CHAPTER COMMENTARY: There’s a lot to say about this ambitious re-imagining of Barney’s journey across the freight yard, because it just keeps on pleasantly surprising me. For starters, HECU Collective has expanded the narrative of Captive Freight from it being simply a “Sorry, your -princess- scientist is in another -castle- container” rescue quest. The HECU encounter that opens the chapter, as well as the overwhelming nature of their military presence by way of Chinook flyovers and the constant sound of heavy weaponry, helps reinforce that these soldiers are no pushover, and that Barney can expect a cold, ruthless enemy when he returns to the surface. The Steam Tunnels section is 3 maps long and could constitute as its own mini-chapter, with a well-executed claustrophobic feel via tight level design and great use of lighting. And once Barney gets back to the surface, it’s at least a half-dozen high-octane firefights in-between each scientist rescue, their intensity matching those of Surface Tension in the base game. By the time our hero jumps into the teleporter in the massively upgraded and impressively detailed Sector 7 area, it feels like a proper closure to one hell of a ride that this chapter has taken the player onto. Something else that really makes this chapter more emotionally investing and immersive is that each character Barney encounters sticks around (with the exception of poor Harold, whose voice actor really sells his lines), leading to him eventually amassing quite a posse as they venture to Sector 7. Gone are the days of leaving the random scientists in the shipping containers to their impending doom. Now, we have Murdoch and Ronny, bickering friends that remind me greatly of Griggs and Sheckley in HL2:EP2, Ellie, a kind-hearted and genuine scientist, Rosenberg himself as a well-mannered gentleman who shows both his age and wisdom, and of course, our sugar-craving gem Otis. HECU Collective cleverly ties all of these characters into the narrative. Of course, knowing what happens in the Power Struggle chapter later on, I am both curious as to how the developers will deal with the extra characters and nervous that they will perish, given that I’ve taken a liking to their personalities. Finally, the inclusion of the freight train as something Barney actually drives to solve puzzles is a genius idea that allows for the extension of the chapter in meaningful ways, especially when they are utilized in tandem with the now more heavily featured TOW Launchers. I am very impressed by the final puzzle at the Turntable where Rosenberg is located; the train is used for the entirety of that map and the devs cleverly space out encounters and obstacles in a way that feels organic and natural. Figuring out how to get Rosenberg to the loading dock was a great “aha!” moment. The best work that the team has put out by far in my opinion. Looking forward to how they envision the Xen chapter next :)
I think that while it is possible that some of those characters might die if I had to bet on somone it would be Murdoch unfortunately since a security guard does die in that chapter. But there is always a possibility for a happy ending. After all Barney does escape Black Mesa with Rosenberg and some other (then only scientists) people.
Imagine being a Marine and training for years and you get rolled and literally smoked by a fat security guard getting shot by a revolver with coincidentally pinpoint accuracy and getting called out for the fact you have a buzz cut.
I love how the commander in the first map calmly says “weapons free” and that the HECU troops refer to Barney as a “live one”. It really shows how disgruntled the HECU troops were.
I also like how in this remake, the HECU soldiers tried to lure the player under the pretense they're rescuing survivors but plan to dispose them the same way the fallen Black Mesa staff suffered from.
I love otis in this, he feels like an actual character rather than just a donut cop joke. its nice to actually care about the npcs we meet, although it has me a bit worried some of them are gonna die
@@Sexy_Nutella When you come back from Xen in HLBS, there are other people that've went down while you were gone to try and refuel a power cell to send up top. Yeaaaaah... they'll likely do that and won't make it.
@@shadowysnI'm calling it, the other Barney is going to get sent down first, you'll go down to find him and finish the task, and he'll end up as the dying guard you encounter when first reaching the battery charging area like in the OG BS...
1:34 I just love the little observation there, where you have Barney looking around at the HECU Marines, piecing together that this setup doesn’t look right, and immediately booking for cover. The commander, realizing he's onto them, lets his boys loose. That's some cool character playing.
I love the new side characters added to BS remake, it gives the game a ton more personality and gibes the tone a sort of “cheesy 90’s action movie vibe”
ADDITIONAL TRIVIA: - Funnily enough, Rosenberg’s container is just past the locked fence at 51:48 as Barney is rescuing Ronny - From user "tanking beast": "At 1:03:46 the radio message can change depending on if you listen to it before you've released Ellie or not. The either say the prisoner have been "Extracted" or they don't know" - The soldiers on the towers at 1:14:19 are using TOW launchers to shoot at Barney - The LAV-25 that is brought in by the Chinook at 1:14:32 replaces the Abrams that Barney fights in that section of the chapter. However, Barney does fight an Abrams at the end of the chapter - Owing to the encounter being a boss fight, this LAV-25 is much stronger than the ones in the base game and can tank more rockets - The Wilhelm scream, a famous stock scream sound, is used at 1:22:32 - -What I believe to be a spyplane- (CORRECTION: I am told that this is actually a UAV) can be seen circling the turntable at 1:23:52. The plane persists into the next map with the tank fight - The train depot where Barney rescued Ronny can be seen past the gate at 1:25:32 - Barney is knocked out by HECU and hurriedly rushed into the container at 1:33:32, as opposed to HL:BS where the HECU shuts the door on him once he goes inside - Freight trains block the entrance to the turntable once Barney climbs back out of Rosenberg’s container, preventing him from going back to the previous map (1:36:06) - Similar to the LAV-25 boss fight, the Abrams that Barney fights at the end (1:36:26) has much more health than those in the base game (can tank the equivalent of 12 rockets on Hard) - The turntable shed at 1:38:08 can also be destroyed by the Abrams - The events of the future chapter “Power Struggle” will take place in the Auxiliary Generator (the lift that Barney will descend down is shown at 1:51:36) - If one is to noclip into Simmons’ control room (1:56:51) and take a closer look at his face, it can be seen that he’s modelled after the great actor Joe Morton (Terminator 2, Speed, Justice League) - The teleporter effects as barney jumps in at 2:00:07 is identical to when Freeman leaps into the Lambda teleporter
2:00:07 I'm so used to playing Black Mesa that for a moment I expected to see the Nihilanth at the end of that cutscene, only to realize that it wouldn't make any sense...
I belive that this an UAV not the spyplane at the 1:23:52 . Maybe that's black ops's UAV, but we dont know, because we cant see the marks. It's kinda interesting to see this in Black mesa.
I like that first encounter with the HECU grunts. It shows them trying to be smart about their task and shows they’ve done this a number of times to the point they’ve got it down to a science, and that without Barney seeing them toss bodies down earlier, he probably would have fallen for it just as they had.
To be fair, they were acting pretty sus already, whispering stuff under their breaths and what not. I'd say they gave off a very hostile aura even before Barney gets to the pit.
@@simondelgado339 Note just how exasperated the HECU grunt sounds when he says "alright guys- weapons free" after Barney starts making a run for it. It carries the vibe of "ugh, with this shit again." You can tell they are getting tired of executing innocent people over and over
49:40 - 49:50 I love how the music gets more intense, then when you drop the s tuff on the HECU the music just stops, then you turn "Yeah I don't think that was loud enough" *Music kicks up a notch*
@@Sexy_Nutella they did. If you start shooting right away it transitions as normal. But it adds a pause if you drop the bogie, for comedic timing. Actually brilliant that the devs thought of this lmao
Is it weird that this chapter made me forget that the Xen aliens were the main threat? Seriously, the way the HECU are omnipresent throughout the chapter really makes you forget that the aliens even exist. I think that's really cool.
The expansion follow very well the event sequences of the main game. In this chapter is obviously the HECU just arrive with all their arsenal, while the aliens only send their weakest pawns first to test the enemies defenses and finally send their most elite troops to finish off any survivor.
In the time frame that Blue Shift takes place in, the HECU are in Black Mesa with all their force and are whopping ass. This chapter takes place around the time of We've Got Hostiles. They don't start getting overwhelmed until Surface Tension.
I think another thing this adds to is Barney going to Xen. Both here and in the original Blue Shift, going to Xen maes sense both from a story and gameplay position. Story wise; the scientists need relays in Xen activated, so Barney needs to go to Xen in order to escape Black Mesa. Gameplay wise; Blue shift occurs during the chapters where the HECU are dominating Black Mesa, so staying on Earth for the whole game would mean the player would just be fighting HECU grunts the whole time. Going to Xen allows the player to fight aliens that shouldn't be showing up at this point in the story without disrupting the flow of the story from the original Half-Life.
This single chapter alone was more enjoyable to me than the entirety of the original blue shift, so much love and care went into this mod. Great gameplay as usual!
I can’t believe you’re making me say it a 3rd time, but it’s an absolute nut moment with the beat drop and the flying Abrams turret at 1:38:20. Honestly Nutella, you have a knack for timing those satchel charges. Ah but besides that, this chapter is an absolute love letter to its source material. The action is intense, the friendly characters are memorable and likable, and the HECU is just as devious and lethal as ever. I can understand why it took so long for them to get this chapter out considering the quality of it. Honestly, it’s hard to believe that it’s NOT being made by the Crowbar Collective considering how good the level design and voice acting is. HECU Collective is doing an absolutely fantastic job.
