My first game I finished this year and I must say, it was a very good experience from start to finish.

The game uses Half Life 2's source Engine and basically remade the entire game, adding a completely new experience and in this case, a superior experience. 

I have spent a little more than 47 hours on the entire game, with collecting some achievements, reloading save files and even some sections of the game to collect something I missed.

The Xen section looks amazing and really brings more character to the world than the original. You wonder through Vortigaunt camps where you see the affects of there lifestyle in this world and even seeing human base camps for those who made it into Xen. I did find the mid section of Xen to go on a little longer than I would have liked, it started to feel a little repetitive however once you make it through to the end, you get the well worth Half Life endings. The music in this game is also top notch especially in the Xen world.

Crowbar collective has done a wonderful job with this remake and I am hoping they have more on there plate. Hoping to see a Half Life Opposing Force and Blue Shift Expansions make it into development. 

This is a solid game and very well made. I recommend this to Half Life fans and its an even better start to the franchise for those who have never played the original game. This bridges the gap well between Half Life 1 and Half Life 2. Its only $28.95(AUS) on Steam, Its cheap go get it!

UPDATED

New Official Trailer for the Full Release of Black Mesa Zen 1.0

Yeah, I loved the new Xen levels. Much better than the original Xen levels.

Great remake with their own touch. OST was incredible throughout the whole game.

Now time to wait for Operation Black Mesa and Guard Duty.

After playing through Black Mesa and having soooo much fun again with HL1, I can't wait for that.

I just installed the Cinematic Mod 2013 for HL2, maxed out the settings and pimped the characters... never played HL2 modded before.

And in three weeks I'll probably play Half-Life: Alyx with my Oculus Rift. I was going to wait with that VR-game until I built my new PC, but I can't wait for that.

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It's looking good so far, with my only complaints being the lacking AC, as well as blob shadows for objects/characters, and frame time being a bit lacking for certain character shadows in some instances.

DF gave their take on it:

Thread updated.

Funny how i did the same thing, played black mesa and cinematic mod. Enjoy the games.

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