arg-the-pizza-code-mystery/10393 The "Pizza Code" mystery.]] Initially believed to be a simple Easter egg ("The Pizza is a Lie!"), a number of cryptic hints and puzzles were found scattered throughout the game. As forum users made progress solving puzzles, more layers were discreetly revealed by the developers, revealing a plot about a paranoid researcher smuggling nuclear materials into his private lab via pizza deliveries for some secret project. For a sense of how in-depth the ARG is, it was first discovered in 2011 and ''has yet to be finished''. |
| 82 | * AmbiguouslyGay: The scientist who complains about [[RunningGag those ridiculous ties]] and other fashion faux pas. At first, you might think he's just very fashion-sensitive, but then he clinches it with this line to Gordon: |
| 83 | -->"I say, that suit certainly flatters your ''fundament''." |
| 84 | * {{Antepiece}}: In addition to those present in the original game, there are a few more added here. |
| 85 | ** Your first encounter with a Xen charging crystal occurs fairly early into Xen, only a few minutes after the intense battle in the Lambda Complex teleporter, meaning you'll be missing a huge amount of suit energy. Thus, you're likely to not notice it until your suit starts recharging. |
| 86 | ** The first Xen teleporter you find is connected to a fleshy mass with a crystal inside it. When you go into the forward base, you'll find a door that needs power, with the same mass from earlier emitting electricity that surges toward the plug, telling you that the masses can be used as power sources. Finally, a second mass is encountered further into the base, but this one does not have a crystal in it. Nearby, however, is a specimen marker with a very specific-looking crystal in it, which you can insert into the mass. All of this preps you for a much more complex challenge that makes up the final portion of Xen. |
| 87 | ** Your first encounter with Vortigaunts in Xen has them cowering in fear from Alien Grunts. No matter what you do, they will not attack you. A while later, while going through the Vortigaunt slums, you accidentally raise the alarm, summoning several Alien Controllers. Said controllers promptly begin firing green beams at the Vortigaunts, who then begin to attack the room you are in. Once you kill all of the controllers, you'll jump to the ground, where the ground-level Vortigaunts are cowering in fear. This tells you three things: that Vortigaunts in Xen are no longer hostile, that Alien Controllers can ''make'' them hostile again through mind control, and that killing the Controllers will relinquish their control over the Vortigaunts, rendering them passive again. |
| 88 | * AntiFrustrationFeatures: |
| 89 | ** ''Half-Life's'' controls for using satchel charges were originally somewhat clunky, with Primary Fire serving to both throw the first satchel charge and activate the detonator, with subsequent satchels only being thrown with Secondary Fire. Black Mesa changes this so that Primary Fire always throws a new satchel, and Secondary Fire only activates the detonator. Notably, this control scheme change would eventually make its way into ''Half-Life'' via the game's 25th Anniversary Update. |
| 90 | ** The train tracks in "Power Up" and "On A Rail" will no longer electrocute you when you stand on them, and the cart will automatically decelerate to a standstill if you dismount/are knocked off it while it's moving. |
| 91 | ** During the sequence where you defeat the Gargantua in "Power Up", there's no risk of accidentally walking between the tesla coils and getting electrocuted, since the coils don't exist any more and the Gargantua is electrocuted through wires it gets tangled in. |
| 92 | ** Following this, the player was originally required to drive a train out of a siding onto the turntable, run back to the control room to rotate said turntable towards the exit, and then return. In ''Black Mesa'', the injured guard in the control room manages to muster up enough strength to activate it for you. (As of the 1.5 Definitive Edition, once the player has killed the Gargantua, it's impossible to return to the control room anyway.) |
| 93 | ** "Residue Processing" provides a lot more ammo than in the original's DroughtLevelOfDoom, giving more leeway in ammo usage as well as for disarming traps. |
| 94 | ** The Long Jump module received a massive overhaul in preparation for the Xen chapters, which ensures that any jumping sections within the border world are far less aggravating than they were in ''Half-Life'': |
| 95 | *** Activating the module is now performed by double-tapping the jump button while using directional keys instead of holding crouch and jump; a more simplified activation method that all but eliminates the loss in jump distance that would otherwise occur when jumping from a crouch. |
| 96 | *** With this new input layout comes the ability to use the module ''omnidirectionally'', which not only offers greater control over player mobility while navigating Xen's floating islands but also allows the module to fulfill more combat-centric applications, allowing the player to quickly and more effectively sidestep and backpedal out of harm's way. Mastery of this movement is ''mandatory'' if you're going to stand a chance against Xen's bosses. |
| 97 | *** By tapping any directional key while in the middle of a long jump, the player can activate jets to influence their mid-air trajectory in that direction once per jump. This grants the player the ability to either correct an off-course jump or prevent themselves from overshooting their intended target. |
| 98 | *** To top it all off, the module comes equipped with a set of landing jets, which completely negate the effects of fall damage - one of the more common avenues of death while navigating Xen in ''Half-Life''. |
| 99 | ** Xen's healing pools heal you at a ''much'' faster rate than in the original game. Of course, the level design and enemies will find ways to prevent you from exploiting this. |
| 100 | ** During "Gonarch's Lair", if you're carrying the pizza or purple hat with you for the "Pepperoni Precipitation" or "Rarest Specimen" achievements, the webs that you usually need to shoot to break apart will break on their own, to alleviate unfair deaths while you're running from the Gonarch with a physics prop in your hands and said webs in the way. |
| 101 | * ArmiesAreEvil: Downplayed from the original game. While the Hazardous Environment Combat Unit retains all of their villainous intentions from the source material, they're more humanized in this game, and various radio transmissions heard throughout "Surface Tension" only serve to further elicit sympathy towards these marines as they're increasingly overwhelmed by the invading Xen forces. |
| 102 | * ArtEvolution: |
| 103 | ** This game's art style is noticeably more grounded and realistic than the original ''Half-Life'''s. |
| 104 | ** The HECU Marines now use more appropriate vehicles (the Bradley was replaced with a LAV, the F-16s were replaced with AV-8B Harrier [=IIs=], Humvees are also present with the trucks) and wear more realistic looking uniforms (the "powered combat vest" was replaced with modern plated body armour and they no longer wear balaclavas). The various mortar pieces throughout "Surface Tension" were also replaced by TOW missiles, and the weird double turrets in "On A Rail" were replaced with normal M2 Browning machine guns. |
| 105 | ** Alien Grunts have been slimmed down significantly; they're still muscular and tall, but they don't look borderline cartoonish like in ''Half-Life''. Their armour also covers more of their body, namely more of their lower stomach and legs, making their designs look a bit more sensible, as presumably, they'd still need free space around their third arm. |
| 106 | ** The Vortigaunts now have their ''[=HL2=]: Episode 2'' shiny athletic look, as opposed to their original, cretin look. They also don't hunch as much and are taller. |
| 107 | ** Zombies now come in Security Guard, HECU and HEV variants, the latter two dubbed by Crowbar Collective as the ZECU and ZEV respectively. In ''Half-Life'', Security Guard Zombies only appeared in the Gearbox Expansions ''Opposing Force'' and ''Blue Shift'', while ZECU were exclusive to ''Opposing Force''. The [=ZEVs=] are an entirely original enemy added to Xen. In addition, headcrabs can now detach from defeated Zombies if the elimination method didn't involve a headshot, a feature in ''Half-Life 2'' that was supposed to be implemented in the original ''Half-Life'', but was ultimately cut due to being too complex. |
| 108 | ** The Black Mesa facility is much more sensibly designed. The [[WebVideo/FreemansMind box smashing room]] is now clearly a shipping room. |
| 109 | ** There are small but nice touches made to the design of some of the weapons. A prime example is the SPAS-12 Shotgun: in ''Half-Life'', the secondary fire of the SPAS-12 would cause it to fire both barrels at once, at the cost of accuracy and pump time. The problem? The SPAS-12 didn't have two barrels (unless the ammo tube was supposed to be the second barrel, but that would leave no room for the ammo). ''Black Mesa'' changes this so that, instead of firing both barrels at once, the secondary fire simply fires two shots in quick succession, which is possible with a real-life SPAS-12[[note]]Though it's still not completely accurate- a SPAS-12 can operate in both pump-action and semi-auto, but switching between the two happens through a somewhat obtuse process involving a button on the handguard rather than it being triggered at-will as a 'secondary fire' feature like in-game[[/note]]. Gameplay-wise, it amounts to the same thing, but the attention to detail is certainly appreciated. |
| 110 | ** The sterilizers in "Questionable Ethics" and the Gluon Gun can now vaporize organic material. |
| 111 | ** Xen is ''vastly'' improved; it's gone from a blocky disappointment to almost 100% SceneryPorn, and now contains much more evidence that the scientists have been exploring there. |
| 112 | * TheArtifact: In the original game, at the start of "Residue Processing", there is a security guard who shoots at nearby headcrabs, only to immediately get eaten up by a barnacle (Gordon at this point had his weapons removed and only has a crowbar). This is how he reacquires the [=9mm=] pistol. Here, the security guard doesn't even bother shooting at those headcrabs and gets instantly killed the moment he touches the barnacle's tongue (the Source engine's barnacle does this with all its victims). There's a pistol placed in the general area, with more ammo provided to boot, rendering this all completely pointless. |
| 113 | * ArtificialAtmosphericActions: Lampshaded by a pair of scientists shortly before the Resonance Cascade: |
| 114 | --> '''Male Scientist''': I've got two [=PhDs=] and an Oersted medal, yet I find myself doing work best suited for an intern!\ |
| 115 | '''Female Scientist''': Please. You do very meaningful work here.\ |
| 116 | '''Male Scientist''': Really? Push that button! Walk over here! Push this one! Stand and stare at the screen! Walk back over there! Push another button! Again!\ |
| 117 | '''Female Scientist''': Come now, you're overreacting.\ |
| 118 | '''Male Scientist''': I don't know how much longer I can abide these perfunctory tasks. I need more time for myself! |
| 119 | * ArtificialBrilliance: |
| 120 | ** The HECU Marines. They flank, use teamwork, throw grenades to flush you out, and cover each other just as they did in ''Half-Life''. They can now also shoot while moving and provide suppressing fire on your last known location and will retreat whenever they're wounded or at a tactical disadvantage. |
| 121 | ** All enemies are significantly smarter, not just the HECU. Even Vortigaunts will use basic squad tactics, like covering each other and flanking. |
| 122 | ** In "Power Up", you could escape the Gargantua in the first game through a door while he was distracted with killing HECU marines, and it would forget about you until you wandered in again. Not this time. The monster goes right to the door you went through after its killing spree and ''actually reaches in with his flamethrowers'' if you're near it. Suffice it to say, a lot of players [[StealthPun got burned]] by that one unexpectedly. |
| 123 | * ArtificialStupidity: HECU marines in the mod release, as well as earlier versions of the retail release, were notorious for their tendency to either stand in one place while shooting the player or blindly rush forward without any semblance of tactics. This was rectified in later updates to the retail game by a complete overhaul of the soldiers' AI. |
| 124 | * ArtisticLicenseMilitary: The AH-64 Apache carries over from ''Half-Life''. In contrast to the M2 Bradleys being replaced with LAV-25 [=APCs=], the HECU, explicitly said to be US Marines, are shown using the Apache. In RealLife, the Marines use the Bell AH-1W Supercobra and its successor, the AH-1Z Viper. |
| 125 | * AscendedMeme: One popular fan video from the earliest version of the mod, entitled [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yymoe5dFH7s "Black Mesa Source Silliness"]], contains a running gag of the player going to great lengths to secure a random prop of a pepperoni pizza found on a counter in "Questionable Ethics," culminating in him taking it to the then-current end of the game, the portal to Xen. The retail version of the game actually encourages this, awarding an achievement "Pepperoni Precipitation" if the player succeeds in taking the pizza all the way to the [[spoiler:Nihilanth's Chamber.]] |
| 126 | * AssShove: ''Black Mesa'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka-QAUwVCdw finally answers the question]] of how Gordon gets the Hive-Hand onto his arm. Let's just say ''nobody'' walks out of this one looking pretty. If the player gets it onto his arm while a security guard is around, [[WhatTheHellHero he’ll have something to say to you]]. |
| 127 | -->'''Security guard:''' When you guys say anything for science, boy, do you mean it! |
| 128 | * AthleticallyChallenged: Late into the "Office Complex" level, should you choose to have a group of security guards and scientists accompany Gordon Freeman throughout the level, one of the scientists will tell a fellow guard and the player that he can't make the jump towards the nearest ladder of an elevator shaft, having failed physical education when he was younger. It's also for this reason that the aforementioned guard also chooses to stay behind, to watch over him. |
| 129 | * AwesomeButImpractical: |
| 130 | ** Snarks were this initially, even more than the base game. The idea of using little alien bugs to rip your enemies to shreds for you is cool, but the throwing distance is so short that, unless you're doing it from the high ground, they're more likely to attack you than your enemies, and are slower than they were in ''Half-Life'', as well as less damaging. One achievement requires killing at least 10 enemies with snarks. Later patches would try to fix this, such as snarks being thrown much further. |
