Considering most of the chapter is puzzle oriented, and Doom 2016 had almost one of that, I think that comparison is rather stupid. They don't even look similar side from the red haze, and Metroid Prime 3 did that WAY before Doom 2016 did. If anything, Interloper is way more like Metroid both gameplay-wise and aesthetically than Doom.
Thing I like about this... In Half Life 2, Breen's ascending and you're trying to stop him. In Black Mesa, YOU'RE ascending and THEY are trying to stop you.
MegaChickenfish BRUH the part where the force the elevator back down out of shear desperation is amazing, they already know it’s too late and you just absolutely destroy the last of them
a lot of xen is clearly inspired by the other games. bit of a long read so extend this post if you want my thoughts on it the teleporter to gonarchs lair is similar to the citedals core in episode 1 gonarchs lair is similar to the antlion caves in episode 2 interloper is similar to the citadel in half life 2 the xen tower is similar to the citedal, the xenian technology is similar to the combines technology, except with a more organic style, and even copies it sometimes, such as the grunts hanging from the walls in a similar way to the combine soldiers that can be found hanging on the walls inside the citadel in half life 2 were they appear to be attached to some sort of memory replacement devices. and yet it all makes sense. if your opponent is able to beat you, why not copy some of their ideas and learn from your enemies. if it works for them maybe it can work for you. essentially, try using the idea of fighting fire with fire. and for the desperate residents of xen that sounds like as good of an idea as any other. for the gonarch it seems obvious. it acts very similar to an antlion gaurd, and the headcrabs and antlions are very similar. the antlions and headcrabs attack each other, they both build webs, they both tend to be found in groups, they both go through multiple varying stages in their life cycles and both preform metamorphosis, so it makes sense that they would be competing for food and shelter and often hunting each other. a swarm of headcrabs can take down an antlion, but a swarm of antlions can easily get rid of a swarm of headcrabs, with the winning side mostly being dependent on which one outnumbers the other. they can also easily be found close to each other due to them competing. in most cases, a section of the games with one of them is almost immediately followed up with a section of the game with the other, such as going from ravenholm to the coast in half life 2 , both of them often being present at the same time in episode 1 , and the antlion caves being followed up by the large area full of headcrabs under the bridge with the car in episode 2 . so it makes sense that if they compete with each other and have a variety of similarities that the adult forms of both would be somewhat similar in behavior. overall I like all the similarities as it makes xen feel more symbolic in a way, it makes it feel like xen is preparing Gordon for whats eventually going to happen later. like a sort of trial or like a baptism by fire. it was all part of the test.
@@THEFREEEMAN "as it makes xen feel more symbolic in a way, it makes it feel like xen is preparing Gordon for whats eventually going to happen later. like a sort of trial or like a baptism by fire." This just make Gordon Freeman feel more badass to me, like Doomslayer in someway.
@@ElliFong i know right everything prepared him for the combine and the remaining xen creatures. the H.E.C.U. prepared him for the C.P. and the overwatch soldiers, the xen army prepared him for the synths, the teleporter island prepared him for the citadels core, the gonarch prepared him for the antlion caves, everything was just a test to make sure that everything that would happen later would be easier in comparison. like i said it was all part of the test
The issue I have with the elevator level is that the framerate was TERRIBLE in it compared to any other level in the Xen Remake, and i'm convinced it may either be because the level itself is too large and there's too much being loaded in, or there's something wrong within the level itself that's eating up the framerates.
@@the_furry_inside_your_walls639 Luckily I didn't stumble into frame rate issues the entire playthrough. I can see how it might affect ones experience however..
im the only person in the universe who will have the most uncomfortable framerates in the most peculiar of places especially with high texture filtering on badly optimised games saying that. i encountered no frame issues in the entirity of this game. the reason for that? im not sure. ask god
@@long_chin_man perhaps your computer runs into a bottleneck at certain spots that require more GPU/CPU? Maybe you could check the performance of your setup online I'd say that the Xen levels sure do require a lot of computing power, but they are mostly optimized, thus my computer handles them well. Other games, simpler ones, sometimes do cause issues simply because they aren't well optimized yet (early access games and such)
Whilst the original Half-Life made Gordon look like some kind of hero, Black Mesa really makes Gordon's almost divine ethos real. Man went and killed two whole armies almost by himself and then a demi-god equivalent.
Eh, that's not true. HECU was weakened by the fight with alien grunts. Aliens themselves were in an unfamiliar territory (and a lot of them slaves, really). The true army we see at the end of HL1 if you choose to decline Mr. Briefcase's offer is waaaay out of Gordon's league (hundreds of grunts and planes and shit!)
It makes sense in the context of HL2 where Gordon was considered as legend both by vortigaunts and humans. I really like Black Mesa reinterpretation of events.
@@zatoka08 Those were the Nihilants remaining scattered army troops who Gman knew were running away, he just teleported Freeman there with no weaponry.
Another stranger in a strange bright orange "robe" has invaded their "prison". There were many like him, but they all eventually met their end. But very soon, it becomes clear that this intruder is different. Breaking through factories and islands, he thinns out the army of their oppressor, and the further he moves towards Nihilanth, the more fierce the resistance becomes. But he goes ahead. And here is the elevator to Nihilanth. The last frontier. They feel the fear of Nihilanth, who in desperation throws all the forces he can summon at the intruder. Grunt after grunt, controller after controller, all the forces that Nihilanth drops on the unknown are in vain. A bright blue ray, clearly contrasting with the predominantly dark red tones of the factories, emanates from this stranger, tearing apart the army of Nihilanth in a matter of seconds. The army that kept them at bay for many years turned out to be helpless against a single human who appeared from nowhere and turned a significant part of the garrison into bloody pieces in a matter of hours. The elevator reaches the top, the stranger goes to the portal directly into the lair of Nihilanth. And when he gets there, a long, booming voice is heard, a similar to a roar. "Freeeeemaaaan!" Vortigaunts don't know the meaning of this name yet, but be sure - they don't need to. They already understand its meaning.
Some people might disagree with this statement, but I would take this as a Second-to-Final level anyday compared to the original Half-Life's tedious enemy dodging, and even Half-Life 2's final chapter of racing Breen. And the music just makes it all the more satisfying
PoP Sands of Time? Combat in that game was a yawnbore mechanics-wise but otherwise it was quite cathartic and by that point you were emotionally invested.
One person in these comments said that entirety of Half-Life 1 is a baptism of fire for Gordon. Baptism-even the aftermath of ascension seems to acknowledge this. And heck, even the rest of Interloper, its frustrating monotonous puzzles aside. Interloper is full of dark, oppressive reds, greens, and shadows. Souls are forced into torment, their brutal handlers placing their feet on their necks-literally and figuratively. The vortigaunts, for the longest time, know no other way of life other than slavery. It’s fair to say they live in Hell, except those who suffer here have done nothing to deserve their lot. Then out of another world, a brightly colored alien steps into the darkness of their own. The Free Man, whether he means to or as an unintended side effect of his main goal, gives the vortigaunts a light towards a better future. The Free Man, however, is just one man. As he ventures deeper into the factory, he notices that supply teleports from Earth are becoming rarer. Every step he takes into the factory only reveals just how *tiny* he is compared to the unfamiliar, seemingly infinite darkness. Back in the Xen jungles, he held a small hope that maybe one member of the survey teams could had survived to join him in his mission, but now, it’s clear that he’s alone-alone in Hell. Freeman steps onto an elevator. He quickly discovers that he’s on the final stretch, and the enemy knows it. As Freeman begins his ascension, the guardians and masters of Hell throw their final reserves at him, hoping to keep his corpse locked inside forever. They do not realize that they will become part of the culmination of Freeman’s baptism by fire. The white glow of his flashlight and the blue beams of his gluon gun cause Freeman’s light to shine through the shadowy reds and greens of the factory…and the dark, once-hopeless clouds of the vortessence. The elevator stops at the peak. He finds a large healing pool and crystals, the gentle bluish glow contrasting with the foreboding reds and greens from before. The pool is deep enough for Freeman to submerge himself if he crouches. After his baptism by fire, Freeman finds himself in a more literal baptism. There is no priest to oversee him, but the Lambda team, through the faint signal on the HEV suit’s tracking devices, and the vortigaunts, through the vortessence, are no doubt watching from afar, wishing him blessings. Freeman steps out of the healing pool a veritably different person than he was a few days ago. The lowly, geeky scientist had not just survived both hell on earth and hell on another world, but actually ascended-reborn, just like in an actual baptism, into someone who lives up to his name. The Free Man himself is not free: we all know his contract with the G-Man. But through his struggles, those who rally behind him-whether they are vortigaunt slaves or humans under Combine rule-find their freedom. “Rise and shine, Mr. Freeman. Rise and shine.”