1:35-1:49 You have a really special way of making the characters feel real. Everything about the set up of this scene feels so accurate. The way Barney nervously looks around & sees that he's surrounded, the way he pans over to the open door, the way it perfectly syncs with the soldier calmly telling the others to shoot Barney, and Barney grabbing the grenades getting ready to whoop ass. It all just blends together so perfectly.
In the radio transmission at 24:37 they talk of how they have already suffered casualties, like goose 3, 4, 6 and 7, goose 3 was the osprey of adrian shephard, nice connection there.
Yeah, this whole chapter is definitely worth the wait. I can see why it took them as long as it did. When this one chapter is longer than the entire Blue Shift game, you know you're in for a show ;)
Yeah dude I went into this without reading up on it, expecting a pretty standard mod experience that wasnt very long, and proceeded to have my expectations SWINDLED over and over again. I consider this to be part of the Black Mesa experience. It's nearly up there with the base game and it's a must play.
Ok, this seriously awesome, i still love this kind of gameplay mechanics and the feeling of the Source engine environment. The game level is quite well designed, with great use of the lighting, the flow of the overall experience and the lore-wise explanation incorporate with the normal gameplay. Also the old progressively of building a party to advance further is quite rewarding in itself. Thank you for your playthrough.
I am absolutely amazed at the quality HECU collective were able to put into this ... well... it's not a mod, not an expansion, it's a full, standalone game, a true successor to Valve's and Gearbox' legacies. The level of detail, the love and attention that went into this is fantastic. I cannot wait for more. You can tell that they do their best (and succed at it too) to capture the main core ideas of each chapter. In Insecurity they put you into a highly interactive and engaging environment, and even though it has little to no action, it still captures you as it immerses you into the BMRF day-to-day life and sets the stage for what's coming. In Duty Calls they absolutely astound you with a sense of panic, chaos and death, with alarm sirens and lights going off in bloodied corridors and scientists hiding in labs filled with acid (I still remember going though these levels as a kid). And Barney focusing on his priorities as the member of Black Mesa's blue shift - to defend the personnel (and also on the lowest priority a bit - to get the hell out of there!). But the 2+ hours in Capture Freight really blew my mind. In the base game (which I first played about 17 years ago when I was like 6 years old and replayed a couple of months ago), even though it's action-packed, but it seemed a little bit bland to me, especially in the train yard sections fighting off hordes of soldiers running at you. But in BM:BS they did the level justice - every section is extremely interesting and immersive, highly interactive and engaging, with you piloting your own train, sneaking behind "buzzcuts" (with ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT CHARACTERS by your side), and all to the incredible new soundtrack that both sets the mood and gets your blood pumping. I can only hope and pray that after finishing this wonderful experience (please take your time HECU!!) we will see the return of the absolute classic, the all-time favourite - Opposing Force. A game that I remember fondly to this day almost two decades later. If they are able to capture it in all the hopelesness and desperation that Adrian had to go through, being left behind in the BMRF, I'd say this will be a wonder of the gaming industry.
That is a UAV, a unmanned drone used for reconnaissance and surveillance, it’s probably responsible for spying on Barney, calling in that tank and air strikes around the turntable area
How you played in that first scenario was the perfect encapsulation of Barney thinking "I dunno if we should go any further...this doesn't look right."
I like how this mod kinda puts more emphasis on how the HECU Marines, despite being antagonistic, are still humans, i do hope there would be a more friendly interaction with the HECU tho Like maybe when things are out of control and you get into an uneasy alliance with a few Marines and all
Given that the HECU collective probably wouldve thought that some random guard being down the prototype labs wouldnt make much sense, and the fact that Murdouch seemed to struggle with the vortigaunts in Duty Calls, this comment had screaming in fear
This chapter is everything I hoped it would be and more. I love the overall narrative and atmosphere, the new and old characters, the combat encounters, puzzles, environments, and more. I like how they emphasized the military theme of the chapter - as well as the HECU being the most common enemies faced, I like how it involves using a lot of military gear to get through or around the obstacles faced. And I especially LOVED the use of the freight trains for the puzzles. Speaking of the puzzles, I had a bit of a funny moment on my first playthrough - I thought the steam pipes could only be broken with grenades, so I spent ages trying to find a way into the room with the jammed door at 13:03 before realizing I could just shoot the pipe. I admit I facepalmed at myself when I figured it out lol. Anyway, like I said earlier I really like the new characters and I'm hoping at least some of them make it out. I have a bad feeling that Murdoch and Ronny will be the two who die in Power Struggle, but I'm really hoping that's not true (I mean, Black Mesa spared some NPCs who died in the original HL1). I also like how they managed to change Rosenberg's character with just a few extra lines. In the original BS he could come off as a little bit selfish, while here he's shown to care about everyone in the group, and his line about the Lambda Team comes off as slightly more regretful that they're choosing to stay as opposed to the original where it came off as him just calling them stupid for trying to save the world. I have to give a shout out to how they manage to give Barney more character as well - even though he never talks, the chapter is set up to show Barney demonstrating the wits, team leadership and tactical skills that he needs to eventually become a key member of the Resistance. Not trying to toot my own horn here, but just after BMBS started development, I floated a couple of ideas on the HECU Collective Discord that actually ended up getting featured here. I'm not sure if I'm the one who actually gave them those ideas or if it's just coincidence, but I like to think I made my own mini-contribution to Captive Freight. Anyway, awesome playthrough and I can't wait to see what HECU Collective have in mind for Xen!
I like how you make Barney much more cautious and suspicious of the soldiers they ask strange questions not helping you or trying to get you the situation what's going on and they moved to surround you Love it 🤣
Fun fact about Simmons: In the original Blue Shift, he has no lines at all. It was certainly a pleasant surprise to see him talk in this mod. The voice fits perfectly. Also, it's definitely a change to see you making much longer length videos.
I stumbled on the series by mere chance, and man Blue Shift: Black Mesa looks fantastic from what I've seen so far now, I'm legitimately impressed by the level of detail and quality of this project as it stands. It feels like it does the original way more justice, since it often felt like some tacked on expansion with nothing substantial, here it looks like something deserving of it's own standalone now. Plus the playing into "Barney-isms" with how you try to make him react to what's happening around him is just a great touch and adds a whole load more life to what happens on screen.
Glad you appreciate the way I play! Agreed on the sheer magnitude of this remake. It's really impressive and I am looking forward to them finishing it so that I can yet again replay it from the start :)
I think the expansion is amazing overall and has both that very Valve touch and that very Black Mesa touch, but I have to say I am most impressed with the prototype labs. This looks like something out of a Portal 2 mod, even though the teleporter room keeps its layout from the original Blue Shift.
At 1:03:46 the radio message can change depending on if you listen to it before you've released Ellie or not. The either say the prisoner have been "Extracted" or they don't know
This was awesome i wanted to see how you did the drainage pipe puzzle because I cheesed it by climbing the railing going across to the other side didn't even go through the pip area with the barnacles this chapter was a long and gruelling, but it was so Captivating and characters i got invested fast and I thought they were going to die at any moment. when we were rescuing Ellie i thought Otis was going to die but i was relived everyone made it. I just kept having flash backs to the security guard on "on a rail" the puzzles in this chapter were awesome and the use the military choppers in the background carrying container and jeeps really set a scale to what was happing during barneys' trip all and all HECU Collective are awesome and so was this chapter
Yeah, that drainage basin puzzle threw me off at first, until I realised that both steam pipe valves needed to be opened to cause the pipe to overload. I had no idea you could climb the railing though, props to you for figuring that out lol.
@@Sexy_Nutellaconsidering how seriously they take gorden, I wouldn’t put it past the HECU marines to waste resources on Barney cause of his, kill count.
@@Sexy_Nutella Yes, and so they also mention Goose 4, which lived long enough and kept its entire crew as far back as surface tension events begin (original black mesa). Too bad the aliens eventually caught up with those guys, too.
1:13:50....... This is by far my favorite fight of the playthrough. From this point on you literally blow up the entire train yard, something that I would have thought to be impossible through a source game. Honestly, this is basically black Mesa 2.0.
@@Sexy_Nutella I noticed that it took a few more rockets than the black Mesa model did...... I think that's a very welcomed addition, it makes it just a little bit more grounded.
I finished watching it earlier and it was a blast man! Great job! Also was it intentional that Murdoch and Murtaugh sound so similar? Idk just a thought.