| 131 | ** The double-barreled shotgun blast can do a LOT of damage and can straight up one-shot most standard HECU grunts and, if [[WebVideo/SamONellaAcademy RNG-esus]] is on your side, Vortigaunts. The problem is, that the fire rate is worse than the regular shotgun blast, and you have to get up close and personal for it to even have a chance at doing any damage. Not to mention it takes two whole shots of your precious shotgun ammo. |
| 132 | * BadassNormal: While many examples could already be found in ''Half-Life'', in ''Black Mesa'' this is more prominently shown, with many ordinary characters who weren't killed within two minutes of appearance rising to the extraordinary occasion. |
| 133 | ** Gordon Freeman is a theoretical physicist who found himself amid an out-of-this-world catastrophe he unwittingly contributed to, but managed to run, think, shoot and live through the Black Mesa incident even as the facility descended into an alien-infested war-torn nightmare with nothing more than his above-average fit body, his wits, his protective HEV suit and a diverse collection of mundane and exotic weapons he picked up along the way. |
| 134 | ** Many of the other Black Mesa [=NPCs=] who survive more than two minutes of their debut also qualify, from security guards who do their best to fight off the aliens and HECU marines to protect the scientists, to the marines who, when not trying to silence all witnesses, are fighting tooth-and-nail against an AlienInvasion, to the scientists who are actively working to reverse the Resonance Cascade despite the near-impossible circumstances and the mortal danger they find themselves in. The security guards and scientists in particular proved to be immense help for Gordon Freeman as he fought his way through Black Mesa to get help at the Lambda Complex. |
| 135 | * BalanceBuff: |
| 136 | ** The [=MP5=] is a mixed case. Its 40mm grenades don't do as much damage and have a smaller blast radius, it doesn't have its fifty-round capacity as it did in ''Half-Life'' -- now replaced by an ordinary 30-round mag -- and its reserve ammo was cut down significantly (from 250 rounds to 150, and from 10 grenades to 3), while also suffering from considerable recoil when fired in long bursts. Despite these drawbacks, the retooled [=MP5=] is compensated with a faster rate of fire and drastically improved accuracy (especially if fired in 3- or 4-round bursts), the latter thanks to its bullet spread being based on bloom as opposed to a fixed cone. Additionally, its damage-per-bullet is now equal to the Glock as opposed to being less (appropriate, given that both weapons share the same ammo pool) and its grenades now travel much faster through the air. |
| 137 | ** The [[RevolversAreJustBetter Colt Python]] got a significant buff. Ammo for it is far more common than before and its iron sights add a slight zoom effect. The only drawbacks are a slightly longer reload speed and the halved reserve ammo capacity, which don't draw from the improvement of its practicality. |
| 138 | * BeautyIsNeverTarnished: The Black Ops Assassins, girls in skin-tight suits, don't gib. |
| 139 | * TheBerserker: Alien Grunts in ''Black Mesa'' are more willing to get up close and personal with the player, being willing to ''charge'' them if the distance is short enough. This seems to overlap with some of their scripted encounters; at one point an Alien grunt is shown throwing a HECU Marine straight through a brick wall, and another mauls a security guard in a vicious SoundOnlyDeath. |
| 140 | * BigNo: The scientist dragged to his demise by a Tentacle in "Blast Pit" lets out one of these as he's carried away. |
| 141 | * BlackComedy: |
| 142 | ** In the form of a BrickJoke; in "We Got Hostiles", one of the VOX announcements calls the Service Team to the elevator in Sector C. As in, the one that just fell ''hours'' before. |
| 143 | ** At one point during "Unforeseen Consequences", a scientist gets killed when a ladder hits his head after falling off of it. |
| 144 | * BlandNameProduct: |
| 145 | ** "Tittles" instead of "Skittles", "Nekid Fries" instead of "French Fries" and "Coca-Bola" instead of "Coca-Cola". On the more creative end of the spectrum are "Alpine Hue" (Mountain Dew) and "Rambler's" (Walker's, or Lay's in the US). |
| 146 | ** There's a workshop in ''Black Mesa'' with a [=DeWALT=] chop saw with a [="DeWOOT"=] logo. |
| 147 | ** The Black Mesa [=SUVs=] are modeled after Jeep Cherokee XJs with "JOOP" badges. |
| 148 | ** Several flatscreen [=TVs=] (notably those seen during "Questionable Ethics") possess "FONY" logos. |
| 149 | * BloodierAndGorier: |
| 150 | ** The added detail available from the new Source engine allows for unprecedented levels of gore in ''Black Mesa''. Along with the usual blood splatters from kills, almost every enemy can be gibbed by explosions or especially powerful weapons, while blood (both human and alien) and Bullsquid acid will regularly splash on Gordon's arms and weapon in disturbing detail should he be injured, attack an enemy up close, or get caught in an enemy's gibbing.[[note]]This is disabled by default in the retail release due to an unresolved lag spike when the effect first occurs but can be re-enabled with the console command '''cl_mdldetailfx_enable 1'''.[[/note]] Dismembered body parts also litter Black Mesa. |
| 151 | ** There's the poor guard and scientist who are the victims of an overcharged Tau Cannon. The guard's limbless torso is 20 feet away and [[SmolderingShoes his smoking boots]] are standing in the middle of a massive puddle of blood, blood is splashed all over the walls and floor, and bits and pieces of the scientist next to him are scattered around. |
| 152 | ** Should a headcrab zombie have their headcrab shot off, not only are you treated to a far more detailed look at what happens to a person's face upon being a victim of a headcrab, but you also get a good look at the insanely detailed part of their skull that has ''literally been eaten away, revealing exposed brain matter.'' Jesus. |
| 153 | * BodyHorror: The headcrab zombies are now very detailed. You'll wish they weren't. |
| 154 | * BookEnds: |
| 155 | ** You began the game on a tram to work. You end the game on a tram flying through an interdimensional void. |
| 156 | ** Your first and last fights on the surface take place during sunset. In the former, which happens during "We've Got Hostiles", the HECU have arrived in force at the complex and are so overwhelming that you eventually need to find a way to retreat underground to evade them. The latter fight, set during "Forget About Freeman!", has the HECU worn down by a combination of Gordon and the aliens, and is their LastStand. |
| 157 | * {{Bowdlerise}}: The retail release of the game replaces the creepy, lustful conversation of the marines in the Biodome Complex lobby with one where one of them [[DumbMuscle attempts to read a Latin logo]]. |
| 158 | * BrickJoke: In what was a throwaway line in the original ''Half-Life'', a scientist in the Lambda Labs mentions that survey teams sent to Xen to collect samples were ''themselves'' collected by the Xenians. [[spoiler:He wasn't joking; near the end of "Interloper" the player can see glass tubes where scientists, computers, and various personal items are being stored by the Xenians for study.]] |
| 159 | * BringMyBrownPants: The scientist you encountered in the dumpster in ''Half-Life'' now has a reason for not going with you - he soiled his pants when a headcrab leapt at him. |
| 160 | * BullfightBoss: The Gonarch now acts as one during her arena battles. While she can usually be stopped from charging with an RPG shot, she occasionally will perform a faster, uninterruptible charge which is preceded by a distinct roar. |
| 161 | * CallForward: |
| 162 | ** Two instances reference [[BrickJoke brick jokes]] in ''Half-Life 2'': |
| 163 | *** The guard that escorts you from the tram to the Sector C security checkpoint mentions that Barney's bar tab is past due and he's dependent on others to buy him drinks. When you first meet Barney in ''[=HL2=]'', he mentions that he owes you a beer. This, in turn, was a reference to the security guards' comments in ''Half-Life 1'', pre-disaster, where they'd say "Hey, catch me later and I'll buy you a beer." |
| 164 | *** After you blow up the casserole in the break room, a scientist mentions that they'll never hear the end of this, while a security guard encourages Gordon to leave quickly, mentioning "That was You-Know-Who's lunch". In ''Half-Life 2: Episode 2'', you meet the supposed "You-Know-Who"; Dr. Magnusson, who is still mad at Gordon for this incident, over 20 years later and after the collapse of human civilization. |
| 165 | ** The game has female scientists alongside male ones. While the male ones retain their vocal and sometimes visual resemblance to Dr. Kleiner, the females all but shout "Dr. Mossman" in theirs. |
| 166 | ** The dev teams seem to have made an effort to justify Freeman's OneManArmy reputation from ''Half-Life 2''. The scientists in "Questionable Ethics" are in awe of you fighting off a HECU ambush, and one of the scientists in the Lambda Reactor Core's Supply Depot outright calls you a "[[KnightInShiningArmor knight in shining]] [[PoweredArmor high-impact reactive armour]]". |
| 167 | ** As in ''Half-Life 2'', Headcrabs now have a chance of surviving the death of their Zombie host to continue attacking Freeman, unless said Zombie was killed via headshot. |
| 168 | ** Vortigaunts now vocalise and communicate in Vortigese, as opposed to the animalistic chattering of ''Half-Life''. |
| 169 | ** You even meet Isaac Kleiner and Eli Vance before the Resonance Cascade and briefly afterwards. Kleiner becomes fascinated by the first headcrab that teleports in, and it's heavily implied that this headcrab will go on to become Kleiner's pet Lamarr in ''Half-Life 2''. There's even a portrait of Hedy Lamarr (the source of said headcrab's name) in one of the offices in "Office Complex". |
| 170 | ** Security guards will occasionally scream "MY ARM!" or "MY LEG!", as the rebels did in ''Half-Life 2''. |
| 171 | ** In an EasterEgg location in "Surface Tension", you can find Dr. Breen's poorly spelled, [[TerribleArtist drawn]] plans for world domination, which involves befriending aliens and getting them to build him a huge tower, seemingly predicting the Combine and their Citadel in ''Half-Life 2''. You also learn that he really, ''really'', '''''really''''' doesn't like Dr. Vance. |
| 172 | --->Eli cant come [inside my big tower] cause hes a stupidface. |
| 173 | ** The last portion of the chapter "Xen" features an expanded version of the teleportation activation sequence in ''Half-Life'', set in an alien facility that bears a remarkable similarity to (and contains a very similar puzzle from) the Citadel Reactor Core in ''Half-Life 2: Episode One''. |
| 174 | ** During the latter portion of the chapter "Interloper", you'll encounter green crystals which [[spoiler:infinitely recharge your supply of Depleted Uranium-235 (which fuels Gordon's [[{{BFG}} Tau Cannon and Gluon Gun]])]], alongside the revamped Xen Healing Showers which now recharge both your health and suit energy at an astounding rate. These respectively call forth technologies seen in the Citadel near the conclusion of ''Half-Life 2'', the former with the Confiscation Field (which [[EleventhHourSuperpower supercharges the Gravity Gun into its Dark Energy-infused state]]) and the latter with the unique interaction with the Combine Wall Chargers encountered during that same segment. |
| 175 | ** The entirety of Xen is, in many ways, calling forward (and inspired by) the design philosophies of ''Half-Life 2''. The most evident is the "see the destination" guidance method Valve used, making the City-17 Citadel visible throughout the game as a reminder of the player's purpose. In Xen, the equivalent of this is the ominous, towering structure housing the Nihilanth and the Alien Grunt factory. It comes progressively closer into view as the player travels across Xen, and eventually, you are required to scale it from within. In addition to making Xen seem ''smaller'', this also gives the alien dimension some much-needed visual coherence, since it's no longer a disconnected set of isolated maps but more like an actual ''place'' you can understand. |
| 176 | ** The revamped "Gonarch's Lair" is in many ways similar to the Victory Mine from ''Half-Life 2: Episode 2'': [[spoiler:both involve you running through the nest of an arthropod-like alien species while being pursued by the dominant individual in the nest, culminating in a fight where you are heavily dependent on the surrounding cover to survive]]. |
| 177 | *** Plus an extra one for ''Episode 1'' in the hidden research centre you find in the area: [[spoiler:A voicemail of Barney talking about the scientist ends with Kleiner locking himself out again, making the guard rush to beat Gordon who was already halfway through the vents.]] |
| 178 | * TheCanKickedHim: The scientist having trouble on the toilet during "Anomalous Materials". Come "Unforeseen Consequences" he is revealed to have been turned into a headcrab zombie after the cascade. |
| 179 | * CanonForeigner: The Xenian chapters add several new enemy variants, including [[spoiler:two new variations of Houndeye, an amphibious barnacle that drags the player underwater, and the ZEV (HEV Zombies).]] |
| 180 | * CatchAndReturn: Courtesy of the Source engine's physics system, you can pick up frag grenades thrown by HECU Marines and send them back the way they came. [[spoiler:You even get an achievement for killing a grunt with his own grenade.]] |
| 181 | * TheCavalryArrivesLate: During the last third of "Surface Tension", Gordon overhears an Osprey with the callsign Goose-4 calling for aid as it prepares to take off, with the LAV Bloodhound-3 acknowledging and moving to support them. A couple of seconds later, you witness Goose-4 being destroyed by Vortigaunts just before Bloodhound-3 bursts through a nearby gate, which itself is killed by newly arrived Xen forces. |
| 182 | * ChaseScene: |
| 183 | ** Black Mesa retains the two Gargantua chase scenes in "Power Up" and "Surface Tension", although in the 1.5 ''Definitive Edition'' the former has been all but removed as the chapter was reworked. |
| 184 | ** "Gonarch's Lair" has been reworked into a level-spanning chase against the titular creature. |
| 185 | *** "Interloper" greatly expands the short altercation with a Gargantua in ''Half-Life'' into [[spoiler:an island-hopping escapade which sees you running from an entire ''horde'' of the monsters]]. |
| 186 | * CherryTapping: |
| 187 | ** Required in the first part of "Unforeseen Consequences" - you don't get a Crowbar right off the bat. Instead, you need to chuck flares at zombies/headcrabs to set them on fire and/or get them into your accompanying security guard's line of sight. |
| 188 | ** An achievement requires that you get killed by a headcrab. Another requires being ripped to pieces by your thrown snarks. |