Your comment made me wonder what was the Lambda team doing before Gordon came and while he was in Xen. Their actions, their dialogues with the remaining colleagues, their thoughts. What happened to them, did they manage to escape somehow, or what were their last moments. A 10-20 minute long movie would be great.
@@Zmeeed01 Those in the Lambda Complex most likely did not survive, for the entirety of Black Mesa was nuked to high Hell. Even if some of them did, they would have lost their lives in the Seven Hour War following the numerous portal storms that utterly devastated North America.
@@Soundwave142 CPU from early 2000's. it hasn't aged well. Edit: it's actually a CPU from 2015-2019, still didn't age well but got better somehow to 24FPS in this scene. Update: got a whole new motherboard with fast as hell RAM and a brand new CPU, and I'm currently on my first playthrough with the new boards. so now the frame rate will probably be higher, only time will tell.
I remember once hearing from someone that the Nihilanth in the original Half Life 1 felt like it came out of no where. While I don't completely agree with that, I must say I find it hard to think of a more pronounced build-up to a final boss than this section of the game. Just all the Controllers and Grunts fighting you relentlessly, trying to stop you at every level. Both you and the enemies going all out at eachother in an epic final confrontation before you face the leader himself. It's honestly just fantastic the things Crowbar Collective did to improve every step of Xen
@Alex Luca Well, during the elevator section, the enemies in the lower levels don't despawn (unless that was recently changed), so in that case, it is their fault. But at most other times, you're right.
I don't know about you, but at 4:49 I sit in the health pool and just blast everything around me that can be destroyed. It gives you a feeling of being a living legend, to know that you cannot be stopped.
iD software: the player should feel like a legendary godly hero when playing doom, but not in the "just activated godmode cheats" way Crowbar collective: hold my gluon gun
He was a god in Half-Life too, he did slay Nihilanth there as well. And in Half-Life, Nihilanth would also shoot HOMING teleportation orbs, teleporting him to other areas.
I don't know how everyone else feels, but I personally loved the later sections of Interloper where the Gluon Gun got some special treatment. I always loved the weapon, but it ran through ammo so quickly that I never really got to use it as much as, say, the SMG or Shotgun. Being allowed to vaporize aliens near the end of the game as much as I desired? Such a treat and I'm so glad they made that decision.
I totally agree with you, the entire Ascension aspect of Interloper was awesome. I never got into HL1 but the other day Black Mesa was on sale so I gave it a go and while the Black Mesa Research part was kinda tedious, Xen really stepped it up a notch and made the game worth it mainly due to the soundtrack making everything you did seem epic af. But maybe I just love pulverizing aliens on an elevator.
It's fantastic. It helped alleviate the sort of problem a lot of folks have with stuff like revival items in RPGs where you're always like "BUT WHAT IF I NEED IT LATER???". No worries, Freeman. You ain't afraid of no ghosts.
My absolute favorite part of this whole level was when they pull the elevator back down and surround you. The Controllers honestly could have done that at any time, but I guess they were convinced they could stop you here. So when you made it past every level and it seemed like you were in the clear, they made a last ditch effort to stop you. They couldn't let you get away - they HAD to stop you. It was now or never; they couldn't let you get past them, so they threw everything they had left at you (quite literally). But it was too little, too late.
Here’s the thing about Interloper: it’s length makes sense. You’re essentially climbing a giant tower on foot while encountering numerous obstacles. Of course it’s gonna take that long, and of course it’s gonna feel grueling and exhausting. So will I play it again? No. But was it a good level? Yes. Because it was realistic.
I feel like Half life has always been like that. Some chapters are really long and almost "tiring" but it's supposed to be that way because it makes you think about how long of an journey it's been. And also that the world isn't just built to accommodate Freeman (Even though technically speaking it is), but Freeman makes his way through anyway.
The fact that this track slowly sets up and then sneakily drops into the melody of the old Black Mesa main theme which isn't even used in the game anymore feels like a wonderful nod to the fans of this game who've been with it through all the years of development. It's saying "It's been a long journey, but we're finally at the end. It's been fun. It's been a wild ride. Farewell." The second half also sneaks in the chords from the main theme of Prey (2006), which this whole section of the game is *heavily* inspired by. Cheeky! :)
The old Black Mesa melody does actually get used in game, although it's only the second half of the song in Unforseen Consequences' opening and the first half with the railroad Barney.
It truly hammers home why freeman became a legend. He is unyielding, unrelenting, unbreakable. A force of sheer fing will. The gman can put him in stasis and teleport him as much as he wants but he will never be able to control his actions because Gordon lives as his last name implies... Free
If I have to be honest, this one scene is like a tribute to Half-Life in a weird way. My dad played Half-Life back in '98 and when I let him play Black Mesa, he was enjoying the ride. It was until this part of the game when I noticed he began to shed some tears. Then when the credits started to roll, he hugged me. Thanking me for the experience. Ascension is probably the best way to show our true selves. It lets us ascend.
@@SpeedHunter_9 As someone who played the entire half life series, I may not have been of the OG OG, having played sometime just after episode 2 came out... I can tell you. I recited the same damn stupid, cringe-worthy lines I said back when I first played Half Life 1. "I am not just a man. I am GORDON FREEMAN. And I got a PHD in theoretical physics, so you better be warned that I have a PHD in THEORETICALLY KICKING YOUR ASS!" To make me feel that excitement again, yes. I'd say it's a masterpiece.
a game is only good if you're in an action sequence and theres music that fits said action. this is why doom was so successful. people wanna have their emotions emphasised by good soundtracks
It is during Gordon's ascension that he becomes more than a 27-year old science nerd. He embodies the ultimate choice. An almost supernatural, divine right. The choice to live rather than to die. Despite the overwhelming, tyrannical odds against him and humanity. Time and time again, he defiantly survives. It is in this choice to survive, every moment, every time, that he truly becomes a "Free man".
@@qwellen7521 Because Freeman is the best man for the job. It wasn't coincidence. You might not like it, but apparently Gordon was a bad ass his whole life and never knew. I think I could trade my life for that. Major lacerations and all. Destroy the world on accident just to save it all and be a legend.
I have to admit... this is actually my favorite part of the entire game. You really feel like Freeman has finally become every bit the legend everyone holds him as in HL2.
This song is the embodiment of the indomitable human spirit. Grand instrumentals of overwhelming size, contrasted with the lone human singer, challenging all adversity. Like humanity, the one species that dealt blows to forces of incomprehensible size. We get up, no matter how many times we are knocked down. And so Gordon rises. To the top of the interloper. To the top of the citadel. A beacon of Humanity.
