ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 เม.ย. 2020
- I'd be very surprised if Black Mesa isn't on my GOTY list for 2020, and while a huge amount of the credit goes to the Crowbar Collective for their impressive remake, much of what I loved about Black Mesa was put there by Valve all those years ago.
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Why remake a classic? Half-Life doesn't need a remake and this mod was proof of that, even if they released a engine remaster in source 2
wastelanders is out for 76 are you going make a funny video ?
And thank you for putting their ad at the end instead of shoving it in the middle of the video, like others, and ruining the immersion.
Actually Unreal Tournament from 1999 had the best enemy AI and still has the best enemy AI to date.
All the reviews for this game so far (that I saw) didn't show Xen like...at all. After watching your footage of it, my jaw dropped: I absolutely have to play this game. That segment of this game shows that Crowbar Collective should be making AAA games for consoles and PC, it looks more interesting aesthetically than anything I've seen in the past few years on PS4 or Xbox One. It reminds me of the glory days of game design, when original ideas would actually manifest in AAA game space. Before the endless remasters and remakes, not that I have that big of a problem with those I'm currently enjoying plenty of them. But of course, one always hopes for new IP to pop up in trailer form someday, like when Cyberpunk exploded onto the scene. But yeah, this game looks like a masterpiece to me...then again, I'm a sucker for Half Life and sci-fi.
Nintendo: Hey we noticed you’re making a pretty unique remake out of love, that’s why we’re sending you a C&D and we’ll see you in court.
Valve: So you’re remaking one of our games without us needing to do it ourselves? Here’s more tools and a guide of our complete understanding of the engine. Also why don’t we promote the game on Steam when the game comes out so we can help y’all get as much sales as possible.
I don't think Valve directly paid them, but other than that, it's pretty much how it happened.
Anton Kirilenko I thought I read that they did donate something but checking back I couldn’t find anything so yeah your probably right.
I'm still butthurt about Chrono Break
Lawyers gotta lawyer
Valve do what Nintendon't
The mention of Valve (and therefore Crowbar Collective)'s ability to convey information without pop-ups or tutorials reminds me of a point from one of the audio commentary files in Half-Life 2. That file said that a key Valve principle was that when they introduced a new gameplay mechanic, step 1 was to lock the player in a room until they figured out how to do it, step 2 was to make them do a slightly more complicated version of that mechanic, and step 3 was to start introducing that mechanic under pressure (enemies, actual consequences for failure, etc). I always thought that was really good game design advice.
there is a lot of video and I think one book that is littarly just talking about how Valve and Half life does wordless tutorials.
aka show the player how to solve a problem not have someone say how to solve a problem.
There is a reason that Valve FPS games, especially Portal, are put up as textbook and model examples of how to do tutorials in games. Having seen so many games, even modern ones, that introduce loads of text in tutorials and still be less effective at teaching players how to play, Valve's achievement in this regard is to be commended.
This
It really is a fantastic feature. However, I recall H2 Episode 2 deviating from this doctrine quite a bit. I remember getting frustrated at how much Alyx would chime in on what Gordon should do next, it seemed excessive compared to the previous chapters of the franchise.
I mean this was how good games used to be made long before Valve. Mega Man games are perfect examples of this. Example. Introduce a falling floor. Introduce an enemy. Introduce both at the same time. Then have your do both with a scrolling screen. It's beautiful in it's simplicity.
It's just game devs have forgotten this. Valve was just borrowing from what worked decades before them.
Just want to shout out that the Black Mesa OST is incredible, especially the Xen parts
When you get to the surface for the first time and are fighting marines with that incredible soundtrack in the background. It felt like I was unstoppable in every single way.
The soundtrack at the final battle in Questionable Ethics is 10/10
While I prefer the original soundtrack (and the original game in general) they did a fantastic job with the soundtrack here.
On a Rail 1 is my favorite.
@Robertino Tanos *Bruh!* The HECU Marines Ai 1.0 update is better than Combind Ai, and this remake was just a modder who think it cool to remake the video game they like, they didn't want to subversion of the original video game.