Now we need a spin off involving Murdoch and Otis kicking doors down and getting the candy bars. Though in all seriousness, its nice to see how they fleshed out the npcs for this chapter
I can't measure the amount of effort spent on this remake, and I am glad I'm following this channel, because there would be no better experience watching your playthrough than elsewhere. It's as if a whole movie, remaking a 20-minute chapter into a 2 hour survival horror parkour is no joke! The game is a masterpiece, I can easily say that BM:BS is much more tense than Black Mesa itself, and the devs have left no spot untouched! Animation when Barney picks up mp5 and examining it is a total eye candy! First adjusting buttstock, and loading a magazine, cocking lever, then checking the grenade launcher; completely correct and as an ex military I have almost felt like I was using that mp5 watching this. Comparing it to BM animations, you can tell that Barney has more than one firearm experience (and somewhat enthusiasm) than Gordon himself. One other thing I've noted is how the surface skybox is inspired by the original Half Life, they could have just copy-pasted BM's WGH skybox but remade a better one that resembles the original feel. The Black Mesa canyon and it's cliff, bright blue sky and sun's correct direction felt much like the original Half Life rather than a mod for Black Mesa, (in which some maps felt like they were rotated or misplaced compared to HL.) Mechanic/maintaineer Zombies with flashlights, these are a complete horror seeing them coming at you down a dark tunnel, as a guy who has incurable astigmatism, their flashlight pointing at the screen is very disturbing. I wanted to kill them with grenade so I wouldn't have to look straight into their blinding flashlight :D Bullsquid jumpscare; they know what makes the loyal players hate the most! Also the freightyard is now much bigger than the original, maybe whole lot bigger than the trainstations in HL2 and EP1. And the teleportation scene is exactly how I imagined the "slingshot" metaphore. Different than the original where you'd just walk in and come out. Now it feels as if you surf through different phases of the teleportation
Good to hear from you again and wow, didn't know you're ex-military! I too love the MP5 pickup animation and how it reflects Barney's proficiency. And those skyboxes are indeed gorgeous.
The UAV definitely seems to be this mod's take on Gordon's suit being "filled with tracking devices" in the original, that seems to be the reason why the Soldiers know where he is and follow him around.
Such an amazing reimagining of Half-Life Blue Shift, I enjoyed it immensely. As long as the next chapter isn't like Black Mesa's Interloper or Gonarch's Lair, but is more like the very first chapter of Black Mesa Xen (complete with Survey Team habitations & outposts), I will be happy.
Looking forward to how they interpret Xen as well. I do expect it to be more exploration rather than direct combat, though the chapter does end with an intense fight at the relay device.
The amount of times I heard this while recording was hilarious. It's basically the equivalent of Dishonored's "Shall we gather for whiskeys and cigars tonight" lmao
I like walkthroughs like this, with a bit of roleplay that fits the character well and also looking around and noticing all the beautiful details mod authors put in, nice work! :3
I love that this mod continues Black Mesa's tradition of taking inspiration from HL2, like the puzzle in the lab that's inspired by the puzzle in episode 2 when there's a short cable and a long one and you need to use them in the right order. I also love that, just like Black Mesa, this mod takes areas from the original game that are small and simple and turns them into larger, more realistic looking areas. You really feel like you're in a real facility. If I have any complaints, it would be the comedy, I feel like there's way too much comedy and it doesn't really match the tone of the original game and its expansions, but other than that, I'm enjoying the hell out of this mod! I also had a huge smile for a few seconds when the security guard from the previous chapter showed up :)
Yeah, they really expanded the scope of the areas in this chapter. I do personally like the comedy; Half-Life has always been dark yes, but the dialogue between NPCs has been light-hearted both in HL1 and HL2. I think this does fall right in with those games. But just my personal opinion.
Man that was a huuuuge increase in size and scope of the original. Barney gota work hard if he wants to get out of here alive in this version eh? Great gun fights, great sequences..huuuge maps...really loved it, and your perfomrnace as always is the selling point for me. You know what your donig, its smooth and flowing but I can still see the process of how your suppose to "figure it out" without wasting time..always a joy when you put out another video! :D
and then again, 4 amazing walkthroughs 💕. It's been a while, this is my escape from stress watching this walkthrough from Black Mesa while writing my thesis last year, and now I graduated from college! yes! and these walkthroughs still make me complete and it is amazing! I can watch the whole day from this because I'm not busy anymore. Thank you, Nutella! still waiting for the next video. ❣️😍
I just finished watching the whole thing, and I have to be honest. I have no many words to express how amazing this was. Other than to say; It may as well be on par with EZ2. And with YOUR playthrough above all else, was amazing. Thank you, and Merry Christmas.
The way you add character to Barney through movement is really cool. I hope we get an Opposing Force remake someday - It would be neat to contrast Shepard with the other characters by having him use more military-style room clearing tactics and positioning. To the extent that that kind of stuff works with the Half-Life combat, anyway.
So when Barney finally takes Reosenberg out where the bombing alarm goes off is the same time Gordon walked off the field that afternoon fighting HECU troops in the "we've got hostile" chapter. I hope im right
That means that Calhoun take his time in Xen while Gordon was fighting the Tentacles, the Gargantua, travelling to the launch site, launching the rocket, going through the old complex killing aliens and humans enemies before being caught by the HECU. Hell for this reason I love Half Life saga. The plot is Gold.
@@hernanreipp5259 Blue Shift ended around the same time as Half Life Chapter 9: Apprehension. Half-Life Opposing Force Chapter 2: Welcome to Black Mesa started around during Half Life Chapter 12: Surface Tension which means Shepherd passed out for several hours.
I am so not looking forward to try and synchronize this mod with the base game xD Although Barney's blackout at 1:33:50 will help me so much if they don't remove it in future updates And some small thing I noticed: the retinal scanner at 1:53:40 is identical to the one in Kleiner's lab in Half-Life 2, although without screen animations and with different sounds.
Blue Shift loves their alarms. Can't blame em, they're pretty good. Loving the content Nutella, hope to see more. The original Half-Life games could be a good place, catalogue all the games?
Thanks for the comment! Don't think I will be tackling the original games anytime soon given that narratively they cover the same ground as these remakes.
There’s a lot of things I gotta say about this chapter. I loved that the marines used the dead scientist as a trap. But, they made it suspicious. One, there was a marine saying, “We got a live one coming your way” with a quiet tone. And two, they were getting positioned. Two marines moved behind a barrier, and then one marine on the top also changed positions. These were the red signs. The characters personalities in this chapter are great. I also liked how HECU Collective added more personality to Otis. Otis in the original games didn’t appear much, so we really don’t get to know what his traits are, other than him being the food king. Murdoch is a comedian. He likes to joke, a LOT. Although, I kinda dislike how the developers add a lot of jokes, because that makes the game less serious. Ronnie is a wuss, or the C word, as Murdoch would say. The female scientist is, well, just a scientist. Both guards simp for her 😏. And Doctor Rosenberg is a genius. The voice actors are good. Otis’s voice actor perfectly matches, and Rosenbergs actor sounds exactly like the original. I’d be surprised if they actually got the real voice actor. The male scientist and guard, they still sound almost the same. It’s been years since they voice acted for Black Mesa, so I can’t blame them. I do wonder what happened to the original female scientist actor. And I wonder if the HECU voice actor is still the same actor. Enough talk about the characters. Now I’m gonna talk about the maps. The map makers added many puzzles. They really made the TOW Launcher shine in this chapter. The only time you used it in Black Mesa was when you were fighting a Tank in Surface Tension. The map makers still take inspiration from the HL2 Games and Black Mesa. One puzzle they brought back was the short and long wire puzzle. Another puzzle they brought back were the explosive tanks from Interloper. You have to plug stuff in, and then shoot the tank to progress. There’s plenty of action in the middle of the chapter. You get to go through a ton of HECU ambushes. And you get to fight 2 armored vehicles that have way more health. (It’s funny that the Apache in Black Mesa lasts longer than the armored vehicles.) Looking forward to the next chapter. Hopefully it doesn’t take too long 😅 Also at 1:15:08, this is the first time I’ve seen Nutella with low health. It must’ve been scary. The LAV hits hard.
The voice actor for Rosenberg is Kevin Sisk, who voiced the guards in this game as well. He's a goddamn chameleon, his Rosenberg voice is spot on. Yeah that LAV really lit me up. I wasn't happy with getting damaged that much but I did like the rest of the recording, so I rolled with it :P
I so looking forward for the full release of the game. Awesome job, dedication at its best. And the walkthrough of it, all can i say is thanks Nutella!
LET'S GOOOOO! This by far is the BEST playthrough that I've seen and everything about it is unique to watch. Playing Captive Freight was very worth the wait for its release because playing it absolutely perfection and mind-blowing compared with the original. Thank you and HECUC 😎👍This made me shred a tear for Captive Freight
@@ThatGuyKh1 I don't think that was added in this version of the mod cause that conversation was showcased in a video four months after this was made.