One of the greatest strengths of Black Mesa was how it managed to leverage the Source engine to elevate the immersive experience of the original Half-Life. The expanded Xen chapters make it abundantly clear that Gordon, and by extension the player, really is just that: An ordinary person thrust into an extraordinary situation with far-reaching implications that go beyond their ability to even comprehend. It manages to take the survival and psychological aspects of its predecessor up a notch. Not an easy feat, and that's what ranks it up there as one of my favorite games of all time.
This in my opinion is the very moment Gordon went from being just a scientist trying to survive a catastrophic event to a living legend and the embodiment of the human spirit and its will to overcome all obstacles
I've always seen this elevator fight as Nihilanth's ditch effort to stop you from reaching him. Just like the marines threw everything left at you at the entrance of the Lambda Complex, he's throwing all he has left at you at the entrance to his lair.
I played through this area on Hard difficulty and while this part was balls difficult, I didn't die a single time. Thanks to that, the track was never interrupted: it just kept playing until I got to the top, and holy shit is that an experience. Xen is a bloody masterpiece, man. Well worth the wait.
Same, and it was just as glorious as you define it. And the part where they drag the elevator back down out of shear desperation was so good I legitimately cried.
The Hard Mode is bugged. Only explosive weapons have reduced damage. The gluon still deals the same damage as it was on normal, along with every bullet based weapons
Crowbar Collective turned the last spinning elevator that takes you like 15 feet closer to some weird rotating portal thing to an absolute monolith that... I can't even describe this thing it's so fucking good.
This entire level... This entire level made me feel that joy of Half Life again. I may not have cried- But the entire time, I could imagine showing little me this game, and he'd be sobbing a storm from how wonderful it is. The music, the combat flow, the visuals... Here I come, Nihilinth. Let's settle this one more time.
@@croquettes1937 nihilth didn't need a great soundtrack though. That guy is just whooping powers left and right..imagine this kind of OST in the background..:)
@Alex Luca I apologize for being a year late xd But I don't know if you're talking about the "Gargantua", since that's the only creature I recall having a flamethrower that you find On the Rail, Forget About Freeman and the chase in Xen after the Gonarch's Lair Fight.
@@croquettes1937 Joel Nielsen once said he made the Nihilanth boss music as an ambience so the player wouldn't be so distracted while fighting the Nihilanth.
The first time I played through this, I was struggling so hard to figure out the new maps and the combat AI that I could barely appreciate all the little touches or the atmosphere or the music - though I was still impressed with what I was able to take time to absorb. The second time I played it, I was comfortable enough to go with the flow and really let the depth of the experience sink in, and I fell in love with the game and its story all over again. The third time I played it, I decided that the BM version of Xen is one of my favorite worlds of any video game, ever. I'm still playing.
The lobby fight in Questionable Ethics was when Gordon stopped just running and surviving and actually started pushing through anything in his way. This is when he became "The Freeman".
Man, you know they had a good team that didn't suffer from crunch when they managed to make Xen of all places actually awe-inspiring and genuinely fun.
Most intense part of the game by far! Most amazing remake i have ever played and the music really finishes it! Thanks for all the hard work all these years on this it truly shows!
Even though he's a silent guy, he knows what he's doing to end this catastrophe. Ngl, this game is a fucking top notch. Good job for the crowbar collective.
This is a bit more accurate than the version I did. You got the loops more correct. I didn't notice until later that only a section of the tracks looped. (Especially the second track) Nice work
Siempre miraba videos de gameplays de BlackMesa, hace 2 dias decidi comprarlo en steam por vacaciones, JAMAS ME ARREPENTIRÉ de gastar ese dinero, EL JUEGO SE RESUME EN DOS COSAS, AMOR A LA SAGA HECHO POR FANS, UNA EXPERIENCIA INOLVIDABLE... esta canción demuestra mucho el trabajo y amor del trabajo de Black Mesa y Xen, que hermosa canción, cuando llegue a estar parte me sentía un heroe para la raza humana y un villano para la raza Xen que porsupuesto no debio de desaparecer... ❤️💔 Gracias por traernos este video!! Agradezco totalmente a toda la comunidad por hacer tan magistral toda experiencia relacionada a Half Life 💎🔥
The Xen part in this one makes the Xen in the original look like if someone ate crap, pooped it out again, burnt it, threw it on vomit, and then peed all over it, with both the graphics/look and gameplay
I agree that it surpassed the original, especially for the first half. I do feel that the chapter, "Interloper" could have been done better though. It has a lot of repetitive areas and nonsensical architecture.
This became my favorite track right about 4:45 when those little flying headquarters were bombarding me with everything they had and I was just tearing away all the floating reactor shields to make them vulnerable - and I said to myself, Xen is the best I've seen in an action game in years.
Breen criticizes the resistance members for seeing Gordon as a Messianic figure. Little does he know how right they are. No mortal man could fight his way through this and come out unscathed.
The hell Gordon went trough to fix Breen's mess at Black Mesa, only to see the more mess Breen created after 20 years for the mankind. Everything collapsed with the Black Mesa incident.
It was the least enjoyable part of Xen, mainly because of the bugs and crappy optimization. Considering the talent behind Black Mesa, I'm sure they'll fix Interlooper with upcoming patches.
the factory just was too long, the fights were okay and the elevator was aweasome but the puzzles got old fast, they were okay but it was too much of them, still a 9/10 game tho
Hands Down the best elevator ride in gaming!!!! Interloper mission may be frustrating and stretched.... but you actually truly feel like ascending the tower as tall as the mountains. In other games no matter how big a tower or building... you reach the top in like 5 minutes!!! I also like the fact that it was me destroying the barriers to hit the crystals inside... but in the end the controllers destroy their own barriers to prevent my final ascension.
the fact the source engine is almost 20 years old, doesn't have 5 sequels to a game engine that doesn't need one, and can produce this visual that you see while listening to this Mozart-level song, is outstanding
When the brass comes in around the halfway point playing the Black Mesa theme, it brings tears to my eyes. May you have abundant composing work for all your days, Joel Nielsen.
Nothing in any video game I've played made me feel as powerful as the moment in this game where you realize you now have infinite ammo in your gluon gun.
The whole chapter of Interloper really makes you feel like a hero, with the vortigaunts recognizing your potential to end their enslavement and helping you along the way. This elevator though, damn was it amazing. At this point, you feel like a god saving the entire universe, but little does the Free Man know he's only condemning it.
The world was lost to the Combine the moment the resonance cascade occured. The defeat of Nihilanth was important in stopping the Xen invasion, but the Combine had already taken note of the tiny cracks in the universe to allow them through. But the months of portal storms instead of being able to exploit the Xenian portal held by Nihilanth...that allowed certain individuals - especially Doctor Breen - into a position that allowed for Humanity's surrender and enslavement in the 7 Hours War, as opposed to extinction. Had Freeman bore the full brunt of the Combine invasion, it is certain that he would be lost. Yet G-Man placed him in City 17 on that fateful Red Letter Day in...about 20 years later, so that Gordon could server the Combine's influence from Earth, however briefly. And the Vortigaunts who witnessed this through the Vortessance, they saved him and Alyx to sever that connection _permanently._
I always listen to a game’s music before I play. When I finished the first half (pre-reprise), I remembered, “Hold up, this song had a reprise, *right?”*
Just finished playing the game...it was epic and i mean epic. Brings the same vibe as HL2 did when it first came up. I'm quite old now and I really missed that feeling and don't get me started with the music...amazing work
You rose. From the rubble of the resonance cascade, you rose. Against insurmountable odds, you rose. Fighting unknown enemies, you rose. Against all odds, you rose. Your fight is not yet done. Keep on rising, my fellow Freeman!
this is, besides other things, what was missing in og HL : truly epic musics. With this one, and at this moment, Gordon became THE Freeman. The one and only. But in the end, this whole story wasn't about saving the world. It was only the struggle of one man, who happened to become a legend.