I played Black Mesa ages ago, back when the game ended at Lambda Core's portal into Xen, and I gotta say this: Holy balls, is this team's take on Xen one of the most visually stunning things in the Half-Life franchise to me. That vivid colour palette and alien landscape is *so* good as a stark contrast to the sterile, realistic concrete halls of Black Mesa's facilities.
Same for me, played Black Mesa back when it was free and without Xen. I'm about halfway through Interloper right now and I'm both utterly blown away by the presentation and so impressed by the polish C-C have managed to pull off.
Agreed. I believed one of the great moments of Xen is the introduction of the forest. So unexpected but yet it fitted so well, I gasped when I first saw that forest
@Beastmaster Joheg Yeah, I personally prefer the more abstract kind of lovecraftian take on Xen in the original. The Black Mesa one just feels like something out of a sci-fi movie.
@@VinVonVoom I prefered the original buildup to Nihilanth in the original. That huge, blank space with nothing but the portal to his lair. All you heard was "...the last.... I am the last" until you got to the portal and heard all those muffled voices of the scientists. Real calm-before-the-storm vibes. I loved Black Mesa's Xen myself, but this bit was just a huge sensory overload. Except Nihilanth's shadow appearing as you approached. That was cool.
Black Mesa's Xen is so well made and feels so real it's unbelievable. I wish more games would have such good design. Black Mesa is by far one of the best and most enjoyable games I've played and definitely worth replaying.
(only thing the game could use is some good ambient occlusion, which I added myself with ReShade. Increases graphics massively imo.)
I like how you spent the majority of this video talking about what Half-Life is while showing all the necessary footage from Black Mesa. That must be like the biggest compliment a reviewer can give to Crowbar Collective.
Well, it's called "Half Life is Timeless, And Black Mesa Reminds Us Why" after all.
the fact i played HL on a pc that would barely run it makes it incredibly memorable for me. first time i used mouse & keyboard for a game too!
That was how I felt when I completed Deus Ex Invisible War
I gave up after two hours on half life.
Very dated.Everything annoying.
Half life 2 is incredible though.Loving it.
Remember those loading times?
@@MrFister84 yeah! 5-10 minutes load back then, and now it just feels like a stutter
Exactly the same for me! Those were great times :)
“Half Life 3 didn’t need to exist yet”
Maybe, but we should have at least gotten Episode 3. They did leave us on a cliffhanger.
Yea I don't know what he was going on there. Half-Life 3 definitely NEEDS to exist because of that ending.
Its okay.Somebody is gonna make a mod to play alyx as fps without vr.
The way it was meant to be played.FPS with keyboard and mouse.
@@qwerty9398 Except alyx without vr wouldn't work at all and just be a boring experience you could waltz through.
@@Jarekthegamingdragon I LOVE YOUR VIDEOS
@@Jarekthegamingdragon and it going to be 100% on pc why what do you remember from playing as gordon freeman
Who is already a die hard Half-Life fan but still watch these for that sweet reaffirmation?
🖐
2:34 “Foreshadowing is a key tool in the Half-Life toolbox”
*holding a toolbox* heh..
haha so funny.......
This is nice and all but
Do you know who ate all the donuts?
With my brains and your brawn we'll make an excellent team !
GREEEETIINNNNNNNNNNGGSS!!!!! HUØØØGH!!! STAHP!!! NOOOOO!!!!
Why do we all have to wear these ridiculous ties?
This is the far as I go!
Don't shoot! I'm with the science team!
me: expects to maybe see a HLA review
Skill up: nop. here's black mesa tho
He played Black Mesa in preparation towards HLA, so next review may be HLA
@Christopher Simon why doesn't it deserve attention?
@Christopher Simon delusional
@Christopher Simon Well its getting plenty of attention regardless. So tough titties, brotha
Alyx lol who fkn cares
Finally! someone mention Black Mesa, they have been working for 15 year and they need to deserve more attention for what they have done!
Don't forget there's a group of developers making an game based on the apparently Half Life 3/Episode 3 synopsis by the head Half Life writer. Its called Project Borealis and it is attempting to recreate the physics of the Source engine in Unreal Engine 4.
Why dont they just do it on the source engine?
