Never played Half Life, do I play the original HL1 or Black Mesa first? I'm going in completely fresh so I won't be comparing it to the original or anything and I just want whatever experience first is "better" to have. Or am I totally misunderstanding what Black Mesa is?

Also Half Life thread I guess.

i like black mesa but it's more of a reimagining than a remake. play hl1 and play it on normal.

OP play OG HL1 or wait for Hard Life.

Neither are great but at least Black Mesa looks better

don't listen to these 40yo faggots who still play Cryisis on medium because nothing newer works on their toasters their brown dads found on a dumpster bin Black Mesa absolutely mogs the OG in every way

>>715880206 (OP)
Half Life 1 then Black Mesa.

I like the part in half life when the big booty torpedo titty bitches come out and fight you and you can blow their bodies up (maybe you can’t I forget)

>>715880581
yae you can gib most corpses in HL

>>715880206 (OP)
They're different games.
Black Mesa is a fan made remake of Half-Life.
It does a lot of things well. The remade Xen is beautiful, but inaccurate. Instead of being made out of fungi, it's just rock and trees.

>>715880394
>still posting this unconvincing bait
yawn

>>715880943
I'd hope the differences aren't as jarring as say, Twin Snakes to MGS1

>>715880394
>modding the game to hate it in 4chan threads
autism-sama, i KNEEL.

Both are good

>>715880206 (OP)
Play HL1 first. It looks dated, but it still plays great.

>>715881047
what's bait about it

>>715881438
This, PLAY THE ORIGINAL GAME FIRST, THEN THE REMAKE.

>>715881438
it played dated year after relase

>>715880206 (OP)
Do you ask this question about every game? Just play in order of release you mongoloid zoomer cattle.

>>715880206 (OP)
Black Mesa is completely different from HL1 with many areas completely re-designed.
Play HL1 first, it's not that long of a game and then you can decide for yourself whether or not Black Mesa is an improvement or not.

>>715880206 (OP)
Black Mesa is just HL1 but with more of it. They didn't cut out any of the bad parts, and instead just made everything four times as long including the bad stuff.
As much as I hate the bad parts of HL1 at least they're fairly brief once you learn the maps. In Black Mesa shit like Interloper is like an hour long and for some god damn reason the Gonarch fight now has like eight phases.
The good bits are still good in Black Mesa but I'd recommend you stick to the original.

just play the original post 25th anniversary patch with qol stuff and be done with

>>715881908
>They didn't cut out any of the bad parts
They literally cut out large sections of On a Rail

>>715881723
Yes every game has a remake so. Fucking moron.

It's not a 1:1 remake. Hope that helps you decide

>>715882282
>qol stuff
aka cancer

Half Life 1. After that play opposing force if you want more then Blue Shift.

Black Mesa might have better graphics but it kinda ruins the combat. Play Back Mesa after all the originals if you still want more.

>>715883192
>t. i never played HL1 so i will bullshit

Play the original with the HD models off, the originals are much better. Black Mesa isn't as good if you don't have the context for the original game.

Play half life rt to piss people off.

>>715883379
Blue Shift should be played before Opposing Force, it feels like an actual Half Life game
OF has all this wacky Borderlands beta humor and aliens that was never good and has aged like milk

>>715880206 (OP)
Black Mesa is superior, but the Xen part is painstakingly long and boring. Looks really nice though.

>>715880206 (OP)
If youre gonn aplay both then do the original first and then black mesa. If youre only playing one of them then play black mesa

Btw someone put raytracing in it so if youve got a rtx 5090 u might wanna check that out

>>715880331
I'd recommend playing through it on Hard at least once. The level design is pretty fucking tight but Normal mode is just a little bit too easy so you're never forced to use all your tools.

>>715885835
i agree, but no one should ever do it on a first playthrough

>>715884086
Some mad fuck at gamebanana made his own hd models off the ps2 models port for the scientists, gordon and barney that are 1:1 replicas of the original low poly models and better than the shitty hd release, is what i am using here, sadly he didnt made for the HECU

>>715885074
I used to be an OpFor dickrider since it had all those awesome weapons and new enemies but the level design does NOT hold up, particularly on Hard.
HL was designed by a genius, OpFor was designed by somebody who didn't realize this and just made something he thought would be cool.

>>715880206 (OP)
HL1 and then Black Mesa.

>>715886091
yeah, i grew out of OpFor too. it also stops having a plot like a third of the way through.
field intensity is a better take on it imo

>>715886562
That looks cool. Thanks dude, I'll check it out.