Ngl this was my favorite level just because of the cool asf design and godlike music, I truly felt like I was a Rouge blood cell within thus great breathing body
This part was amazing, you could really feel the desperation of the Alien Controllers in trying to stop you. I didn't expect them to reverse the elevator at the end for one last effort!
I found it almost mandatory on the factory as well. The Tau cannon just looked like it was bouncing off the grunts and there was almost no other ammo I could find
It became especially relevant by the end of interloper, and after it went unlimited ammo I stopped using any other weapon for the rest of the game. Best one to destroy Nihilanth's shields also, especially with lots of ammo lying around.
"Carbon stars with ancient satellites colonized by sentient fungi. Gas giants inhabited by vast meteorological intelligences. Worlds stretched thin across the membranes where dimensions intersect... Impossible to describe with our limited vocabulary!" Dr. Breen to Eli Vance
I left this exact same comment on the version uploaded by Joel Nielsen himself, but I feel like it also belongs here. I bought this game recently for my 15th birthday. I was left in awe at the climactic parts of "Unforeseen Consequences", "We've Got Hostiles", "On A Rail", "Surface Tension", "Forget About Freeman," all the coolest chapters. I even screamed "I WON'T LET YOU" at the Alien Grunts beating the Vortigaunts. But here, I collapsed into manic laughter as I utterly obliterated everything in my way with the Tau Cannon and the Gluon Gun, screaming _"DO YOU HEAR ME, NIHILANTH?! I'LL OBLITERATE YOOOOUUUU!"._ No other game besides HL2 and its episodes has _ever_ made me feel like that. I swear to God, I had an out-of-body experience playing this level.
TBH The entire of Interloper chapter is just doom 2016 in disguise. I like it :D
Yeah but i like ascension
never have played the 2016 doom
but could still see the similarities
and it's a good thing
Considering most of the chapter is puzzle oriented, and Doom 2016 had almost one of that, I think that comparison is rather stupid. They don't even look similar side from the red haze, and Metroid Prime 3 did that WAY before Doom 2016 did. If anything, Interloper is way more like Metroid both gameplay-wise and aesthetically than Doom.
@Adam Thompson It's still better than HL1 Xen, that's for sure. Gotta say, the Gargantua chase event is probably my favorite part of Interloper.
And also, Prey 2006 concepts
Scientist: Do be sure to put her to good use
The scientist would be proud of his creation in this section.
i wish they somehow bring the gluon gun back in half life 3
In the later sections in Interloper the Gluon Gun is your best friend.
More like horrified since he seemed pretty much against condemning creatures to its effects.
@@HardCorePoration The controllers earned it.
Well i killed him so
Thing I like about this... In Half Life 2, Breen's ascending and you're trying to stop him.
In Black Mesa, YOU'RE ascending and THEY are trying to stop you.
you have become the nihalinth
@@landlockedcroat1554 true
Gordan Freeman is not going to be stoped
Except Breen is doing nothing. Only the soldiers are doing it.
Yeah but, Freeman was also ascending in HL2 while the Combine were trying to stop him.
No one can stop him.
This is why Xen took ten years to make; it was never meant to be rushed.
And now imagine what Cyberpunk 2077 could have been
It meant to be masterpiece
Let's remember this was all based on a mod for the original Half-Life to upscale the graphics and detail, which Valve accepted and took charge of.
@@picoultimate7707
As technology progresses, fans are beginning to surpass the official content.
@@Antidragon-nl7by Indeed.
The last lift. The last line of defense. They throw everything they have at you *but you keep rising.*
MegaChickenfish
BRUH the part where the force the elevator back down out of shear desperation is amazing, they already know it’s too late and you just absolutely destroy the last of them
really works well with 8:05
NEVER GIVE UP!!!!
But you keep getting higher
Gamers RISE UP
This level basically makes the gluon gun like an homage to the overcharged gravity gun level.
true true
a lot of xen is clearly inspired
by the other games.
bit of a long read so extend this post
if you want my thoughts on it
the teleporter to gonarchs lair
is similar to the citedals core in
episode 1
gonarchs lair is similar to the antlion caves
in episode 2
interloper is similar to the citadel in
half life 2
the xen tower is similar to the citedal, the xenian technology is similar to the combines technology, except with a more organic style, and even copies it sometimes, such as the grunts hanging from the walls in a similar way to the combine soldiers that can be found hanging on the walls inside the citadel in half life 2
were they appear to be attached to some sort of memory replacement devices.
and yet it all makes sense.
if your opponent is able to beat you, why not copy some of their ideas and learn from your enemies.
if it works for them
maybe it can work for you.
essentially, try using the idea of
fighting fire with fire.
and for the desperate residents of xen
that sounds like as good of an idea as any other.
for the gonarch it seems obvious.
it acts very similar to an antlion gaurd, and the headcrabs and antlions are very similar.
the antlions and headcrabs attack each other, they both build webs, they both tend to be found in groups, they both go through multiple varying stages in their life cycles and both preform metamorphosis, so it makes sense that they would be competing for food and shelter and often hunting each other.
a swarm of headcrabs can take down an antlion, but a swarm of antlions can easily get rid of a swarm of headcrabs, with the winning side mostly being dependent on which one outnumbers the other.
they can also easily be found close to each other due to them competing.
in most cases, a section of the games with one of them is almost immediately followed up with a section of the game with the other,
such as going from ravenholm to the coast in half life 2 , both of them often being present at the same time in episode 1 , and the antlion caves being followed up by the large area full of headcrabs under the bridge with the car in episode 2 .
so it makes sense that if they compete with each other and have a variety of similarities that the adult forms of both would be somewhat similar in behavior.
overall I like all the similarities
as it makes xen feel more symbolic in a way, it makes it feel like xen is preparing Gordon for whats eventually going to happen later.
like a sort of trial
or like a baptism by fire.
it was all part of the test.
@@THEFREEEMAN Very well stated
@@THEFREEEMAN
"as it makes xen feel more symbolic in a way, it makes it feel like xen is preparing Gordon for whats eventually going to happen later.
like a sort of trial
or like a baptism by fire."
This just make Gordon Freeman feel more badass to me, like Doomslayer in someway.
@@ElliFong
i know right
everything prepared him for the combine and the remaining xen creatures.
the H.E.C.U. prepared him for
the C.P. and the overwatch soldiers,
the xen army prepared him for
the synths,
the teleporter island prepared him for
the citadels core,
the gonarch prepared him for
the antlion caves,
everything was just a test to make sure that
everything that would happen later
would be easier in comparison.
like i said
it was all part of the test
Many ppl think this level was bad,
I have never seen an elevator level as fun as this one
The issue I have with the elevator level is that the framerate was TERRIBLE in it compared to any other level in the Xen Remake, and i'm convinced it may either be because the level itself is too large and there's too much being loaded in, or there's something wrong within the level itself that's eating up the framerates.
@@the_furry_inside_your_walls639
Luckily I didn't stumble into frame rate issues the entire playthrough. I can see how it might affect ones experience however..
