What I really love about this second half of Lambda Core is the amount of character given to the Lambda Reactor. In the opening moments as Gordon emerges from the coolant, he is immediately dwarfed by its base - and that’s just one of its four levels. As well, once the reactor is activated, its instability causes Freeman to have to navigate a bunch of environmental hazards and malfunctioning portals to get to the top. While this does create a bunch of at times frustrating jumping/platforming puzzles, I think what Black Mesa did well was emphasize how powerful AND dangerous the reactor is through its size and instability. Nothing reflects this more than walking into the final chamber at the tip of the Lambda Reactor. Seeing how much larger that area was compared to HL1, how it had various pieces of machinery that are actually moving, how it shook the entire chamber as it started up, and how LOUD it was as the portal was being opened, really instills a sense of both awe and apprehension in me. I’d say walking into that room was one of the highlights of my first playthrough. As well, the long awaited arrival at the Supply Depot, the revelations that occur inside as the scientists tell him about going into an alien dimension, and the various preparations that the Lambda Team performs with him before he steps into the airlock all work together to create an air of anticipation and suspense. Players have fought through hell to get to this point of the story, and they’re expecting a good payoff to that. Getting to go to Xen is the big payoff, but Lambda Core, as I said in my last video, helps build up that payoff. And I’d say that the devs pulled that objective off tremendously - completing the mod version back in 2012, before Xen was added, just killed me because I REALLY wanted to see what Xen would look like. That’s what makes this a good last Earthbound chapter. By the way, my video description was too long lol, so here is the “notes” section: - Gordon can jump across the elevator shaft at 4:24 instead of taking the emergency exit - The guard at 5:00 tends to get stuck on a lot of props in the map and will stop following Freeman if this happens. This is why I often got him to stop following me whenever I am exploring a room - The writing in blood at 8:57 provides the solution to the portal puzzle, which allows players to navigate the ports without getting sent back to the first level - In order to show all possible teleport locations, I deliberately entered all the ports starting at 9:50 even though I saw the solution (2,4,7) beside the dead scientist at 8:57 - Gordon will die if he gets hit and dragged by the platforms at 10:10 - Entering Port 9 will kill the player (14:54) - Gordon can also reach Core Level A by calling the lift at 16:21 - The Long Jump Module has charges as seen in the bottom left corner of the UI at 19:44, and is activated by double tapping the jump key. In HL1, the Long Jump does not have a limited number of charges and is activated by crouching then jumping - Falling into the pit at 25:14 will cause Gordon to receive constant radiation damage, though a ladder does allow him to climb out of it - Jumping into the portal at the end of the chapter before the scientist indicates that it is ready will kill Gordon. Not jumping in when it is ready will also kill him as the portal implodes after a while - The Alien Controllers will keep spawning in during the final battle, even if Gordon keeps killing them
- The writing in blood at 8:57 provides the solution to the portal puzzle, which allows players to navigate the ports without getting sent back to the first level That's a smart way of hinting the solution.
@@orionsred Most of these rooms are somewhat interesting yes, but so many of them reset your progress to the bottom of Core Level B. That, and the awkward platforms make the puzzle a bit frustrating to navigate for most players, I'd wager.
1:39- "There was a time they cared nothing for Miss Vance...when their only experience of humanity was a CROWbarrr coming at them down a steel corridorrrr...."
@@kirillmaloshenko1281 You nailed it. I knew I had to connect this series with my EP2 playthrough somehow, and I knew it had to be in Lambda Core because of those steel corridors :)
“You won’t have much of a home to come back to” This line and the “welcome befitting a hero” line makes me want a BM mod where Gordon kills the Nilanth and the invasion just stops. No portal storms, no Combine, Gordon’s teleported back to the Lambda Complex and gets the party he deserves. My man needs a break, give him a good ending for once!
In the original Half-Life, if you try to jump into the portal before it was even open, you will have a game over fade to black, along with a scientist scolding you.
In the half life 20 minute speed run. You can clearly hear the scientists when the person who’s doing that part goes in early. Although instead of fading to black they teleport into Xen and use the tau cannon to get to a platform.
It just instakills both you and entities. This is why it can be skipped entirely through hivehand or snarks. Additional note:The fade to black is probably when you wait too long to enter the teleporter, or the scientist died.
I always loved the ending of the chapter. It's so much better than in HL1, whereas a flash of light and BAM youre on a Xen rock, that's it. You really feel the sense of scale in that room and everything after, and I liked flying through the wormhole my first time, that sent chills down my spine. (plus if youre taking the hat or the pizza you'll see it fly in with you lol)
Amazing. The overdue meeting with the scientists always slays my ass, though. It made me grin so wide when the stunned female scientist realises you've survived and arrived, but there was also this depressing sense of urgency that reiterated how many have died and that this joy of finding others is shortlived. The variety is nice, too. You have one scientist in absolute awe of everything you've accomplished and gladly wants to give you a hero's welcome, a polite scientist who wants to get the job done and a scientist and guard bitter because of their belief you caused this. Honestly, it's tragic Gordon is the one who's getting the blame when he was ignorant of the expeditions and everything transpiring in Anomalous Materials. His only misdeed was to push the cart. God, this was just so badass to experience. What an immense payoff to all the previous chapters. I can't wait for Operation Black Mesa, because I'm dying to see how the scene where Adrian sees Gordon as he jumps will be. Sorry for the slightly long comment and if I've left too many on your videos, I'm just passionate about this game and sadly don't know anyone who shares that enthusiasm.
Don't apologize, I love reading comments like these - the Half-Life fanbase is incredible and the fact that we can still have deep discussions like these is a testament to how well made these games are. I too liked how they had the one scientist be angry at Freeman because he feels that Gordon is responsible. Makes the entire situation feel more believable.
well, two years later but here someone who fck like this game some much too, so i share your enthusiam. When you finally reach this scientits grop you can really feel that you have travel a large path to get to this point. P.s: I dont speack english so maybe are some errors in this and the text above. I hope you eyes dont bleed haha.
@@user-dg1bh6jw2g Trust me, my enthusiasm for this game is never-ending. I've loved Half-Life my entire life. Since I was a tender four years old. I'm 27 now, Gordon's age, which is insane to me and has given me an existential crisis, haha.
Nice blink with the G-Man speech about the vortigaunts and the crowbar. I always wished the crowbar to make a lot more of damage, in order to be "Faithful" about the myth Gordon survived only using the crowbar :) Hyped to see the changes the devs made on Xen on this edition!
Glad you noticed :) As far as I know, Xen itself wasn't changed too drastically for the Definitive Edition, though I haven't really delved into those chapters since it came out. I'll be discovering these changes as I go!
I never really appreciated this part of the chapter until now that i read your pinned comment and realized that what you say is true. The lambda reactor really feels like something powerful here, another example are the lasers: in this game they actually feel dangerous, they are wider, louder, and even the screen shakes. Nos comes the final part of the game, the next chapters are really long and complex and i understand if you want to take your time before recording them, so don't feel pressured to do it c:
Thanks mate. I probably will split Xen into two parts. The original Xen island is probably going to get its own part due to how different it is from the rest of the chapter.