| 189 | ** Another achievement is awarded if you make the killing blow on the Gonarch with the crowbar. |
| 190 | * CigarChomper: Some HECU commanding officers can be seen with lit cigars in their mouths, in a homage to one of their model variants from ''Half-Life''. |
| 191 | * {{Cliffhanger}}: Before the release of the Xen chapters, both the 2012 and 2015 Black Mesa releases ended with Gordon jumping into the teleporter to Xen at the end of "Lambda Core". |
| 192 | -->''"ASSIGNMENT: POSTPONED\ |
| 193 | SUBJECT: FREEMAN\ |
| 194 | REASON: AWAITING FURTHER DATA."'' |
| 195 | * CollapsingLair: Two examples: |
| 196 | ** The final segment of "Gonarch's Lair", in a similar manner to the original game, is demolished ''during the fight''. Towards the end, the ceiling collapses and sends you to the bottom of the arena. The Gonarch tries to flee as this happens, only for its strength to finally fail and send it hurtling to the bottom, where the now horrifically wounded creature continues to try and kill Gordon until it is finally put down. |
| 197 | ** [[spoiler:The Nihilanth's tower]] outright '''explodes''' after its owner is defeated. {{Justified|Trope}}, though, [[spoiler:as this is the result of the psychic backlash from the Nihilanth exploding]]. |
| 198 | * CombatMedic: [[ShownTheirWork Correctly called "corpsmen" in this game]], these are a new class of HECU Marine carried over from ''VideoGame/HalfLifeOpposingForce''. Like their predecessors, they will heal fellow HECU Marines should they get wounded in the field. Unlike their predecessors, the corpsmen are armed with the same weapons as regular HECU marines ([=MP5s=] and SPAS-12s as opposed to exclusively Glock 17s) and are just as competent as them in a firefight. |
| 199 | * CompositeCharacter: |
| 200 | ** Instead of Freeman facing off and destroying three different AH-64 Apaches in "Surface Tension", here Freeman only fights one helicopter twice: first at the Sector G Hydroelectric Dam, where it gets heavily damaged and retreats, is then seen flying around during the drainage pipe segment and is finally finished off with the RPG during the cliffside standoff. |
| 201 | ** The balaclava shotgunner soldier is merged with the standard gas mask soldier, who is able to use either the [=MP5=] or SPAS-12 (alongside the newly introduced corpsmen variant). HECU Commanders have adopted the Grenadier's unique ability to use the [=MP5=]'s underslung grenade launcher, with Grenadiers now wielding single-shot, disposable Rocket Launchers. |
| 202 | ** Certain security guards equipped with the revolver might be the closest thing Black Mesa has to Otis. |
| 203 | * TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: |
| 204 | ** HECU Sentry Turrets have unlimited ammunition... unless you grab one, which will reprogram it to your side (or rather to "shoot everything" mode), and then it will run out of ammunition after a few bursts. |
| 205 | ** Instead of using the SPAS-12 in pump-action mode like the player, the HECU soldiers fire it in semi-auto, resulting in them occasionally firing faster than the player can. |
| 206 | * ContinuityNod: |
| 207 | ** A security guard also tells Gordon to say "Hi" to Dr. Cross, the HEV suit training instructor and one of the main characters in ''VideoGame/HalfLifeDecay''. |
| 208 | ** On one of the bulletin boards is a note from Otis that Security Desk B3 needs more doughnuts, Otis being the fat security guard NPC introduced in ''Opposing Force'' & ''Blue Shift''. You even find one instance of him holding a doughnut instead of practising at the firing range in ''Blue Shift''. |
| 209 | ** In "Surface Tension", the Osprey unable to takeoff is code-named Goose Four, a reference to ''Opposing Force'', where the "Goose" designation was first used to denote specific Ospreys. |
| 210 | * CouldntFindAPen: In addition to the scientist in the Lambda Complex who wrote the solution to a nearby puzzle this way, there are also the military's messages to Gordon during "On A Rail", which were written with more mundane implements in the original game. Halfway through the chapter, "DIE FREEMAN" can be seen written with the blood of a dead security guard, and the highly popular [[https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=608116737 "Uncut" mod]] for the chapter features the rest of the original messages, in all their poorly spelled glory, also inscribed in blood. |
| 211 | * CreatorCameo: Much like [[MythologyGag Valve did in the original game]], Crowbar Collective developers' names are featured on lockers, desk nameplates, and the announcement system. In particular, the upstairs offices in "Questionable Ethics" not only have nameplates but also photographs of the devs and references to their roles, such as a 3D modeller having an unfinished model of a Harrier jet on their desk. |
| 212 | * CreatorsCultureCarryover: At least one of Crowbar Collective's members hails from the United Kingdom, which caused this to occur with some of the game's assets. |
| 213 | ** Despite the New Mexico setting, the vending machines are stocked with BrandX versions of brand-name British and European snacks like Walker's, Maltesers, and (the British version of) Smarties. The digital readout on the machine itself says "Feeling peckish?" which is not an expression Americans use. |
| 214 | ** There's also a [[Series/ChuckleVision Chuckle Brothers]] mug in some of the offices, though only in the original mod release. |
| 215 | ** Some of the facility's signage uses Commonwealth terms and spelling, such as "authorised" instead of "authorized" and "lift" instead of "elevator". |
| 216 | * CurbstompCushion: Downplayed. Unlike the original where the HECU tend to win individual skirmishes against Xen aliens, it's the other way around in the remake due to their lack of [=PCV=]'s (which is reflected by their lower base Hit Points) and the AdaptationalBadass treatment of Xen's military. This is best seen in "Surface Tension" where it's not uncommon for HECU to lose individual skirmishes to the Xen invasion force. |
| 217 | * CurseCutShort: When a HECU tank crew notices an overhead Manta Ray flying straight for them. |
| 218 | -->'''Driver 1:''' [[OhCrap Enemy air incoming! Shit, shit!]]\ |
| 219 | '''Driver 2:''' Son of a-- back up, ''back up!'' BACK THE FU--\ |
| 220 | ''[[KilledMidSentence (the Ray fires off an energy beam from its underside, which hits the tank and blows it to smithereens)]]'' |
| 221 | [[/folder]] |
| 222 | |
| 223 | [[folder:Tropes D-M]] |
| 224 | * DarkerAndEdgier: |
| 225 | ** ''Half-Life'' suffered from not having graphics advanced enough to properly portray the horrific events taking place at the Black Mesa Research Facility. Let's just say that this has been… rectified. |
| 226 | ** Unlike in ''Half-Life'', when approaching the elevator in "Unforeseen Consequences" [[MortonsFork you can't just break the glass on the elevator doors]] — no crowbar yet. [[ButThouMust You have to press the button]] [[CrueltyIsTheOnlyOption and crash it.]] And this time, you can hear the trapped scientists - one's screaming for help, another's [[TearsOfFear sobbing]] that she doesn't want to die. [[OhCrap Then they hear the elevator try to start…]] |
| 227 | *** The original scene was considered an unintentionally funny moment due to the limited animation depicting the scientists in the elevator standing up straight and motionless like BritishRoyalGuards while falling to their deaths. In some cases, they would even greet the player as they're falling. Here, though, the scientists can be seen hunched over and screaming as they brace for impact. |
| 228 | ** The brutality of the Gargantua's flame attack against [=NPCs=] in the original, seen with the HECU marines in "Power Up", was limited to gibbing. In the same chapter of this game, you'll see them set alight by the flames, causing them to flail and scream as they burn to death. |
| 229 | ** Gordon's seemingly effortless transformation into a killing machine even gets some acknowledgement from [=NPCs=]. |
| 230 | --->'''Scientist''' (walking into a lobby full of dead soldiers): Look what you did!\ |
| 231 | '''Security Guard:''' Holy shit.\ |
| 232 | '''Scientist:''' I... can't believe what you did! |
| 233 | ** ''Half-Life'''s "Questionable Ethics" is a brightly lit, relatively clean level without too much devastation or damage, with a greater focus on combat with the HECU. Black Mesa's version of the chapter is a dimly lit parade of nightmares laced with pitch-black humour. |
| 234 | ** Xen has this with the latter portion of the chapter "Interloper". In ''Half-Life'', you were generally running through an [[EternalEngine alien warehouse doing generic stuff]]. Come Black Mesa, and this section has now become [[spoiler:a full-on [[BodyHorror Vortigaunt to Alien Grunt conversion factory]], including a part where you land on what can only be described as ''the ones who didn't make it'']]. |
| 235 | * DeathByAdaptation: |
| 236 | ** At the start of "Unforeseen Consequences", a scientist can be seen performing CPR on a security guard, and upon waiting about 30 seconds, the CPR is successful and the guard wakes up; in ''Black Mesa'' however, the guard's body is more bloodied, and the scientist's CPR never seems to succeed. |
| 237 | ** A scientist in "Unforeseen Consequences", in his attempts to save a colleague from being pulled into and eaten in a vent, falls backwards and gets hit on the head by the same ladder he was standing on. |
| 238 | ** In the original ''Half-Life'', a scientist dives through a window and runs off afterwards. Here? That same scientist gets thrown through the window by a zombie and dies from his wounds. |
| 239 | ** The scientists that get gunned down by the military in "We've Got Hostiles" (save for the first one) are now far more difficult, if not outright impossible, to rescue. |
| 240 | ** The marine who throws a satchel charge into a pipe while Gordon is climbing through it gets crushed when the resulting explosion blows the pipe's access hatch off its hinges. |
| 241 | ** The security guard who opens a locked door for Gordon at the end of "Surface Tension" is now scripted to be beaten to death offscreen by an Alien Grunt. |
| 242 | ** The marine officer broadcasting orders over the radio to evacuate the facility in "Forget About Freeman" [[UncertainDoom might be]] a case of this, as he's heard yelling "DOWN, DOWN!" just before an explosion causes the transmission to cut out. |
| 243 | * DeathWorld: '''''Xen'''''. Dear God, Xen. With the reworks massively expanding the Xen levels, the players can now truly appreciate just how deadly the border world is as it is beautiful. |
| 244 | ** Think Barnacles are bad? In Xen, it turns out they have an aquatic counterpart nicknamed 'Beneathacles'. You can get dragged by them underwater while taking a swim, though they are thankfully easier to spot. |
| 245 | ** Houndeyes are dangerous in packs with their sonic area-of-effect attacks. In Xen, they have an orange, glowing explosive counterpart that charges at you en-masse and blows you up unless you act quickly. |
| 246 | ** Think Snarks are bad? In Xen, there are locations where their nests are ''everywhere'', and you can find yourself falling into a pit full of them after falling into and breaking several webbing-suspended nests that covered the opening |
| 247 | ** In the original ''Half-Life'', you get chased by one Gargantua, which you can defeat if you have enough firepower to do it. Here, you don't get chased by one, or two, or three, but ''twelve'' of the damn things in one epic chase sequence, and since you now can't kill them period, all you can do is RunOrDie. When you finally make it across an impassable chasm with your Long-Jump module and look back, you see them roaring and firing their flamers at you in fury, and it is here that one final realization hits you - those damn unstoppable giant animals are ''pack predators''. |
| 248 | * DecompositeCharacter: |
| 249 | ** The scientist found in the Administration Center in "Office Complex" who expresses doubts about heading for the surface is split into two scientists, one male and one female. |
| 250 | ** Similarly, the sole scientist encountered at the Lambda Supply Depot has his role taken on by a male and female scientist. The former is the leader of the depot's crew, and the latter is the one who introduces Gordon to the Long Jump Module. |
| 251 | ** The security guard found in the stairwell of "Office Complex" who urges the player to head to the surface is split into a security guard and a scientist. |
| 252 | * DelayedExplosion: An example of the Realistic variety occurs during the cliffside segment of "Surface Tension", where two Harriers perform a bombing run on a bunker in the distance. The sound of the resulting explosion is heard several seconds after the explosion itself. |
| 253 | * DevelopersForesight: |
| 254 | ** The guard in "Office Complex" who urges you to "Get topside!" can be interrupted mid-speech if you lead any of the nearby Vortigaunts to him. If he survives the ensuing fight, he'll proceed to reiterate what he was saying. |
| 255 | ** As mentioned above under AssShove, the animation shown when first equipping the Hive Hand is... less than pleasant. If you save it until after you save a security guard to do it though, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTWQEgDvoE4 he has some comments to make about Gordon's "scientific procedure"]]. |
| 256 | ** During the first battle with Gonarch in "Gonarch's Lair", there's a floating island in the arena that contains a healing pool and a supply cache that the Gonarch cannot reach. However, should the player attempt to camp there, [[spoiler:the Gonarch will first start shooting them and then ''throw chunks of the environment at them''.]] |
| 257 | * DiesDifferentInAdaptation: In the original "Surface Tension Uncut" add-on created for the mod, an Osprey is destroyed by an Alien Aircraft as it prepares to take off and evacuate several wounded HECU. When the add-on was officially implemented in the retail release, this was changed; the Osprey is instead destroyed by Vortigaunts blowing up a tanker parked near it (implied to have been refuelling the Osprey at that time). |
| 258 | * DifficultyLevels: The usual '' Half-Life'' convention of "Easy", "Normal", and "Hard" difficulties is thrown out in favor of instead calling the difficulties "Normal", "Black Mesa", and "Hard". On Hard, the HECU are far more aggressive, while the Assassins, like their original counterparts, will use invisibility cloaks. Meanwhile, Normal makes both the HECU and Assassins less aggressive and removes the Vortigaunts' ability to dodge incoming fire. |
| 259 | * DirtyCoward: In "Office Complex" you can discover two scientists - Clifford and a woman - holed up in an office with a Barnacle blocking the entrance. As you walk in, Clifford shrieks "Take her! It's not my time!" He then refuses to come along with you if you ask. You can shoot him without the woman freaking out, provided that any accompanying guards don't see this. |