@@the_furry_inside_your_walls639 I had some occasional stutters, but nothing too bad
im the only person in the universe who will have the most uncomfortable framerates in the most peculiar of places especially with high texture filtering on badly optimised games
saying that. i encountered no frame issues in the entirity of this game. the reason for that? im not sure. ask god
@@long_chin_man perhaps your computer runs into a bottleneck at certain spots that require more GPU/CPU?
Maybe you could check the performance of your setup online
I'd say that the Xen levels sure do require a lot of computing power, but they are mostly optimized, thus my computer handles them well.
Other games, simpler ones, sometimes do cause issues simply because they aren't well optimized yet (early access games and such)
Whilst the original Half-Life made Gordon look like some kind of hero, Black Mesa really makes Gordon's almost divine ethos real. Man went and killed two whole armies almost by himself and then a demi-god equivalent.
"there were three sides in the Black Mesa incident: The Army, Xen troops and Gordon Freeman"
Eh, that's not true. HECU was weakened by the fight with alien grunts. Aliens themselves were in an unfamiliar territory (and a lot of them slaves, really). The true army we see at the end of HL1 if you choose to decline Mr. Briefcase's offer is waaaay out of Gordon's league (hundreds of grunts and planes and shit!)
It makes sense in the context of HL2 where Gordon was considered as legend both by vortigaunts and humans. I really like Black Mesa reinterpretation of events.
@@zatoka08
Are you sure about that
@@zatoka08 Those were the Nihilants remaining scattered army troops who Gman knew were running away, he just teleported Freeman there with no weaponry.
Another stranger in a strange bright orange "robe" has invaded their "prison". There were many like him, but they all eventually met their end. But very soon, it becomes clear that this intruder is different. Breaking through factories and islands, he thinns out the army of their oppressor, and the further he moves towards Nihilanth, the more fierce the resistance becomes.
But he goes ahead.
And here is the elevator to Nihilanth. The last frontier. They feel the fear of Nihilanth, who in desperation throws all the forces he can summon at the intruder. Grunt after grunt, controller after controller, all the forces that Nihilanth drops on the unknown are in vain. A bright blue ray, clearly contrasting with the predominantly dark red tones of the factories, emanates from this stranger, tearing apart the army of Nihilanth in a matter of seconds. The army that kept them at bay for many years turned out to be helpless against a single human who appeared from nowhere and turned a significant part of the garrison into bloody pieces in a matter of hours.
The elevator reaches the top, the stranger goes to the portal directly into the lair of Nihilanth. And when he gets there, a long, booming voice is heard, a similar to a roar.
"Freeeeemaaaan!"
Vortigaunts don't know the meaning of this name yet, but be sure - they don't need to.
They already understand its meaning.
“This is The Freeman, the Combine’s reckoning has come.”
-Underground Railroad Vortigaunt
Due to their connection to the vortescence and how it works, the vortigaunts do already know Freeman's name, and his fate
that's beautiful
As soon as I got the freeman part the beat dropped
the ending lines of this gave me chills
tbh one of the only elevator sections in any game that was actually really good
IKR? Lots of people gave it flak but I guess they just don't like elevator sections.
Some people might disagree with this statement, but I would take this as a Second-to-Final level anyday compared to the original Half-Life's tedious enemy dodging, and even Half-Life 2's final chapter of racing Breen. And the music just makes it all the more satisfying
you probably didnt play it on hard
PoP Sands of Time? Combat in that game was a yawnbore mechanics-wise but otherwise it was quite cathartic and by that point you were emotionally invested.
@YayDude123 Jokes on you, that's actually what happens in the secret ending. It explains how he became Breen Grub.
This makes the Vortigaunts in Episode 2 constantly complementing you make more sense.
Makes some of the more humorous lines funnier too. At least to me.
@@TheEmeraldSword04 “Ahah! No pit would be complete without a Freeman climbing out of it.”
“The freeman is a quick thinker, and a fast mover” smug look on me face 😌😌
One person in these comments said that entirety of Half-Life 1 is a baptism of fire for Gordon.
Baptism-even the aftermath of ascension seems to acknowledge this. And heck, even the rest of Interloper, its frustrating monotonous puzzles aside.
Interloper is full of dark, oppressive reds, greens, and shadows. Souls are forced into torment, their brutal handlers placing their feet on their necks-literally and figuratively. The vortigaunts, for the longest time, know no other way of life other than slavery. It’s fair to say they live in Hell, except those who suffer here have done nothing to deserve their lot.
Then out of another world, a brightly colored alien steps into the darkness of their own. The Free Man, whether he means to or as an unintended side effect of his main goal, gives the vortigaunts a light towards a better future.
The Free Man, however, is just one man. As he ventures deeper into the factory, he notices that supply teleports from Earth are becoming rarer. Every step he takes into the factory only reveals just how *tiny* he is compared to the unfamiliar, seemingly infinite darkness. Back in the Xen jungles, he held a small hope that maybe one member of the survey teams could had survived to join him in his mission, but now, it’s clear that he’s alone-alone in Hell.
Freeman steps onto an elevator. He quickly discovers that he’s on the final stretch, and the enemy knows it. As Freeman begins his ascension, the guardians and masters of Hell throw their final reserves at him, hoping to keep his corpse locked inside forever. They do not realize that they will become part of the culmination of Freeman’s baptism by fire. The white glow of his flashlight and the blue beams of his gluon gun cause Freeman’s light to shine through the shadowy reds and greens of the factory…and the dark, once-hopeless clouds of the vortessence.
The elevator stops at the peak. He finds a large healing pool and crystals, the gentle bluish glow contrasting with the foreboding reds and greens from before. The pool is deep enough for Freeman to submerge himself if he crouches. After his baptism by fire, Freeman finds himself in a more literal baptism. There is no priest to oversee him, but the Lambda team, through the faint signal on the HEV suit’s tracking devices, and the vortigaunts, through the vortessence, are no doubt watching from afar, wishing him blessings.
Freeman steps out of the healing pool a veritably different person than he was a few days ago. The lowly, geeky scientist had not just survived both hell on earth and hell on another world, but actually ascended-reborn, just like in an actual baptism, into someone who lives up to his name. The Free Man himself is not free: we all know his contract with the G-Man. But through his struggles, those who rally behind him-whether they are vortigaunt slaves or humans under Combine rule-find their freedom.
“Rise and shine, Mr. Freeman. Rise and shine.”
Your comment made me wonder what was the Lambda team doing before Gordon came and while he was in Xen. Their actions, their dialogues with the remaining colleagues, their thoughts. What happened to them, did they manage to escape somehow, or what were their last moments. A 10-20 minute long movie would be great.
@@Zmeeed01 Those in the Lambda Complex most likely did not survive, for the entirety of Black Mesa was nuked to high Hell. Even if some of them did, they would have lost their lives in the Seven Hour War following the numerous portal storms that utterly devastated North America.
@@Zeppelee OOOOO!!! HL: Alyx reference!
This was the best half life comment I've ever seen in any videos in my entirely life. Woah!!!
Man, these comments telling the story in their eyes are good!
best... 10 frames... per second... experience... ever...
Where you using a GPU from 1998?
@@Soundwave142 CPU from early 2000's. it hasn't aged well.
Edit: it's actually a CPU from 2015-2019, still didn't age well but got better somehow to 24FPS in this scene.
Update: got a whole new motherboard with fast as hell RAM and a brand new CPU, and I'm currently on my first playthrough with the new boards. so now the frame rate will probably be higher, only time will tell.
Haha!! My PC doesn't run this section well either.
Afterward I noticed some comments saying it’s a game issue.