>>715886715
it's pretty damn good and actually makes use of OpFor's squad mechanics. it unfortunately has the same problem where it's not almost expertly paced like HL1 itself though.

>>715885074
Blue shift ends before anything interesting happens and has bad weapon/enemy variety.

>>715880206 (OP)
Black Mesa is more approachable

>>715887079
coomers are fucking pathetic

>>715887079
once you realize it was just bonus content for the unreleased Dreamcast port, it's not as bad.

Half Life is the best shooter campaign of all time. Goldsrc has the best movement ever as well. Not to mention it is pure soul unlike Black Lives matter soulless fan trash built on shitty Source engine with garbage gunplay and movement.

>>715880206 (OP)
Half-Life 1 is the better game all around than Black Mesa. Play HL1 first.

>>715886091
OpFor is alright imo I don't get the critique. It has ropes which is cool and the LMG, Deagle and Sniper Rifle are fun weapons, I can't remember if shockroaches came from OpFor but Shock Trooper is a cool enemy. The final boss is also pretty epic and the big worm boss. Compared to Blue Shift it's very good because Blue Shift has a bunch of boring dialogue where you follow Dr Rosenberg around.
And besides, Blue Shift doesn't introduce any new weapons or enemy types. 0
Field Intensity is better though, I agree there.

Play the original they're totally different games. If you need muh modernization maybe use MMod

>>715880206 (OP)
The original.

>>715880206 (OP)
Black Mesa is good but it's better experienced after playing the original. If for some reason you HAD to play only one (you don't), I'd play the original.

>>715880206 (OP)
Play the original first. Not only is it the original, it's also the better game

>>715883379
>Why do we have to wear these ridiculous bras?
>Do you know who drank all the milk?
>With my bust and your face, we'll make an excellent team!

>>715889180
Yeah, shock roaches are from OpFor.
I'm not a huge fan of Blue Shift either for the reasons you mentioned there, and it has maybe too little gameplay for how short it is.
The reason I complain about OpFor is simply because of the level design being unbalanced and often being way too easy then sneaking in some ball buster for no good reason. The scripted set pieces like the acid room kind of suck and there are a couple unnecessary fuck you trial and error segments.
Mostly though, it comes down to the balance between ammo, health and enemies sitting on a see-saw which makes OpFor feel very "loose". The original campaign has incredibly sharp design comparable to Plutonia, which I didn't really appreciate until I played those Doom levels. Efficiency matters, enemies are tough and it really makes you think about how you take on each fight. OpFor does not.

>>715882282
What is that gun model? Is that custom?

>>715880206 (OP)
Half Life 1 obviously. Black Mesa fucking sucks, and the music is so ass compared to the original.
Also the original just plays way better until you get to the alien world or whatever.
Then just skip Black Mesa and go to Half Life 2 and its episodes and enjoy the good old days of Valve.

>>715880206 (OP)
Always the original. Black Mesa is fucking retarded.

>Large portions of maps gutted for zoomers
>Over engineered whatever left behind, getting lazier as the game progresses
>AI objectively worse, especially helicopters
>Voice acting absolutely atrocious
>Music is worse

Anyone who says black mesa is better than the 1998 version is confirmed a zoomer retard.

>>715887429
>Goldsrc has the best movement ever as well.
Quake had better movement imho

>>715880206 (OP)
Treat them like completely different games and play both. Start with HL1, play through the series and once you're done grab Black Mesa.
I won't give my worthless opinion on the games itself because I don't want to influence you anymore than I already did.

>>715890507
>doesn't have duck and thus no duckjump
Lolno

>>715890276
https://www.moddb.com/addons/half-life-caged-mp5-and-glock-for-hd-pack

>>715883379
Don't listen to this cretin. OpF is so far removed from the original HL that you can think of it as it's own little game with no relation. The grease claimed it.
And BS is just shit, it's extremely short and ridiculously easy even on the hardest difficulty.

>>715891042
Imo you should kill yourself in real life. Blue shift and Opfor are good and definitely worth a playthrough if you liked the OG HL.

I constantly go back and forth between preferring HL1 and Black Mesa.
Ordinarily I'm an OG purist and the AI is so much better in HL1 but god playing both several times each makes you feel a bit let down with how small the HL1 areas are in comparison. Like Forget About Freeman has this massive battle where the HECU keep pouring out at you and then you play HL1 in comparison and it's just two guys standing around and a tank. Of course I don't even need to mention the Questionable Ethics lobby fight that was so memorable even when a dev played HL1 recently you could see him confused that there wasn't an HECU ambush in the original

I'm so bipolar on what the better game is

>>715889180
OpFor weapons are 50/50. Some are good and fun to use, the rest are gimmicks that will rot in your inventory, never to see the light again.
My biggest gripe however is the level design, feels completely different than the original in ways I can not properly put into words (because I'm drunk). Also that last boss battle is a fucking joke. Not only is it boring, but you have a freaking healing pool in the next room over.