| 260 | * DumbMuscle: Consistent with the misspelled threatening graffiti in the original, there's an exchange between two marines in the lobby in "Questionable Ethics" where one of them tries to read the Latin motto on the wall, is told that it's Latin, and then grumbles dismissively about [[GlobalIgnorance "foreigners"]]. |
| 261 | * EarlyBirdCameo: |
| 262 | ** Isaac Kleiner, Eli Vance, and Barney Calhoun have been retroactively implemented in place of generic [=NPCs=] from the original ''Half-Life''. Kleiner and Eli are featured as two of the scientists overseeing the experiment in the Anomalous Materials lab, with the latter taking the role of the scientist urging Gordon to find help topside as implied in ''Half-Life 2'', while the guard in front of a locked door during "Inbound" closely resembles Barney, right down to his lack of gear at that time as demonstrated in ''VideoGame/HalfLifeBlueShift''. |
| 263 | ** The Gargantua faced at the end of "Surface Tension" can first be seen in a tunnel behind a wreck shortly after the destruction of Goose-4. |
| 264 | * EasilyThwartedAlienInvasion: Subverted. Like in the original ''Half-Life'', while the HECU manage to contain the extra-universal alien incursions at first, as time goes on the AlienInvasion becomes more organised and coordinated, leading to the HECU gradually losing ground and becoming increasingly desperate as they are overwhelmed by both sheer numbers and powerful alien soldiers and machinery/monsters like the Grunts and the Xen Manta Rays. The situation gets bad enough that by "Surface Tension" and "Forget About Freeman" the US government issues an evacuation warning for the ''entire state of New Mexico'' as the HECU retreats in utter rout, showing how bad shit has hit the fan. |
| 265 | * EasterEgg: |
| 266 | ** Through the use of the console, the VOX system can be used to [[https://youtu.be/q-i0M-PdUS4 say nearly anything.]] |
| 267 | ** On the diagonal freight elevator in "Unforeseen Consequences", you can jump onto a walkway to the left before the elevator reaches the bottom to access a hidden room. There's a locked door there which is the only one in ''Black Mesa'' that still triggers an "access denied" announcement when Gordon tries to enter. Like in the original ''Half-Life'', persisting makes VOX tell you the door is locked in many different ways, eventually asking "Will we do this all day?" |
| 268 | ** The multiplayer map DM_Undertow contains an edited version of the "Navy Seal" copypasta [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K4W8UfP7Jc if certain conditions are met.]] |
| 269 | ** A hidden room in the first area of "Gonarch's Lair" contains a secret message from Barney Calhoun, as part of the Pizza ARG. |
| 270 | ** Hidden throughout the game are blue "notice" signs that read: |
| 271 | --->NOTICE: Thank you for noticing this new notice. Your noticing it has been noted and will be reported to the authorities. |
| 272 | *** In the retail release, the signs instead say: |
| 273 | ---->NOTICE: Your noticing of this new notice has been noted, [[OverlyLongGag and any continuing participation in noticing new notices will be noted and reported to the notable authorities.]] |
| 274 | * ElectronicSpeechImpediment: |
| 275 | ** The announcement system has a human-sounding female voice by default, but when the HECU take control, it switches back to a droning voice similar to the original ''Half-Life'', in mid-broadcast. |
| 276 | --->"Attention: This-s-[-s--][--s ..... s--][--s-]-sys[[AC:tem. Now. Under. Military. Command."]] |
| 277 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb9Qw3sLwKs HEV zombies' suits repeatedly provide distorted status readouts,]] as if the suits are having a hard time comprehending their users' zombified state. |
| 278 | * ElevatorActionSequence: The final part of "Interloper", which has you [[spoiler:riding an elevator to the Nihilanth's portal while fending off a veritable army of Alien Controllers.]] |
| 279 | * EleventhHourSuperpower: Towards the middle of "Interloper", you will come across large green crystals that [[spoiler:quickly replenish your supply of Depleted Uranium-235, giving you unlimited usage of the Tau Cannon and Gluon Gun]]. |
| 280 | * EmpathicEnvironment: The light and time of day in "Surface Tension" correspond to the strength of the HECU forces the player encounters in the level and their effectiveness wanes; the sun makes its way down the horizon. Tellingly, the HECU's retreat from Black Mesa in "Forget About Freeman!" happens at sundown, with their defeat symbolically representing mankind's coming loss against both the Xen Invaders and the Combine. |
| 281 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: Numerous enemy types, old and new, get these, or have existing ones expanded upon: |
| 282 | ** The first HECU soldier encountered in the game steps off an elevator and shoots up an unsuspecting scientist as usual. The scientist has added dialogue should Gordon take out the soldier first just to hammer in the fact that the soldiers are hostile. |
| 283 | ** The alien grunt first seen in "Questionable Ethics" is the subject of some [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential lab torture]], so this enemy's proper introduction is moved ahead a bit, where Gordon can release a pair of them and they battle a squad of HECU grunts, all the while witnessing this from a much safer position. |
| 284 | ** Upon entering the lab in Xen, there are some HEV suits stored away in chambers. One of them happens to have a Headcrab on it. This one breaks out of its chamber. |
| 285 | ** The plant tentacles are first seen in a swamp in Xen, impaling an unaware Bullsquid. Explosive fauna is located next to some of them, helping to signpost to the player that they can be destroyed. |
| 286 | ** There's a note on a lab door that mentions variants of the Houndeye. One is smaller, glows, and tends to explode, as shown by a rushing horde. Another is large with a super-strong knockback to its attack and is first seen ramming into a Bullsquid. |
| 287 | ** A relatively easy-to-miss example is the Beneathacle, an aquatic Barnacle, eating up an HEV corpse. It can be easy to miss due to the underwater view. |
| 288 | ** The first level in "Interloper" shows Vortigaunt slaves being abused by their Grunt equivalents, which helps clue in the player that the slaves are docile in their homeworld. Later on, the Controllers appear and start brainwashing those slaves, turning them berserk. |
| 289 | * EternalEngine: The waste processing plant in "Residue Processing", with its conveyor belts, pistons, grinders and crushers. There's also the Grunt factory in "Interloper", which is much, ''much'' more of an Eternal Engine than in the original game. |
| 290 | * EtTuBrute: Can occasionally be quoted by the scientists if you hurt them. |
| 291 | * EveryPizzaIsPepperoni: Every pizza found throughout the game is pepperoni-flavoured. The menus posted in the facility's various cafeterias also list cheese and tomato pizza, although it's nowhere to be seen. |
| 292 | * EverybodysDeadDave: Like in the original ''Half-Life'', it's a given that nearly everyone in Black Mesa (outside of the named characters from ''Half-Life 2'') is killed during the incident, whether by the aliens or by the HECU, and the many corpses Gordon comes across during his trip across the facility are a testament to that. |
| 293 | * EvilTowerOfOminousness: Throughout the "Xen" level, you can see a huge tower hovering in the distance, with an enormous red portal over it that gives it something of [[https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d856e3d132e863fa2968760/1583457186738-9GKTT8ALFZNW0XQH73FU/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kNvT88LknE-K9M4pGNO0Iqd7gQa3H78H3Y0txjaiv_0fDoOvxcdMmMKkDsyUqMSsMWxHk725yiiHCCLfrh8O1z5QPOohDIaIeljMHgDF5CVlOqpeNLcJ80NK65_fV7S1USOFn4xF8vTWDNAUBm5ducQhX-V3oVjSmr829Rco4W2Uo49ZdOtO_QXox0_W7i2zEA/20200305194702_1.jpg?format=1000w an Eye of Sauron look]]. You finally reach it in "Interloper", and spend much of the level making your way up through it. [[spoiler:After you defeat [[BigBad the Nihilanth]], it explodes.]] |
| 294 | * {{Expy}}: |
| 295 | ** There are several assets and elements re-used from ''Half-Life 2'', repurposed into this game. |
| 296 | *** The HECU marines borrow the AI and animations of the Combine soldiers, albeit with the AI rewritten to make them even more competent. This allows them to shoot while standing and on the move, among other things. |
| 297 | *** The HECU snipers are the Combine snipers in everything but name; like in ''Half-Life 2'', they're an invisible entity that can only be killed via explosives, rather than ''Half-Life'''s concealed brush of a human shooting target that can be killed with traditional means. Their firing positions are also revealed by laser sights, coloured red instead of the Combine Sniper's blue. |
| 298 | *** The Bullsquid's acid attack is borrowed from the Antlion Worker, spitting a shower of arcing globs. It takes more effort to avoid this attack than the original's singular, straight-travelling projectile. |
| 299 | ** The Nihilanth can unleash mortar barrages and beams of fire, create rock walls, and fire off charged energy blasts, calling to mind the abilities of the Cyberdemon from ''VideoGame/Doom2016''. |
| 300 | * FanRemake: Of the original ''Half-Life''. |
| 301 | * {{Foreshadowing}}: Multiple added lines foreshadow the Resonance Cascade. There are a lot of scientists complaining about shoddy or unsafe equipment, albeit of a more mundane variety, while the player is first touring the facility. |
| 302 | --> '''Scientist:''' [[ExactWords If another instrument malfunctions today, I'm going to explode!]] |
| 303 | * FixFic: Some elements are changed to fit the ''Half-Life'' canon a little better: |
| 304 | ** In ''Half-Life 2'', Barney's first line concerns the beer he owes Gordon, a reference to the pre-disaster security guard dialogue about sharing a beer with Gordon after work. But these lines aren't said by Barney, who is canonically the guard originally seen at the start of the tram ride and could not have made it to the Sector C labs before Gordon. This is rectified by instead having the guard at the Sector C tram station reference the fact that Barney's bar tab is past due and that he relies on others to buy drinks for him. Of note is that the original dialogue about sharing a beer is still in this game, albeit slightly changed: |
| 305 | --->"Hey, catch me later. You, me, and Calhoun will go out and get that beer he owes ya." |
| 306 | ** Per the {{retcon}}s introduced by ''Half-Life 2'', two generic scientists in "Anomalous Materials" are substituted with Isaac Kleiner and Eli Vance. The latter fills in for the scientist who urges Gordon to get help topside after the resonance cascade, as was implied by his dialogue when he was first introduced in the series. |
| 307 | ** Similarly, the scientist who gets fussed about the exploded microwave casserole and who would eventually be retroactively recognised as Magnusson uses Kleiner's model in the original game. In ''Black Mesa'', neither are present in the staff lounge and the [=NPCs=] instead mention that the currently not-present "you-know-who" (Magnusson) will get extremely upset with Gordon's antics if he chooses to blow up the casserole. |
| 308 | * FriendOrFoe: The jumpiness of the facility's security guards is played up from ''Half-Life'', in that Gordon finds himself nearly getting shot by no less than three of them throughout his journey. |
| 309 | * FromBadToWorse: "Surface Tension" and "Forget About Freeman!" make it clear that things are going to happen both within and outside of Black Mesa. |
| 310 | ** As Gordon progresses across the surface, the HECU gradually lose ground against the Xenian invaders, with their appearances diminishing throughout "Surface Tension" while Xen forces take their place. Radio transmissions heard throughout the chapter further expand on this, with many marines ''begging'' for reinforcements or evacuation. |
| 311 | ** The Emergency Broadcasts become gradually worse and worse. The first warns the public a disaster has occurred at Black Mesa and recommends evacuation of a 75-mile radius around the facility. The second increases that evacuation area and orders everyone to leave, while hinting that an infection is spreading from Black Mesa. The final one basically spells out that an alien invasion is underway, that the U.S. military has gotten its ass kicked and the President is ordering Black Mesa nuked. It orders an evacuation of ''all of New Mexico''. |
| 312 | * GameBreakingBug: |
| 313 | ** Partially, as the devs have stated some players randomly crashing at various points in the game, whether always at a specific position or just from playing for a while, is not their fault, but the Source Engine's from being a bit overstressed by the game. |
| 314 | ** In the 2012 mod release, firing the Hivehand into the #9 portal in Level B of the Lambda Reactor Complex (the one that kills you) will strip you of ''all'' of your weapons for the rest of the game, but this only happens if you decide to try it out for yourself. This was patched in the Steam release. |
| 315 | * GasMaskMooks: The majority of the HECU marines encountered throughout the game all wear gas masks. |
| 316 | * GenderFlip: The mod introduces female scientists to help mix up [[YouALLLookFamiliar the variety of faces]]. |
| 317 | * GeniusesHaveMultiplePhDs: The game features a minor scientist who complains that the button-pressing he's confined to performing is beneath him because he has two [=PhDs=] and an Oersted Medal, which may be interpreted as a dig at how Gordon Freeman, both here and in the original ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'', is made to do the grunt work in the Anti-Mass Spectrometer despite being a doctorate holder. The Hazard Course mod takes this further with some dialogue that implies that a large majority of the scientists employed at Black Mesa hold multiple [=PhDs=], and Gordon with his single [=PhD=] in theoretical physics is an outlier. |
| 318 | * GetBackHereBoss: The Gonarch is one in this version. Once you do enough damage it runs away, you have to chase it through a long cave system with a bunch of other enemies, as well as blowing up some of the exploding plants to clear the path. Curiously, the thing [[AttackAttackRetreatRetreat alternates between running away and attacking, requiring you to damage it more until it runs again.]] The whole thing [[MarathonBoss takes about half an hour]]. While the original Gonarch did run away midway through the fight, but was a hell of a lot shorter battle. |
