Black Mesa: Xen (Episode 22) - The Upside Down
2Well, here we are. After 21 episodes - 7 weeks - we've finally made it to Xen, and boy does it not disappoint. This level is stunning, with sound design and atmosphere to match, and leaves me wanting to explore it in much more detail.
Which is good, because we'll be spending a few episodes on Xen itself. I talk about my thoughts on Xen as we progress through it, as well as possible lore and entry points from Black Mesa itself.
Black Mesa (formerly known as Black Mesa: Source) is a first-person shooter video game, developed and published by Crowbar Collective. It is a third-party remake of Half-Life (1998), and was originally released as a free modification for Half-Life 2 on September 14, 2012. It received a standalone commercial release through Steam Early Access on May 5, 2015.
The gameplay of Black Mesa is reminiscent to that of the original game: the player controls Gordon Freeman, a scientist at the Black Mesa research facility in New Mexico, as he navigates through the complex after a botched experiment, with nearly uninterrupted control of the character. The main differences include: an entirely reskinned collection of textures, models, and NPCs; a noticeably longer runtime; and additional dialogue and story elements. The initial release in 2015 excluded the "Xen" chapters from the original game. A staggered release was used for the Xen chapters, with their entirety publicly released on December 24, 2019. A full release is planned by early 2020.
The project was initially announced in 2005, shortly after the release of the Source engine port of the Half-Life. Over the course of its nearly decade-long development, the game has been overhauled several times, including redesigns of several components and effects, as well as an added multiplayer mode. It has been featured in several video game publications, including attention from Valve. Due to its long development time, the modification became notable for its delays and dwindling updates on the status of its completion. Wired included the game on their "Vaporware of the Year" lists in 2009 and 2010.
Black Mesa received highly positive reviews from critics upon its initial release. Praise was directed towards the gameplay and attention to detail, comparing it to that of an official Valve release.
Other Videos By Athrun Talan
Other Statistics
Black Mesa Statistics For Athrun Talan
There are 912 views in 35 videos for Black Mesa. About 12 hours worth of Black Mesa videos were uploaded to his channel, roughly 7.32% of the content that Athrun Talan has uploaded to YouTube.