@@romanromanchuk7718 copyright?
@@anuvette how come black mesa is on the source engine? When they started, the crowbar collective were using the source engine to make black mesa.
My dude, it aint just 1 HL3/HL2 EP3 fan made project, theres another one using the Source engine, Boreal Alyph
Unreal 4 engine with small dev=buggy mess. I personally hate Unreal Engine 4. Destroyed the responsiveness of SFV, input lag in Pes 2020, Outer World and Borderlands many many problems, and its inconsistency with optimization. If somehow it manage to broke Guilty Gear gameplay, I will never buy any UE4 based games anymore.
Btw, imagine that Project Borealis a game inspired by Half Life being exclusive to EGS.
Yknow what gave me Black Mesa feels, though? Talos I of Prey 2017.
I will say this for original Xen - it truly felt alien and that unnerved me far more than any headcrab-in-a-vent.
I think the reason why i loved Doom 2016 so much its because it made sense, all the levels are in a sci-fi theme òf course but the layout of those levels (apart from Hell) did make sense.
You were fighting a deamon invasion in a "realistic setting".
To me that is a worthy successor to the half life masterfull level design.
Doom 2016 was s Brutal version of half-life. thats why new doom is a JUMP back in therms of everything.
The new Xen is amazing, i read that most people finds it too long, but i enjoyed it. Xen soundtrack is just amazing, really immersive.
Gamers are just getting impatient. i didn't mind it either and I thought it was fascinating
I found it to be boring piece of garbage after you beat Gonarch
Everything about the new Xen is beautiful in every way. The impeccable design and scenery, immersive puzzles and beautiful soundtrack really mesh well together. Black Mesa made me feel like a little kid again because it literally felt like the first time I played Half-Life. The beautiful gameplay combined with the amazing feeling of reliving Half-Life almost brought a tear to my eye - it was so surreal. It's an amazing experience that I recommend to ANYONE who's played Half-Life, even those who haven't!
@@GIJew immersive puzzles? You joking right? "Repeat a thing 3 times" is something half life pretty much never did. The main focus of this game is to not repeat itself
@@saniel2748
Since when was not repeating things a main focus of the OG Half life? It repeats stuff all the time. Hell, this video even talks about it and how the Xen levels were consistant with Valve's design philosophy.
I remember borrowing a friends CD for Half Life and playing it through. It was so immersive, so thrilling, and fun. I ended up getting my own copy, the expansions and the sequels the day they came out if I could. This game got me interested in the whole idea of massive sprawling underground facilities, I ended up mapping out my own to use in a table top game. So when BM was finally released, getting on that train at the start was a kick to the nostalgia so hard I don't think I stopped smiling for the entire thing. I was giddy as a schoolgirl looking at things and looking for all the little easter eggs and other tid bits I could find. It made me wish there were more games like this still, that had such a realistic feel to it, that feel like a lived in place and not just a series of interconnected corridors with a half ass splash of paint on it.
Check out Control if you haven’t already!
Tyler Shank that’s PS4, right?
It’s on PC, PS4, and Xbox!
I realize this comment is older, but I’ll add Prey (2017) from Bethesda and Arkane as well, on PC, XBox, and PS4, also playable on the new consoles via back compat. Definitely has Half Life vibes, especially how the opening section is designed, but is an immersive sim rather than being linear. Highly recommend.
Only Skill up can make this game even legendary with his comments and editing of his videos.Always a pleasure to watch your videos .
Bought it not knowing at all what it was, and i fell in love. its a great game. made me go buy the half life series. LOVE IT. its SO good.
1:33 Steam overlay be like "laymen gaming is now playing: doom eternal"
The security guards in Black Mesa aren't "rent-a-cops," aka contractors. They're "owned," meaning Black Mesa pays for and maintains their security team's state certification. Their security team protects national secrets, experimental weaponry, and nuclear materials. They manage a site the size of a small city. This means they're essentially a private police force; in the security industry, if a facility manages its own infrastructure, arms their guards, and puts them in protection of such sensitive information and equipment, the organization would be remiss to not provide powers of arrest and basic law enforcement academy training.
Underrated yet super informative comment!
