"With the earth-based assets, even if they were super vague due to technical limitations, we at least had an idea of how Valve wanted them to look," says Engels. When Valve created Xen, technical and time limitations had an impact on how it looked. We want the borderworld to feel like a place that exists, even if we humans don’t have the capacity to understand it." "In the end we wanted to build a world that is bizarre but contiguous. "We made the design with these in mind," says Engels. They’ve all been remade and expanded, and some sections Valve had to cut out were reintroduced. In the original game, what most refer to simply as ‘Xen’ is actually five chapters: Xen, Gonarch’s Lair, Interloper, Nihilanth and Endgame. "We didn't reinvent the game with our take on Xen, but it's much more than just get key, open door." "Valve does a wonderful job of introducing mechanics, letting you get used to it, then using that mechanic in an unexpected way," says Engels. The Black Mesa team’s main goal for Xen was adding the same level of worldbuilding seen elsewhere in Half-Life, while retaining its alien, otherworldly feel. "We can tell you from our own experience that taking your game to a new world is more challenging than it looks on paper." "We see a lot of support for the old Xen on our Steam forums." The consensus in the community, he adds, is that Valve ran out of time and wasn’t able to iterate on the alien levels like they did with the rest of the game. "I think the dislike of those levels might have grown in our minds as time has gone on," he says. We’ve been using Google Docs recently and they’ve been a huge help."Įngels thinks history has been crueller to Xen than it deserves. "We try to schedule a few meetings or playtests where everyone can get involved.
"We try and use chat to work out specific problems, then use forums to document what we talked about so we can refer to it later." Time zones are one of the biggest hurdles for such a disconnected team, and it’s basically impossible to get everyone together at once. "We use chat programs and online forums," says Engels. The content is updated regularly too so there is never a shortage of things to add to an already fantastic first-person shooter.The team doesn’t work in one office, which can make orchestrating such a huge project difficult. The community pages are filled with user-created mods, ranging from maps to modes. You can just sit back and watch the pros work their magic. If you don’t know much about using the editing tools, that’s completely okay.
#BLACK MESA STEAM SERIES#
It just shows the developers at Crowbar Collective are adamant about giving fans of the Half-Life series the best experiences possible. It’s pretty rare that developers give players the liberty to tweak things according to their own preferences. There’s a game that welcomes them from the community. If you’re looking for even more novel experiences, Black Mesa: Xen has a workshop system that pretty much lets you create your own mods. Fighting against friends never ceases to be fun. These include Gasworks, Crossfire, and Undertow. If you’re a Half-Life veteran, you’ll enjoy seeing some iconic maps. Once you’re finished with the single-player action, you can head over to multiplayer and enjoy two distinct modes. There are also new Xen chapters that you’ll have the pleasure of diving headfirst into, with gripping plot twists that will have you on the edge of your seat. The environments and soundtrack also do a great job at immersing you in the lore. You’ll enjoy an enriched experience thanks to the amazing voice-overs and updated graphics. The single-player portion is a true gem, featuring over 15 hours of content. If you’re looking for a unique shooter experience or just so happen to be a fan of the Half-Life franchise, then this is an incredible pickup.
Thus, you can expect a few bugs and issues here and there - but they’ll be sorted out sometime in the not too distant future. That’s certainly the case with Black Mesa: Xen, the fan-made recreation of Half-Life.įans who love this series can celebrate because the game is now completely finished, even though it’s still in Steam’s Early Access program.
It’s nice - though - when a game in this arena takes a different approach to first-person shooting action. It’s usually the go-to genre for developers looking to make a splash right away. The first-person shooter space is absolutely booming right now.
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