Eight years, numerous delays, multiple re-imaginings and several instances of people raising their hands in the air and shouting “Dude, enough, we’re like totally tired of waiting!”, and Black Mesa is finally sort of finished. And headed our way, very soon.
The long in development fan conversion for Half-Life, utilising the latest Source Engine tech, will be released on September 14. The Black Mesa website recently updated itself to reveal a countdown timer, ticking off the seconds that will have the mod out in less than two weeks.
According to a forum post, the makers of the mod have decided to stop asking fans to stick around and wait, and will release as much of the completed mod as they can. That’s all the Half-Life content from the start of that iconic train ride, through to the Lambda Core mission.
The foray into the world of Xen however, won’t be available, due to the fact that that section is going to take longer to finish, because it’s being expanded on. It’s been quite a development cycle for the fans who have worked on this project since 2004, as they’ve remade the original Half-Life game from the ground up, with all new assets, maps and voices, through the several Source Tech updates that Valve has released over the years.
If you’re interested in picking up a crowbar and fighting off scientists who are being graped in the mouth by Head-crabs, all you need is a copy of the Source engine game installed on your PC to do so, something which can be done by installing that other superb game from Valve, Portal 2, on your system.
Last Updated: September 3, 2012