Same. What a genuine reaction to seeing someone actually teleport in real life (well, at least I think it'd be how I'd react if I ever saw something like that)
At 8:58 Luckily figured the first time, that the portal puzzle was solved as 2-4-7 these are the numbers that appear on the floor next to the scientist laid down as we walk into that portal puzzle area. Amazing memories
Couple of facts about the final teleporter fight: -The layout of the room was different before version 1.0. There were fewer platforms and the room lacked the strong blue tint. The portal also didn't rise up once it was ready. -The enemies spawn in waves as you kill them. If you don't kill any controllers, you can just keep dodging fire from the first three until the portal is ready. -In previous versions of the game before 1.0, the number of enemies in the fight was finite. If you killed everyone quickly enough, you could spend about a minute in an empty room waiting for the portal to finish. -How long you have to wait in the fight is visualised by the stairs leading into the portal. They start to the side and they slowly rotate into position in front of the portal. Once they arrive, the portal is ready.
Yeah, that detail about the pre 1.0 limited enemy spawns happened in my 2019 playthrough. Was kinda awkward waiting for the portal to open hahaha. That note about the stairs is cool, I never paid much attention to the stairs until it's in position.
I love the detail in the final portal room. The moving parts in the ceiling ejecting steam from above (and below), the power of the lasers dominating the room, and of course the fully modeled and animated portal frame which had just been some angular boxes of map geometry in Half Life 1.
Yeah. Seriously impressive stuff. It's a shame that a lot of that animation of the portal opening is easily missed because players are probably pre-occupied with dealing with the controllers.
@@Sexy_Nutella one detail that also interesting is, when the portal are ready... the blue aura lights the room which indcates the Xen atmosphere is very strong even only for just a small sphere portal
More to Trivia: *19:38 - this is my personal proud, because this boot up HUD sequence was added after my suggestion in CC's Discord server ( discord.com/channels/592595839600558080/592597009567842332/683980145744281602 ), but it was made a bit different compare to H.E.V.'s boot up HUD sequence (font is bigger and colors are different and too bright), which I also mentioned, but there were no feedback for this notice ( discord.com/channels/592595839600558080/592597009567842332/808411309741047819 and few posts below this one with screenshots).
They really buffed the crossbow, in the original Half-Life (Hard mode) many enemies didn't die with a single arrow. But here we have a new and improved crossbow, epic.
It's hilarious that a tranquilliser dart behaves like the bolts used in the HL2 crossbow - sending enemies flying three feet away and killing them instantly. If they changed the MP5's magazine capacity to 30, to make it 'more realistic' then why make something so silly right?
Lol, yeah, I can understand why enemies fly away in HL2 with the crossbow given it's a goddamn piece of hot rebar penetrating the target at insane speeds. But this is like you said just a tranq gun.
@@luckylarry71 if it’s a neurotoxin maybe it makes enemies have some kind of seizure before they die. It doesn’t make sense that the darts can do things like blow up barrels though, they should be even less effective than the pistol for that
@@sasasa1541 Probably an oversight; might have just reskinned the HL2 crossbow and removed its physics properties (pinning enemies to walls). Damage is probably the same, which is quite goofy compared to the rest of your arsenal.
Never caught that Fly reference, nice! I love the CC's solution to the Xen ammo problem with the supply crates ( I especially love it at the start of the Gonarch's Lair, as in my head-canon the scientists knew what was there and went "He went THERE? SEND THE ROCKETS" ), but I can't help but wonder how they send it across. Maybe after the first portal cycle it gets easier to fire up or something? As usual, giving this too much thought haha ;) Also 100% agree with you on the grandeur of the Reactor!
That is a valid question though! My guess is they do send it through the same portal, unless they have some auxiliary portals meant expressly for teleporting the supply caches. Earlier on in the chapter, there is a small lab with empty supply caches next to a pair of portals (6:40). Perhaps the Lambda Team managed to reset the portal destination for interdimensional travel and got it to Gordon then? I do agree that the addition of the caches is cool though. Always makes me imagine what the situation was like on Earth. The facility was probably crumbling around them and they still persevered in order to keep helping Gordon get to Nihilanth. Pretty heroic.
Some people disliked it, but i think adding supply crates is a good idea for gameplay and for story. Think about it, Freeman is literally the last hope of earth, he has to go further and deeper than any other member of Black Mesa has reached, and therefore, the most logic is that scientists in Lambda core want to support him, in opposite to HL 1, where they totally forgot about Freeman after send it to Xen and most likely they tried to escaped. Even more, they not only sent ammo and supplies to Xen, they also did their best to keep Freeman motivated, sending support messages and snacks in order to keep him sane to face the horrors of another dimension.
Lambda Core is one of my favourite chapters, both in HL1 and BM. I really like how it manages to pull off making you feel like you're in the final stretch but at the same time not there yet. Like you pointed out in the last video, there's a lot of questions that don't get answered until the end of the chapter. Why is the Lambda Team working on these portals? What do the portals have to do with the invasion? And where are the aliens coming from, anyway? I always loved the reactor core part. Having to actually climb the reactor instead of just walking through a bunch of hallways is a fun challenge and it was pretty unique at the time HL1 came out (I admit my first time playing it took me a while to get used to the spinning platforms lol). The part with the coolant pumps is awesome too and I like that BM extended it and made it a bit more complicated than just walking up and hitting a button. Not to mention it's always fun to blast alien grunts to bits with the gluon gun. Anyway, I know I've said it before but your playthroughs are awesome! Xen is definitely one of the best chapters in BM so I'm definitely looking forward to it!
I agree with what you said :) I love how complex Crowbar Collective made the Lambda Complex. Comparing this to HL1's verison is night-and-day (besides the obvious graphical overhaul). I think the Gluon Gun was introduced at the perfect time in this chapter given all the Xenians that spawn in. Thanks for the comment and patience! I am also looking forward to Xen.
@@Sexy_Nutella tbh tho, this is a great idea, him being a prankster would make total sense. Everyone would think he should be dead countless times, but he just figured he'd make the greatest prank of his life by staying alive
One tiny addition that Would probably come off as really fan servicey but would still be cool would be if Some of the more Characterized NPCs had found they’re way to the Lambda complex with all the Scientists huddled up (ie the two Guards from surface tension in the locker room, the “ With our brain in your Brawn” npc’s, maybe even another cameo from young Eli or dr Kleiner)
I personally like that the Lambda team was as small as it was, really gives a sense that there aren't many members of the Science team left and that you really are the last hope for humanity.
"- The middle ring section of the core at 15:00 used to move up and down in previous versions of the game. It has now been rendered static to decrease the amount of platforming required to get to the centre" - like this makes sooo much difference. I don't really know why they bothered to deal with such minor things, when there are much greater things that would need balancing
Lol, it does make the jumping puzzle a bit easier but I do get where you're coming from. Alas, I think the game is "design-locked" at this stage so we likely won't see any major revision of any of the chapters. I do hope they continue to iron out the many bugs that are in this game though.
Something i discovered: When you bring the purple hat or pizza to section B of the Lambda Core and, if you throw the hat/pizza through port 9 (14:54) a glitch will occur in which the death beep will be heard, you will lose all your weapons and the HUD will disappear as if you had dead, but you can still control Freeman as if he were alive. I guess that the hat/pizza have different properties than other objects, since these and the gas canister are the only ones than can pass through portals, besides the player. Therefore, it is possible that they share the same identification as the player, and therefore, when passing through port 9, the game assumes that the player has died.
