Black Mesa

Black Mesa

Black Mesa: Route to Evacuation - Part 1
Needs Work
Installation instructions are a little vague, my way of doing it was to follow the ModDB instructions and launch from inside the Black Mesa file, any other way of doing it and it just refuses to load.

Don't know what to make of this, it's not very well designed, the map's are confusing AF, was running around for a good 10 minutes per area trying to figure out where to go, how to get there and when I got there what I was supposed to do, the rooms lock you in but I'm not too sure why, if it is to see something then there needs to be a clue as to what, only to release you after a while, there are sooooo many enemies that turn you into a pin cushion within seconds, could be I was playing on hard but I swear those bullets hit harder than Black Mesa standard issue, it says that there are different paths and ways to complete but all the paths converge so there isn't really a different way of playing, the "stealth" is very lacklustre, I found it easier just to run around the NPC's while they fought each other, don't know if that's how its supposed to be played, the NPC's all have the same voice actor, which I assume is the mod maker's voice but the audio is tinny and low I could barely hear them, turning up the NPC volume does kinda' work but then all the HECU voices are super loud, the brightness has issues, turning it up causes the torches, glowsticks and beacons to turn into flashbangs, the console is filled with errors, I'm seeing a lot of red, the FPS dies with the firefights between the vorts and the HECU, this can be fixed by not looking at the firefight, there isn't a intro like Black Mesa or Blue Shift which detracts from the game, I know the mod maker wanted to get into the action but the I would've liked to know the lore of the character we are playing as, it would've added another 20 minutes to the game at least, the lore doesn't make much sense either, this guy is a scientist, he doesn't have a HEV and he isn't wearing combat armour, why does my armour increase when getting HEV batteries and why does he know how to use a MP5, the design of the levels doesn't match the lore either, it feels like a mismatch of the waste processing in Blue Shift combined with Power Up from Black Mesa, we're in Sector D, in Half Life lore that is the office complex, why is it so convoluted, there are many places to get stuck, I had to console noclip my way out of areas that I'm guessing I wasn't supposed to be in but with how the levels are designed how am I to know.

It's really short, like, 25 minutes, even with the glitches, crashes and FPS issues, the level select says 2 chapters but it feels like less than 1, again, if it had an opening it would be longer, it's a good mod but it needs a lot of work, the levels need redesigning, more straightforward design, I don't mind being redirected but when the route itself is no clear then the level needs work.
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IDK man, I just beat the mod, here are my thoughts
1.The voice acting is fine, it's better to have it than to not
2.The levels are amazingly designed aesthetically, and don't feel too confusing
3.It's short because it's only part 1
4.The small armour pickups aren't batteries, rather armour shards, as for why they glow, that's anyone's guess
5.For the argument of how he knows how to use the weaponry, I live somewhere with strict gun laws so I'm unsure, but from what I know any law-abiding American is allowed to obtain a gun license, as well as purchase weapons and practice in a safe environment, or he may just be a gun nerd or smth
6.The stealth was well executed in my opinion, I managed to stick to the vents after a certain point and stay hidden all the way up until the elevator at the end of the game, you just need to look around for vents or cover, and stay crouched and agile (I was playing on easy tho so idk how well that translates to medium or hard)
7.The mod is meant to be harder as you aren't wearing a HEV suit

I myself make a few mods here and there, I haven't made any public ones yet but I do know a lot of the process, and I think what Black Box achieved is remarkable, the custom weapons, the Black Mesa levels of quality in the levels, and the idea itself. I think with time this mod may grow into something amazing, as it already shows promise. But then again, this is just my opinion, and I'm not going to Noclick levels of pettiness to prove it. Just keep in mind the work that goes into mods like these, as I think it's remarkable.
Yeah once the "stealth" part started I just didn't care and began killing all the enemies. This is Half-Life, not Hitman - I'm not gonna play stealth.

But to be fair, it wasn't really that hard
God these "realism" nerds
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