ValveTime Video Review - Black Mesa

[Lady_Scribe]

There's critiquing and then there's over-highlighting issues and totally ignoring others. One can't help but think that the reviewer has some bias, especially since other, more well-known reviewers have scored so highly. This is a fan-made mod, not some blockbuster AAA game title with millions of pounds for a budget.

 

[Schru]

I wonder whether the little incident concerning a certain unethical leak helped the reviewer in giving Black Mesa a mediocre score.

Is B- a mediocre mark?

I don't think the review was focused solely on listing particular instances of imperfections, but also brought up general issues, such as poor weapon mechanics, mediocre visual design, and the problem that it doesn't capture the essence of Half-Life.
Whether those points are valid or not is open to discussion, but I don't think it can be dismissed as nit-picking.

I don't wish to be cynical and put any one down. But sheer effort doesn't always translate into good results, and voicing opinions on why such effort can be misguided is in no way ill-meaning. In case of Black Mesa, I think the problem lies within the overly ambitious, but vague, goals—it may have started just as a visual upgrade, but later became an attempt to change some sections.

Personally I don't feel eager to praise the mod's technical and visual achievements, and some improved set pieces, because the overal feel of the game is inferior to Half-Life. What also concerns me is the commonplace high praise for what is essentially a remake of some one else's work, which is the source of ideas and served as a base.

 

[Omnomnick]

One can't help but think that the reviewer has some bias

"The Reviewer" here. There isn't, and never has been, a bias towards Black Mesa.

Cave Johnson, we're done here.

 

[Lady_Scribe]

Read my post above. You can't approach a free mod in the same way you would a Valve AAA title with a massive budget. And yes, I'd class a B- as mediocre.

I disagree to some extent about the weapons (the MP5 I do agree on). By saying that most of the weapons are poor is extreme nit-picking. The pistol, shotgun and crossbow were all perfectly fine. Visuals (again, omitting the MP5) were fantastic, and overall visuals and textures were of an excellent quality.

I am in no way idealistic; when I first heard of Black Mesa I assumed that the mod would marr and insult the original. When playing, I felt it complimented the original rather well, and despite a few bugs (which were to be expected, naturally, of a mod of this nature) it worked surprisingly well.

And yes, I've said my bit, and I'm done.

 

[Omnomnick]

You can't approach a free mod in the same way you would a Valve AAA title with a massive budget.

It was never said that I judged the game by Valve AAA standards, people are simply making that point up, along with the mention that I apparently hold some kind of bias towards the mod, which is also untrue.

I've said all I need to say on the matter in the review.

 

[Zips]

Decent review, VT. Could have done with a more balanced approach but I applaud your ballsy move on this one.

 

[morgs]

You can't approach a free mod in the same way you would a Valve AAA title with a massive budget.

Uh, yeah, you can.

Not necessarily talking about BM here, but if a games voice acting is bad, or its level design is bad, or its graphics are bad, then those things are going to be rated poorly. Why? because they're bad. Sure, you can justify it by saying the game had no funding, but that doesn't stop it being bad. When reviewing a game, you can't just say "It had zero funding, I guess we should bump our 5/10 up to a 8/10", because that's misleading.

I mean, unless funded/non-funded games were rated on different scales, but what's the point in that?

 

[The_KillSmith]

I really like valvetime and have frequented the site since it first came online. So it is with much love that I say: I appreciate your broad and timely news coverage, but I would suggest honing your review skill-set.

I expected a bit more from a fan run site that has such a long history with the community. Usually I enjoy when someone takes a wide berth from the review trends to point out what needs to be pointed out (IE: multiple Destructoid pieces over the years), but in this case I just don't understand the focus on what appears to be nitpicking without giving ample time for the "other side" in what Black Mesa did well.

While stated in the beginning that the original HL would be used for comparison, it's apparent to any longtime gamer that throughout the review BM is actually being compared to HL2, or at least more recent game and/or Valve standards. Because let's be honest: we all view HL with rose colored glasses... and had BM been released alongside HL way back when, the ability to compare would be much more truthful. I also think it's slightly unrealistic to leave out comparing it to the rest of the mod scene, because in the end we are all coming at this with that mixed bag of experience. A well balanced review would probably do some comparisons to each: the original, modern games, and modern mods.

But aside from that, some of these statements are just grossly flawed. There's subjectivity and then there's bizarre subjectivity.