Wow, what a cool christmas gift from you. Such a long chapter this is. It's been a long time since I played Blue Shift so I guess this was the "Surface Tension" segment? :D I really liked the additionan NPCs they put here. And the voice actors did an excellent job!. And also the music was really well made during combat. And the old labs were reminiscent of the old Aperture labs in Portal 2. If we go into the lore this here could explain the old rivalry between Black Mesa and Aperture, and how Sector 7 figuring out teleportation ruined Aperture. It was neat during the bossfights how the tanks shoot out the rocket crates. Forcing you to move on. But honestly, these statonary bosses are not very exciting to fight, Yeah the Abrams tank moved away a bit but not much. That fight reminded me of the Strider fight at the end of HL2E1, but at least the Strider 'bobs and weaves'. The tank is like... fire and forget, it won't dodge your rocket. Some negatives: I think that 3 rockets per freight gates got old really fast. And the fiddling with the trains and turntables. Also the grenades seem to do really low damage or have lower AoE. You barely made any work with them, even on the freakin zombies. Now I'm eager to find out what they'll do with the Xen part. I remember it was more interesting and way shorter in Blue Shift than in HL1, so it wasn't as bad. Oh, and Merry Christmas! :)
Merry Christmas dude! You're right, this is indeed the Surface Tension segment of the game haha. Agreed on the tank boss fight; it's actually quite easy to cheese it and the turret is really wonky as well. Honestly, I think that's a fault from the base game because the Abrams as an enemy even in Black Mesa was pretty janky.
@@Sexy_Nutella I doubly love how you could hear the voice actor crack up after the line "Oh- _what_ the f--". Makes it feel a bit more real, like Murdoch was canonically about to laugh at that hilarious coincidence.
For now, this is the best chapter in this remake IMHO. Not only because the gameplay, mapping and/or story, but characters as well. Kevin Sisk is a fricking magician, I like how he voiced Murdoc, Ronny and Rosenberg at the same time. Otis and Ellie are also nice. P. S. Oh yeah, and the first scene with HECU Marines, when they tried to fool Barney, is fantastic!
yeah I'm just gonna say it, with how great these remakes are I'm just gonna hold on to the idea that a Half -Life 2 remake isn't far from this. Like dude it's sooo good, so many great details, changes and inclusions like it's indeed a remake and it's refreshing. Your slow pace through the levels, you looking around as if it's what the character would do, nodding as a form of non-verbal communication it feels so immersive, you never cease to amaze us with your efforts, keep up the great work as always 👍👍
I like how you gonna do the perfect synced of music for the gameplay. And for the gameplay, I also like how you do the movie styled of gameplay you did in all chapters. Cause you know what to do for know a lot of stuff of game’s content. after complete the game and that’s how you try something physic synced. Amazing’s gameplay video, Nutella.
This was quite a Good experience. As always you made a cool walkthrough, without mentioning how quick you managed to record 2Hrs of gameplay in just a few weeks. Although most of the maps consist in puzzle solvings and dialogues, there were also many combat sections that certainly must've put some pressure on you to make it before Christmas. Thx for this chapter, bro. It was really entertaining. I am very excited too to see how HECU collective builds xen. I wonder if they're going to take the same concept as CC did, but I'd also want to see the laidlaw's Xen concept in here. Hmmmmmmm....
Thanks for the comment man! This didn't take as long as I thought as well. Looking forward to Xen myself, and how they'll portray the relay device Rosenberg mentioned.
![Все Секреты и Пасхалки Голосов из Бездны [Voices of the Void]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/5l7z7aBPIzU/mqdefault.jpg)
CHAPTER COMMENTARY:
There’s a lot to say about this ambitious re-imagining of Barney’s journey across the freight yard, because it just keeps on pleasantly surprising me. For starters, HECU Collective has expanded the narrative of Captive Freight from it being simply a “Sorry, your -princess- scientist is in another -castle- container” rescue quest. The HECU encounter that opens the chapter, as well as the overwhelming nature of their military presence by way of Chinook flyovers and the constant sound of heavy weaponry, helps reinforce that these soldiers are no pushover, and that Barney can expect a cold, ruthless enemy when he returns to the surface. The Steam Tunnels section is 3 maps long and could constitute as its own mini-chapter, with a well-executed claustrophobic feel via tight level design and great use of lighting. And once Barney gets back to the surface, it’s at least a half-dozen high-octane firefights in-between each scientist rescue, their intensity matching those of Surface Tension in the base game. By the time our hero jumps into the teleporter in the massively upgraded and impressively detailed Sector 7 area, it feels like a proper closure to one hell of a ride that this chapter has taken the player onto.
Something else that really makes this chapter more emotionally investing and immersive is that each character Barney encounters sticks around (with the exception of poor Harold, whose voice actor really sells his lines), leading to him eventually amassing quite a posse as they venture to Sector 7. Gone are the days of leaving the random scientists in the shipping containers to their impending doom. Now, we have Murdoch and Ronny, bickering friends that remind me greatly of Griggs and Sheckley in HL2:EP2, Ellie, a kind-hearted and genuine scientist, Rosenberg himself as a well-mannered gentleman who shows both his age and wisdom, and of course, our sugar-craving gem Otis. HECU Collective cleverly ties all of these characters into the narrative. Of course, knowing what happens in the Power Struggle chapter later on, I am both curious as to how the developers will deal with the extra characters and nervous that they will perish, given that I’ve taken a liking to their personalities.
Finally, the inclusion of the freight train as something Barney actually drives to solve puzzles is a genius idea that allows for the extension of the chapter in meaningful ways, especially when they are utilized in tandem with the now more heavily featured TOW Launchers. I am very impressed by the final puzzle at the Turntable where Rosenberg is located; the train is used for the entirety of that map and the devs cleverly space out encounters and obstacles in a way that feels organic and natural. Figuring out how to get Rosenberg to the loading dock was a great “aha!” moment.
The best work that the team has put out by far in my opinion. Looking forward to how they envision the Xen chapter next :)
Wicked work SN, a perfect gift for Christmas Eve!
@@acemagalor2519 I'm glad. Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to every one!
I think that while it is possible that some of those characters might die if I had to bet on somone it would be Murdoch unfortunately since a security guard does die in that chapter. But there is always a possibility for a happy ending. After all Barney does escape Black Mesa with Rosenberg and some other (then only scientists) people.
@@delta9685 Yeah - he might escape with more than just the original crew. Here's hoping!
Imagine being a Marine and training for years and you get rolled and literally smoked by a fat security guard getting shot by a revolver with coincidentally pinpoint accuracy and getting called out for the fact you have a buzz cut.
I'm ngl that first HECU grunt kinda sounds like the type of guy to make jokes about his mom
Love npc interactions in this remake, they add a lot to Barney's character development, since he is leader of rebels in HL2.
Good point on him developing into the leader he's shown to be in the later games!
I love how the commander in the first map calmly says “weapons free” and that the HECU troops refer to Barney as a “live one”. It really shows how disgruntled the HECU troops were.
Yeah, so cold and detached
I also like how in this remake, the HECU soldiers tried to lure the player under the pretense they're rescuing survivors but plan to dispose them the same way the fallen Black Mesa staff suffered from.
That is why I have no sympathy for those HECU scumbags.
Hey, dont offend my friends you greasy old barney "about that beer i owed you" ahh looking clone
@@ArcadeLink i am coming for you.
I love otis in this, he feels like an actual character rather than just a donut cop joke. its nice to actually care about the npcs we meet, although it has me a bit worried some of them are gonna die
Same here - the fact that they are so personable now makes me scared they're all not going to make it
@@Sexy_Nutella
When you come back from Xen in HLBS, there are other people that've went down while you were gone to try and refuel a power cell to send up top.
Yeaaaaah... they'll likely do that and won't make it.
Yeah I love that some of the one off funny lines are now given more context and backstory
@@shadowysnI'm calling it, the other Barney is going to get sent down first, you'll go down to find him and finish the task, and he'll end up as the dying guard you encounter when first reaching the battery charging area like in the OG BS...
@@abhaybhatt4286hopefully not i hope those two guards can make it out and there is some other guy who is not associated with there team
1:34 I just love the little observation there, where you have Barney looking around at the HECU Marines, piecing together that this setup doesn’t look right, and immediately booking for cover. The commander, realizing he's onto them, lets his boys loose. That's some cool character playing.
I love the new side characters added to BS remake, it gives the game a ton more personality and gibes the tone a sort of “cheesy 90’s action movie vibe”
Agreed! Love the banter between them
@@Sexy_Nutella was hoping the guard who was sneaking around with Otis was the same one from Duty Calls, but oh well
same, really liked the guard who was at the waste grinder plant
@@CharaGonzalez-lt7ywit was. That was Murdoch with his signature obsession with kicking doors down!
HECUC nailed the retro hi-tech aesthetic with the old labs.
Agreed. Really reminded me of Old Aperture from Portal 2
Well said!