You know, I actually work in private security and..even inspite of how dangerous the work is, if you can afford that kind of arsenal on a security guard's salary at Black Mesa...I'm guarding the wrong sites. Guy is like "This is my personal collection" and its like probably an actual million dollars worth of firearms and ammo. Anyway...great job with the fights here, but the part that I always struggled with was the teleporter puzzle. Just not a very good platformer, and my timing was always a little off..I often took the long fall to the bottom to try again. Ah well, was great fun watching you regardless of my own inadequancies with the jump button :P
That's super cool! Just out of curiosity if you don't mind sharing more details, what kind of dangerous situations would you encounter and how frequently do those occur? Yeah, honestly, I envy that guard's job. He literally manages the weapon selection of all the survey crew as they depart to Xen. He's probably like the gunshop guy in John Wick 2 and knows the best weapon for every kind of situation lol. The teleporter puzzle is definitely frustrating. The middle portion of the platforms that connect to the core is SLIGHLTY raised above the rest of the platform, so it oftentimes messed up my jump when I try to get to those ports. This run was the result of dozens of attempts to do it all in one go lol. A tip that might help is that you always want to step into the portals right before the platform actually goes underneath it, so that you don't land in the middle with that weird raised portion.
@@Sexy_Nutella Well if you want to know the truth is most security work is actually really boring and you primarily deal with trespassers or kids trying to do graffiti. Actual military bases, government labs, or gold stockpiles will have Military personel guard them, but they don't get trouble much either. I've jumpd into a few fights and pulled people apart before, but..definetly nothing as exciting as what Mr. Freeman is going through :P
Speaking of the energy discharges from the reactor at 2:20 - there also used to be metal-ish numered signs, probably to provide more realistic reason to why these beams strike at these spots exactly. I don't know why did devs got rid of them. Or maybe they just glitched out during your playthrough. edit: I did notice some dirt-like decals on these spots in this video
Hmm, maybe there were those signs. I can't quite remember, though there definitely were more noticeable decals/scorch marks in the previous versions. A shame, because these were supposed to be fixed a few patches ago. Perhaps it did bug out in my playthrough.
It's really intriguing, looking back at this level how well it sets up the context of the facility. You're introduced to infrastructure that looks like a Nuclear Reactor and you'd think yeah, I guess they would go Nuclear for their needs, but when you get to that central shaft where the actual Reactor is you realize Black Mesa needs something far more powerful than Nuclear energy to power that portal generator.
@@Sexy_Nutella The teleporter carousel was by far the worst, because you had to put the object through separately and hope it lands securely on the platform, or else go through fast enough to grab it again before it rolls off. As for Xen, holding onto it through the multi-angled vents were the worst, followed by the final elevator fight. I can't WAIT to see that on your channel.
@@JakesFavorites It's the next video on my list, I'm excited to show the elevator fight as well! And oh god, that struggle with the hat at the teleporter sounds BRUTAL. I don't think I'll ever attempt that achievement for the sake of my sanity.
I did also think there should've been music, but honestly I think having just the sound effects of the portal opening made it feel much more intimidating and intense.
It kind of makes sense too given that the Striders use it to charge up their warp cannon. Maybe the same energy is used to rip open the fabric of space?
Freeman would finally meet the lambda team in-person, and they would tell Gordon to fight the mastermind behind the alien invasion, which means gordon has to enter xen by the portal room, he would obtain the long jump module and fight a battle with new aliens in the portal room as they prepare the portal for freeman.
I wish there was more of a reason to go through the optional teleporters. There's no real threat after completing the puzzle and the supply team basically makes sure your health and ammo are maxed out rendering the extra supplies useless.
Very true, perhaps it's just ended as replenish for players who didn't see the "247" solution and solved the puzzle the hard way, sustaining damage along the way.
28:45 no me lo esperaba q apareciera mucho alienígenas! Y bueno Gordon Freeman ya espera llegar al mundo *XEN* Buena jugada *Sexy Nutella* siempre sere paciente de esperar el siguiente cap y te deseo un buen finde de semana👍🏻.
Acho que iria quebrar a imersão um pouco, mas seria um fanservice legal mesmo assim. Ainda não está confirmado oficialmente que OF é canon (eu espero que sim).
Subscribed, nice to see someone else who's into Black Mesa as much as I am! Have you done Azure Sheep/Damocles yet, and or are you planning to make videos on those too?
Welcome! Glad you're enjoying the content :) I haven't played either of those yet but I do plan to. Probably will make videos but I might be super burnt out after completing this series so we will see hahaha.
Adrian Shepard could be seen briefly when you look back at the teleportation chamber (when it's ready) if i could recall, there was a mod in which added a quote from Shepard's mind to Shepard back there
2:02 Does the reactor normally do that when it's activated? I mean before the resonance cascade. Did the coolent damage it? What was the coolent for other than letting Freeman progress?
The coolant tanks needed to be filled so that the reactor itself is cooled when running. The discharges that happen once Freeman activates it isn't normal and I attributed it to the reactor being at a very unstable condition.
They could have had a cool detail that the second you go into the portal you look back at the core entrance and right there comes in a Hecu soldier(AKA Adrian Shepard)
Especially if it's the player's first time through. Oh boy, if they didn't see the 247 hint they'd be in for a world of hurt at that portal puzzle sequence
Probably not. I think I'm done with full playthroughs for a while after this one. This series was meant to be a "swan song" since it's really the last version of the game to be updated with new content. Having said that I have a couple of ideas for other videos I want to make. I'll still primarily upload Half-Life content for sure ;)
All this hassle and high hopes for reaching the mysterious Lambda Team, only to realise they're all bunch of jerks who treat you no different than any other disposable asset they've already sent off to Xen a dozen times before...
First of all: no, they don't treat you like a disposable asset, even if it may seem like it because of the words of some of them. You're literally their only hope. They give you full access to everything they have, and at least two of them actually praise you. And also when you go to Xen they keep sending you crucial supplies, such as rockets against Gonarch once they see you really need them, and they even send you food with a note "Press on, Freeman!". So I'm pretty sure they don't treat you like they're disposable. They just probably never even met you in person before, so they know nothing about you except that you're one of those who created the resonance cascade and that you're the only one who's actually capable of fixing all this. But their actions speak louder than their words, proving that you're respected. Now let me explain why some of them are pissed and why it's perfectly acceptable in this situation. First of all they know that Gordon played a role in creating the Resonance Cascade, because he *was* a part of the team responsible for it. They don't know that he was simply the one who pushed the cart. He is actually a scientist, so for all they know it could have been his idea to do whatever they angry dude called "a brilliant idea" with sarcasm. Moreover, a lot of people have died, and I'm pretty sure everyone in that room lost some of their colleagues and friends, some of them perhaps even more so. People have different reactions to stress, and I think it's understandable that a freaking alien invasion that could end the whole world might make some people annoyed and emotional. And last but not least, Gordon probably has never even held a gun before and after the training all the way before the invasion, and realistically it would probably be hard to believe that he made it through all this hell all the way to the core basically on his own despite everything. Overall I think that various reactions of the Lambda Team are realistic, understandable and make sense. And if you look at it from the right perspective, the negativity of some of these people is fine and acceptable. Have a great day :)
@@holycheburek6298 No amount of sugar coated words and good intentions can conceal the facts that Gordon faces once he crosses the dimensions and witnesses all of the dead bodies clad in HEV suits scattered around the border world and those are only the ones you happen to find. That scientist didn't even stutter when he openly admitted to the fact that initial survey team members were collected by the Xenians as if they were nothing but specimens themselves. Despite these blatantly obvious, numerous failures in containing the invasion from beyond, by sending out more and more staff members and hardware, this Lambda Team seem way to eager to sling shot you straight in to the meat grinder as soon as you finally reach them. No plan-B and even plan-A is looking more like "yeah, you made it this far by winging it, you might as well roll the dice on this one too". To your last point though, I imagine that upon seeing how little in fact Gordon knew about his employers, their endeavours, ambitions and practices, I would say yes - the attitude and somewhat cold, pragmatic approach of this supply depot team, is not only acceptable, but possibly the least concerning fact about Black Mesa's work ethics. In all fairness though, we both know this was an obvious ploy to hasten the plot and I was only being sarcastic. I can only assume that you are familiar with Ross Scott's version of the narrative during this point of the story and how it would've been perfectly understandable and tempting, to request being teleported to Hawaii, or Gibraltar rather than some hostile, off-world hellhole, after everything you just went through. Enjoy your evening too.
