USgamer: For the team, how does it feel to finally be reaching this milestone, especially for members who've been on the project since 2005?Īdam Engels: Or 2004-ish? Two mods merged together to form the team, and that was the start of the project officially. Black Mesa frequently sets its maps apart from Half-Life's blocky corridors. Post-release updates aside, Black Mesa's 1.0 will kick off Crowbar Collective's farewell to Half-Life, even as Valve itself plans to revive the series with Half-Life: Alyx in a few weeks.īlack Mesa project lead Adam Engels took some time at PAX to chat with USgamer about Black Mesa, his team's ambitious revamp of Half-Life's confusing Xen chapters, and what's coming next from Crowbar Collective. On top of marking the end of a long journey, tomorrow's release could prove to be a new beginning for the team.

Crowbar Collective not only earned Valve's blessing to sell Black Mesa, but made bold changes that make it more than a prettier version of Half-Life. Many people have been involved with the project or have followed its development for well over a decade. With Black Mesa set to finally have its 1.0 launch on March 5, members of the Crowbar Collective team came to PAX East 2020 to meet with fans and revel in the release excitement. As for Crowbar Collective's Black Mesa, the arc from its beginnings as a fan mod to a finished commercial PC release is a lot easier to grasp, but no less impressive. Few would have guessed that Valve would be so close to releasing its first Half-Life title in over a decade. Six months ago, if I was told there would be two Half-Life games coming out in March 2020, I probably wouldn't have believed it.

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