ADDITIONAL TRIVIA:
- Funnily enough, Rosenberg’s container is just past the locked fence at 51:48 as Barney is rescuing Ronny
- From user "tanking beast": "At 1:03:46 the radio message can change depending on if you listen to it before you've released Ellie or not. The either say the prisoner have been "Extracted" or they don't know"
- The soldiers on the towers at 1:14:19 are using TOW launchers to shoot at Barney
- The LAV-25 that is brought in by the Chinook at 1:14:32 replaces the Abrams that Barney fights in that section of the chapter. However, Barney does fight an Abrams at the end of the chapter
- Owing to the encounter being a boss fight, this LAV-25 is much stronger than the ones in the base game and can tank more rockets
- The Wilhelm scream, a famous stock scream sound, is used at 1:22:32
- -What I believe to be a spyplane- (CORRECTION: I am told that this is actually a UAV) can be seen circling the turntable at 1:23:52. The plane persists into the next map with the tank fight
- The train depot where Barney rescued Ronny can be seen past the gate at 1:25:32
- Barney is knocked out by HECU and hurriedly rushed into the container at 1:33:32, as opposed to HL:BS where the HECU shuts the door on him once he goes inside
- Freight trains block the entrance to the turntable once Barney climbs back out of Rosenberg’s container, preventing him from going back to the previous map (1:36:06)
- Similar to the LAV-25 boss fight, the Abrams that Barney fights at the end (1:36:26) has much more health than those in the base game (can tank the equivalent of 12 rockets on Hard)
- The turntable shed at 1:38:08 can also be destroyed by the Abrams
- The events of the future chapter “Power Struggle” will take place in the Auxiliary Generator (the lift that Barney will descend down is shown at 1:51:36)
- If one is to noclip into Simmons’ control room (1:56:51) and take a closer look at his face, it can be seen that he’s modelled after the great actor Joe Morton (Terminator 2, Speed, Justice League)
- The teleporter effects as barney jumps in at 2:00:07 is identical to when Freeman leaps into the Lambda teleporter
2:00:07 I'm so used to playing Black Mesa that for a moment I expected to see the Nihilanth at the end of that cutscene, only to realize that it wouldn't make any sense...
I belive that this an UAV not the spyplane at the 1:23:52 . Maybe that's black ops's UAV, but we dont know, because we cant see the marks. It's kinda interesting to see this in Black mesa.
i don't remember barney getting trapped in a cart, man i gotta play blue shift again
That UAV is a nice touch by the dev team.
@@Infamous_Val_05 Imagine if Barney fought Nihilanth though. Would be pretty interesting. G-man would be like, "HOLD UP"
I like that first encounter with the HECU grunts. It shows them trying to be smart about their task and shows they’ve done this a number of times to the point they’ve got it down to a science, and that without Barney seeing them toss bodies down earlier, he probably would have fallen for it just as they had.
To be fair, they were acting pretty sus already, whispering stuff under their breaths and what not. I'd say they gave off a very hostile aura even before Barney gets to the pit.
@@Sexy_Nutella i think it adds to the feel that they been doing this for a while and they are getting tired of the whole act
@@simondelgado339 Note just how exasperated the HECU grunt sounds when he says "alright guys- weapons free" after Barney starts making a run for it. It carries the vibe of "ugh, with this shit again." You can tell they are getting tired of executing innocent people over and over
The timid moment of meeting the suffering scientist and trying to administer him that aid was so selfless and sad.
Yeah, the voice actor really sold his lines well. Glad you liked the first aid kit bit too
@@Sexy_Nutella when i first played i did the same exact thing, i just want poor harold to live😢
@@tornadogamah his death won't be all for nothing
@@Sexy_Nutella
49:40 - 49:50
I love how the music gets more intense, then when you drop the s tuff on the HECU the music just stops, then you turn
"Yeah I don't think that was loud enough"
*Music kicks up a notch*
Haha yeah. Loved the timing on that. I'm betting the devs designed that pause in the music with the gameplay in mind.
@@Sexy_Nutella they did. If you start shooting right away it transitions as normal. But it adds a pause if you drop the bogie, for comedic timing. Actually brilliant that the devs thought of this lmao
@@ratmouse556 Super cool! Thanks for sharing
Yeah I love how they take the extra steps to make it a more cinematic experience. Honestly make the game feel super special.
These two hours have more care and quality in them that the entirety of The Callisto Protocol.
I was really looking forward to that game but from what I've heard it's...alright but no Dead Space. I think I'll just wait for the remake haha
Is it weird that this chapter made me forget that the Xen aliens were the main threat? Seriously, the way the HECU are omnipresent throughout the chapter really makes you forget that the aliens even exist. I think that's really cool.
For sure; definitely a huge focus on the HECU
The expansion follow very well the event sequences of the main game. In this chapter is obviously the HECU just arrive with all their arsenal, while the aliens only send their weakest pawns first to test the enemies defenses and finally send their most elite troops to finish off any survivor.
In the time frame that Blue Shift takes place in, the HECU are in Black Mesa with all their force and are whopping ass. This chapter takes place around the time of We've Got Hostiles. They don't start getting overwhelmed until Surface Tension.
I think another thing this adds to is Barney going to Xen. Both here and in the original Blue Shift, going to Xen maes sense both from a story and gameplay position. Story wise; the scientists need relays in Xen activated, so Barney needs to go to Xen in order to escape Black Mesa. Gameplay wise; Blue shift occurs during the chapters where the HECU are dominating Black Mesa, so staying on Earth for the whole game would mean the player would just be fighting HECU grunts the whole time. Going to Xen allows the player to fight aliens that shouldn't be showing up at this point in the story without disrupting the flow of the story from the original Half-Life.
This single chapter alone was more enjoyable to me than the entirety of the original blue shift, so much love and care went into this mod. Great gameplay as usual!
Thanks! This single chapter is also longer than the whole game hahaha
I can’t believe you’re making me say it a 3rd time, but it’s an absolute nut moment with the beat drop and the flying Abrams turret at 1:38:20. Honestly Nutella, you have a knack for timing those satchel charges.
Ah but besides that, this chapter is an absolute love letter to its source material. The action is intense, the friendly characters are memorable and likable, and the HECU is just as devious and lethal as ever. I can understand why it took so long for them to get this chapter out considering the quality of it.
Honestly, it’s hard to believe that it’s NOT being made by the Crowbar Collective considering how good the level design and voice acting is. HECU Collective is doing an absolutely fantastic job.
Praying for the safety of all the side characters fr 🙏
Same here!
1:35-1:49 You have a really special way of making the characters feel real. Everything about the set up of this scene feels so accurate. The way Barney nervously looks around & sees that he's surrounded, the way he pans over to the open door, the way it perfectly syncs with the soldier calmly telling the others to shoot Barney, and Barney grabbing the grenades getting ready to whoop ass. It all just blends together so perfectly.
Glad you liked that and very much what I wanted to convey :)
Also the way an eerie ring in the music syncs up with Barney realizing he's surrounded and that something isn't right really adds to the mood.
“Pulled out all the stops didn’t she?”
“Not really she did leave the shotgun at home” my sides i am laughing so hard 46:17
The dialogue in this chapter is funny for sure. I love the character interactions
In the radio transmission at 24:37 they talk of how they have already suffered casualties, like goose 3, 4, 6 and 7, goose 3 was the osprey of adrian shephard, nice connection there.
Actually I think it was Goose 7 that Shephard was on, I’m pretty sure goose 3 was the osprey you see get blown up from yours in opposing force.
Black Mesa: Blue Shift's Chapter 4 was beyond perfect. What can I say?
It was gigantic, massive, and spectacle journey.
Yeah. It is quite the journey eh? Even the original version of this chapter was quite lengthy in the base game.
Some days, I find something that makes me feel glad I lived to see it. This was definitely worth it. Pretty dang glorious.
Yeah, this whole chapter is definitely worth the wait. I can see why it took them as long as it did. When this one chapter is longer than the entire Blue Shift game, you know you're in for a show ;)
Yeah dude I went into this without reading up on it, expecting a pretty standard mod experience that wasnt very long, and proceeded to have my expectations SWINDLED over and over again. I consider this to be part of the Black Mesa experience. It's nearly up there with the base game and it's a must play.
11:50 at this moment, Barney said to himself "I'm not that fat"
Lol! I can't not think of this comment at that timestamp now
For whatever reason, this-the fact that this is, in a sense, a mod of a mod-makes me so excited to see what comes of efforts to remake Opposing Force.
Absolutely. Looking forward to that one too
@@Sexy_Nutella They better keep at least *one* voice as John St. John. For the reference to the original, and the memes.
@@bababooey5402 that depends on if he wants to do it or not.
@@EnclaveSOC-102 Fair enough. All else fails, get Gianni to do an impression of that voice lmao
Otis: "POW! POW! POW! PEW! PEW!"
Murdoch: "You don't have to make the sounds, Otis!"
God I love these two so much.
I sure hope nothing bad happens to them :(
Ok, this seriously awesome, i still love this kind of gameplay mechanics and the feeling of the Source engine environment. The game level is quite well designed, with great use of the lighting, the flow of the overall experience and the lore-wise explanation incorporate with the normal gameplay. Also the old progressively of building a party to advance further is quite rewarding in itself.
Thank you for your playthrough.
No problem! Yeah, the many changes that HECUC made for this chapter are awesome
I am absolutely amazed at the quality HECU collective were able to put into this ... well... it's not a mod, not an expansion, it's a full, standalone game, a true successor to Valve's and Gearbox' legacies. The level of detail, the love and attention that went into this is fantastic. I cannot wait for more.