Great discussion here guys. I actually LOVE that they had one of the scientist absolutely despise Freeman, given that the majority of everyone that interacts with him in the Half-Life games view him as this awe-inspiring figure. Then you have this guy (22:37) who is just sick and tired of all this and probably didn't know Freeman wasn't the one who authorized the experiment. His sassiness made me laugh out loud a couple of times, his delivery on "What a grand idea, nothing could possibly go wrong" was great.
@@luckylarry71 Ross Scott's Gordon is canon to me LMAO Yeah the point about countless dead bodies of those who were sent to Xen also makes sense. Well, then again, it is Black Mesa, and as you said they do have questionable work ethics. Eh, what matters most is we, the player, know that Gordon can handle all this, because we are Gordon, so rather than being upset about being treated like this before being sent right "into the meat grinder" we will actually be happy to finally see Xen :) And also: oh man, I really do need to work a little on myself and get to understand sarcasms better.
@@holycheburek6298 Well said! I'm looking forward to the next chapter myself and there is absolutely nothing wrong with the two of us having different opinions on the storytelling aspects, or character interactions. I'm grateful for having the opportunity to look into the other side of the coin, thanks to the time and effort you've put into laying out the arguments. The way I personally like to look at the overall story here, is that despite the fact that some BM team members are doing their best to contain the invasion and help the player however they can and their intentions may be noble, it doesn't change the fact everyone's hands are dirty in here - no exceptions. It was Ross who first opened my eyes to this fact, during the course of his Freeman's Mind series. Even though it was meant to be presented in a comical matter, his own reactions to the other scientists' actions and dialogues exposed them as rather cold, calculating and borderline sociopath (which is perfectly fitting for an enclave of scientists working in a secret underground facility). No need to work on understanding anyone's true intentions, like sarcasm, if it happens to be written in YT comment section :) Thank you for keeping it civil.
28:17 I can imagine if you look behind you while jumping in, you can see a figure of a HECU Marine who wandered in Basically, a nod to Adrian Shephard from Half Life: Opposing Force
I don't like the incidental voice lines from the Lambda crew. They're way too dismissive. They should be somber, avoidant, barely holding back despair. They're sending a man to his death. Everybody knows it. The lines should lean into the unspoken fact that Freeman is making a sacrifice play. I love the urgency in the final line though - 'Go, man! Go!'
![Black Mesa: Definitive Edition - 15a - Xen [Hard]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/wb57CrwiGhI/mqdefault.jpg)
![Black Mesa: Definitive Edition - 15a - Xen [Hard]](/img/tr.png)
![Black Mesa: Definitive Edition - 05 - "We've Got Hostiles" [Hard]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/b6Z8rrcOYW8/mqdefault.jpg)
![Black Mesa: Definitive Edition - 14a - Lambda Core [Hard]](/img/n.gif)
What I really love about this second half of Lambda Core is the amount of character given to the Lambda Reactor. In the opening moments as Gordon emerges from the coolant, he is immediately dwarfed by its base - and that’s just one of its four levels. As well, once the reactor is activated, its instability causes Freeman to have to navigate a bunch of environmental hazards and malfunctioning portals to get to the top. While this does create a bunch of at times frustrating jumping/platforming puzzles, I think what Black Mesa did well was emphasize how powerful AND dangerous the reactor is through its size and instability. Nothing reflects this more than walking into the final chamber at the tip of the Lambda Reactor. Seeing how much larger that area was compared to HL1, how it had various pieces of machinery that are actually moving, how it shook the entire chamber as it started up, and how LOUD it was as the portal was being opened, really instills a sense of both awe and apprehension in me. I’d say walking into that room was one of the highlights of my first playthrough.
As well, the long awaited arrival at the Supply Depot, the revelations that occur inside as the scientists tell him about going into an alien dimension, and the various preparations that the Lambda Team performs with him before he steps into the airlock all work together to create an air of anticipation and suspense. Players have fought through hell to get to this point of the story, and they’re expecting a good payoff to that. Getting to go to Xen is the big payoff, but Lambda Core, as I said in my last video, helps build up that payoff. And I’d say that the devs pulled that objective off tremendously - completing the mod version back in 2012, before Xen was added, just killed me because I REALLY wanted to see what Xen would look like. That’s what makes this a good last Earthbound chapter.
By the way, my video description was too long lol, so here is the “notes” section:
- Gordon can jump across the elevator shaft at 4:24 instead of taking the emergency exit
- The guard at 5:00 tends to get stuck on a lot of props in the map and will stop following Freeman if this happens. This is why I often got him to stop following me whenever I am exploring a room
- The writing in blood at 8:57 provides the solution to the portal puzzle, which allows players to navigate the ports without getting sent back to the first level
- In order to show all possible teleport locations, I deliberately entered all the ports starting at 9:50 even though I saw the solution (2,4,7) beside the dead scientist at 8:57
- Gordon will die if he gets hit and dragged by the platforms at 10:10
- Entering Port 9 will kill the player (14:54) - Gordon can also reach Core Level A by calling the lift at 16:21
- The Long Jump Module has charges as seen in the bottom left corner of the UI at 19:44, and is activated by double tapping the jump key. In HL1, the Long Jump does not have a limited number of charges and is activated by crouching then jumping
- Falling into the pit at 25:14 will cause Gordon to receive constant radiation damage, though a ladder does allow him to climb out of it
- Jumping into the portal at the end of the chapter before the scientist indicates that it is ready will kill Gordon. Not jumping in when it is ready will also kill him as the portal implodes after a while
- The Alien Controllers will keep spawning in during the final battle, even if Gordon keeps killing them
- The writing in blood at 8:57 provides the solution to the portal puzzle, which allows players to navigate the ports without getting sent back to the first level
That's a smart way of hinting the solution.
@@vodkavecz Definitely, though I'd wager a fair bit of people missed it still. Which makes the portal puzzle REALLY tedious I'd imagine :(
Adrian Shephard also shows up if you linger too long.