| 319 | * GodzillaThreshold: The third and final Emergency Broadcast message found in "Surface Tension" offers a glimpse of the world outside of Black Mesa, and things are looking really bad. Since the HECU is unable to contain the alien invasion, the President has declared a state of emergency, ordered the military to withdraw all ground forces covered by immediate airstrikes over Black Mesa, and ordered the ''entire state of New Mexico'' to be completely evacuated of all civilians ASAP. Things are getting so bad that the Emergency Broadcast also requests any civilian with any amount of military or firearms training to immediately report to a military officer, suggesting that the army is making an [[LoweredRecruitingStandards emergency recruitment effort]] to hold back the invasion. |
| 320 | * HeroicSacrifice: While [[BattleDiscretionShot taking place off-screen]], one security guard, if he accompanies Gordon into the rocket silo in "On A Rail", will hold off an entire HECU squad trying to capture the silo to buy time for Gordon to prep the satellite rocket to be launched. By the time Gordon finishes and makes it back to the top of the silo, the guard has managed to kill off the entire squad, [[MutualKill but ends up succumbing to his wounds shortly afterwards]]. |
| 321 | * HilariousOuttakes: An official compilation was released during the production of the original mod, ranging from flubbed NPC dialogue to an amusing take on the Black Mesa Transit System announcements. They can be found [[https://youtu.be/y6gJWv8GjZU here]]. An additional set of outtakes from the "don't let it overcharge" scene was also compiled and can be viewed [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9Dooj_pvq4 here]]. |
| 322 | * HoistByHisOwnPetard: |
| 323 | ** Towards the end of "Surface Tension", a squad of HECU soldiers can be seen trying to set an explosive trap for a Gargantua using a fuel truck. They only manage to blow themselves up, though. |
| 324 | ** The soldier who tries to kill Gordon with a satchel charge while he's crawling through a pipe gets crushed by the pipe's access hatch when the resulting explosion blows it off its hinges. |
| 325 | * HollywoodSilencer: The Black Ops Assassins [[GunsAkimbo dual-wield]] silenced Glocks -- or so it seems. While their gunshots play this straight, a [[https://media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/5/4384/femassassin_beauty.jpg look at their model]] reveals that they don't have silencers attached to their pistols. This is likely an oversight, or the developers didn't expect anyone to get a good enough look at them to notice, given how fast and agile they are. |
| 326 | * HopeSpot: |
| 327 | ** After making it onto the island housing Nihilanth's tower, Gordon manages to find a teleporter that can take him straight to the tower's top. Just as he activates it, though, the [[KingMook Gonarch]] burrows out from the ground nearby and smashes it to pieces. |
| 328 | ** At the end of "Interloper", Gordon rides an elevator leading straight to the top of the Nihilanth's tower, fighting off Alien Controllers the whole way up. Just as it seems like he's in the clear, [[spoiler:another group of Controllers shows up and pulls the elevator back down in a final attempt to stop him.]] |
| 329 | * HungryJungle: Unlike the barren rock landscapes in the original game, most of Xen is this in the remake, ''especially'' "Gonarch's Lair". |
| 330 | * HyperactiveMetabolism: Drinks from the vending machine can heal you, with each can equating to 1 HP. You can either have the machine dispense one drink at a time by pressing its buttons or, if you're impatient, just smack it with a crowbar to have it spew out all the cans at once. |
| 331 | * IdleAnimation: Gordon has some just like in the original, but this time they're far more expressive. While many of them are fairly mundane, such as doing an ammo check on the Glock or spinning the cylinder on the Tau cannon, the Snark animations are especially adorable, with Gordon petting the Snark or playing with it as if it were a miniature horse. |
| 332 | * IncompetenceInc: While much less blatant than in ''Half-Life'', Black Mesa still carries vibes of this with many questionable elements present in the Black Mesa facility such as pointless rooms, mass radioactive waste leakages, lethally dangerous obstacle courses and other things being less level design and more Black Mesa clearly [[NoOSHACompliance failing to meet proper safety and ethical guidelines]] or even [[ViolationOfCommonSense simple common sense]] in their work. Were it not for various hints suggesting the whole Resonance Cascade event was deliberately set up to happen, the Black Mesa Incident would look more like the inevitable culmination of their ineptitude. |
| 333 | * IndustrializedEvil: Much like in the original ''Half-Life'', the latter half of the chapter "Interloper" takes place in a factory that creates Alien Grunts. While the process behind the manufacturing of Grunts was very vaguely hinted at in the original game, ''Black Mesa'' outright shows, in the most gruesome detail, that Grunts are created from [[spoiler:Vortigaunts]]. |
| 334 | * InfiniteFlashlight: In place of ''Half-Life'''s auto-recharging ([[DownplayedTrope not so]]) TenSecondFlashlight. It's quite a necessary change, as the game's environments are ''a lot'' darker this time around. |
| 335 | * InterfaceScrew: |
| 336 | ** Taking damage causes a brief "chromatic aberration" effect that worsens with the severity of the hit. |
| 337 | ** A milder example: you'll notice Gordon's vision becoming slowly filled with static the longer you stay near high levels of radiation. |
| 338 | ** The Houndeye's attack distorts the screen and causes a tinnitus effect on the audio. |
| 339 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Hunter, the security guard with the Lambda Team. He writes you off and insults you when he first speaks to you, but if you follow the scientist's advice and restock at the armoury, he wishes you luck on your mission. |
| 340 | * KillEnemiesToOpen: Alien Controllers will occasionally hold doors shut with their telekinetic powers during "Interloper", thus requiring you to kill them to progress. |
| 341 | * KillItWithFire: |
| 342 | ** Like in the ''Half-Life 2'' Episodes, you can throw emergency flares at zombies and headcrabs to set them on fire. |
| 343 | ** Part of "Gonarch's Lair" involves setting fire to [[spoiler:large swathes of the headcrab nests. KillItWithWater is also involved as you end up flooding a good deal of them too.]] |
| 344 | * KlingonPromotion: Invoked. Sometimes when a security guard kills a zombie wearing a security uniform, he'll jokingly say he just got a promotion. |
| 345 | * LampshadeHanging: |
| 346 | ** The Emergency Shutdown button on the spectrometer control panel used by Gordon is offline, with a post-it note saying "Needs fixing ASAP" next to it. |
| 347 | ** The first (alive) security guard you encounter after the Cascade comments about the situation being "out of a Sci-Fi movie". |
| 348 | ** Sometimes scientists will occasionally snark to other [=NPCs=] about [[WelcomeToCorneria their tendency to repeat themselves]]. |
| 349 | ** One scientist in Sector C bemoans his daily chore of walking back and forth between computer screens and staring at them. Sounds a lot like the plight of any video game NPC controlled by scripted sequences. |
| 350 | ** Among the various messages promoting Black Mesa on the Trivision boards in the elevator lobby are two lampshading the facility's most notorious attributes: |
| 351 | --->''[[BlackMesaCommute "Innovative! Our tram system is really cool!"]]''\ |
| 352 | ''[[NoOSHACompliance "Safety!]] [[ExactWords Our record]] [[FalseReassurance speaks for itself!"]]'' |
| 353 | ** One of the scientists rescued during "Questionable Ethics" notices that their trip towards the Biodome Complex's front entrance [[ItsQuietTooQuiet was "a bit too easy"]], at which his colleague asks Gordon to scout the lobby before they proceed further. [[spoiler:Sure enough, the HECU are waiting in there, ready to spring a trap for him.]] |
| 354 | * LaserSight: |
| 355 | ** An odd variant - the Black Ops assassins, when cloaked, can be tracked by their mono-optical goggles, which glow red which trails the light as they move about. |
| 356 | ** Similar to ''Half-Life 2'''s Combine snipers, HECU Snipers are identified by their laser sights. |
| 357 | * LastStand: The final surface battle in "Forget About Freeman!" has been converted into one for the HECU. As Ospreys flee overhead amidst jets and helicopters dogfighting alien craft, a HECU convoy on the ground tries to flee, only for the majority of their vehicles to be zapped by an alien craft as Gordon emerges from underground. The survivors engage him in battle, only to be cut down. |
| 358 | * LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Early in the game (before the Resonance Cascade), a group of scientists can be heard arguing about the merits of [[FanRemake reproducing an old experiment with modern technology]]. |
| 359 | * LeaveTheCameraRunning: [[https://youtu.be/zVYJ9o6Bddo The Steam release trailer,]] which takes the form of a promotional video for Black Mesa's weapons division, features an interview with a HECU soldier who ends his segment by saying "Thanks a lot, Black Mesa!" and giving the camera a thumbs-up. The camera lingers on him for a while as he awkwardly holds his pose and several people in the background laugh at him. |
| 360 | * LeeroyJenkins: The security guard who rushes the tentacles in "Blast Pit", armed with only a pistol. He gets gibbed for his trouble. Fittingly, his name ''was'' Leeroy Jenkins. |
| 361 | * LikeCannotCutLike: The Hivehand's primary fire does not affect exploding Xen plants or other Xen obstacles because it only homes in on enemies, while the aforementioned obstacles are hazardous objects. The secondary fire will still work, though, since this turns the hornets into unguided missiles that immediately burst on impact. |
| 362 | * LilyPadPlatform: Oversized lily pads make appearances in the swamp regions of Xen. |
| 363 | * LudicrousGibs: Similar to the original game, [=NPCs=] can be reduced to meaty chunks with direct impacts from explosions. Point-blank shotgun blasts and [[MoreDakka mounted machine gun fire]] can do this as well. |
| 364 | * MadScientist: Implied with Black Mesa, since the comments and activities depicted throughout the facility suggest that Black Mesa had been up to all manners of research and inventions - many of which are implied to be dangerous, unethical, illegal, or any combination of three. At best, one scientist fears it would lead to a media circus that would ruin their careers and the company, and at worst it would kill everyone in the facility if not endanger all life on Earth. As events show, those fears were very real. |
| 365 | * MadeOfExplodium: The infamous tripmine warehouse, for one. There are also exploding plants in Xen; a couple of segments involve tight locations with lots of these plants, where allowing any kind of impact will result in death. For added explodium, one of these such locations is also filled with tripmines and sleeping Houndeyes. |
| 366 | * MarathonLevel: |
| 367 | ** In the original game, "Surface Tension" was already the longest level in the game by far. ''Black Mesa'' expands on it, making it even longer. Prepare to spend at least a couple of hours on it. |
| 368 | ** "Interloper" is just ''massive'', rivalling the updated "Surface Tension" in length. |
| 369 | ** Averted: One of the original game's biggest complaints was that the "On a Rail" level was way too long, to the point of breaking the tension and flow of the game. Black Mesa condenses it into a much shorter trip. |
| 370 | * MicrowaveMisuse: During "Unforeseen Consequences", a headcrab can be found trapped in the microwave in the Sector C break room. Turning the microwave on causes the headcrab to explode after a few seconds, with the microwave itself catching fire. |
| 371 | * MindOverMatter: Part of what makes Controllers in ''Black Mesa'' way more dangerous than their vanilla ''Half-Life'' counterparts is their ability to use telekinesis to lift stuff around them and toss it at you, dealing a hefty amount of damage if they hit you. |
| 372 | * MythologyGag: |
| 373 | ** The security guard stationed at the aforementioned security checkpoint berates Gordon for cutting his ponytail, which was present on his model in ''Half-Life''. |
| 374 | ** The computer in the Sector C lobby that Gordon can fiddle with has an Instant Messenger conversation between two of the scientists from ''Half-Life'', conversing via [[MadLibsDialogue their old generic dialogue lines]]. |
| 375 | ** Upon equipping the HEV suit, interacting with the "ridiculous ties" scientist in the locker room has him talk about the HEV Mark [=IIIs=], which didn't have an optional helmet. One of the big debates about ''Half-Life'' concerned whether Gordon was wearing the HEV helmet that you saw on dead Lambda Team members since he was impervious to getting headcrabbed. [[note]]These debates reached their conclusion with the introduction of [[spoiler:the [=ZEV=] in the Xen chapters; shooting the headcrab off reveals [[ArmorIsUseless the bottom portion of their HEV helmets to still be intact]]]][[/note]]. |
| 376 | ** The same scientist also mentions that he designed the underwater breathing apparatus for the suit, but it didn't end up being used. This is a reference to the oxygen tank item which was cut from ''Half-Life''. |
| 377 | ** In ''Half-Life'', the Anti-Mass Spectrometer's Stage 2 emitters consisted of three floating devices that spun beneath the central unit, though no explanation is offered for how these devices were floating there in the first place. In ''[[https://youtu.be/jTW68eVoxqw?t=54 Black Mesa]]'', the emitters are now stored in three recesses within the main unit, only being deployed and held in their original positions by rail-mounted clamps surrounding the Stage 1 emitter. Upon their activation, the Stage 2 emitters are released from their clamps (which decelerate before moving back into the recesses), allowing them to float exactly as they did in ''Half-Life''. |
| 378 | ** The Black Ops female assassins appear to be wearing modified, all-black [[VideoGame/{{Portal2}} Long Fall Boots]], which explains how they can jump around without breaking their legs. It's also rather ironic how the military trying to eliminate the Black Mesa Research Facility using gear made by the company's primary competitor. Also notable is that the LFB's predecessors, the [[VideoGame/{{Portal}} Advanced Knee Replacements]], were a recycled prop from WhatCouldHaveBeen the Black Ops' successor in ''Half-Life 2'', the female Combine Assassin. What's more, Assassins now dual-wield their pistols, another trait they share with their cut descendants (in ''Half-Life'', they only wielded one). |
| 379 | ** Military crates can be found with markings mentioning unusable 5.56mm ammunition that has been linked for the [=HK23=], also known as the [=GR9=] which was at one point considered for ''Half-Life 2'', and appeared in the leaked 2003 build's files. |
| 380 | [[/folder]] |
| 381 | [[folder:Tropes N-Z]] |
| 382 | * NamedByTheAdaptation: Several previously unnamed characters from ''Half-Life'' are given actual names this time around: |