>>715891436
The fun comes from "What if I got to play as one of the soldiers" which I think they nailed pretty well.

>>715891148
Imagine telling people to KYS because they disagree with you on what makes a good expansion. I'm sure you're a fucking winner.
Op4 is objectively worse than HL and Blue Shit is not worth your time. There are better games you can play.

>>715891645
>I'm sure you're a fucking winner.
Thanks bro
>There are better games you can play.
So name one

>>715891436
Oh yeah I forgot the boss in opfor sucks. Tbh all the boss battles in HL suck. it's funny though they recycled the exact same boss in borderlands.

>>715891605
Ehhh you're not really the bad guy are you though? You were a special soldier who never received your orders and none of the security is even hostile to you. They should've had at least some of the good guys fight back so you'd feel bad about killing them.
At least in Field Intensity you get to fight a single Barney which is cool I suppose, though I would've liked if it was a more common occurrence rather than just relying on the new Black OPs to serve as the human enemies

https://store.steampowered.com/app/311810/Operation_Black_Mesa/
>nobody even knows there's a blue shift + opposing force remake in development
so does nobody care about the spinoff games or what

>>715892291
it's been in development for a few years

>>715892291
its vaporware bro

How fucking long is Xen again in Black Mesa?

>>715892291
I really like how they gave Barney a flashlight as a melee weapon and it interacts with his weapons, to the point you can't even use the MP5 with it because it's so big, It was always stupid how he gets a crowbar too, especially cause he got a flashlight in pre-release footage
That being said the game is unbelievably dead. They hardly ever posted progress even before the main guy got cancelled for being anti-trans or something and half his team left

>>715891742

>>715892539
Too fucking long.

>>715892702

>>715892291
>nobody knows
this was on dev for like since 2008.

>>715891703
If you can't think of a shooter better than OpFor that's on you.

>>715880206 (OP)
try hl1 first. it holds up surprisingly well.

=

>>715880394
At least the grunts actually give you audio cues for when they stop firing and do other shit
HL2 just made them fire and move simultaneously at all times.

>>715893267
Why is she looking off into the middle distance with a vacant smile on her face?

>>715893140
>"There are better games"
>ok name one (1) of those better games
>"Nah bro that's on you lol"
???

>>715892539
BM's Gonarch's Lair is longer than the entirety of the original's Xen chapters combined. In other words: very fucking long

>>715880206 (OP)
the answer to any and all of these questions is always the original, the only exception is RE1 where you should play the remake

>>715892539
>interloper regarded as worst chapter in hl1
>black mesa dev team somehow managed to make it 100x worse and as long as shit

Rest of the xen is pure kino, though

>>715893470
NTA but I like Fear, Ashes and Blood more than OF. Though I still think OF is great so maybe I'm the weird one

Play HL1, then HL1 Source and Black Mesa last.

Ive been having fun with black mesa but im getting tired of the soldiers aimbotting and wallhacking so hard with infinite grenades and ammo

>>715882582
which is bad, because On A Rail is one of the best stages in the game

>>715893652
For HL:S, make sure to use https://www.moddb.com/mods/half-life-source-fixed

>>715893686
Just snipe them with the crossb- oh wait, you can't, because the crossbow wasn't designed for highly-mobile enemies and is completely useless in BM. My bad, guess you'll just have to suffer

Will HLX get announced today, on 19/7?

>>715880206 (OP)
black mesa is just meh, it's alright but it isn't anything special and it's actually bad in some areas due to level design as well as the xen levels overstaying their welcome
>bro what if we did that ammunition building gimmick where if you touch stuff it blows up immediately and you get a gameover
>what if we did it an extra 3 times on top of the vanilla building with 2 of them being in the xen levels which are terribly designed and bloated
>also we made it so you could only loot rockets in the xen area, because we think the cool gluon gun and tau rifle are really lame and you shouldn't be able to use them ever

>>715893615
You can add HL2+episodes, most of the Doom games, Dusk, Ion Fury, fucking Turbo Overkill and the list goes on.
We live in an age where boomer shooters are good and plentiful, gone are the days of slow pacing brown military shooters with blood effects on screen.