@@orionsred Most of these rooms are somewhat interesting yes, but so many of them reset your progress to the bottom of Core Level B. That, and the awkward platforms make the puzzle a bit frustrating to navigate for most players, I'd wager.
Before the teleport Adrian Sheppard after the Gordon Freeman?
1:39- "There was a time they cared nothing for Miss Vance...when their only experience of humanity was a CROWbarrr coming at them down a steel corridorrrr...."
Exactly what I thought of when I saw you whacked that vort with the crowbar. :D
@@vodkavecz You know you're a true Half-Life fan when... ;)
@@kirillmaloshenko1281 You nailed it. I knew I had to connect this series with my EP2 playthrough somehow, and I knew it had to be in Lambda Core because of those steel corridors :)
The vortigaunts are actually traumatised seeing Gordon viciously murder their friends with a crowbar right in the eye sockets and vocal cords
The security guards reaction to Gordon teleporting was priceless
The way his head darted back and forth between Freeman and the portal was hilarious hahaha
“You won’t have much of a home to come back to”
This line and the “welcome befitting a hero” line makes me want a BM mod where Gordon kills the Nilanth and the invasion just stops. No portal storms, no Combine, Gordon’s teleported back to the Lambda Complex and gets the party he deserves. My man needs a break, give him a good ending for once!
The obvious location for that would of course be Chuck E. Cheese.
In the original Half-Life, if you try to jump into the portal before it was even open, you will have a game over fade to black, along with a scientist scolding you.
"Freeman, you fool!"
It's weird, I don't believe the scientist says that line in this game, but the voicelines themselves are definitely in the game files.
Freeman, you fool!
In the half life 20 minute speed run. You can clearly hear the scientists when the person who’s doing that part goes in early. Although instead of fading to black they teleport into Xen and use the tau cannon to get to a platform.
It just instakills both you and entities. This is why it can be skipped entirely through hivehand or snarks.
Additional note:The fade to black is probably when you wait too long to enter the teleporter, or the scientist died.
I always loved the ending of the chapter. It's so much better than in HL1, whereas a flash of light and BAM youre on a Xen rock, that's it. You really feel the sense of scale in that room and everything after, and I liked flying through the wormhole my first time, that sent chills down my spine. (plus if youre taking the hat or the pizza you'll see it fly in with you lol)
Yeah, this section of the game was a definite improvement over HL1 for sure. I loved how they teased Nihilanth at the end there.
Amazing. The overdue meeting with the scientists always slays my ass, though. It made me grin so wide when the stunned female scientist realises you've survived and arrived, but there was also this depressing sense of urgency that reiterated how many have died and that this joy of finding others is shortlived. The variety is nice, too. You have one scientist in absolute awe of everything you've accomplished and gladly wants to give you a hero's welcome, a polite scientist who wants to get the job done and a scientist and guard bitter because of their belief you caused this. Honestly, it's tragic Gordon is the one who's getting the blame when he was ignorant of the expeditions and everything transpiring in Anomalous Materials. His only misdeed was to push the cart.
God, this was just so badass to experience. What an immense payoff to all the previous chapters. I can't wait for Operation Black Mesa, because I'm dying to see how the scene where Adrian sees Gordon as he jumps will be. Sorry for the slightly long comment and if I've left too many on your videos, I'm just passionate about this game and sadly don't know anyone who shares that enthusiasm.
Don't apologize, I love reading comments like these - the Half-Life fanbase is incredible and the fact that we can still have deep discussions like these is a testament to how well made these games are.
I too liked how they had the one scientist be angry at Freeman because he feels that Gordon is responsible. Makes the entire situation feel more believable.
well, two years later but here someone who fck like this game some much too, so i share your enthusiam. When you finally reach this scientits grop you can really feel that you have travel a large path to get to this point.
P.s: I dont speack english so maybe are some errors in this and the text above. I hope you eyes dont bleed haha.
@@user-dg1bh6jw2g Trust me, my enthusiasm for this game is never-ending. I've loved Half-Life my entire life. Since I was a tender four years old. I'm 27 now, Gordon's age, which is insane to me and has given me an existential crisis, haha.
Nice blink with the G-Man speech about the vortigaunts and the crowbar. I always wished the crowbar to make a lot more of damage, in order to be "Faithful" about the myth Gordon survived only using the crowbar :) Hyped to see the changes the devs made on Xen on this edition!
Glad you noticed :) As far as I know, Xen itself wasn't changed too drastically for the Definitive Edition, though I haven't really delved into those chapters since it came out. I'll be discovering these changes as I go!
I never really appreciated this part of the chapter until now that i read your pinned comment and realized that what you say is true.
The lambda reactor really feels like something powerful here, another example are the lasers:
in this game they actually feel dangerous, they are wider, louder, and even the screen shakes.
Nos comes the final part of the game, the next chapters are really long and complex and i understand if you want to take your time before recording them, so don't feel pressured to do it c:
Thanks mate. I probably will split Xen into two parts. The original Xen island is probably going to get its own part due to how different it is from the rest of the chapter.
6:53 I just love that reaction.
Same. What a genuine reaction to seeing someone actually teleport in real life (well, at least I think it'd be how I'd react if I ever saw something like that)
7:10
Barney: "Well, looks like everything is still on the inside"
Gordon: Looks down and sees no legs
I guess he meant the legs were also on the inside ;)
At 8:58 Luckily figured the first time, that the portal puzzle was solved as 2-4-7 these are the numbers that appear on the floor next to the scientist laid down as we walk into that portal puzzle area. Amazing memories
I remember never seeing that hint as a kid and just hopping through portals and brute forcing my way to the top. haha
YOU MUST GO NOW!
- scientist oprating the teleporter.
"GO MAN GO!!"
Couple of facts about the final teleporter fight:
-The layout of the room was different before version 1.0. There were fewer platforms and the room lacked the strong blue tint. The portal also didn't rise up once it was ready.
-The enemies spawn in waves as you kill them. If you don't kill any controllers, you can just keep dodging fire from the first three until the portal is ready.
-In previous versions of the game before 1.0, the number of enemies in the fight was finite. If you killed everyone quickly enough, you could spend about a minute in an empty room waiting for the portal to finish.
-How long you have to wait in the fight is visualised by the stairs leading into the portal. They start to the side and they slowly rotate into position in front of the portal. Once they arrive, the portal is ready.
Yeah, that detail about the pre 1.0 limited enemy spawns happened in my 2019 playthrough. Was kinda awkward waiting for the portal to open hahaha.
That note about the stairs is cool, I never paid much attention to the stairs until it's in position.
I love the detail in the final portal room. The moving parts in the ceiling ejecting steam from above (and below), the power of the lasers dominating the room, and of course the fully modeled and animated portal frame which had just been some angular boxes of map geometry in Half Life 1.
Yeah. Seriously impressive stuff. It's a shame that a lot of that animation of the portal opening is easily missed because players are probably pre-occupied with dealing with the controllers.