You can tell that they do their best (and succed at it too) to capture the main core ideas of each chapter. In Insecurity they put you into a highly interactive and engaging environment, and even though it has little to no action, it still captures you as it immerses you into the BMRF day-to-day life and sets the stage for what's coming. In Duty Calls they absolutely astound you with a sense of panic, chaos and death, with alarm sirens and lights going off in bloodied corridors and scientists hiding in labs filled with acid (I still remember going though these levels as a kid). And Barney focusing on his priorities as the member of Black Mesa's blue shift - to defend the personnel (and also on the lowest priority a bit - to get the hell out of there!).
But the 2+ hours in Capture Freight really blew my mind. In the base game (which I first played about 17 years ago when I was like 6 years old and replayed a couple of months ago), even though it's action-packed, but it seemed a little bit bland to me, especially in the train yard sections fighting off hordes of soldiers running at you. But in BM:BS they did the level justice - every section is extremely interesting and immersive, highly interactive and engaging, with you piloting your own train, sneaking behind "buzzcuts" (with ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT CHARACTERS by your side), and all to the incredible new soundtrack that both sets the mood and gets your blood pumping.
I can only hope and pray that after finishing this wonderful experience (please take your time HECU!!) we will see the return of the absolute classic, the all-time favourite - Opposing Force. A game that I remember fondly to this day almost two decades later. If they are able to capture it in all the hopelesness and desperation that Adrian had to go through, being left behind in the BMRF, I'd say this will be a wonder of the gaming industry.
That is a UAV, a unmanned drone used for reconnaissance and surveillance, it’s probably responsible for spying on Barney, calling in that tank and air strikes around the turntable area
Thanks for the correction! It was cool seeing it in the sky. Different from the usual Ospreys and jets flying about haha
How you played in that first scenario was the perfect encapsulation of Barney thinking "I dunno if we should go any further...this doesn't look right."
I like how this mod kinda puts more emphasis on how the HECU Marines, despite being antagonistic, are still humans, i do hope there would be a more friendly interaction with the HECU tho
Like maybe when things are out of control and you get into an uneasy alliance with a few Marines and all
I think there actually is a mod for Black Mesa that introduces non-hostile HECU in Surface Tension for this purpose :_)
@Sexy_Nutella would Gordon be fighting tons of Vortigrunts and Vortigaunts alongside em, then?
lets be honest here, we all know that Murdoch is gonna be the Guard we find after our little trip from Xen
God, I hate how right you probably are :(
And I think Ronnie is also gonna be the scientist we find too 😭
@@yourfellowducky2712 Ronnie is actually a maintenance worker
@@LipticZone Oh yeah right lol. But anyway, he might be the guy following Murdoch.
Given that the HECU collective probably wouldve thought that some random guard being down the prototype labs wouldnt make much sense, and the fact that Murdouch seemed to struggle with the vortigaunts in Duty Calls, this comment had screaming in fear
This chapter is everything I hoped it would be and more. I love the overall narrative and atmosphere, the new and old characters, the combat encounters, puzzles, environments, and more. I like how they emphasized the military theme of the chapter - as well as the HECU being the most common enemies faced, I like how it involves using a lot of military gear to get through or around the obstacles faced. And I especially LOVED the use of the freight trains for the puzzles. Speaking of the puzzles, I had a bit of a funny moment on my first playthrough - I thought the steam pipes could only be broken with grenades, so I spent ages trying to find a way into the room with the jammed door at 13:03 before realizing I could just shoot the pipe. I admit I facepalmed at myself when I figured it out lol.
Anyway, like I said earlier I really like the new characters and I'm hoping at least some of them make it out. I have a bad feeling that Murdoch and Ronny will be the two who die in Power Struggle, but I'm really hoping that's not true (I mean, Black Mesa spared some NPCs who died in the original HL1). I also like how they managed to change Rosenberg's character with just a few extra lines. In the original BS he could come off as a little bit selfish, while here he's shown to care about everyone in the group, and his line about the Lambda Team comes off as slightly more regretful that they're choosing to stay as opposed to the original where it came off as him just calling them stupid for trying to save the world. I have to give a shout out to how they manage to give Barney more character as well - even though he never talks, the chapter is set up to show Barney demonstrating the wits, team leadership and tactical skills that he needs to eventually become a key member of the Resistance.
Not trying to toot my own horn here, but just after BMBS started development, I floated a couple of ideas on the HECU Collective Discord that actually ended up getting featured here. I'm not sure if I'm the one who actually gave them those ideas or if it's just coincidence, but I like to think I made my own mini-contribution to Captive Freight.
Anyway, awesome playthrough and I can't wait to see what HECU Collective have in mind for Xen!
Thanks for the comment! Just curious, what are some of these ideas that made it into the game?
I like how you make Barney much more cautious and suspicious of the soldiers they ask strange questions not helping you or trying to get you the situation what's going on and they moved to surround you
Love it 🤣
Was done for maximum immersion, so glad you liked it :)
Fun fact about Simmons: In the original Blue Shift, he has no lines at all.
It was certainly a pleasant surprise to see him talk in this mod. The voice fits perfectly.
Also, it's definitely a change to see you making much longer length videos.
The voice acting here is really good, agreed. Yeah, I'm happy with how this video turned out despite the length :)
The music and the lighting are incredible
Agreed!
I stumbled on the series by mere chance, and man Blue Shift: Black Mesa looks fantastic from what I've seen so far now, I'm legitimately impressed by the level of detail and quality of this project as it stands. It feels like it does the original way more justice, since it often felt like some tacked on expansion with nothing substantial, here it looks like something deserving of it's own standalone now. Plus the playing into "Barney-isms" with how you try to make him react to what's happening around him is just a great touch and adds a whole load more life to what happens on screen.
Glad you appreciate the way I play! Agreed on the sheer magnitude of this remake. It's really impressive and I am looking forward to them finishing it so that I can yet again replay it from the start :)
I think the expansion is amazing overall and has both that very Valve touch and that very Black Mesa touch, but I have to say I am most impressed with the prototype labs. This looks like something out of a Portal 2 mod, even though the teleporter room keeps its layout from the original Blue Shift.
Agreed! It's impressive how they updated that area
Holy shit 2 hours?? Now that's dedication!
Yeah, making this was grueling at times. Though surprisingly it didn't take me as long as I thought
awesome to see the "holster" mechanic in your cinematic playthrough! it really helps make the swimming and dialogue parts feel more immersive
I'm glad! It was a suggestion from one of my previous videos so I incorporated it into this one as best I could :)
@@Sexy_Nutella how do you do it tho?
@@typhoonn3478 you can bind a weapon to holster by typing this into the console
bind “_” “impulse 200”
(Quotation marks included)
At 1:03:46 the radio message can change depending on if you listen to it before you've released Ellie or not. The either say the prisoner have been "Extracted" or they don't know
Did not know that the radio message can play before releasing Ellie! Thanks for the cool trivia!
This was awesome i wanted to see how you did the drainage pipe puzzle because I cheesed it by climbing the railing going across to the other side didn't even go through the pip area with the barnacles
this chapter was a long and gruelling, but it was so Captivating and characters i got invested fast and I thought they were going to die at any moment.
when we were rescuing Ellie i thought Otis was going to die but i was relived everyone made it. I just kept having flash backs to the security guard on "on a rail"
the puzzles in this chapter were awesome and the use the military choppers in the background carrying container and jeeps really set a scale to what was happing during barneys' trip
all and all HECU Collective are awesome and so was this chapter
Yeah, that drainage basin puzzle threw me off at first, until I realised that both steam pipe valves needed to be opened to cause the pipe to overload. I had no idea you could climb the railing though, props to you for figuring that out lol.
because they can't take down one security guard so they decide to blow up the whole train yard, nice
I'm sure Barney's not the only reason, but it's funny to imagine that xD
@@Sexy_Nutellaconsidering how seriously they take gorden, I wouldn’t put it past the HECU marines to waste resources on Barney cause of his, kill count.
i like the radio talking about goose 3 being MIA since in opposing force the pilots when attacked say that goose 3 is down and the others are attacked
Yup, then they mention Goose 7 (Shepard's Osprey) being down too. Such a cool touch
@@Sexy_Nutella Yes, and so they also mention Goose 4, which lived long enough and kept its entire crew as far back as surface tension events begin (original black mesa). Too bad the aliens eventually caught up with those guys, too.
@@АндрогинЙао Ahh that's why it sounded so familiar. Was Goose 4 the one that gets destroyed on the helipad at the end of Surface Tension?
1:13:50....... This is by far my favorite fight of the playthrough.
From this point on you literally blow up the entire train yard, something that I would have thought to be impossible through a source game.
Honestly, this is basically black Mesa 2.0.
Yeah, the amount of destruction that happens there is great. Also liked how they upped the intensity of the LAV fight too.
@@Sexy_Nutella I noticed that it took a few more rockets than the black Mesa model did...... I think that's a very welcomed addition, it makes it just a little bit more grounded.
@@Sexy_Nutella 1:27:20.... what a vibe.
@@timebomb42 Especially with that song!
Unfortunately this was uploaded right when I went to bed so perfect timing. Now I finally get to watch this masterpiece 7 hours later!