If we ever revisit Xen in another official Half-Life game, I hope Valve takes some notes from what Crowbar Collective did with it
Have you seen the hotel section in Alyx ? I think they got this.
I got goosebumps at 15:50. Amazing review Ralph!
With all the positive responses to this game, it makes me wanna try the first two games. But I don't want spoilers so I'm gonna have to skip this video.
Do it bud, half life 2 and the 2 episodes are so fucking good i just played through them less than a month ago for the first time. episode 2 is so fucking awesome if you make it that far.
A man who has not played half life - is no man
Absolutely. Start with Black Mesa, and just move on to Half Life 2 and the episodes.
Although I do recommend not to rush through them. Savor them. You'll be through them before you know it, and you can really only experience them for the first time once.
Enjoy man. And if you're done with all that, and have never played Portal before... You know what to do next ;)
It's absolutely worth it. Especially since valve seem to be revisiting half life so there will most likely be some form of closure to the series.
@@flobbingdonkey
Either that or I haven't gotten a PC to game on yet. One of the two.
Always a pleasure to watch a Skill Up video.
The biggest cliffhanger in video gaming history:
The answer to why the scientists have to wear *"these ridiculous ties"*
I just finished half life 2 and all the episodes as well. This was the first time I’ve ever used a pc with a mouse and keyboard as well and even after 16-17 years it’s timeless some of the best level design I’ve ever played through! And I loved the story and atmosphere of the world valve crafted. I’m 100 percent gonna buy this next thank you Ralph legend 👍🏻
Haven't tried it yet. Is it really thay good? Should buy it right now?
@@Santiago-hz6cv
Often the term "legendary" gets thrown around nowadays for alot of things, this game however.... Is a classic, a masterpiece of what came next.
Bowie I highly recommend it it’s really cheap as well
@@fitnessabcvideo thanks man. Its downloading right now.
We still don't know what happened to the cat Barney keeps mentioning though...
bout time
someone reviewed this.
Is it worth it?
@@mstoj1386 if you like half life. For sure
@@nyranstanton203 did they cut any content like Resident Evil 3 lol?
Chris Stojanovski I’d argue they added more content
@@mstoj1386 its a massive project for the mod developers, it took years...like YEARS. To make it. Is it better? i think it is. Its exactly half life 1 but with better graphics and added stuff.
Not to sound elitist or anything, but does skillup have a degree in lit, or some other humanities? His scripting is just so above and beyond not just TH-cam review stuff, but also most pop culture journalism.
marcusmalone I wish SkillUp could review SkillUp
@@yungbuttermilch need the tim&eric mind blown gif right about now.
& then there is Sam 😂
He does have a degree. I could be wrong but it might be in journalism as he did work for a company as a journalist before becoming a full time content creator.
@@MaddDogg316 ah thanks. Was honestly wondering as he's got serious chops.
"Okay, suppressive fire in, suppressive fire out, do the hokey pokey that's what it's all about!"
I'm happy to see this game getting the attention it deserves.
Excellent stuff, as always. I've been following gaming for 40+ years (yes, I'm an Old) and your work is some of the best in the biz -- if not *the* best. You and /noclip ... so good at what you do. Thank you.
Now, about Laymen Gaming... ; )
Spent my first pay cheques in the early 90s (yeah, I'm old, too) on a PC + 3DFX to play games when games were games and not scripted eye candy like many contemporary games are today.
Great video! Huge Kudos to the Crowbar Collective! Thank you and well done! I can't wait to play it!
I just finished Black Mesa today, amazing game. Thanks for the quality content, Mr. Shillup.
Is it worth it?
Chris Stojanovski for sure, it removes any purpose of revisiting the original other than nostalgia. The xen levels in particular are way better.
Borhiummm there’s still blue shift and opposing force, unless Crowbar Collective decide to remake them too (which I hope they do)
Lol I see what you did there
Gabriel Blye Apparently there are already remakes for both of those expansions in the works by other studios, the remakes are Operation: Black Mesa and Guard Duty for Opposing Force and Blue Shift respectively. Looks pretty interesting imo.
Opposing Force is equally memorable for me as HL.