@@Sexy_Nutella one detail that also interesting is, when the portal are ready... the blue aura lights the room which indcates the Xen atmosphere is very strong even only for just a small sphere portal
More to Trivia:
*19:38 - this is my personal proud, because this boot up HUD sequence was added after my suggestion in CC's Discord server ( discord.com/channels/592595839600558080/592597009567842332/683980145744281602 ), but it was made a bit different compare to H.E.V.'s boot up HUD sequence (font is bigger and colors are different and too bright), which I also mentioned, but there were no feedback for this notice ( discord.com/channels/592595839600558080/592597009567842332/808411309741047819 and few posts below this one with screenshots).
That's super cool. Thanks for the suggestion. It really enhanced obtaining the Long Jump Module :)
I've played black mesa so many times, even replayed 1.5 version, why the hell I keep watching you :DDD
Well I hope it's because the videos are enjoyable :) thanks for the comment!
Nihilanth at the end give me goosebumps, amazing addition.
Sent chills down my spine the first time!
They really buffed the crossbow, in the original Half-Life (Hard mode) many enemies didn't die with a single arrow. But here we have a new and improved crossbow, epic.
It's hilarious that a tranquilliser dart behaves like the bolts used in the HL2 crossbow - sending enemies flying three feet away and killing them instantly. If they changed the MP5's magazine capacity to 30, to make it 'more realistic' then why make something so silly right?
@@luckylarry71 Yeah but its kinda funny seeing the ragdolls flying away.
Lol, yeah, I can understand why enemies fly away in HL2 with the crossbow given it's a goddamn piece of hot rebar penetrating the target at insane speeds. But this is like you said just a tranq gun.
@@luckylarry71 if it’s a neurotoxin maybe it makes enemies have some kind of seizure before they die. It doesn’t make sense that the darts can do things like blow up barrels though, they should be even less effective than the pistol for that
@@sasasa1541 Probably an oversight; might have just reskinned the HL2 crossbow and removed its physics properties (pinning enemies to walls).
Damage is probably the same, which is quite goofy compared to the rest of your arsenal.
Never caught that Fly reference, nice! I love the CC's solution to the Xen ammo problem with the supply crates ( I especially love it at the start of the Gonarch's Lair, as in my head-canon the scientists knew what was there and went "He went THERE? SEND THE ROCKETS" ), but I can't help but wonder how they send it across. Maybe after the first portal cycle it gets easier to fire up or something? As usual, giving this too much thought haha ;) Also 100% agree with you on the grandeur of the Reactor!
That is a valid question though! My guess is they do send it through the same portal, unless they have some auxiliary portals meant expressly for teleporting the supply caches. Earlier on in the chapter, there is a small lab with empty supply caches next to a pair of portals (6:40). Perhaps the Lambda Team managed to reset the portal destination for interdimensional travel and got it to Gordon then?
I do agree that the addition of the caches is cool though. Always makes me imagine what the situation was like on Earth. The facility was probably crumbling around them and they still persevered in order to keep helping Gordon get to Nihilanth. Pretty heroic.
Some people disliked it, but i think adding supply crates is a good idea for gameplay and for story.
Think about it, Freeman is literally the last hope of earth, he has to go further and deeper than any other member of Black Mesa has reached, and therefore, the most logic is that scientists in Lambda core want to support him, in opposite to HL 1, where they totally forgot about Freeman after send it to Xen and most likely they tried to escaped.
Even more, they not only sent ammo and supplies to Xen, they also did their best to keep Freeman motivated, sending support messages and snacks in order to keep him sane to face the horrors of another dimension.
28:03 This is the part where _"We Are Not Alone"_ chapter take place in Opposing Force.
Yup. Hearing that "You must go, now!" from Adrian's POV was cool.
Lambda Core is one of my favourite chapters, both in HL1 and BM. I really like how it manages to pull off making you feel like you're in the final stretch but at the same time not there yet. Like you pointed out in the last video, there's a lot of questions that don't get answered until the end of the chapter. Why is the Lambda Team working on these portals? What do the portals have to do with the invasion? And where are the aliens coming from, anyway? I always loved the reactor core part. Having to actually climb the reactor instead of just walking through a bunch of hallways is a fun challenge and it was pretty unique at the time HL1 came out (I admit my first time playing it took me a while to get used to the spinning platforms lol). The part with the coolant pumps is awesome too and I like that BM extended it and made it a bit more complicated than just walking up and hitting a button. Not to mention it's always fun to blast alien grunts to bits with the gluon gun. Anyway, I know I've said it before but your playthroughs are awesome! Xen is definitely one of the best chapters in BM so I'm definitely looking forward to it!
I agree with what you said :) I love how complex Crowbar Collective made the Lambda Complex. Comparing this to HL1's verison is night-and-day (besides the obvious graphical overhaul). I think the Gluon Gun was introduced at the perfect time in this chapter given all the Xenians that spawn in.
Thanks for the comment and patience! I am also looking forward to Xen.
Very exited for Xen
Me too :)
scientist: "I must insist you go bother someone else"
Gordon: >:)
I always thought Gordon is lowkey a prankster that loves to annoy his team xD
@@Sexy_Nutella Resonance cascade? It's just a prank, bro!
@@Sexy_Nutella tbh tho, this is a great idea, him being a prankster would make total sense. Everyone would think he should be dead countless times, but he just figured he'd make the greatest prank of his life by staying alive
Is this man Dr Magnusson ?
@@likopinina6803 lmao!
One tiny addition that Would probably come off as really fan servicey but would still be cool would be if Some of the more Characterized NPCs had found they’re way to the Lambda complex with all the Scientists huddled up (ie the two Guards from surface tension in the locker room, the “ With our brain in your Brawn” npc’s, maybe even another cameo from young Eli or dr Kleiner)
I personally like that the Lambda team was as small as it was, really gives a sense that there aren't many members of the Science team left and that you really are the last hope for humanity.
"- The middle ring section of the core at 15:00 used to move up and down in previous versions of the game. It has now been rendered static to decrease the amount of platforming required to get to the centre" - like this makes sooo much difference. I don't really know why they bothered to deal with such minor things, when there are much greater things that would need balancing
Lol, it does make the jumping puzzle a bit easier but I do get where you're coming from. Alas, I think the game is "design-locked" at this stage so we likely won't see any major revision of any of the chapters. I do hope they continue to iron out the many bugs that are in this game though.
Something i discovered:
When you bring the purple hat or pizza to section B of the Lambda Core and, if you throw the hat/pizza through port 9 (14:54) a glitch will occur in which the death beep will be heard, you will lose all your weapons and the HUD will disappear as if you had dead, but you can still control Freeman as if he were alive.
I guess that the hat/pizza have different properties than other objects, since these and the gas canister are the only ones than can pass through portals, besides the player. Therefore, it is possible that they share the same identification as the player, and therefore, when passing through port 9, the game assumes that the player has died.
That is very interesting haha. I feel for the poor sucker that did it for the lolz and lost their hat (and their life)
@@Sexy_Nutella my hat :(
Wait i didn't know about that grumpy old married couple
"What do you mean, OLD :'("
@@Sexy_Nutella "oh god, not again!"
You know, I actually work in private security and..even inspite of how dangerous the work is, if you can afford that kind of arsenal on a security guard's salary at Black Mesa...I'm guarding the wrong sites. Guy is like "This is my personal collection" and its like probably an actual million dollars worth of firearms and ammo. Anyway...great job with the fights here, but the part that I always struggled with was the teleporter puzzle. Just not a very good platformer, and my timing was always a little off..I often took the long fall to the bottom to try again. Ah well, was great fun watching you regardless of my own inadequancies with the jump button :P
That's super cool! Just out of curiosity if you don't mind sharing more details, what kind of dangerous situations would you encounter and how frequently do those occur?
