Re: Half-Life 3 Confirmed! For real!

On 05/11/2024 16:00, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

Oh, don't mistake me. I generally enjoyed the games overall. But some
are definitely better than others. The original "Half Life" stands
tall amongst its peers; "Half Life 2", not so much. "Black Mesa" and
the various expansions are somewhere in between.
 But if you're new to the franchise and therefore have no nostalgia or
connection to the series? It'd be hard for me to recommend HL2, for
instance. Compared to modern titles (and even some of its
contemporaries) it doesn't really stand out. The original "Half Life"
was revolutionary and deserves a play-through. The latter games rely
heavily on that influence to make them worth playing.
 TL;DR: we all should go replay the original "Half Life" now. 😉

I think they did a good job with Black Mesa as instead of trying to just replicate HL:1 in the source engine they instead went for keep the essence of it but tighten up some of the levels and also remove some of the more frustrating aspects (jumping anyone?). On a Rail no longer drags and the finale of Blast Pit isn't an exercise in quick save/reload until you finish it.
HL:2 obviously didn't standout as much as HL:1 but I still think it's a good example of how giving levels a different feel keeps the interest going. Another more minor aspect I like about it is how it's a tutorial through play instead of press this key messages. Who didn't like getting used to the gravity gun by playing fetch with dog?