Operation black mesa is going to be amazing
@@haruhisuzumiya6650 Are they going to remake Opposing Force? Because they should, I would pay for that.
@@thesenate8268
A different studio of modders called Tripimine Studios is working on a source remake of Blue Shift and Opposing Force. Their work looks pretty amazing.
I love your channel and your videos, thank you for your amazing content :)
This is the incredible creative writing that I miss from your older Warframe, and Destiny 2 reviews. This is your voice and it's amazing.
As usual your reviews are amazing!
I think the only game from the past few years that actually resembles the Half-Life design is Prey (2017). A true thinking-man's game with zero cutscenes and similar storytelling unfolding before you in first person, with deep immersive sim layers. They really don't make games like these anymore...
As always, great review Skill Up!
Exactly. People love to compare Prey to Bioshock, but I find it to be much closer to half life. I loved it.
It’s more like system shock 2 but I’m glad I’m not the only one who notices the comparison
Ya I really liked prey, it sucks that it got so little attention
Immersive sims are a dying breed, with the financial disappointment of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and Prey the genre is pretty much on its last legs, the only saving grace might be System Shock 3 but even that has been quite uncertain with all the shenanigans going on around it.
Half Life isn't a deep immersive sim though, it is pretty bare bones and simplistic mechanically. So I don't see the comparison to Prey 2017.
This kind of thing, is why i follow you. Best reviewer in the freaking in internet. Great Job.
Great review man. Very low key, great grasp of the use of themes used. Nice job.
Love you skill up thanks for reviewing this
half life was the first game i ever got immersed in i still remember that feeling today. I was unsure about buying black mesa but when i seen what thay have done to the alien relm... instant purchase haha :) thanks
Skill up please read this
I know this has nothing to do with this video but today I watched your nier automata review video. I used to play it 2 years ago. I got stuck at the beginning of the 3rd play through, because my weapons were not very good so I left the game. I just watched the nier review video today and you reminded me how this beautiful game was one of the best games I ever played. I'll download it again later this time hopefully I'll platinum the game and see the story I never finished, I teared up a bit while I was writing this.
Thank you Skill up
And skill up if you read this do you know of anyway I could level my gear up because at the beginning of the 3rd playthrough your in the war so I didn't find any place to level up and upgrade my gear
Yeah his review made me play the game too. Please do finish it, it’s a masterpiece!
@@Lirka_906 ik the game is beautiful
I gotta say, your reviews really are some of the best out there. These are so in-depth and feel so well researched and thought out. I always look for the skill up review when I'm considering whether a product is worth it
Cheers mate
Great review! I've played this but it was so long ago I totally forgot about Xen being the way that it is
nice! I'm playing it right now. extraordinaire work they've made. I'm so impressed by its original vibe and also graphics. Now I decided to play Half-Life 2 and so on when I'm finished with Black Mesa. It got me! :)
@@desertfish74 sry my bad, was trying to say that it reminds me of the original and that I want to replay Part 2 and the episodes. so, yes ofc I've played them all :) would be a shame if not! Haha
This was how I played half life! It made me play everything up to alyx! The soundtrack was amazing and the xen chapter was beautiful! A little padded, but great. Totally worth the $20.
Fantastic review Ralph. I'm currently half way through it, and as a kid who played every half life game religiously, I think you've really done this game justice.
This video is so verbose and mellifluous that I'm reminded that my favourite critics are writers/presenters as well as reviewers. I'm coming back to this video for lessons in the future
One of the Top 10 games of all time. Everyone should play it.
A fantastic relic of the past. Shows how far we've come, yet how far we have fallen too.
q
Sadly, it shows more of "how far we have fallen" than "how far we've come". Because it's a game with a 20 years old level design and yet it still better than pretty much any other modern shooter.
FEAR is not the only game with good AI. Crysis 1 and STALKER advanced AI too. Simulation AI also saw minor improvements in Kingdom Come Deliverance and Witcher 3.
So glad to see a video on Hoff Life
Wow respect for the F.E.A.R. reference. Absolute beauty of a game.