| 383 | ** Murtaugh for the security guard at the front desk of the Anomalous Materials lab. |
| 384 | ** Harold for the scientist in the bathroom of the Sector C personnel facilities. |
| 385 | ** Clifford for one of the scientists found in the Administration Center. |
| 386 | ** {{Leeroy Jenkins}} for the guard that rushes the Tentacles in "Blast Pit". |
| 387 | ** Sisk for the lone guard encountered in "Questionable Ethics" (according to WordOfGod, anyway), and Pugeschmidt for one of the scientists hiding from the military in the same chapter. |
| 388 | ** Jackson for the guard who gets chased by soldiers in "Surface Tension". |
| 389 | ** Hillard and Hunter for the lead scientist and guard stationed at the Lambda Supply Depot, respectively. |
| 390 | * {{Nerf}}: |
| 391 | ** In general, most ammo reserves were shaved compared to their ''Half-Life'' counterparts. This hurts the Python and Crossbow the most, reducing Gordon's carrying capacity for the latter to a mere ''two'' spare magazines. It also doesn't help that ammo pickups for these weapons provide ''two'' magazines worth of ammo, reaching the ammo cap instantly and making it highly likely for any additional ammo boxes to just be left behind. |
| 392 | ** Speaking of the Crossbow, its drawback animation can no longer be cancelled by switching to another weapon. Using its scope also takes a bit more time. |
| 393 | ** Thankfully, this one is to the player's advantage: Black Ops Assassins don't retain their insane damage or firing rate from ''Half-Life''. They also retreat to hide more often, backing away when too much damage is done, and aren't as fast as they were, despite the higher jumps they can do. Even when they become cloaked on Hard difficulty, they're easier to track down by the red trails of light of their goggles (see LaserSight above). |
| 394 | ** HECU snipers now fire much slower, deal less damage (meaning they won't murder you in two hits) and their positions are given away by visible red laser sight (making them easier to see and avoid). However, they ''must'' be taken out with explosives; simply shooting the invisible entity representing them doesn't work at all. |
| 395 | ** Snarks don't travel as fast, which works for both the player and enemies - no longer will you get savaged by incredibly fast, hard-to-hit snarks, but neither will your foes (However, most enemies tend to flail around when being mobbed by snarks, preventing them from retaliating). |
| 396 | ** The Ichthyosaur succumbs to a mere two crossbow bolts - or if you're low on ammo, less than one pistol magazine. |
| 397 | ** Alien Grunts on Earthbound chapters do less damage, have less health, and do not appear as often. Inverted in Xen chapters, where they are much more agile, move faster as well as jump and dodge player attacks. |
| 398 | ** To balance out the vast number of changes made to the Long Jump module as listed in AntiFrustrationFeatures, the module now comes with a new energy meter that restricts players to a maximum of three jumps at any given time. |
| 399 | ** The AH-64 Apache faced in the Retail version is much easier to take down than the one faced in the original Mod, needing only two rockets to be destroyed instead of 6 or 7. It also does less damage and attacks less frequently. |
| 400 | ** Buried mines in outdoor sections are ''much'' easier to spot, as they are now "Bouncing Betty" types with three small metal prongs very visibly sticking out of the sand. |
| 401 | ** HECU sentry turrets can no longer attack targets in any direction and are now susceptible to being knocked over or reprogrammed by the player. |
| 402 | * NeverTrustATrailer: During the 1.0 Update trailer, a scientist can be heard saying "The alien species can't possibly ''all'' be hostile, can they?" This line, featured as idle dialogue for the scientists in the original ''Half-Life'', is not featured in ''Black Mesa'', albeit due to a misspelling in a script file rather than intentionally. |
| 403 | * NighInvulnerable: Gargantuas can't be harmed at all by your weapons. The only way to kill them is through scripted sequences (e.g. calling in an artillery strike). |
| 404 | * NintendoHard: This game is considerably more difficult than ''Half-Life''. For starters, the Tentacles in "Blast Pit" are ''far'' more sensitive to noise this time around (which most likely has to do with an eye on top of their tentacle, as pointed out by a research note on one of the boards), the HECU's firing rate is no longer restricted to burst-firing, now eating up your health like a cocaine addict with crack, Barnacles can take ''four'' crowbar whacks instead of one in the series' official games so you're forced to engage them from a distance and use ammo, and the Vortigaunts, in addition to using basic squad tactics, charge up their attacks at the speed of ''Half-Life'''s Hard difficulty (read: almost instantly), and can take a few hits before dropping. Even the ''headcrabs'' react a bit faster than average. On top of that, all enemies became smarter than their original selves; see ArtificialBrilliance for more details. |
| 405 | * NonstandardGameOver: |
| 406 | ** In "Surface Tension", when approaching the "motherlode" armoury, shooting a guard that pops up from under a desk and yells "FREEZE!" nets you with a game over screen (due to the guard being required to unlock the armoury door from the other side). [[NiceJobBreakingItHero The game even calls you out on your poor trigger discipline.]] |
| 407 | ** There's one you can get an achievement for. If you decide not to push in the specimen and wait long enough, the scientists in the room will yell out [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iitFrs5-TYQ&t=1m20s "He waited too long! We can't contain it!"]] |
| 408 | ** Don't jump into the Dimensional Portal Device to Xen and it'll also go unstable before eventually exploding and killing you, as it does in ''Half-Life''. |
| 409 | ** Killing [=NPCs=] before they open plot-forwarding locked doors, like the front door of the Sector E lobby, also causes one. |
| 410 | ** [[MadeOfExplodium Tripping a single Laser Tripmine]] within a certain missile storage warehouse. |
| 411 | * NoOSHACompliance: Zig-zagged. |
| 412 | ** Compared to ''Half-Life'', there are considerably fewer environmental hazards directly in your path. For example, the numerous deadly spinning fan blades inexplicably bisecting corridors that maintenance personnel might presumably be required to traverse are mostly gone. |
| 413 | ** While going through the game you can see safety posters and equipment around the environment (the labs in "Questionable Ethics", for example, are rigged so the personnel are never exposed to the testing conditions) as well as handrails and safety fences everywhere (in fact, "Residue Processing" relies on you actually ''going out of your way to violate the safeties'' to proceed), but it's still played straight with the failsafe on the Anti-Mass Spectrometer. |
| 414 | ** Notably, the giant fan in "Blast Pit" is both even more unsafe ''and'' lethal; not only is the switch to activate it placed on the opposite side of where the ladder is situated (instead of directly in front of the ladder as in the original), but the cutout for the ladder is not deep enough to keep you safe from the fan blades once they start spinning. |
| 415 | ** On the whole though, considering that the original ''Half-Life'' could be considered a TropeCodifier for its lack of OSHA compliance, ''Black Mesa'' has had a lot of thought put into making the place look like an operating government facility rather than a collection of safety hazards. Notable is the number of fire extinguishers available... none of which can be grabbed and used to put out a fire. |
| 416 | ** Played straight and [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in "Interloper": the entire section takes place in an ''alien'' factory where the workers are easily disposable slaves. |
| 417 | * NotHisSled: |
| 418 | ** Some levels are changed, removed or expanded, so knowledge of ''Half-Life'' doesn't apply 100%. |
| 419 | ** Most weapons, in general, are available in different locations compared to where they're found in ''Half-Life''. The only weapons that don't follow this example are the Crossbow, most of the weapons in slot five (Mk 2 Grenades, Laser Tripmines and Snarks; the Satchel Charges are an exception as detailed below) and all of the weapons in slot four (Rocket Launcher, Tau Cannon, Gluon Gun and Hivehand). The public release added the Revolver and Shotgun to the list of exceptions in contrast to the early access versions. |
| 420 | *** The iconic Crowbar doesn't appear until Gordon enters through the vent in the Sector C lobby to find it holding a pair of doors shut. To compensate for this, the area's prior focus on utilising enemy-igniting emergency flares and an accompanying Security Guard to clear out the zombie-infested hallways. |
| 421 | *** The Glock-17 Pistol isn't first scavenged off the dead security guard that was originally blocking the entrance to the Sector B Coolant Reserve. Instead, the first opportunity to get the pistol is in the locked Coolant Reserve security office that requires a scientist to open, which also nets you a few Mk 2 Grenades like in ''Half-Life''. This would be changed in the ''Definitive'' update of the game, where it once again appears just before the Sector B Coolant Reserve (you still can't get the still-alive guard in Sector C killed and get the pistol early that way). |
| 422 | *** The Colt Python was available ''significantly'' earlier than it was in ''Half-Life'' - previously, it couldn't be found until you defeated the Tentacles in "Blast Pit". In Early Access betas, it could be obtained in "Office Complex" at the location where you would've normally first obtained the SPAS-12. In the public release, it was moved back to where it was originally found in ''Half-Life'', with the SPAS-12 taking its place. |
| 423 | *** The [=MP5=] isn't on the dead HECU Marine's corpse near the beginning of "We've Got Hostiles"; the shipping room where a scientist gets killed by the first live HECU Marine Gordon meets has the first available one (though another is also located on some military crates in the same room). |
| 424 | *** In Early Access, the SPAS-12 Shotgun wasn't available until "We've Got Hostiles", which is a whole chapter later than it originally debuted in "Office Complex". The first shotgun that Gordon could obtain was wielded by one of the HECU soldiers who guards the elevator up to the surface. This was rectified in the public release. The only minor difference is that the player needs to save the security guard who opens the fenced storage area to reach the shotgun stored within it rather than the gun just being on a box outside of the fenced area. |
| 425 | *** The Satchel Charges have also been made available a whole two chapters earlier. Originally, they didn't start appearing until "On a Rail". Now they can be obtained in "Blast Pit" right before taking on the Tentacles. |
| 426 | ** In addition to the sewer-flooding and crate-jumping puzzles from the original game, "Unforeseen Consequences" adds two new major obstacles. First, in the Sector B Coolant Reserve, you'll need to find two valves to open hot water feed pipes to thaw out a coolant chamber and pass through. Then, instead of just taking the freight elevator down to the canal as in the original, you need to make your way through [[AirVentPassageway the game's first air duct]] into a control room to start up a generator to power the lift. |
| 427 | ** Most of the puzzles and blockades in "On a Rail" have been changed. The opening loop puzzle has been replaced with a malfunctioning bridge that needs to be repaired, and there's no way to enter the satellite launch base through the front door at the end; you need to enter through the bunker backdoor. At least you don't have to tread your way around a deadly bomb trap. |
| 428 | ** Many of the less-than-popular obstacles in ''Residue Processing'' have been reworked as well. There are only two toxic waste vats that need to be crossed instead of three; the first one has been replaced with a minor puzzle involving finding a gas valve to extinguish some flames coming from a broken pipe. The pistons at the start of the conveyor belt maze have been replaced with a disposal grinder that needs to be shut down, and there are fewer tripmines in the conveyor belt section overall. |
| 429 | ** Thought you were in the clear when you saved all those Scientists in "Questionable Ethics"? [[spoiler:The remake [[InescapableAmbush laughs at your foolish sense of security]].]] |
| 430 | ** The ''Surface Tension: Uncut'' update for the 2015 retail release deserves special mention here. Not only is all of the marine dialogue re-recorded and expanded upon but several setpiece battles and sections don't even appear in the original recursive mod. |
| 431 | ** Again, the Xenian chapters, given its AdaptationExpansion; they're ''much'' lengthier than their ''Half-Life'' counterparts. |
| 432 | *** This becomes immediately apparent in the very first chapter, "Xen"; what was once a single, circular island with a few floating platforms above it has now been expanded into a grand network of islands and rocks floating in an ethereal, cosmic sky. These gravity-defying landmasses come resplendent with lush swamps and jungles teeming with [[BioluminescenceIsCool glowing technicolour plantlife]], and cave systems rich in Xen crystals and other alien minerals. Healing pools can still be found here and there, with your first introduction to them being through a set of ''healing waterfalls'' pouring from small islands next to the one you arrive on. Evidence of Black Mesa's expeditions to the border world is much more pronounced, going beyond the occasional ammo supply drop next to an HEV-clad corpse; Long-jump ramps, research outposts and survey equipment dot Xen's landscape and the player even gets to explore a full-on ''Xenian habitat'' that has since been abandoned and overrun by the local wildlife. |
| 433 | *** It's only at the end of the "Xen" chapter do you reach that all too familiar island, and even then, it has a significant number of changes that make it a far cry from its ''Half-Life'' appearance. For starters, you don't arrive from a set of moving platforms floating above the island. Rather, you enter it from the side by crossing twisted bridges of knotted roots. While the exterior is still guarded by hanging alien turrets and packs of Houndeyes, the interior has received a drastic overhaul; the waterlogged room with the barest pretence of a puzzle is now replaced by a snaking network of smooth tunnels, linking to rooms containing three beam emitters and a control room, all made from a never-before-seen technology; too alien be human, too organic to be Combine. This network becomes the centerpiece of a series of puzzles, as you navigate through the island's interior and exterior to repair the damaged teleporter generator, socket-switching and hunting around for Xen crystals to power its components. To sum it all up, it's a revamp of the Citadel core puzzle from ''[[VideoGame/HalfLife2 Half-Life 2: Episode One]]''. |