Yeah, honestly, I envy that guard's job. He literally manages the weapon selection of all the survey crew as they depart to Xen. He's probably like the gunshop guy in John Wick 2 and knows the best weapon for every kind of situation lol.
The teleporter puzzle is definitely frustrating. The middle portion of the platforms that connect to the core is SLIGHLTY raised above the rest of the platform, so it oftentimes messed up my jump when I try to get to those ports. This run was the result of dozens of attempts to do it all in one go lol. A tip that might help is that you always want to step into the portals right before the platform actually goes underneath it, so that you don't land in the middle with that weird raised portion.
@@Sexy_Nutella Well if you want to know the truth is most security work is actually really boring and you primarily deal with trespassers or kids trying to do graffiti. Actual military bases, government labs, or gold stockpiles will have Military personel guard them, but they don't get trouble much either. I've jumpd into a few fights and pulled people apart before, but..definetly nothing as exciting as what Mr. Freeman is going through :P
@@Nosgard That's cool, thanks for sharing!! Haha, I'll bet you do think of Black Mesa and the Security Team at least sometimes while on the job :-)
@@Sexy_Nutella yah..its true. I do ;)
Speaking of the energy discharges from the reactor at 2:20 - there also used to be metal-ish numered signs, probably to provide more realistic reason to why these beams strike at these spots exactly. I don't know why did devs got rid of them. Or maybe they just glitched out during your playthrough.
edit: I did notice some dirt-like decals on these spots in this video
Hmm, maybe there were those signs. I can't quite remember, though there definitely were more noticeable decals/scorch marks in the previous versions. A shame, because these were supposed to be fixed a few patches ago. Perhaps it did bug out in my playthrough.
22:48 this guy makes me wanna impulse 101 on anomalous materials. Just like the good ol days.
It's really intriguing, looking back at this level how well it sets up the context of the facility. You're introduced to infrastructure that looks like a Nuclear Reactor and you'd think yeah, I guess they would go Nuclear for their needs, but when you get to that central shaft where the actual Reactor is you realize Black Mesa needs something far more powerful than Nuclear energy to power that portal generator.
Yeah, the reveal of the Lambda reactor was great. It looks so technologically superior to anything else in the facility that Freeman had come across
Did I mention that I got both the Hat and Pizza achievements for this game BEFORE they nerfed the teleporter platform puzzle?
You are a trooper. I can't even fathom the patience that took. The Xen levels must have been even worse with all the platforming.
@@Sexy_Nutella The teleporter carousel was by far the worst, because you had to put the object through separately and hope it lands securely on the platform, or else go through fast enough to grab it again before it rolls off.
As for Xen, holding onto it through the multi-angled vents were the worst, followed by the final elevator fight. I can't WAIT to see that on your channel.
@@JakesFavorites It's the next video on my list, I'm excited to show the elevator fight as well! And oh god, that struggle with the hat at the teleporter sounds BRUTAL. I don't think I'll ever attempt that achievement for the sake of my sanity.
Wow that is one hell of an Armory
Indeed. Though I still loved seeing the one in Surface Tension more haha
I think final battle in portal room need some music, some epic music.
Nice video btw
I did also think there should've been music, but honestly I think having just the sound effects of the portal opening made it feel much more intimidating and intense.
I like how the wormhole sequence clearly took some inspiration from interstellar.
26:16 Oh man... Strider sound, I miss it ngl.
It kind of makes sense too given that the Striders use it to charge up their warp cannon. Maybe the same energy is used to rip open the fabric of space?
@@Sexy_Nutella ikr, aside of that it make me flashback of how tough strider is in half life 2
Freeman would finally meet the lambda team in-person, and they would tell Gordon to fight the mastermind behind the alien invasion, which means gordon has to enter xen by the portal room, he would obtain the long jump module and fight a battle with new aliens in the portal room as they prepare the portal for freeman.
I wish there was more of a reason to go through the optional teleporters. There's no real threat after completing the puzzle and the supply team basically makes sure your health and ammo are maxed out rendering the extra supplies useless.
Very true, perhaps it's just ended as replenish for players who didn't see the "247" solution and solved the puzzle the hard way, sustaining damage along the way.
End Credits 1 would have been perfect for the battle before the portal opens
I kinda liked how it was just the sound of the portal opening. Made the battle much more intense in my opinion!
28:45 no me lo esperaba q apareciera mucho alienígenas!
Y bueno Gordon Freeman ya espera llegar al mundo *XEN*
Buena jugada *Sexy Nutella* siempre sere paciente de esperar el siguiente cap y te deseo un buen finde de semana👍🏻.
Gracias como siempre por el apoyo :) Espero que también hayan tenido un gran fin de semana !!!
After that portal still works and Combine started the another invasion like seven hour war
Yeah, unfortunately the Resonance Cascade was an irreversible effect
I just wanted you to take a little peak behind before jumping into the Portal, just to see if Adrian Shepard appears in the Remake. ;-;
He does not, just like the original Half Life. You can add him in using a mod though
That would be kinda funny, but if you saw him before jumping that would completely break the story
Acho que iria quebrar a imersão um pouco, mas seria um fanservice legal mesmo assim. Ainda não está confirmado oficialmente que OF é canon (eu espero que sim).
27:56 Thats was EPIC
Subscribed, nice to see someone else who's into Black Mesa as much as I am!
Have you done Azure Sheep/Damocles yet, and or are you planning to make videos on those too?
Welcome! Glad you're enjoying the content :)
I haven't played either of those yet but I do plan to. Probably will make videos but I might be super burnt out after completing this series so we will see hahaha.
Adrian Shepard could be seen briefly when you look back at the teleportation chamber (when it's ready) if i could recall, there was a mod in which added a quote from Shepard's mind to Shepard back there
I'm pretty sure Adrian Shepard showing up is also only from a mod. Don't think it's in the base game.
@@Sexy_Nutella Makes sense since many are still unsure on whether to consider Opposing Force cannon.
@@Dr.Oofers I hope it is. The Alien X thing is a bit odd though.
When your having a run with the pizza, the ladder at 16:22 is the hardest part of this chapter. Change my mind
16:51
Felt good finally reaching the bunker!
24:56
2:02 Does the reactor normally do that when it's activated? I mean before the resonance cascade. Did the coolent damage it? What was the coolent for other than letting Freeman progress?
The coolant tanks needed to be filled so that the reactor itself is cooled when running. The discharges that happen once Freeman activates it isn't normal and I attributed it to the reactor being at a very unstable condition.
@@Sexy_Nutella I see. Thanks for explaining.
I got chilllsssss, in the end, 🤗🤗 love it
Same. Nihilanth breathing always gets me
5:56
Ngl, I kinda miss the orginal layout seen in HL1 for this area. It looks rather a new area than something that looks like the orginal :[
The Lambda Complex in BM is definitely much more intricate and new-looking compared to HL1. I do appreciate that in other ways though!