Hope you enjoyed it man!
I finished watching it earlier and it was a blast man! Great job! Also was it intentional that Murdoch and Murtaugh sound so similar? Idk just a thought.
@@Man-lt9hc Are you referring to Murtaugh from Black Mesa (the guard at the lobby in Anomalous Materials)? I do think they are different people
Yeah, that guy lol.
Now we need a spin off involving Murdoch and Otis kicking doors down and getting the candy bars. Though in all seriousness, its nice to see how they fleshed out the npcs for this chapter
@nmagalhaeslopes7921qhat
I can't measure the amount of effort spent on this remake, and I am glad I'm following this channel, because there would be no better experience watching your playthrough than elsewhere. It's as if a whole movie, remaking a 20-minute chapter into a 2 hour survival horror parkour is no joke!
The game is a masterpiece, I can easily say that BM:BS is much more tense than Black Mesa itself, and the devs have left no spot untouched! Animation when Barney picks up mp5 and examining it is a total eye candy! First adjusting buttstock, and loading a magazine, cocking lever, then checking the grenade launcher; completely correct and as an ex military I have almost felt like I was using that mp5 watching this. Comparing it to BM animations, you can tell that Barney has more than one firearm experience (and somewhat enthusiasm) than Gordon himself.
One other thing I've noted is how the surface skybox is inspired by the original Half Life, they could have just copy-pasted BM's WGH skybox but remade a better one that resembles the original feel. The Black Mesa canyon and it's cliff, bright blue sky and sun's correct direction felt much like the original Half Life rather than a mod for Black Mesa, (in which some maps felt like they were rotated or misplaced compared to HL.)
Mechanic/maintaineer Zombies with flashlights, these are a complete horror seeing them coming at you down a dark tunnel, as a guy who has incurable astigmatism, their flashlight pointing at the screen is very disturbing. I wanted to kill them with grenade so I wouldn't have to look straight into their blinding flashlight :D
Bullsquid jumpscare; they know what makes the loyal players hate the most!
Also the freightyard is now much bigger than the original, maybe whole lot bigger than the trainstations in HL2 and EP1.
And the teleportation scene is exactly how I imagined the "slingshot" metaphore. Different than the original where you'd just walk in and come out. Now it feels as if you surf through different phases of the teleportation
Good to hear from you again and wow, didn't know you're ex-military!
I too love the MP5 pickup animation and how it reflects Barney's proficiency. And those skyboxes are indeed gorgeous.
22:45 looks exactly like a tiny version of the drainage canal from Half-Life's Unforeseen Consequences, the one where barnacles were introduced.
Yeah, it does resemble it!
Imagine how magmeficent Focal Point chapter is
Looking forward to it!
The UAV definitely seems to be this mod's take on Gordon's suit being "filled with tracking devices" in the original, that seems to be the reason why the Soldiers know where he is and follow him around.
The moment the alarms went off in the train depot and the fight starts was peak
Such an amazing reimagining of Half-Life Blue Shift, I enjoyed it immensely. As long as the next chapter isn't like Black Mesa's Interloper or Gonarch's Lair, but is more like the very first chapter of Black Mesa Xen (complete with Survey Team habitations & outposts), I will be happy.
Looking forward to how they interpret Xen as well. I do expect it to be more exploration rather than direct combat, though the chapter does end with an intense fight at the relay device.
I love the roleplay bit you add to this gameplays, it makes it look more like a movie
Was what I intended, so glad you appreciate it :)
49:32 That's the kind of shit I love HECU Marines for. This line never gets old
The amount of times I heard this while recording was hilarious. It's basically the equivalent of Dishonored's "Shall we gather for whiskeys and cigars tonight" lmao
1:36:40 It's really hilarious to me, that they used megaphone, mounted on tank, only to say "We're gonna kick your ass!" to Barney
@@slavastor6290 they just really angry that they even start carpet bombing the yard
@@slavastor6290 weirdly I thought that all of those tanks just have a speaker installed on them, but this just makes it funnier
This remake is super awesome
Brilliant
Thank you for the kind words! Hope you enjoyed the timings with your music :)
I like walkthroughs like this, with a bit of roleplay that fits the character well and also looking around and noticing all the beautiful details mod authors put in, nice work! :3
I love that this mod continues Black Mesa's tradition of taking inspiration from HL2, like the puzzle in the lab that's inspired by the puzzle in episode 2 when there's a short cable and a long one and you need to use them in the right order.
I also love that, just like Black Mesa, this mod takes areas from the original game that are small and simple and turns them into larger, more realistic looking areas. You really feel like you're in a real facility.
If I have any complaints, it would be the comedy, I feel like there's way too much comedy and it doesn't really match the tone of the original game and its expansions, but other than that, I'm enjoying the hell out of this mod!
I also had a huge smile for a few seconds when the security guard from the previous chapter showed up :)
Yeah, they really expanded the scope of the areas in this chapter. I do personally like the comedy; Half-Life has always been dark yes, but the dialogue between NPCs has been light-hearted both in HL1 and HL2. I think this does fall right in with those games. But just my personal opinion.
Man that was a huuuuge increase in size and scope of the original. Barney gota work hard if he wants to get out of here alive in this version eh? Great gun fights, great sequences..huuuge maps...really loved it, and your perfomrnace as always is the selling point for me. You know what your donig, its smooth and flowing but I can still see the process of how your suppose to "figure it out" without wasting time..always a joy when you put out another video! :D
Always a pleasure to hear from you! Yeah this chapter's easily at least 3x it's original length and it's awesome haha
and then again, 4 amazing walkthroughs 💕. It's been a while, this is my escape from stress watching this walkthrough from Black Mesa while writing my thesis last year, and now I graduated from college! yes! and these walkthroughs still make me complete and it is amazing! I can watch the whole day from this because I'm not busy anymore. Thank you, Nutella! still waiting for the next video. ❣️😍
Congrats on the graduation! Glad that these videos still help you destress. Hoping I can continue to provide enjoyable content for you going forward
I just finished watching the whole thing, and I have to be honest. I have no many words to express how amazing this was. Other than to say; It may as well be on par with EZ2. And with YOUR playthrough above all else, was amazing. Thank you, and Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas! Thank you so much
BM:BS is much better than EZ2
The way you add character to Barney through movement is really cool. I hope we get an Opposing Force remake someday - It would be neat to contrast Shepard with the other characters by having him use more military-style room clearing tactics and positioning. To the extent that that kind of stuff works with the Half-Life combat, anyway.
Operation Black Mesa is in development by Tripmine Studios (its a completely original Source mod project not related to BM though)
Yeah looking forward to portray Shepard whenever OBM comes out :)
@@Sexy_Nutella their take on Blue Shift looks cool too
Thanks for this content! I wait more chapters of Black Mesa: Blue Shift. And Merry Christmas to everyone!
Merry Christmas to you as well! :)
@@Sexy_Nutella Thank :)
@@Sexy_Nutella *Merry X-Mas TOO YOU 🎅🏻🥳🍾🥂🎉 !!!*
Another great gameplay video. Thank you for all your work, Nutella! Happy holidays to you!
Happy holidays and greatly appreciated! :)
So when Barney finally takes Reosenberg out where the bombing alarm goes off is the same time Gordon walked off the field that afternoon fighting HECU troops in the "we've got hostile" chapter. I hope im right
You got it!
That means that Calhoun take his time in Xen while Gordon was fighting the Tentacles, the Gargantua, travelling to the launch site, launching the rocket, going through the old complex killing aliens and humans enemies before being caught by the HECU.
Hell for this reason I love Half Life saga. The plot is Gold.
@@hernanreipp5259 Blue Shift ended around the same time as Half Life Chapter 9: Apprehension. Half-Life Opposing Force Chapter 2: Welcome to Black Mesa started around during Half Life Chapter 12: Surface Tension which means Shepherd passed out for several hours.
Pause vid 5 min mark , mate that was one of the best intro's i think i've seen , good work
Good to hear from you again! Thanks for the kind words. That intro is indeed killer :)
I am so not looking forward to try and synchronize this mod with the base game xD
Although Barney's blackout at 1:33:50 will help me so much if they don't remove it in future updates
And some small thing I noticed: the retinal scanner at 1:53:40 is identical to the one in Kleiner's lab in Half-Life 2, although without screen animations and with different sounds.
Good catch on the retinal scanner!
45:32 poor guy died like a family guy, sad.
Yeah lmao
Blue Shift loves their alarms. Can't blame em, they're pretty good.
Loving the content Nutella, hope to see more. The original Half-Life games could be a good place, catalogue all the games?
Thanks for the comment! Don't think I will be tackling the original games anytime soon given that narratively they cover the same ground as these remakes.
@@Sexy_Nutella still, many people likely don't know these remake's source. I understand the reason, though.
Broo, your way of play the games it’s just superb!!, you got the best content, it’s like see a movie, keep doing well!, Merry Christmas
Thanks for the kind words - Merry Christmas and I'll see you on the next chapter :)
I played through this mod and loved every moment! The team behind it did a fantastic job making it feel like BM itself!