>>715894097
We clearly have different tastes. I love Doom 1/2 and Ion Fury, but both Dusk and Turbo Overkill rank lower than OF for me. HL2 ranks even lower. I guess OF is around the same level as Project Warlock, The Citadel and Nighmare Reaper for me

>>715893615
>NTA
Back to r*ddit

>>715894585
It's literally a phrase from here, you double nigger

>>715893267
It's a terrible thing that Gordon wasn't reunited with his son.
>>715893419
She's British.

>>715894845
it was coined by redditors here

>>715894845
>>715895006
you're gay

Black Mesa if for no other reason than Xen is 100x better

>>715880331
Excellent recommendation. I like Black Mesa more as well I think it's just a better experience all-around.

>>715880206 (OP)
The original game absolutely holds up. I'd say you should play it first.
Consider watching the documentary about it that Valve posted on YouTube for its 25th anniversary, too.

>>715881310
Black Mesa is almost on the level of something like Twin Snakes but not not quite. It makes some pretty substantial changes to a lot of levels and has a handful of mechanical differences.
It's also a much better remake than Twin Snakes is fwiw.

>>715880206 (OP)
I played HL1 then Black Mesa. HL1 still holds up well, but if you only had to play one, I'd pick Black Mesa.

why would anyone ever play black mesa?

>>715887164
You're fucking pathetic

>>715897227
zoomers are scared of old games

>>715880206 (OP)
Play Black Mesa. Half Life was great but its kinda archaic to play now. You're not really missing much of the jankiness of HL1. I enjoyed Black Mesa a lot, and I used to play HL1 a ton as a kid. There's just a lot of details that were added in Black Mesa that make the environment feels more alive.

>>715880206 (OP)
Just play both. They're not long.

>>715880206 (OP)
play the original because you have to know how dogshit grenades and NPC AI are like in this game

>>715897227
Why would anyone "play" HL1 like that? Might as well noclip through every level

Black Mesa. Is this even a question?

So is /v/ just doing its normal contrarian thing shitting on Black Mesa or is it actually worse than I remember?

>>715897686
the new grenade arc from the anniversary update is so much better

>>715880394
Ah yes the webm genre where anon plays badly on purposed in a veiled attempt to make game look bad, that one with crash is my fav.

>>715898645
People here tend to prefer the original version of pretty much everything, so I don't know why you're surprised that the people who prefer BM is in the minority

I genuinely believe you should play both, starting with HL1 first

>>715880394
Every time you post this bait, you get raped

Last time I played BM was before they released Xen. That said I don't see any reason why anyone should play Black Mesa if they haven't played Half-Life first. The whole point of BM is that it's a fan-game packed full of references to the original. It's not a particularly impressive or interesting first-person shooter just by itself.

who the fuck designed this shit

Ive never played it either but if its not a 1:1 remake and I won't get the same information (storywise) as just playing the original I will iiat so that and skip BM

>>715901049
The story is the exact same with mostly the same dialogue. The only notable difference is that the opening level backports the HL2 characters as some of the scientists around the test chamber.

>>715896331
You can't kill the gargantuas without the scripted events though

I can just spam gluon guns or missiles at it in the OG

>>715899513
This. But I think it's also perhaps a good idea to play the HL2 trilogy as well before going into Black Mesa, just due to the number of references and callbacks it has.

>>715900985
Someone who's read A LOT about "Valve-ian philosophy"

>>715901049
It's not a 1:1 remake because the BM team had a very different approach to the design, but the story is pretty much the same. The biggest difference on that front is just the vibe/atmosphere of the game, and how that influences the narrative. That's where BM falls short to me

>>715901603
Or grenades. It takes exactly 10, IIRC

>>715897943
The Black Mesa "speedrun" is even worse. They just outright use console commands to give themselves tons of explosives and health and rocket jump their way through every level.

Half-Life was my favorite game since childhood and I like both. And yes, I even like the expanded Xen in Black Mesa. Play HL1 then HL2 then the episodes then BM.

>>715880206 (OP)
Half Life 1 has better gameplay, sound design, level design and atmosphere. Black Mesa has better graphics. Both are worth playing

>>715880206 (OP)
Original ONLY.
Then the expansion packs.
Then try any of the thousands of mods.

Finally, proceed to the sequel, and repeat.

>>715881310
>I'd hope the differences aren't as jarring as say, Twin Snakes to MGS1
They are.
BMS is essentially a parody of all things Half-Life from the past 27 years, without any of the tight and fast game design of the original.

>>715895110
But it's not. It's generic, soulless, takes 10 times longer, and is literally the same plug 2 socket puzzle repeated 100 times, with far worse boss fights and none of the truly alien vibes.