I don't even remember how many bilions of times i died to those controllers
I remember once hearing from someone that the Nihilanth in the original Half Life 1 felt like it came out of no where. While I don't completely agree with that, I must say I find it hard to think of a more pronounced build-up to a final boss than this section of the game. Just all the Controllers and Grunts fighting you relentlessly, trying to stop you at every level. Both you and the enemies going all out at eachother in an epic final confrontation before you face the leader himself. It's honestly just fantastic the things Crowbar Collective did to improve every step of Xen
@Alex Luca Well, during the elevator section, the enemies in the lower levels don't despawn (unless that was recently changed), so in that case, it is their fault. But at most other times, you're right.
@@LU-C4 It is fixed
... I just finished the game and it was the most Epic Badass moment. Sorry I am late hehee
Not to mention the thing speaks to you throughout xen
Man anyone who played this game knows how good this scene is. Seriously fucking awesome.
It's damn Epic and badass
I don't know about you, but at 4:49 I sit in the health pool and just blast everything around me that can be destroyed.
It gives you a feeling of being a living legend, to know that you cannot be stopped.
@@timebomb42 To me it feels like I’m a pussy. So long as if I don’t stay there all the time.
iD software: the player should feel like a legendary godly hero when playing doom, but not in the "just activated godmode cheats" way
Crowbar collective: hold my gluon gun
In Half-Life 1, Freeman was a hero.
In Black Mesa, he was a GOD.
He was a god in Half-Life too, he did slay Nihilanth there as well.
And in Half-Life, Nihilanth would also shoot HOMING teleportation orbs, teleporting him to other areas.
the _messiah_
I don't know how everyone else feels, but I personally loved the later sections of Interloper where the Gluon Gun got some special treatment. I always loved the weapon, but it ran through ammo so quickly that I never really got to use it as much as, say, the SMG or Shotgun. Being allowed to vaporize aliens near the end of the game as much as I desired? Such a treat and I'm so glad they made that decision.
I totally agree with you, the entire Ascension aspect of Interloper was awesome. I never got into HL1 but the other day Black Mesa was on sale so I gave it a go and while the Black Mesa Research part was kinda tedious, Xen really stepped it up a notch and made the game worth it mainly due to the soundtrack making everything you did seem epic af. But maybe I just love pulverizing aliens on an elevator.
Exactly, it was an excellent gameplay design choice.
Agreed. I just kinda wish it didnt make the Tau Cannon feel underpowered by comparison.
It's fantastic. It helped alleviate the sort of problem a lot of folks have with stuff like revival items in RPGs where you're always like "BUT WHAT IF I NEED IT LATER???".
No worries, Freeman. You ain't afraid of no ghosts.
I just installed the trainer and enjoyed this epic LVL to this awesome music with this awesome gun
My absolute favorite part of this whole level was when they pull the elevator back down and surround you. The Controllers honestly could have done that at any time, but I guess they were convinced they could stop you here. So when you made it past every level and it seemed like you were in the clear, they made a last ditch effort to stop you. They couldn't let you get away - they HAD to stop you. It was now or never; they couldn't let you get past them, so they threw everything they had left at you (quite literally). But it was too little, too late.
you can not stop the GOD
@unnamedindividual7135 No, not a god, a freeman.
Here’s the thing about Interloper: it’s length makes sense. You’re essentially climbing a giant tower on foot while encountering numerous obstacles. Of course it’s gonna take that long, and of course it’s gonna feel grueling and exhausting. So will I play it again? No. But was it a good level? Yes. Because it was realistic.
I feel like Half life has always been like that.
Some chapters are really long and almost "tiring" but it's supposed to be that way because it makes you think about how long of an journey it's been. And also that the world isn't just built to accommodate Freeman (Even though technically speaking it is), but Freeman makes his way through anyway.
Well put, extremely fun yet exhausting. Not something to look forward to while replaying, but something great to remember as you finished the game
I have played it 10 times now. Still would play it.
The fact that this track slowly sets up and then sneakily drops into the melody of the old Black Mesa main theme which isn't even used in the game anymore feels like a wonderful nod to the fans of this game who've been with it through all the years of development.
It's saying "It's been a long journey, but we're finally at the end. It's been fun. It's been a wild ride. Farewell."
The second half also sneaks in the chords from the main theme of Prey (2006), which this whole section of the game is *heavily* inspired by. Cheeky! :)
The old Black Mesa melody does actually get used in game, although it's only the second half of the song in Unforseen Consequences' opening and the first half with the railroad Barney.
Don’t forget blast pit one at the end
Black Mesa is truly a masterpiece
true
Best reamake/remaster I've ever seen.
Aleks, my friend! Didn't know you enjoyed Black Mesa.
Recreation of a masterpiece thats master piece of a masterpiece
It truly hammers home why freeman became a legend. He is unyielding, unrelenting, unbreakable. A force of sheer fing will. The gman can put him in stasis and teleport him as much as he wants but he will never be able to control his actions because Gordon lives as his last name implies... Free
If I have to be honest, this one scene is like a tribute to Half-Life in a weird way. My dad played Half-Life back in '98 and when I let him play Black Mesa, he was enjoying the ride. It was until this part of the game when I noticed he began to shed some tears. Then when the credits started to roll, he hugged me. Thanking me for the experience. Ascension is probably the best way to show our true selves. It lets us ascend.
wow man, thank you for sharing. You made him proud
You and your father had an unforgettable experience. It's wonderful to know he could enjoy this- and that it made him feel that way again.
OG veterans must really love this masterpiece
@@SpeedHunter_9 As someone who played the entire half life series, I may not have been of the OG OG, having played sometime just after episode 2 came out... I can tell you. I recited the same damn stupid, cringe-worthy lines I said back when I first played Half Life 1.
"I am not just a man. I am GORDON FREEMAN. And I got a PHD in theoretical physics, so you better be warned that I have a PHD in THEORETICALLY KICKING YOUR ASS!"
To make me feel that excitement again, yes. I'd say it's a masterpiece.
Is a same that this game has a terrible design and news enemy,but the ost is cool,nice job joel nielsen.
4:48 my body: ok lads its time to release some *A D R E N A L I N E*
a game is only good if you're in an action sequence and theres music that fits said action. this is why doom was so successful. people wanna have their emotions emphasised by good soundtracks
Facs
@@long_chin_man I couldn't agree more. This is why a lot of games with awesome soundtracks are often successful
Time for some D O P A M I N E
It took me FAR TOO LONG to recognize that the melody here is the original Black Mesa theme, the violin part.
and this is why Breen reacts with such panic when he sees you "The man I saw, I am almost certain it was... Gordon Freeman"
The combines reckoning is at hand.
It is during Gordon's ascension that he becomes more than a 27-year old science nerd.
He embodies the ultimate choice.
An almost supernatural, divine right.
The choice to live rather than to die.
Despite the overwhelming, tyrannical odds against him and humanity.
Time and time again, he defiantly survives.
It is in this choice to survive, every moment, every time, that he truly becomes a "Free man".
the embodiment of shear will
The ultimate tragedy of it that G-MAN robs him of it.
@@qwellen7521 Well he does let you choose between accepting his proposal or dying in an unwinnable battle :)
@@qwellen7521 Because Freeman is the best man for the job. It wasn't coincidence. You might not like it, but apparently Gordon was a bad ass his whole life and never knew. I think I could trade my life for that. Major lacerations and all. Destroy the world on accident just to save it all and be a legend.
Stand Name: [Freewill]
Stand Master: Gordon Freeman
I have to admit... this is actually my favorite part of the entire game. You really feel like Freeman has finally become every bit the legend everyone holds him as in HL2.
This song is honestly incredible. It makes me feel something I haven't felt in a long time and I have no idea what it is.
the will to fight :D
but also be in complete amazement ^^
The will to fight. The will to press on. The will to be a free man.
