The game that made me a PC gamer is finally getting a new lease on life. The first Half-Life was a seminal experience. It changed first-person shooters, and now, after a long time coming, a group of dedicated fans are bringing it back. I just wouldn’t have thought it would come out before Half-Life 3.
The Black Mesa Modification Team has been working for eight years to bring the original masterpiece into a more modern form. The project began way back in 2004 after the release of Half-Life 2. With it’s release came the Source Engine, a much improved engine over the one utilized in the first Half-Life, as well as Half-Life: Source. Half-Life: Source was a port of the first game by Valve onto the new engine. Fans were not impressed by what Valve had accomplished with this port, and soon came together to begin the work of remaking the original in this more advanced engine.
It is said not to be a straight shot for shot remake, the fan team are aiming to make it a better experience by tweaking some areas and removing some of the tedium found in the original game. The release will contain most of the original campaign, as well as multiplayer. It is being released free to download, and is one of the first titles to make it through Steam’s Greenlight program.
This project, along with Duke Nukem Forever, became the butt of many jokes over the years due to their extremely long development times. It’s funny that they both happened to be released in the same year. So, now with those two out of the way, maybe we will see some other famous vaporware titles actually come out. Starcraft: Ghost or Shenmue III anyone?
PUMPED!!!!