For instance: BM has some of the best voice acting in a mod I've ever heard, at least as far as the main bulk of said voice acting: that being scientist/barneys. I think it's amazing they found talent that sounds so close to the original voice work, let alone delivers so many lines so well. Granted, Eli was wretched, and the take on making the grunts overly campy was probably a bad one. But the important thing to note is that they got it right on the bulk of that work, with a sheer volume that far exceeds most voice work in other projects and even retail games. Indeed, some of the other voice work flaws are only accentuated because the rest is done so well. Yet the review fails to note that these two character-types are the bulk of the voice work, and instead refers to them as the "exception" to the poor, sub-par voice work that takes you out of immersion? There's also a big no-no here where an assumption is stated as fact: the voice actors were given "little or no direction". It's difficult to project assumptions on what the development team did or didn't do and then say it's obvious. No, it really isn't obvious.

And OVER detailed? While the point of gameplay direction through visual design is well taken, I think it's strange to say that the detail itself was the cause of the lack of visual direction... as if making the areas more stark or non descript would solve the issue. Admittedly I find it hard to speak to this point, as I never had any issue navigating even the new areas. In that way I would assume the visual direction was at least enough to make it easy. It's just such a strange complaint.

There are other portions that are more subjective but I just completely disagree with. For instance the choice to hold back the crowbar until later so you had to rely more on the security staff was a great signature mark on the mod that had no material impact on the experience other than introducing a small portion of new gameplay. The best part about this was that it had a specific purpose: it helped enhance the emotional narrative that Valve themselves set for the beginning portion of Half-Life: “something I was just involved in resulted in a horrific world-changing bloodbath and I'm just a scientist”. A quote from the review: “as if our hero protagonist Gordon has become a spectator who is happy to sit back and watch someone else take care of his business”... is ironic in that the point of Gordon as a protagonist is an unlikely hero. It was the security guards' business to protect the science team, and Gordon gradually became the hero through the events of HL. This new gameplay element helped soften the transition and made the entire thing much more plausible. In fact, I'd even call it brilliant... polar opposite of “flat”.

Aggg..... Ok I really shouldn't continue on here, otherwise I'm guilty of doing exactly the same thing I'm blaming this review of doing. I apologize, I just really, strongly didn't like your review.

I know you gave it a final score of B-, which is fine I suppose... but you never would have guessed that from the review content itself.

I think perhaps the main problem might be summed up in your conclusion: "needles to say we're just a little bit disappointed". I think a lot of this had to do with expectations. The majority of the gaming community, and even game journalist community, was absolutely blown away by what Black Mesa finally brought to the table. Who could have expected this amount of quality from a mod team trying the almost impossible and slightly arrogant task of bringing the best PC game ever made up to more modern standards while paying homage not only to the original, but our nostalgic perceptions of the original experience... striking the right balance of new gaming design paradigms and tying in more detailed story elements of the HL2 series, while still keeping true to “Half-Life”, which has engrained itself into the lives of many fans. I expected pretty much anyone, even Valve themselves, would have not lived up to my expectations. So I was delighted to see just how good a job they actually ended up doing. I'm waiting for Xen with bated breath.

 

[MuToiD_MaN]

a very well-written body of prose typed into a forum box on the Internet

First of all, I commend you on the commitment you made to write that lengthy, calmly-written and complete argument. I wish that this is what more rebuttals looked like on the Internet. I read it all and definitely understand where you're coming from.

You're right, the review did fail to mention the fact that the scientist + barney voice acting comprised the majority of the dialog in the game, which takes away some of the significance of the "most of the voice actors were bad" statement. Regarding the comment about direction, I think the review made a good assumption based on the unconvincing acting in a lot of the other characters' voice work, because it would be the job of the person giving the voice actor their lines to tell them what sort of emotion the character should be feeling while delivering those lines. In my opinion, that is what direction is, and it's what the voices often didn't have.

I personally thought the flares were annoying to have to use as a weapon and made the opening area of the game unnecessarily difficult. In the original Half-Life you only fight a single headcrab before getting your crowbar, and that part made me as a player feel incredibly naked. I can understand your argument saying that this is how a scientist would actually find himself if such a situation actually occurred, but this is a game, and games take a few liberties to create a fun gameplay experience:

taken from Cracked.com's If Video Games Were Realistic​

Regarding the standards the mod was rated by, it was the reviewer's choice to compare it to standalone games rather than to other mods. I personally believe it's the most fantastic total conversion ever attempted by a team that wasn't making a game for profit, but that's an unfairly specific category. Regardless, the choice of what standards to rate Black Mesa by was theirs alone to decide, and thus I can't take issue with it.