This game really makes you feel like *The Freeman*
I got goosebumps and a tear rolled down my cheek.
Good thing I'm alone in my work truck:^)
This song is the embodiment of the indomitable human spirit. Grand instrumentals of overwhelming size, contrasted with the lone human singer, challenging all adversity. Like humanity, the one species that dealt blows to forces of incomprehensible size. We get up, no matter how many times we are knocked down. And so Gordon rises. To the top of the interloper. To the top of the citadel. A beacon of Humanity.
One of the greatest strengths of Black Mesa was how it managed to leverage the Source engine to elevate the immersive experience of the original Half-Life. The expanded Xen chapters make it abundantly clear that Gordon, and by extension the player, really is just that: An ordinary person thrust into an extraordinary situation with far-reaching implications that go beyond their ability to even comprehend. It manages to take the survival and psychological aspects of its predecessor up a notch. Not an easy feat, and that's what ranks it up there as one of my favorite games of all time.
this song is the last thing i hear when i get the achviment "PhD in pacifism"
Joel Nielsen you fucking legend. This is the best music I have ever heard from a video game
I agree with you..its full power
This in my opinion is the very moment Gordon went from being just a scientist trying to survive a catastrophic event to a living legend and the embodiment of the human spirit and its will to overcome all obstacles
well said
I've always seen this elevator fight as Nihilanth's ditch effort to stop you from reaching him. Just like the marines threw everything left at you at the entrance of the Lambda Complex, he's throwing all he has left at you at the entrance to his lair.
This is it, the final elevator . . .
Your final destination . . .
And you’d be DAMNED if anything were to stop you now!
*"The truth...you can never know...the truth....."*
-Nihilanth
I ate the last snicker.
-Nihilanth
@@f.palmero5010 well....welll shit.
-G man
@@datoneguyonyoutube Galungaaaaa ...
-A vortigaunt
...
-Freeman
@@yigityllmz lol?
This wasn't just gameplay, this was Storytelling. The Controllers FEARED you. They were desperate to stop you.
I played through this area on Hard difficulty and while this part was balls difficult, I didn't die a single time. Thanks to that, the track was never interrupted: it just kept playing until I got to the top, and holy shit is that an experience. Xen is a bloody masterpiece, man. Well worth the wait.
Now you made me wanna reinstall Black Mesa
Same, and it was just as glorious as you define it.
And the part where they drag the elevator back down out of shear desperation was so good I legitimately cried.
Worth the weight
I basically had that same experience. Hard made the game really fun
The Hard Mode is bugged. Only explosive weapons have reduced damage. The gluon still deals the same damage as it was on normal, along with every bullet based weapons
Crowbar Collective turned the last spinning elevator that takes you like 15 feet closer to some weird rotating portal thing to an absolute monolith that... I can't even describe this thing it's so fucking good.
Joel Nielsen is genius!
This entire level... This entire level made me feel that joy of Half Life again. I may not have cried- But the entire time, I could imagine showing little me this game, and he'd be sobbing a storm from how wonderful it is. The music, the combat flow, the visuals...
Here I come, Nihilinth. Let's settle this one more time.
With this music climax, the elevator ride was waaaay more awesome than the Gonarch & Nihilanth fight.
Gonarch soundtrack was awesome too
I agree. If the nihilith had a better soundtrack I would put it above this. However the elevator moment is just amazing
@@croquettes1937 nihilth didn't need a great soundtrack though. That guy is just whooping powers left and right..imagine this kind of OST in the background..:)
@Alex Luca I apologize for being a year late xd
But I don't know if you're talking about the "Gargantua", since that's the only creature I recall having a flamethrower that you find On the Rail, Forget About Freeman and the chase in Xen after the Gonarch's Lair Fight.
@@croquettes1937 Joel Nielsen once said he made the Nihilanth boss music as an ambience so the player wouldn't be so distracted while fighting the Nihilanth.
Hans Zimmer: Why do I hear boss music?
Mick Gordon: Why do I hear boss music?
Kelly Bailey and Mike Morasky: Ah yes my true successor.
4:49 perfect soundtrack for the Half Life Film Trailer
4:48
Or Half Life Alyx launch trailer
Or the _Black Mesa_ Launch Trailer.
You deserve a trillion like man, well, i heard once that JJ-Abrams is making a half life movie
NO AT ALL
it dosen't include the eerieness of half life once
This is some qhit you find in superman and those generic movies
The moment Black Mesa went from an amazing remake, to a one of a kind expirience.
how many are there in you
who's hopes and dreams do
*YOU* encompass
fkin cringe
@@ratyrat5
yea
I know
its from the vorts themselves
@@ratyrat5 from the vortugaunt u fcker
@@ratyrat5And?
The first time I played through this, I was struggling so hard to figure out the new maps and the combat AI that I could barely appreciate all the little touches or the atmosphere or the music - though I was still impressed with what I was able to take time to absorb.
The second time I played it, I was comfortable enough to go with the flow and really let the depth of the experience sink in, and I fell in love with the game and its story all over again.
The third time I played it, I decided that the BM version of Xen is one of my favorite worlds of any video game, ever.
I'm still playing.
same here buddy
The lobby fight in Questionable Ethics was when Gordon stopped just running and surviving and actually started pushing through anything in his way.
This is when he became "The Freeman".
At this section the soldiers just were flicking to me when walking, looks liking a low rendered ark survival world
The Opener Of the way..
this soundtrack is just masterpiece.
Alien Controller try to stop gordon final push to Nihilanth Portal
Man, you know they had a good team that didn't suffer from crunch when they managed to make Xen of all places actually awe-inspiring and genuinely fun.
I went mad with all the power during the elevator ride!
UNLIMITED POOOOOWER!!!
Winni So mad that I didn’t take a look at my HUD.
I was able to fulfil my Ghostbusters fantasy on that elevator
Mark Halden Don’t cross the streams!
@@BWright0815 Dude ur dead
This song represents fighting against all odds, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, all thats left is to fight
Joel Nielsen hizo un excelente trabajo con el soundtrack de Black Mesa
Most intense part of the game by far! Most amazing remake i have ever played and the music really finishes it! Thanks for all the hard work all these years on this it truly shows!
This part, just this game in general, made me feel as if I couldn't be stopped
Even though he's a silent guy, he knows what he's doing to end this catastrophe.
Ngl, this game is a fucking top notch. Good job for the crowbar collective.
This is a bit more accurate than the version I did. You got the loops more correct. I didn't notice until later that only a section of the tracks looped. (Especially the second track)
Nice work
This is basically the most unforgettable elevator sequence in videogame history.
My favorite soundtrack from the game for sure. Such a perfect "final push / final stand / desperation" track.
Yea I'd say the alien controllers were pretty desperate.
They knew the only way to stop you was not only to attack with everything they had but also attacking your framerate.
Siempre miraba videos de gameplays de BlackMesa, hace 2 dias decidi comprarlo en steam por vacaciones, JAMAS ME ARREPENTIRÉ de gastar ese dinero, EL JUEGO SE RESUME EN DOS COSAS, AMOR A LA SAGA HECHO POR FANS, UNA EXPERIENCIA INOLVIDABLE... esta canción demuestra mucho el trabajo y amor del trabajo de Black Mesa y Xen, que hermosa canción, cuando llegue a estar parte me sentía un heroe para la raza humana y un villano para la raza Xen que porsupuesto no debio de desaparecer... ❤️💔 Gracias por traernos este video!! Agradezco totalmente a toda la comunidad por hacer tan magistral toda experiencia relacionada a Half Life 💎🔥
I was waiting for the frustrating climbing section like Half-Life the first time i played this game, now every day i replay this part especially.
