4/5 ★ – Spelix's review of Black Mesa.

I really really love that this game exists. Throughout most of my playthrough I had an amazing experience. Every level is so well designed, it's just so fascinating to explore the Black Mesa facility and see all it has to offer. The shooting is also very well done, the weapon variety is really great and shoot-outs feel amazing throughout. The pacing is also very good, heavy action followed by exploration and puzzles. All in all, superb stuff. There is one issue I have with it though and that is Xen, the ending chapters of the game. It was very fun to play through and explore, it really is an alien world with a lot of effort put into it, with varied areas and cool puzzles. But it still sticks out as a sore thumb, the tone is totally different from the rest of the game and that was a problem for me. I couldn't quite engage with the game as before and it lowered my score overall. It just feels like two different games stiched together and I couldn't quite get over that. Xen is also maybe a bit too long, could have been trimmed somewhat. This is still the best way to play the original Half-Life and the ultimate way to start the franchise if you are interested in playing these amazing games!