Yeah I wish I could play it now but doesn't seem to run well on modern machines
I love how you just ignored On a Rail's existence
I feel like I'm the only person who liked the original On A Rail.
@@Absolute_Zero7 you are not alone!
@@Absolute_Zero7 I did not hate it the first time I played said specific chapter (everything was amazing for me atm), but after doing multiple playthroughs, have to say not really a fan.
Another amazing review! thanks heaps
This actually makes me excited for Project Borealis. As they are trying to build Half life 2 episode 3.
It's incredible to see a studio support their fan projects like this.
Crowbar bought a engine licence, they are a developer not a modder
@@haruhisuzumiya6650 i dont consider them modders they are organised company which remade a game with support from the creators.
I was just taking about Project Borealis.
@@laughingatnothing4642 yes, crowbar actually bought the engine licence to make half life in a source 2 engine
As a moder I am aware of source mods relying on the original game, black mesa mod is still available somewhere in the internet. To go back to project borealis it runs on a source build this is identified as a steam app or a source mod can go sdk based build
Operation black mesa I believe is a half life 2 episode 2 mod not a black mesa source mod?
@@haruhisuzumiya6650 project borealis is a group of fan coming together similarly to make Half life 2 Episode 3. It is to run on a modified version of unreal 4 and they licenced that.
And after HLA it wil be interesting to see.
damn i literally just finished the end of xen as soon as this was uploaded wtf
Same for me. :-)
i am so glad that valve is such a paragon of modding that they allow and encourage projects like Black Mesa. Were Half Life under any other publisher/producer then Black Mesa would have been targeted and destroyed by rabid lawyers.
Good review, will have to get this. I still remember playing half life and coming into contact with the marines for the first time. They were so ahead of their time, they made you aware of your surroundings, made you think, made you worry. I loved engaging them. They were the best part for me.
Wow ur video was rly on top, and with similar thoughts i had about half life and black mesa.
I feel like Prey is the closest thing to a Half-Life type of game in modern history.
Prey is a completely different kind of game to Half-Life. Sure, there are some enemy design and story elements that are similar. But the core gameplay and design philosophy are completely are on opposite sides. Prey is about exploration and freedom, with branching endings and an insane amount of backtracking. Half-Life is a superlinear game, with almost no freedom, the game is based around straight forward shooting galleries and minute to minute pacing. Half-Life has incredible pacing and mechanical enjoyment through its controls while Prey has horrible pacing especially at the end where it starts to drag out while being mechanically stiff (Running around and shooting enemies isn't that fun).
I'd say that Prey is more similar to System Shock.
@@samuelraji8343 Prey is a immersive sim Half-life. I guess valve would be proud of it. But in general. What is half-life? what valve should do next? Their games is about Miracle of Innovation. They dont want to just sell it. they want to create something.. New.
"Half-Life is timeless" he says, about a game THAT WAS FUCKING REMADE!!! REMADE!!!!!!!
This was such a beautiful review!
I am playing through this now, so much fun. Makes want to finish the original!
You know what game came close to the pacing and immersiveness of Half Life one and two? The new Prey.
Dunno how I feel about Prey 2016 being brought up at a time like this, but I do agree it is a pretty fuckin sick game.
Prey 2016 was 50% Halflife 50% system shock 2. And it works beautifully.
Hold up hold up. Did you just call gonarch's lair a disappointing boss encounter? It was easily one of the best moments in the game and the only really good section of xen. I still MUCH prefer HL1's version of gonarch over Black Mesa's. I don't think xen as a whole is as bad as people say it is. I feel they just remember the platforming more than any thing else, which was pretty bad.
the only decent part is the mid section, the platforming in the beginning is shit and the conveyor belt area with the vortigaunts and alien controllers in the last 3rd of the game overstays it's welcome at about the 20% mark of it's lenght
if anything Black Mesa has visuals going for it, because the artstyle and graphics look amazing, so while the area still drags due to the increased gameplay time, you can at least get immersed and shocked by the pretty areas
You have a very professional demeanor. Eloquent. Good stuff.
I couldn't believe how good Back Mesa was. It's an unbelievable achievement. Xen completely blew me away on top of it all. Anyone who has only watched videos on this game, or only played the original, needs to get this and try it themselves. Absolute masterpiece.