| 434 | *** Large stretches of "Gonarch's Lair" don't involve fighting the titular testicle monster. In some instances, you have to [[spoiler:run away from it, similar to Antlion Guardian chase sequences of ''Half-Life 2: Episode 2'']]. The course of action that the player is intended to take is almost always visually implied through both the environment and the Gonarch's placement during these sequences. As for the chapter itself, the copious amounts of webbing coating the environment combined with the overabundance of Headcrabs compared to other wildlife lends credence to this chapter's islands being part of a single, enormous nest, with the Headhumper queen herself as its sole, hyper-aggressive defender. |
| 435 | *** Like the other Xen levels, "Interloper" has been entirely revamped, only retaining the base concepts that made up the original chapter. Since the exploration of Xen was greatly expanded upon in the previous two levels, the first two maps of the original "Interloper" that had you exploring floating islands of the borderworld have been cut out to the point that only a tweaked version of the Tentacle section from the second map remains. In addition, there's still the Gargantua encounter, but it's now been turned into a chase sequence where you speed your way through [[spoiler:a home of multiple Gargantuas all trying to kill you until you escape the area]]. The encounter with the friendly Vortigaunts is still there, but the area they're located in has been transformed into an impoverished slum that needs to be traversed. Finally, the Alien Grunt factory still caps off the level, but the layout to get through it has been entirely revamped. Some examples include the factory's barrel conveyor belt section being vastly extended, and the socket-switching puzzles seen in "Xen" making a return at several points throughout the factory. The purpose of Gordon going through the factory has also changed where instead of just needing to find your way through it, the player now goes about changing or breaking certain things to outright destroy the factory. Finally, the elevator climb section at the end of the level still exists, but instead of being a bunch of annoying spinning elevator platforms, it's been turned into [[spoiler:a single ClimacticElevatorRide fighting off a horde of Alien Controllers until you reach the top to take the portal to the FinalBoss]]. |
| 436 | *** While on the topic of "Interloper", the revamped chapter [[spoiler:also introduces a new type of helpful crystal once you've made it to the Alien Grunt factory. You start to come across green crystals that continuously restore the Depleted Uranium-235 ammo needed for the Tau Cannon and Gluon Gun; meaning that as long as you remain near such crystals, you will have infinite ammo to spam the usage of said guns. This was most likely done to parallel the use of the supercharged Gravity Gun in the final levels of ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' where Gordon runs roughshod on his enemies non-stop with his most powerful weapons]]. |
| 437 | *** "Nihilanth" forgoes its namesake final boss teleporting you periodically as one of his attacks. This half-mechanical alien overlord has a better resolve this time around and is more focused on ''killing you'' instead. And while he still has the power to teleport things, he'll now use it to [[spoiler:throw cars and building fragments at you]]. |
| 438 | * OffscreenTeleportation: Aside from the aliens that are teleporting into the facility as part of the plot, we have the guards and scientists that follow Gordon. |
| 439 | * OneManArmy: Like in the original ''Half-Life'', Gordon Freeman became one throughout the game thanks to his wits, his HEV suit and an incredible collection of mundane and exotic weapons he picked up along the way. By the end of the game, he would have massacred his way through two armies, survived an incredibly hostile alien world, and capped it off by taking on and killing a being which was an [[EldritchAbomination alien]] [[PhysicalGod god]]. Did we mention that [[BrickJoke he may not have been wearing a helmet]] through all of it? |
| 440 | * OneWomanWail: Featured prominently in most of the Xen music tracks. |
| 441 | * OrganicTechnology: |
| 442 | ** The Hivehand, now grosser than ever. Gordon has to AssShove his hand into the poor creature to use it. |
| 443 | ** Featured throughout "Interloper"; the alien factory is equal parts flesh and metal, working in tandem. |
| 444 | * PuttingOnTheReich: Alien Grunts in this game now have a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stahlhelm Stahlhelm]]-inspired design for their armoured helmets. |
| 445 | * RadioVoice: HECU marines who wear gas masks have radio filters over their voices. |
| 446 | * RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: In the 2012 mod release, your first trip to the lobby in "Questionable Ethics" has two HECU Marines talk about going to see some of the female scientists creepily. |
| 447 | -->'''Marine 1''': Let's get this over with, my dogs are barking.\ |
| 448 | '''Marine 2''': Oh hey. Why don't we go and try to wrangle up some of those lady doctors? ''(howl)''\ |
| 449 | ''(they both laugh)'' |
| 450 | %%* Reality Ensues: In the 1.5 ''Definitive Edition'' version of Power Up, the first half of the level is spent mostly in darkness... because [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin the power's off]]. |
| 451 | * {{Retirony}}: The male scientist in the Anomalous Materials lab that lampshades the ArtificialAtmosphericActions he's taking remarks that he'll check with the office about how many vacation days he's gotten during his work for 25 years, with the implication he'll use them as soon as the test concludes. Given that the Resonance Cascade happens shortly after, and humanity gets enslaved by the Combine after that, it's highly unlikely that he'll get to have even a minute off. |
| 452 | * RightForTheWrongReasons: A scientist you run into in “Office Complex” states how everyone is crazy trying to run to the surface. His reason was believing someone would eventually rescue them if they stayed put, even when surrounded by alien creatures. However, there was no one coming to rescue them, and the ones that headed for the surface were probably all gunned down by the HECU. |
| 453 | * RoomFullOfZombies: |
| 454 | ** Featured in the furnace building in "Surface Tension". While its original counterpart pitted a couple of HECU soldiers against a small group of Headcrabs, here they're instead overwhelmed by hordes of zombies bursting out from two separate rooms. |
| 455 | ** To a smaller extent, the return trip after rescuing a guard from his zombified buddy in "Office Complex" sees zombies emerging from a couple of previously locked-off rooms. |
| 456 | * RuleOfSymbolism: In this adaptation, the retreat of the HECU from Black Mesa happens at sundown. Fittingly, their defeat makes the end of mankind's dominance over Earth, as the Nihilanth's invasion and what follows will see humans left at the mercy of the Combine. |
| 457 | * RunningGag: On a couple of the computer monitors, an email can be seen with the subject "These Ties", referencing a line from the scientist in the locker room at the beginning of the game. |
| 458 | * SatchelCharge: The Satchel Charge functions in pretty much the same way it did back in ''Half-Life 1'', being a bag of explosives triggered by a remote detonator. This time around, satchels are thrown with the primary fire button and can be picked up by the player in case they drop the satchel prematurely. The secondary fire button, meanwhile, detonates the satchel. |
| 459 | * SceneryPorn: |
| 460 | ** The devs went crazy with the Source engine's considerable capabilities. The facility's large pieces of machinery (like the Anti-Mass Spectrometer and Dimensional Portal Device) are [[TechnologyPorn considerably more detailed]] and feature complex moving parts. Meanwhile, outdoor areas have been completely redesigned to have a considerable "WOW!" factor. An example would be the scene where the player must fight an Abrams tank and a squad of Marines, while overhead military Ospreys are seen abandoning the facility as Harrier jets engage the aliens' organic flyers, or the scene where the player witnesses jets screaming past to bomb a distant target, which creates a visible shockwave that rattles the mesa as it hits. |
| 461 | ** All of Xen. The entire area has been extensively redesigned to resemble an actual ecosystem on floating islands in a beautiful void. There are even worn-down ghettos housing Vortigaunt slaves and the alien factory is now a mix of biological and mechanical technology. |
| 462 | * ScenicTourLevel: The former TropeNamer returns in even more detail than before. For example, the first scene in the game, which was originally a brief stop, is now a busy transit station with several other people waiting to get on their trams. |
| 463 | * ScriptBreaking: |
| 464 | ** In "Unforeseen Consequences", as the elevator plummets to the bottom of the shaft, you can throw a physics object through the glass, allowing the player to climb up the emergency ladder a little earlier than the player is supposed to. The elevator still falls, but provided that you loaded the next section in before it is destroyed, the scientists would be alive and well at the bottom of the shaft. You can also place the chair near the edge of the elevator platform before the elevator falls, which actually ''stops the thing from falling''. The scientists on the elevator will still be stuck in their "scared" poses though. |
| 465 | ** By abusing the way that rocket testing chamber loads in "Blast Pit", along with quick thinking and strategic Satchel Charge/grenade placement, it's possible to save Leeroy Jenkins. Naturally, the dev team never accounted for the slim chance that this would happen, as once you've defeated the Tentacles, Jenkins (who would've just shrugged off a face-full of rocket exhaust) just stands still and makes idle comments. |
| 466 | ** During "Surface Tension", prior to entering the Laser Tripmine warehouse, there's a scene where you witness a scientist run out of a nearby structure to help a security guard downed by a HECU sniper in the area. A few moments later, the sniper would then kill the scientist as he tried to help the security guard. If you kill the sniper before he shoots the scientist, however, the scientist remains on the field forever kneeling before the now dead security guard. This was fixed in the 2015 retail release; after the sniper is killed, the scientist will become startled, run into the nearby minefield, and die anyway. |
| 467 | * SequelEscalation: |
| 468 | ** A memorable scene in "Surface Tension" is when Gordon crawls out of a drainage pipe to witness fighter jets flying through a vast canyon. In ''Half-Life'', there was just one. In ''Half-Life: Source'', there were two. In ''Black Mesa'', there are three. |
| 469 | ** Xen, in general, has had a ''complete'' overhaul that expanded a lot of ''Half-Life'' original sequences. See NotHisSled and AdaptationExpansion above. |
| 470 | * ShootTheMedicFirst: The HECU corpsmen, like the medics in ''Opposing Force'', will heal their allies. |
| 471 | * ShoutOut: |
| 472 | ** The [[VideoGame/CommanderKeen Dopefish]] has an obligatory cameo, this time as a drawing on a whiteboard. |
| 473 | ** [[Film/OfficeSpace A scientist tells another that he'll need to come in this weekend because of the TPS Reports]]. Red Swingline staplers are present throughout the facility. |
| 474 | ** Two scientists can be heard quoting ''Film/ConanTheBarbarian1982'' as they discuss their plans to attend a comic convention. |
| 475 | --->'''Scientist 1:''' Soon we'll drive our enemies before us.\ |
| 476 | '''Scientist 2:''' And hear the lamentations of their women! |
| 477 | ** After burning the Tentacles in "Blast Pit", the nearby guard will comment "I guess it's true. [[Film/{{Predator}} If it bleeds, we can kill it.]]" |
| 478 | ** In the same chapter, the guard that rushes the Tentacles is named LeeroyJenkins. |
| 479 | ** "Questionable Ethics" contains a number of these: |
| 480 | *** As part of a set of whiteboard scribblings about a budget debate, questions about Lab A's high pizza budget are raised. Four questions are bulleted out: "Why?" "What are they hiding?" "What does the book tell them?" "What does it fail to tell us?" - the questions Vogel demands of Henry Jones regarding the Grail diary in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade''. |
| 481 | *** Similarly, after the lobby fight, a scientist quotes [[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade Dr. Henry Jones]]. |
| 482 | ---->[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0BCQjbzKeA#t=62 "Look what you did... I can't BELIEVE what you did!"]] |
| 483 | *** A whiteboard notes that the high powered laser requires [[Franchise/BackToTheFuture 1.21 Gigawatts]]. |
| 484 | *** A whiteboard in the snark-cannon observatory exclaims that [[Literature/TheHuntingOfTheSnark "the snark was a boojum!"]] |
| 485 | *** A clipboard can be found that details the [[WesternAnimation/MonstersInc colour-coded filing scheme for paperwork (Pink to Accounting, Fuchsia to Purchasing, Goldenrod to Records, leave the Puce).]] |
| 486 | ** An upwards-scrolling InfoDump on a computer says "Welcome to the Website/{{Facebook}} page on…" |
| 487 | ** Certain chapters, most notably "Office Complex" and "Questionable Ethics", contain several stacks of books on shelves. One of those is called "[[VideoGame/{{Fallout}} The Big Book of Scientists]]". |
| 488 | ** Certain coffee mugs have a picture of the [[Series/ChuckleVision Chuckle Brothers along with their well-known "To me! To you!" catchphrase]] on them.[[note]]This was removed from the retail release due to copyright issues, so now it can only be seen in the mod version.[[/note]] |
| 489 | ** The original model for [=MP5=] was similar to the one used by Arnold Schwarzenegger's character in ''Film/EndOfDays''. |
| 490 | ** When fighting HECU Marines, Black Mesa Security Guards might call them [[Series/GomerPyleUSMC Gomer]]. |
| 491 | ** A piece of paper taped to a wall in Xen shows the expedition's kill tallies of various alien creatures. Houndeyes are nicknamed "[[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic the Bull Dog]]" and [[spoiler:fire Houndeyes]] are called "[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Mr. Burns]]". |
| 492 | * ShownTheirWork: |
| 493 | ** The HECU's vehicular lineup is more consistent with what the U.S. Marines would use (M2 Bradleys and F-16s from the original are replaced with LAV-25s and AV-8B Harrier [=IIs=], respectively), and they use protective gear modelled after real-world equipment including the [[https://web.archive.org/web/20130618122028/http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r261/ArvinPabico/armorvest-Crye-armor-7.jpg Crye Precision Armor Chassis]] and the [[https://web.archive.org/web/20160327140300/http://wwww.specwargear.com/retro/images/helmet-CCT%20IBH-1.jpg Integrated Ballistic Helmet]]. |