I also think you might have missed the point about the detail level complaint. I fully agreed about how the level designers created problems by adding the level of detail that they did. Good maps have design that is implicitly easy to navigate with distinctive landmarks so that the user knows where they are at any given time. As an example, there were several times in Questionable Ethics where I accidentally went the wrong direction after reloading a save because I simply couldn't tell which direction I was headed before. That's on me as well because I admit I'm a dumbass in games sometimes, but it's not a problem I often encounter in modern games. The biggest sticking point about the detail, however, is when you can't move forward until you hit the right switches or buttons, and those are located in gigantic detailed control consoles that all look like they could be the button. Such objectives should be immediately obvious, or else the experience is frustrating. I can't cite a specific example, but I seem to recall a good deal of Valve's in-game commentary is about this type of game design.

I'm out of steam in writing this, unlike the typing machine you seem to be, so I'm just going to stop here and get back to work. Feel free to take issue with anything I've said, of course, just another dude's opinion.

 

[The_KillSmith]

Not at all. Good stuff.

 

[Xenian Phenocryst]

A number of the points made in the reviewer I'd like to counter

I don't understand the complaint about the weapons, because they do have a lot of kickback. The Hivehand in Black Mesa feels like it has more kickback than the original did. The crowbar, though not as fast when hitting the air, got faster when you hit something.

The enemy grunts are more accurate than in the original, but they don't hit all the time. But it does seem like they have eyes in the back of their heads when I sneak behind them, which is a bit inconvenient. I would have liked more opportunities to surprise them, yet I do give credit to the team for making them formidable. They just need some tweaks.

As for the section of the flares, I felt a little bit of deja vu. I could've sworn that I saw this concept being suggested on a Black Mesa forum awhile back, or my memory is playing tricks on me. Maybe someone had suggested a means of making Gordon more vulnerable for awhile before getting the crowbar, and others spoke against it because it would kill the pacing.... Or maybe I'm going senile. In any case, it plays better for me then it has for others.

And one of the creators did state why the Wallace Breen and Judith Mossman didn't make an appearance: because it would have meddled with the original structure. Granted, they got Isaac Kleiner and Eli Vance in there (but only because Valve established that they were both there). I would like to see someone attempt a rival mod which attempted to integrate those elements, just to see how they would make those aspects work.

As for the voiceacting. The scientists' voices do sound like limited imitations of Harry S. Robins, the voice behind Isaac and all the scientists from Half-Life 1. It doesn't fit all of the scientist models, and the voice is not quit the same as Robins', but it's not terrible. The voice behind the security guards sounds very close to the voice of the Barny, so he give him credit. The actor/actors who voiced the female scientists were competent too, with a little bit of Judith in their voices. The soldiers do sound like over the top hardcore brutes, but not all the time. Some of the voices got genuine, like when one soldier questioned why innocents were being killed. I still think the voices fit them, because they're supposed to be overeager trigger happy guys who aren't questioning what they're doing. If I had the chance, I would recruit my marine friend to do the voices to make it more authentic.

Interesting that Valvetime thought the voiceacting was terrible, because I recall being impressed by the voice demos done by actors. Maybe more direction was needed in the final product, but it wasn't that bad. I'm curious what kind of voice actors a rival mod would find. And qualified actors who can voice act really well, especially for a mod are not easy to come by, unless you're really lucky. The Nameless Mod for Deus Ex got help from a voice acting company in their situation.

I wouldn't call the new sounds forgettable. I prefer the original sounds the most, but the ones for the Houndeyes and the Zombies (or Mawmen, as I prefer it) impressed me. The modding team proved that they could make new sounds, though I wonder why they don't just rework the classic sounds.

My main complaint is that even on the lowest setting, my computer lags (only because I have an older Windows XP, so of course). Other complaints are the original levels being cut shorter, and the absence of the leeches.

Overall, I do find the review a little bit smarmy. The narrator kind of makes it smarmier when he voices it, though I'm sure he can't help it. I understand some of the reviewer's points, though other points seem neurotic. I would be interested to see how the reviewer would recreate Half-Life 1 himself, since I like the idea of different artistic recreations of that classic game. Out of curiosity, where are those other mod reviews Valvetime had made?

 

[Acurt1982]

thanks for the nine paragraph rebuttal for a two year old review of a mod that isn't relevant anymore

 

[Xenian Phenocryst]

thanks for the nine paragraph rebuttal for a two year old review of a mod that isn't relevant anymore

I know. I know. I wasn't aiming to pick a fight. I'm just participating, in this thread, because I still think the mod's worth discussing.