This is one of your best reviews, just because of the fact you pushed the idea of linearity, and everything else too.
Masterpiece of a review, just like the game
Excellent review!
Perfect timing. I'm playing it right now.
Imo the Half Life series has the best story in gaming, great reviews always.
Half-Life does not have a good story. It's about a scientist killing aliens, soldiers and then going to an alien planet to kill a giant baby and disappear. It presents its story fantastically but that doesn't mean it has a good one.
@@samuelraji8343 many games modeled their sTory off of half life, that says something
Look at doom 3. Same shit
7:46 "The reality couldn't be further from the truth"
Uh... ok?
As someone who's played though the original Black Mesa release(before they were even on Steam)this review was great. My only complaint is you didn't talk about Noel Nielson's amazing soundtrack for Black Mesa.
*Joel Nielsen
great vid and for current games with slow burn starts Metal gear solid 5 comes to mind that intro scene in the hospital was hard to get through but super worth it.
Because of this, you reminded me of F.E.A.R. and how much I wanted a remake of it.
Heard about Trepang2 ?
Are you going to review cyberpunk when it comes out ?
Nah. Seems like a pretty niche title. Can't imagine many people will be interested in it.
:P
@@SkillUp 🤔🤔
The next game by CD Project Red. One of the most anticipated games in recent memory? Possibly genre-changing. Nah, why would he?? 😏😉
@@SkillUp I hope CDPR sends you an early copy, i will buy the game day one no matter what but i always agree with your reviews and love to hear your opinion on a game before buying it and i've discovered amazing games lke Nier Automata thanks to your videos, thank you for your great content 😃
Quality as always
7:47 "The reality couldn't be further from the truth"
I have to disagree that System Shock 2 and Thief didn't go for realism. The Von Braun was specifically designed to feel like a place where people lived and worked and the level design in Thief and Thief 2 especially is extremely natural. Also, God of War isn't open world. It's closer to a metroidvania than an open world game.
He meant that System Shock was an earlier example of ''The Thinking man's FPS''
Ralph says "There were no games in last years, that had the nerve to stall you from obtaining your first weapon". Shows Bioshock Infinite minutes later... Ehhh...
Well there is that shooting gallery which was a pretty creative way to tutorialize shooting
10 mins in and I totally on board with what you have said already. Had to pause and make this comment because yeah SO many modern games are just "missing the point".
Dude I would dare to call your takes on video games poetic I’m not joking your videos always manage to have a relevant moral, great job you are one of the best in the industry
Nice nice can’t wait for the Half Life: Alyx review
He mentioned he'd play this before going on to HLA so expect it coming some time soon.
@Christopher Simon I had to purchase a ridiculously expensive gpu just to run HL2 to the fullest back in the day. If a Half Life game doesn't require its customers to invest into some expensive hardware to get the game to work, sorry bud, that's not even a Half Life game anymore. People will get left behind, that's reality.
@Christopher Simon jesus you're pretty damn salty about Alyx being a VR title. they didn't "push" Vr onto people who didn't want it, they made Alyx VR in order to further the VR industry, to prove that you can have an actual AAA VR game that doesn't suck dick or just solely involve shooting waves of enemies. Hell they didn't even restrict it to the Index, they made it so that it would work on any VR headset, if it was solely for Index, then sure they'd push it on people who didn't want it, but now? if a person buys it, they want it, they aren't being forced to do so, they're being given a title that will actually get people involved in VR and what it has to offer, and being able to do so on entry level VR gear is great too, you don't have to go above like 300-500 bucks if you know where and what to look for. Alyx is pushing the industry forward, just like HL did and just like how HL2 did, HL3 will push the industry aswell, we just don't know how, especially because a when hasn't been seen yet. Also how is it lazy trash if they spent years working on it? its not as if its a unit/unreal asset ripoff that someone spent like a week on
Christopher Simon damn dude chill. Just cause you don’t want something doesn’t mean other people don’t. just finished half life Alyx the other night. Incredible experience the exact opposite of lazy. vr won’t replace flat screen gaming but it’s absolutely a new frontier that does things that flat screen gaming just can’t do. Personally after playing half life Alyx I Hope half life 3 is in vr.
