Black Mesa Critic Reviews

A superlative remake of one of the most important games ever made.

A faithful and extremely professional remake of one of the great classics of the FPS genre. Despite slight niggles, like the marines' aimbot-like behavior, it actually manages to achieve the impossible: Black Mesa is Half-Life, only better.

And the reason it's so easy to ignore the faults – so easy to shrug off falling off a ladder again – is because there's joy in taking on an entire platoon of troops as a goatee-sporting nerd. There's joy in taking on situations and knowing they aren't scripted half to death. There's joy in scamming your way through a puzzle by pretty much breaking the game.

We should applaud an excellent work made for free by fans of the original game.

Black Mesa may show its age in some areas, but that doesn't detract from what is an otherwise stunning achievement. It's not only Half Life at its best - it's one of the finest shooters available today.

An incredible journey for a group of amateurs, a proper celebration of a master piece and a remake that manages to improve over the weakest aspects of the Valve classic. It took a long time, but you won't see us complaining.

Black Mesa will probably go down in history as one of the most ambitious, successful, eye-catching and exciting fan-made projects. Its value as a remake is very high: it elevates in every respect the original Half-Life by Valve and even adds a lot of content. It is definitely the best way to enjoy this story.

This Half Life remake not only gives a more modern and pleasant look to a timeless masterpiece, but makes it even more magnificent without ruining its magic. If you don't know who Gordon Freeman is or if you want to relive once again one of the most incredible single player experiences in the history of video games, you simply cannot miss it.

Black Mesa is the perfect way to enter in the Half-Life saga and it's one of the best remakes ever made.

Reasonable innovations and a completely new Xen complement the authentic Half-Life atmosphere: This is what a remake should look like.

Black Mesa is a lot of things. It's one of the best mods ever made and a package that offers every Half-Life fan what they want. It's also a chance for newcomers to get to know a game that has been put on a pedestal over the years, in a relatively modern way. But more importantly, it's a very special and entertaining look into the history of shooters.

The result, though still a bit 'sour for some graphic glitch and not bug-free, fully convinces and the new features do nothing but add prestige and longevity to a project worthy of praise from all points of view.

A free game that lets you relive Half-Life without having to stomach outdated visuals. Essential to every gamer.

What started as a mod, ended up being the best way to enjoy Half-Life, not only with its visual upgrades, but also with new features and tweaks to make it better than ever.

A quality remake that broadens the scope of the original and massively improves its final chapters.

Those with a taste for retro-gaming or lighthearted sci-fi shooters, take note: few games with a foot in the nineties hold up this well.

One of the best remakes ever, not because of its loving recreation of the original Half-Life but because it dares to change and improve it.

It's a brilliant tribute to one of the greatest videogames ever made, and it's also a good game in its own right.

Black Mesa is dated in several ways and the new Xen levels have some issues, but this is an excellent experience that old fans of Half-Life and people who may have never played it before should absolutely check out.

Black Mesa is more than a plain remake, is the passionate love letter from a team of amateur developers that grew to become the licensed creators of a great game, that actually lives up to the legend that is Half-Life.