They could have had a cool detail that the second you go into the portal you look back at the core entrance and right there comes in a Hecu soldier(AKA Adrian Shepard)
I believe there is a mod that adds it, though I'm not sure if the devs treat Shepard's appearance as canon.
This chapter is in my opinion the most difficult part of the game
Especially if it's the player's first time through. Oh boy, if they didn't see the 247 hint they'd be in for a world of hurt at that portal puzzle sequence
@@Sexy_Nutella I still explore every port entrance even knowing the sequence, I simply like this chapter
What's so difficult about it apart from the very last fight? Many Xen parts and some portions of Surface Tension are more difficult imo
this literally came out as soon as I woke up
Hopefully it was a good morning then!
@@Sexy_Nutella well couldnt comment as soon as I woke up because online school
@@capsuleofdoom6942 ah yes. Hope that's going well for you!
Love and hate this chapter in equal amounts!
Haha, I feel ya
Awesome 👌
Thanks 🤗
almost no hit, my man
I luv it
I'm glad!
I don't wanna see spoilers, yet, i dont even have a good pc to play this.
Definitely a good game to play when you do have one :)
What are your plans after Black Mesa? Will you be playing through the GoldSrc games?
Probably not. I think I'm done with full playthroughs for a while after this one. This series was meant to be a "swan song" since it's really the last version of the game to be updated with new content. Having said that I have a couple of ideas for other videos I want to make. I'll still primarily upload Half-Life content for sure ;)
27:05 how you gonna call 🤣
All this hassle and high hopes for reaching the mysterious Lambda Team, only to realise they're all bunch of jerks who treat you no different than any other disposable asset they've already sent off to Xen a dozen times before...
First of all: no, they don't treat you like a disposable asset, even if it may seem like it because of the words of some of them. You're literally their only hope. They give you full access to everything they have, and at least two of them actually praise you. And also when you go to Xen they keep sending you crucial supplies, such as rockets against Gonarch once they see you really need them, and they even send you food with a note "Press on, Freeman!". So I'm pretty sure they don't treat you like they're disposable. They just probably never even met you in person before, so they know nothing about you except that you're one of those who created the resonance cascade and that you're the only one who's actually capable of fixing all this. But their actions speak louder than their words, proving that you're respected.
Now let me explain why some of them are pissed and why it's perfectly acceptable in this situation.
First of all they know that Gordon played a role in creating the Resonance Cascade, because he *was* a part of the team responsible for it. They don't know that he was simply the one who pushed the cart. He is actually a scientist, so for all they know it could have been his idea to do whatever they angry dude called "a brilliant idea" with sarcasm.
Moreover, a lot of people have died, and I'm pretty sure everyone in that room lost some of their colleagues and friends, some of them perhaps even more so. People have different reactions to stress, and I think it's understandable that a freaking alien invasion that could end the whole world might make some people annoyed and emotional.
And last but not least, Gordon probably has never even held a gun before and after the training all the way before the invasion, and realistically it would probably be hard to believe that he made it through all this hell all the way to the core basically on his own despite everything.
Overall I think that various reactions of the Lambda Team are realistic, understandable and make sense. And if you look at it from the right perspective, the negativity of some of these people is fine and acceptable. Have a great day :)
@@holycheburek6298 No amount of sugar coated words and good intentions can conceal the facts that Gordon faces once he crosses the dimensions and witnesses all of the dead bodies clad in HEV suits scattered around the border world and those are only the ones you happen to find. That scientist didn't even stutter when he openly admitted to the fact that initial survey team members were collected by the Xenians as if they were nothing but specimens themselves.
Despite these blatantly obvious, numerous failures in containing the invasion from beyond, by sending out more and more staff members and hardware, this Lambda Team seem way to eager to sling shot you straight in to the meat grinder as soon as you finally reach them. No plan-B and even plan-A is looking more like "yeah, you made it this far by winging it, you might as well roll the dice on this one too".
To your last point though, I imagine that upon seeing how little in fact Gordon knew about his employers, their endeavours, ambitions and practices, I would say yes - the attitude and somewhat cold, pragmatic approach of this supply depot team, is not only acceptable, but possibly the least concerning fact about Black Mesa's work ethics.
In all fairness though, we both know this was an obvious ploy to hasten the plot and I was only being sarcastic. I can only assume that you are familiar with Ross Scott's version of the narrative during this point of the story and how it would've been perfectly understandable and tempting, to request being teleported to Hawaii, or Gibraltar rather than some hostile, off-world hellhole, after everything you just went through.
Enjoy your evening too.
Great discussion here guys. I actually LOVE that they had one of the scientist absolutely despise Freeman, given that the majority of everyone that interacts with him in the Half-Life games view him as this awe-inspiring figure. Then you have this guy (22:37) who is just sick and tired of all this and probably didn't know Freeman wasn't the one who authorized the experiment. His sassiness made me laugh out loud a couple of times, his delivery on "What a grand idea, nothing could possibly go wrong" was great.
@@luckylarry71 Ross Scott's Gordon is canon to me LMAO
Yeah the point about countless dead bodies of those who were sent to Xen also makes sense. Well, then again, it is Black Mesa, and as you said they do have questionable work ethics. Eh, what matters most is we, the player, know that Gordon can handle all this, because we are Gordon, so rather than being upset about being treated like this before being sent right "into the meat grinder" we will actually be happy to finally see Xen :)
And also: oh man, I really do need to work a little on myself and get to understand sarcasms better.
@@holycheburek6298 Well said! I'm looking forward to the next chapter myself and there is absolutely nothing wrong with the two of us having different opinions on the storytelling aspects, or character interactions. I'm grateful for having the opportunity to look into the other side of the coin, thanks to the time and effort you've put into laying out the arguments.
The way I personally like to look at the overall story here, is that despite the fact that some BM team members are doing their best to contain the invasion and help the player however they can and their intentions may be noble, it doesn't change the fact everyone's hands are dirty in here - no exceptions. It was Ross who first opened my eyes to this fact, during the course of his Freeman's Mind series. Even though it was meant to be presented in a comical matter, his own reactions to the other scientists' actions and dialogues exposed them as rather cold, calculating and borderline sociopath (which is perfectly fitting for an enclave of scientists working in a secret underground facility).
No need to work on understanding anyone's true intentions, like sarcasm, if it happens to be written in YT comment section :) Thank you for keeping it civil.
Realease lambda core
WHY THIS IS SO GODDAMN CONFUSING AHAHAHAHAGA
Lambda Core in a nutshell ;)
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Glad you enjoyed it! :)
28:17 I can imagine if you look behind you while jumping in, you can see a figure of a HECU Marine who wandered in
Basically, a nod to Adrian Shephard from Half Life: Opposing Force
Not in the base game, but you can add Shepard in via a workshop mod :P
@@Sexy_Nutella Like the mod which enables the ability to restore the Crowbar that you pick up in "Unforeseen Consequences"
sexy
lol
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6:35
25:09
I don't like the incidental voice lines from the Lambda crew. They're way too dismissive. They should be somber, avoidant, barely holding back despair. They're sending a man to his death. Everybody knows it. The lines should lean into the unspoken fact that Freeman is making a sacrifice play. I love the urgency in the final line though - 'Go, man! Go!'
who else hates the flying ballsacks reply to my comment
sorry im late
No need to apologise my dude. Thanks for the comment!