Though rumor has it they are gonna do half life 3 as a flat screen game still. Gordon games will be flat screen, Alyx games will be vr. That’s the rumor anywho
@ooczzy or the need for one for the original half life. Needed a good ol Voodoo 2 back then iirc.
"No advancements have been made in enemy AI since fear"
Alien Isolation???????
Very, very good point.
I kinda viewed that as referring to standard solider type enemies. The Xeno in isolation is paired with Mr X in RE2R as the pinnacle of stalker type enemies
@@TShank227 the alien had different AI then MR. X. It "learns" the longer it's in an area and can outsmart the player. Mr. X just does a straight line to the player.
The Xeno is definitely way better developed, smarter, and yeah when it learns and gives you the ol “you can’t trick me anymore” it elicits a reaction like no other. I’d say X is a distant second though in the stalker archetype. There’s videos where someone did a boundary break to view what he’s doing when he’s searching for you and it’s an interesting solution that they came up with!
I don't think enemy AI in most games has advanced beyond scripted events, trigger actions and cooldown timers, especially in online games in over 15 years
Even Alien Isolation or Hitman 2s NPCs (where the GPU is used to track the large population) are just more complicated triggers.
I'm 17 so I don't have any feelings of nostalgia when I see this game. But I started playing the first Half-Life last year and holy bonkers it was so amazing that I've been playing that for like 9 months. Then I booted up the sequels in January, also played the remaster in source (It was a mistake but I wanted to understand the memes) and a couple of days ago I played Black Mesa. It was so amazing indeed and I'm so happy this remake was made. And it came right on time, because I was just done with every HL game and mode
Love the review, Ralph. Black Mesa will be my first voyage into the Half-Life universe. I didn't have the means to hop onto the Half-Life train when the game first released, and I couldn't swallow the fidelity of this 20 year old game now having experienced so many other games in recent years. Hopefully I'll enjoy this experience.
With regards to problems that need solving, I wonder what solutions Half-Life: Alyx offers to gaming design. I'm very interested in your take on that.
Shill Up: "Half Life 3 doesn't need to exist yet"
Half Life 2 Episode 2: "lul"
Half life alyx "what I offered you something that you didn't even know that you wanted ?"
Someone hasn't beat Alyx lol.
Dude I saw you on multiple of his videos being an absolute jerk. What gives ?
I'd say,Control is a game that has that Half Life Vibe
I agree! The brutalist architecture of the First House echoes that of Black Mesa...with a little added flair I’d say
Great review. Thanks
0:55 that gave me chills
“Youll struggle to name an action game in the last two decades that takes this long to open up”
Red Dead 2.
Context matters tho. I may be approaching this the wrong way, but half life was way shorter than Red Dead 2.
You can sort of judge how long a game is. People expected red dead to be a sprawling masterpiece, so they expected the wait. However, Half Life was a shorter focused game. People expected action from the get go, and that's why it's genius to withhold the action.
Red Deads wait to open the game is long, but so is its playtime.
@@amanpingle1497 Nah, RDR2 has more detailed and complex assets to load along with a large open world. It's purely technical, nothing artistic about loading time.
I think you're talking about opening the game, while we're talking about "opening the world".
Or maybe I'm whooshing the joke.
Bioshock Infinite it takes a good 15-20 minutes unless you are speedrunning to introduce the world. It seems like reviewers forget certain games exist.
“Half Life 3 doesn't need to exist yet”
I don't even know what that means.
Lol right? Nonsense. Fuckin make it already Gabe.
I don’t agree with the statement too but I understand, you really have to watch the documentary which is mentioned in this video. It’s ok youtube . It’s almost 2 hours just about half life .
You gone and made me buy Black Mesa. I also have the video on pause at the Zen discussion, as I wish to experience it myself before watching the rest of ur video. I'll be back in a couple of days.
Was thinking about picking up HL Black Mesa but remembered the Xen section of the original HL and being less than thrilled. Saw this review now I'm sold. Thanks Skill Up!