Same here! They made the surface look so wartorn and chaotic, it's great
There’s a lot of things I gotta say about this chapter.
I loved that the marines used the dead scientist as a trap. But, they made it suspicious.
One, there was a marine saying, “We got a live one coming your way” with a quiet tone. And two, they were getting positioned. Two marines moved behind a barrier, and then one marine on the top also changed positions. These were the red signs.
The characters personalities in this chapter are great. I also liked how HECU Collective added more personality to Otis. Otis in the original games didn’t appear much, so we really don’t get to know what his traits are, other than him being the food king.
Murdoch is a comedian. He likes to joke, a LOT. Although, I kinda dislike how the developers add a lot of jokes, because that makes the game less serious.
Ronnie is a wuss, or the C word, as Murdoch would say. The female scientist is, well, just a scientist. Both guards simp for her 😏. And Doctor Rosenberg is a genius.
The voice actors are good. Otis’s voice actor perfectly matches, and Rosenbergs actor sounds exactly like the original. I’d be surprised if they actually got the real voice actor.
The male scientist and guard, they still sound almost the same. It’s been years since they voice acted for Black Mesa, so I can’t blame them.
I do wonder what happened to the original female scientist actor. And I wonder if the HECU voice actor is still the same actor.
Enough talk about the characters. Now I’m gonna talk about the maps.
The map makers added many puzzles. They really made the TOW Launcher shine in this chapter. The only time you used it in Black Mesa was when you were fighting a Tank in Surface Tension.
The map makers still take inspiration from the HL2 Games and Black Mesa. One puzzle they brought back was the short and long wire puzzle. Another puzzle they brought back were the explosive tanks from Interloper. You have to plug stuff in, and then shoot the tank to progress.
There’s plenty of action in the middle of the chapter. You get to go through a ton of HECU ambushes. And you get to fight 2 armored vehicles that have way more health. (It’s funny that the Apache in Black Mesa lasts longer than the armored vehicles.)
Looking forward to the next chapter. Hopefully it doesn’t take too long 😅
Also at 1:15:08, this is the first time I’ve seen Nutella with low health. It must’ve been scary. The LAV hits hard.
The voice actor for Rosenberg is Kevin Sisk, who voiced the guards in this game as well. He's a goddamn chameleon, his Rosenberg voice is spot on.
Yeah that LAV really lit me up. I wasn't happy with getting damaged that much but I did like the rest of the recording, so I rolled with it :P
@@Sexy_Nutella Kevin Sisk is a legend. Cant believe he got that voice right on.
@@yourfellowducky2712 Totally. He's great.
I so looking forward for the full release of the game. Awesome job, dedication at its best. And the walkthrough of it, all can i say is thanks Nutella!
No problem and thanks for commenting :) Merry Christmas!
@@Sexy_Nutella merry christmas to you too!
45:50 Otis Lore!
Otis is precious and must be protected at all costs
I can't stop watching this 1:22:31
Used the Wilhelm scream to perfect effect haha
The joys of Precision Scheduled Rail
Had to google to know what that meant. Ended up in a very interesting read.
The return of the king
Hope you enjoy the vid!
I like ur way to play a game, trying to search every corner and listening every dialogue.
Glad you enjoy this playstyle!!
LET'S GOOOOO! This by far is the BEST playthrough that I've seen and everything about it is unique to watch. Playing Captive Freight was very worth the wait for its release because playing it absolutely perfection and mind-blowing compared with the original.
Thank you and HECUC 😎👍This made me shred a tear for Captive Freight
Yeah, it's my favourite chapter so far. I'm excited for Xen
I'll never understand why the HECU let Barney keep his gear and ammo when they held him captive in the shipping container Dr. Rosenberg is in lmao 🤣
Yeah, they really should've checked on him after the Xen ambush haha
There’s actually dialogue here that says why they did but this guy killed them before you get to hear it
Late response but this is why: th-cam.com/video/_Gg1NEUkuNs/w-d-xo.html
No wonder why they’re losing
@@ThatGuyKh1 I don't think that was added in this version of the mod cause that conversation was showcased in a video four months after this was made.
52:33 my favorite part of Otis
what a jolly fella
Chapter 5 "focal point" is coming this summer
Nice!
Wow, what a cool christmas gift from you. Such a long chapter this is. It's been a long time since I played Blue Shift so I guess this was the "Surface Tension" segment? :D
I really liked the additionan NPCs they put here. And the voice actors did an excellent job!. And also the music was really well made during combat. And the old labs were reminiscent of the old Aperture labs in Portal 2. If we go into the lore this here could explain the old rivalry between Black Mesa and Aperture, and how Sector 7 figuring out teleportation ruined Aperture.
It was neat during the bossfights how the tanks shoot out the rocket crates. Forcing you to move on. But honestly, these statonary bosses are not very exciting to fight, Yeah the Abrams tank moved away a bit but not much. That fight reminded me of the Strider fight at the end of HL2E1, but at least the Strider 'bobs and weaves'. The tank is like... fire and forget, it won't dodge your rocket.
Some negatives: I think that 3 rockets per freight gates got old really fast. And the fiddling with the trains and turntables. Also the grenades seem to do really low damage or have lower AoE. You barely made any work with them, even on the freakin zombies.
Now I'm eager to find out what they'll do with the Xen part. I remember it was more interesting and way shorter in Blue Shift than in HL1, so it wasn't as bad.
Oh, and Merry Christmas! :)
Merry Christmas dude! You're right, this is indeed the Surface Tension segment of the game haha. Agreed on the tank boss fight; it's actually quite easy to cheese it and the turret is really wonky as well. Honestly, I think that's a fault from the base game because the Abrams as an enemy even in Black Mesa was pretty janky.
I love your videos man! You've come so far! Keep it up 😍
Thanks for the support and always good to hear from you :) Thanks for sticking around and Merry Christmas!
Amazing gameplay and I will wait to final episodes
Me too!
2:48
That's really awesome! I didn't even notice it in the game. I wonder what's going on over there.
Not sure, but I do like HECUC adds all these events going on in the background. Makes the world feel that much more lived in
46:44 i love this scene
I loved how they made Murdoch kicking doors into a running joke haha
@@Sexy_Nutella I doubly love how you could hear the voice actor crack up after the line "Oh- _what_ the f--". Makes it feel a bit more real, like Murdoch was canonically about to laugh at that hilarious coincidence.
45:32 LMAO FAMILY GUY DEATH POSE
Yup. Hilarious reference
Tons of fun i guess
I'm talking about Ronny
Haha, Ellie must've felt so embarrassed :(
A little addition:
A is the emergency brake for the trains. Cool playthrough!
You could choose to camp to get rid of the tank but you decided to do it with style. Thanks for making it a cinematic playthrough! 😊
Those double-rotor helicopters look both extremely goofy and epic at the same time
Yeah, the sounds make them seem much more ominous too
They’re called Ospreys
@@matthewjones39 I was referring to the Chinooks
1:01:19
If she's intangible how come she couldn't get out of the train carriage?
*Ellie is revealed to actually be the G-man in disguise in the last chapter of the game
For now, this is the best chapter in this remake IMHO. Not only because the gameplay, mapping and/or story, but characters as well. Kevin Sisk is a fricking magician, I like how he voiced Murdoc, Ronny and Rosenberg at the same time. Otis and Ellie are also nice.
P. S. Oh yeah, and the first scene with HECU Marines, when they tried to fool Barney, is fantastic!
yeah I'm just gonna say it, with how great these remakes are I'm just gonna hold on to the idea that a Half -Life 2 remake isn't far from this.
Like dude it's sooo good, so many great details, changes and inclusions like it's indeed a remake and it's refreshing. Your slow pace through the levels, you looking around as if it's what the character would do, nodding as a form of non-verbal communication it feels so immersive, you never cease to amaze us with your efforts, keep up the great work as always 👍👍
Thanks for the kind words!
I like how you gonna do the perfect synced of music for the gameplay. And for the gameplay, I also like how you do the movie styled of gameplay you did in all chapters. Cause you know what to do for know a lot of stuff of game’s content. after complete the game and that’s how you try something physic synced. Amazing’s gameplay video, Nutella.
Glad you like this style, and yeah it does take a lot of preparation and research. I am happy it shows
This was quite a Good experience. As always you made a cool walkthrough, without mentioning how quick you managed to record 2Hrs of gameplay in just a few weeks. Although most of the maps consist in puzzle solvings and dialogues, there were also many combat sections that certainly must've put some pressure on you to make it before Christmas. Thx for this chapter, bro. It was really entertaining. I am very excited too to see how HECU collective builds xen. I wonder if they're going to take the same concept as CC did, but I'd also want to see the laidlaw's Xen concept in here. Hmmmmmmm....
Thanks for the comment man! This didn't take as long as I thought as well. Looking forward to Xen myself, and how they'll portray the relay device Rosenberg mentioned.
1:15:06
The fact that the gunshot impact sounds kind of sync with the drums is absolutely sick
can we appreciate how much the marines took to destroy Calhoun but did not work?