The fan remake surpassed the original.
At Least the original Xen... yeah... BY FAR.
i prefer half life atmosphere but black mesa gameplay
Michael Scott: "Thank You"
The Xen part in this one makes the Xen in the original look like if someone ate crap, pooped it out again, burnt it, threw it on vomit, and then peed all over it, with both the graphics/look and gameplay
I agree that it surpassed the original, especially for the first half. I do feel that the chapter, "Interloper" could have been done better though. It has a lot of repetitive areas and nonsensical architecture.
This became my favorite track right about 4:45 when those little flying headquarters were bombarding me with everything they had and I was just tearing away all the floating reactor shields to make them vulnerable - and I said to myself, Xen is the best I've seen in an action game in years.
Breen criticizes the resistance members for seeing Gordon as a Messianic figure. Little does he know how right they are. No mortal man could fight his way through this and come out unscathed.
The hell Gordon went trough to fix Breen's mess at Black Mesa, only to see the more mess Breen created after 20 years for the mankind. Everything collapsed with the Black Mesa incident.
G-Man is more to blame here.
Gman the one send crystal cause the portal spreading
The music: 10/10
The map: 10/10
The fight: 10/10
The design: 10/10
The framerate: - 100/10
The fraerate 😵
It can run good enough on a 1060 ti 5gb, lol
The factory level had mediocre gameplay in my opinion, but the factory ambiance and environments made it so worthwhile.
It was the least enjoyable part of Xen, mainly because of the bugs and crappy optimization. Considering the talent behind Black Mesa, I'm sure they'll fix Interlooper with upcoming patches.
@@Sizifus Remember it's still in beta
the factory just was too long, the fights were okay and the elevator was aweasome but the puzzles got old fast, they were okay but it was too much of them, still a 9/10 game tho
Im not crying I just have a crowbar in my eye...
Hands Down the best elevator ride in gaming!!!!
Interloper mission may be frustrating and stretched.... but you actually truly feel like ascending the tower as tall as the mountains.
In other games no matter how big a tower or building... you reach the top in like 5 minutes!!!
I also like the fact that it was me destroying the barriers to hit the crystals inside... but in the end the controllers destroy their own barriers to prevent my final ascension.
This music is the audio embodiment of not giving up no matter what happens, the build up is such a hype..
the fact the source engine is almost 20 years old, doesn't have 5 sequels to a game engine that doesn't need one, and can produce this visual that you see while listening to this Mozart-level song, is outstanding
"Just promise that you will put her to good use"
Oh, i will...
When the brass comes in around the halfway point playing the Black Mesa theme, it brings tears to my eyes. May you have abundant composing work for all your days, Joel Nielsen.
I did both the pizza and hat achievement, and I swear, completing this has never felt more fulfilling. Love this song so much
Nothing in any video game I've played made me feel as powerful as the moment in this game where you realize you now have infinite ammo in your gluon gun.
The whole chapter of Interloper really makes you feel like a hero, with the vortigaunts recognizing your potential to end their enslavement and helping you along the way. This elevator though, damn was it amazing. At this point, you feel like a god saving the entire universe, but little does the Free Man know he's only condemning it.
The world was lost to the Combine the moment the resonance cascade occured. The defeat of Nihilanth was important in stopping the Xen invasion, but the Combine had already taken note of the tiny cracks in the universe to allow them through.
But the months of portal storms instead of being able to exploit the Xenian portal held by Nihilanth...that allowed certain individuals - especially Doctor Breen - into a position that allowed for Humanity's surrender and enslavement in the 7 Hours War, as opposed to extinction.
Had Freeman bore the full brunt of the Combine invasion, it is certain that he would be lost.
Yet G-Man placed him in City 17 on that fateful Red Letter Day in...about 20 years later, so that Gordon could server the Combine's influence from Earth, however briefly.
And the Vortigaunts who witnessed this through the Vortessance, they saved him and Alyx to sever that connection _permanently._
I always listen to a game’s music before I play.
When I finished the first half (pre-reprise),
I remembered, “Hold up, this song had a reprise, *right?”*
Just finished playing the game...it was epic and i mean epic. Brings the same vibe as HL2 did when it first came up. I'm quite old now and I really missed that feeling and don't get me started with the music...amazing work
Xen gives us exactly the right amount of Gluon gun time.
It's illegal for something to be this good
物語の終わりに近い場面、これ以上先に行かせまいと本気で殺しにかかってくる敵、全てを表現していて文句の言い様がない曲
Basedu
You rose. From the rubble of the resonance cascade, you rose. Against insurmountable odds, you rose. Fighting unknown enemies, you rose. Against all odds, you rose. Your fight is not yet done. Keep on rising, my fellow Freeman!
when resonance part kicks in i get shivers
this is, besides other things, what was missing in og HL : truly epic musics.
With this one, and at this moment, Gordon became THE Freeman. The one and only.
But in the end, this whole story wasn't about saving the world.
It was only the struggle of one man, who happened to become a legend.
Diabolical adrenaline guitar is an incredible track though
I came here after watching the new trailer.
It's awesome. Just like the game
Ngl this was my favorite level just because of the cool asf design and godlike music, I truly felt like I was a Rouge blood cell within thus great breathing body
This part was amazing, you could really feel the desperation of the Alien Controllers in trying to stop you. I didn't expect them to reverse the elevator at the end for one last effort!
4:48
My favorite part
If I'm not mistaken, that's the black mesa theme.
@@fellower no
@@liswolf_channel Joel Nielsen begs to differ
Feels slightly weird to listen to this without the occasional heavily distorted laughter of when the controllers throw exploding barrels at you.
The only place where i actually used the gluon gun
If thats true youre going against your profile name
I found it almost mandatory on the factory as well. The Tau cannon just looked like it was bouncing off the grunts and there was almost no other ammo I could find
It became especially relevant by the end of interloper, and after it went unlimited ammo I stopped using any other weapon for the rest of the game. Best one to destroy Nihilanth's shields also, especially with lots of ammo lying around.
Freeman did put her on good use.
Probably the most awesome elevator ride I've ever been on
"Carbon stars with ancient satellites colonized by sentient fungi. Gas giants inhabited by vast meteorological intelligences. Worlds stretched thin across the membranes where dimensions intersect... Impossible to describe with our limited vocabulary!" Dr. Breen to Eli Vance
This theme gives me the purest form of "I'm comming for you" vibes. Great job.
I left this exact same comment on the version uploaded by Joel Nielsen himself, but I feel like it also belongs here.
I bought this game recently for my 15th birthday. I was left in awe at the climactic parts of "Unforeseen Consequences", "We've Got Hostiles", "On A Rail", "Surface Tension", "Forget About Freeman," all the coolest chapters. I even screamed "I WON'T LET YOU" at the Alien Grunts beating the Vortigaunts. But here, I collapsed into manic laughter as I utterly obliterated everything in my way with the Tau Cannon and the Gluon Gun, screaming _"DO YOU HEAR ME, NIHILANTH?! I'LL OBLITERATE YOOOOUUUU!"._
No other game besides HL2 and its episodes has _ever_ made me feel like that. I swear to God, I had an out-of-body experience playing this level.
*THE ONE GALUNGA TO RULE THEM ALL*
The thing is no elevator but a power generator/divider of somekind, Gordon merely uses it as one.
I never played HL series before because of my motion sickness but when I listen to this track, man , I know who Gordon Freeman is.
reminder that this is technically "elevator music"
If there ever will be a HL3 or whatever conclusion to Half Life, this needs to be played in the final section of the Combine Overworld.