| 494 | ** The HECU also correctly refer to their medics as "corpsmen" and their first aid kits as [=IFAKs=][[note]]Individual First Aid Kits[[/note]] in the retail release. One of them can be heard calling their superior "gunny", an informal nickname for gunnery sergeants in the Marine Corps. |
| 495 | ** The drawing of a brain cell on one of the whiteboards in "Questionable Ethics" is accurately labelled with the proper names of each part of a brain cell. |
| 496 | * SideBet: A scientist and security guard in the Anomalous Materials lab happen to be betting their lunch on whether Gordon will show up to work. If you walk in on them, the guard will gloat about having won the bet. |
| 497 | -->'''Guard:''' Yep, yep, yep. There's a pepperoni pizza in my near future.\ |
| 498 | '''Scientist:''' ''(under breath)'' Yes... Hope you choke on it. |
| 499 | * SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil: As in the original game, the Vortigaunts are also known as Alien Slaves, but their plight is much more explicitly sympathetic this time around. Once on Xen, the first time a player encounters Alien Grunts and Vortigaunts there, the former is savagely beating one of the latter for being too sick to work quickly while other Vortigaunts look on in fear and sorrow. Later on, Alien Controllers will torture Vortigaunts via psychic means into attacking the player; [[spoiler:if the player kills the Controllers first, the Vortigaunts will stop attacking.]] In the Alien Grunt factory, Vortigaunt bodies occasionally pop up as a result of the incredibly poor working conditions they're forced to operate in. |
| 500 | * SmolderingShoes: The guard who overcharges the Tau Cannon is reduced to this. Much like ''Half-Life'', [[LudicrousGibs various parts of him and the accompanying scientist]] can be seen around the room. |
| 501 | * SniperScopeGlint: HECU Snipers' sniper rifles have a built-in LaserSight that doubles as this, which disappears momentarily when they fire a shot. This is in contrast to the original game, where enemy snipers were only given away by the silhouette of their rifles. |
| 502 | * SoundtrackDissonance: "Blast Pit 3" can be this depending on how the player chooses to get past the Tentacle. If the player chooses to throw caution to the wind and rush past it, it works great, but if they go with the usual method of [[BoringButPractical slowly sneaking past it]], it'll be a very extreme case of this. |
| 503 | * SparedByTheAdaptation: |
| 504 | ** Many [=NPCs=] that were normally killed without split-second reaction times are now far easier to save due to equal parts changes in script pacing and muscle memory. |
| 505 | ** Zigzagged in "Surface Tension". In the ''Surface Tension: Uncut'' mod, the player comes across a security guard who, like in the original ''Half-Life'', needs to be escorted to unlock a door. In ''Half-Life'' this guard most likely ends up getting killed as he would follow the player (unless told not to) into the car park and [[SuicidalOverconfidence pick an unwinnable fight with the resident Gargantua]]. In the mod ''Surface Tension: Uncut'', the guard is unable to follow the player as they enter the car park via an air duct he can't climb through, so he just wishes the player good luck. Come the ''Surface Tension: Uncut'' Update which implements the mod into the retail game proper, [[spoiler:the guard never enters the parking lot as, just after he has unlocked the door for the player, an Alien Grunt teleports in behind the guard and the door locks behind the player. [[SoundOnlyDeath The ultimate fate of the guard is just heard from behind the locked door, as he is savagely beaten to death by the Alien Grunt]].]] |
| 506 | * StealthPun: The forklifts used at the Black Mesa facility are manufactured by a company called "Dun-givva". [[spoiler:[[DontExplainTheJoke Dun-givva Fork]]-lifts.]] |
| 507 | * TheStinger: If you complete the Rare Specimen achievement (where you take a purple top hat found at the start of "Unforeseen Consequences" ("Lambda Core" in the 2012 mod release) and send it through the portal to Xen) and then beat the game, after the credits roll, [[spoiler:a short bit plays out where a Vortigaunt finds the hat in question and tries it on.]] |
| 508 | * StuffBlowingUp: There are several new explosive setpieces in "Surface Tension" involving fuel trucks. One is blown up by Vortigaunts and takes a grounded Osprey with it, while another is used by HECU soldiers to set a trap for a Gargantua... [[NoSell to no effect]]. |
| 509 | * SuspiciousVideoGameGenerosity: |
| 510 | ** The Sector E lobby in "Questionable Ethics" has a bit more equipment this time around. Additionally, there's another first aid station and HEV Charger right before you lead the scientists out into the lobby. One scientist points out that it all seems a bit too easy. [[spoiler:He's right. There's a new MultiMookMelee battle that wasn't present in ''Half-Life''.]] |
| 511 | ** Early in "Gonarch's Lair", in a [[BossRoom large open area]], you find a capsule chock-full of RPG rounds. As you activate power crystals, more capsules come in via portal, all with even more RPG rounds, along with health packs and HEV batteries. Just in time for Gonarch to show up, and suddenly you need all those RPG rounds... |
| 512 | ** Just before the final push to the Nihilanth, there's a large Xen healing pool with a charging crystal inside, allowing you to top off your health and energy before the final fight. The game does ''a lot'' to make it clear beforehand that [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon this is it]], though, so it isn't much of a surprise. |
| 513 | * TapOnTheHead: The soldiers who ambush Gordon in "Apprehension" opt to knock him out with a single blow to the head, rather than beating him up as they did in the original. |
| 514 | * TemptingFate: "Anomalous Materials" is full of this. Every other scientist or security guard you talk to will either say how horrible it would be if something goes wrong today or someone having a bad day will say something like "This day can't get any worse!" |
| 515 | * TooAwesomeToUse: The Gluon Gun will vaporize anything in its way with ease, but runs through a full ammo supply in less than 10 seconds of continuous fire. There's even an achievement for doing this. [[spoiler:At least before Xen.]] |
| 516 | * TooDumbToLive: |
| 517 | ** One of the guards asks for help from Gordon with one of those critters, who got onto his buddy's head and is making him act all weird. Right on cue, guess who walks out? The guard then proceeds to talk to his "buddy" as if he's all fine and well. You can guess how that ends.[[note]]If you kill the zombie before it gets him, though, you'll get access to the [[HandCannon .357 Colt Python]]/[[ShotgunsAreJustBetter SPAS-12 Shotgun]] much earlier than normal. His reaction seems to lean way towards being shell-shocked, thanking you when you kill his "buddy".[[/note]] |
| 518 | ** A security guard, true to the original ''Half-Life'', rushes the Tentacles in "Blast Pit" with only a pistol. Fittingly, his name was LeeroyJenkins. |
| 519 | ** Despite a scientist's warnings about the Tau cannon's instability, a careless security guard still manages to overcharge the gun, killing them both. The scientist was reduced to bite-sized chunks, and there was nothing left of the guard but a messy red smear extending from ''[[SmolderingShoes smouldering pair of boots]]''.[[note]]You get an achievement for [[ViolationOfCommonSense doing the same thing yourself, though you (if at full health) won't explode.]][[/note]] |
| 520 | * TookALevelInJerkass: Some of the scientists and guards starting from "Anomalous Materials" are now short-tempered, egotistical, grumpy, or all three. Like Hunter, the guard in Level A of the Lambda Reactor Core, who greets you with a sour disposition once you finally reach it. At least after the Resonance Cascade, a scientist in Lambda Complex [[LampshadeHanging noted this]] and figured this was in part due to everyone being under a lot of pressure trying to survive and working feverishly under desperate circumstances to reverse the disaster. |
| 521 | * TruthInTelevision: The hand grenades have a noticeable sparking, smoking trail when thrown. While this could be a gameplay conceit for players in place of the blinking red light of ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'''s Combine Grenades, earlier Mk. 2 grenades did have fuses that sparked after being lit... which brings into question why they're not only using outdated grenades but ones with outdated fuses as well. |
| 522 | * TubeTravel: Alien Grunts are transported this way in the grunt factory in "Interloper". Gordon gets to do it, too. |
| 523 | * UnintentionallyUnwinnable: During the part where you're climbing Level B of the Lambda Reactor Core using the numbered portals, it's entirely possible to lose ''all'' of your weapons for the rest of the game if you fire the Hivehand into the #9 portal (the one that kills you). You have to go out of your way and try it out to make this GameBreakingBug happen though, as it's not something that most players would logically do right from the get-go. This was patched in the retail release. |
| 524 | * UnusableEnemyEquipment: Rocket Launcher-wielding HECU Grenadiers are introduced fairly early on, but their launcher disappears altogether after they fire a single shot or get killed, preventing you from picking it up. The rocket launcher remains off-limits until you come across one in "Surface Tension". |
| 525 | * UpdatedRerelease: The Steam release of the game, released in 2015, is effectively this on account of receiving ''a lot'' of improvements such as new models/sounds/animations/voice lines, [[PlayerVersusPlayer PvP multiplayer]] and the final four Xen chapters. |
| 526 | * VideoGameCaringPotential: |
| 527 | ** Many [=NPCs=] that are there to demonstrate threats can be saved and have lines if such a thing happens, and in some cases provide access to weapons and ammunition. You can even give a scientist stuck in a bathroom stall some toilet paper, making him thank you and granting the achievement "[[{{Pun}} Brownian Motion]]". |
| 528 | ** In "Interloper", [[spoiler:you will come across docile Vortigaunts who will be forced to attack you whenever Alien Controllers appear on the scene. If you kill the Controllers first though, the Vorts will return to being docile once more.]] There's even a "[=PhD=] in Pacifism" achievement for not killing any Vortigaunts during Gordon's trip on Xen. |
| 529 | ** In "Gonarch's Lair", during the final battle, there's a way to leave without killing the Gonarch. Doing so gives you the "Unquestionably Ethical" achievement. |
| 530 | * VideoGameCrueltyPotential: |
| 531 | ** Part of the achievement "Ethically Questionable" involves that instead of releasing the first Alien Grunt you see to progress like in ''Half-Life'', you get three options of killing it from [[GasChamber gassing it]], [[KillItWithFire torching it]], and [[ShockAndAwe electrocuting it]]. |
| 532 | ** You can lure soldiers into one of the labs and kill them with Emergency Tesla Discharge, which disintegrates them completely. |
| 533 | ** There's the achievement "Prolific Popper", which requires you to kill all 64 of the {{harmless|Enemy}} protozoans on Xen. |
| 534 | ** There's also the counterpart achievement to "Unquestionably Ethical" above, "The Plan", which involves [[spoiler:gassing the Gonarch to death.]] |
| 535 | * VideoGameCrueltyPunishment: In the Hazard Course mod, you can choose to shoot the guards instead of asking them to open a door for you. Rather than giving you an immediate game over, the game will instead turn off the lights and spawn an infinite number of guards to take you out. Said guards are armed with shotguns and blind you with their flashlights and they will ''not'' stop coming until you're dead, no matter how many of them you kill. |
| 536 | * ViolationOfCommonSense: Somewhere in the game, the player finds a busted gas pipe spitting fire down a hallway. Most people's first thoughts would be to turn the valve on that pipe to turn off the gas, but that causes it to blow up in your face. [[spoiler:You're supposed to find a sprinkler valve and turn ''that'' on instead.]] |
| 537 | * VocalDissonance: The one scientist voiced by [[VideoGame/TheStanleyParable Kevan Brighting]], who looks several decades too old to have such a buttery-smooth voice. |
| 538 | * WelcomeToCorneria: Some of the friendly NPC dialogue with each other, outside of scripted events doesn't match up or turns into unusual cases of DeadpanSnarker. |
| 539 | -->"Do you have any idea what's going on?"\ |
| 540 | "Yes, sir." |
| 541 | * WhoForgotTheLights: The Resonance Cascade was not kind to the Black Mesa Research Facility's lighting systems. In many locations, the lights are burned out or lacking power, some even more so than in ''Half-Life''. To make up for it, the HEV suit has an InfiniteFlashlight installed. |
| 542 | ** The ''Definitive Edition'' of "Power Up" turns off most of the lighting for the first part of the chapter, courtesy of the resident Gargantua stumbling into the main generator's overhead wiring. |
| 543 | * WombLevel: The interior of the tower in "Interloper" is organic. The factory within is made from conventional technology, [[BodyHorror stitched into the fleshy walls]]. |
| 544 | * WreakingHavok: Though there's no [[VideoGame/HalfLife2 Gravity Gun]], the mod adds the ability to pick up small corpses and gibs, meaning you can [[ImprobableWeaponUser pick up dead headcrabs and throw them at living headcrabs to kill them]]. Several sequences seem designed to show off the physics engine. |
| 545 | ** The beginning of "Unforeseen Consequences" has you throwing flares at zombies to light them on fire since you don't have your Crowbar at that point. |
| 546 | ** "Surface Tension" has you pick up and carry missiles to reload a TOW launcher. |
| 547 | ** The physics engine also allows you to throw back grenades from enemy soldiers. There is even an achievement for this. |
| 548 | * YouHaveToBurnTheWeb: During Gordon's trip through the Gonarch's territory, the occasional tangle of webs will block him from progressing. While some of them can be destroyed simply by shooting them, others need to be set alight by damaging the flammable plants next to them. |
| 549 | * ZeroToHero: Like in the original ''Half-Life'', ''Black Mesa'' chronicles Gordon Freeman's transformation throughout the game from a hapless civilian scientist trapped in the middle of a nightmarish disaster he unwittingly helped cause, to a cunning and lethal OneManArmy who fought his way through entire armies, monsters, and an entire extradimensional DeathWorld to end the Resonance Cascade and save the Earth from an AlienInvasion. |
| 550 | [[/folder]] |
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