It’s time for another Black Mesa mystery, starring a curious new countdown timer and some vague ideas about what it may reveal.
Black Mesa was a “re-envisioning” of the original Half-Life using the Source Engine. That doesn’t mean the assets were just ported over, however; the game was effectively re-built from scratch. The project was inspired (in part) by a dissatisfaction with the scope of the official Half-Life: Source release.
2012’s initial release was a free download, which concluded just before the start of the Xen levels.
When Black Mesa was released, it was always with the intention of a ‘complete’ version being released on Steam (probably for a yet-to-be-determined price,) while the older version remained free. At least, that’s the implication from the game/mod project’s own site: “The first of two releases of Black Mesa is currently available free for download. This release includes over 8 hours and 14 chapters of gameplay. The final release, via steam, is under development.”
The new version is expected to feature the missing levels from the original Black Mesa release. It will probably include other new bits and bobs as well, though at this stage we’re not sure exactly what those could include.
Today, a mysterious countdown timer has popped up which shakes and wiggles with an electrical noise. The G-Man also makes an appearance, just for good measure. The counter seems to indicate that in three days time there will be some kind of reveal which could well be an actual release for the Steam version. Or possibly an announcement of that release date.
There is, of course, also the possibility that it’s something else entirely. That’s the nature of enigmatic timer teases. We’ll have to wait and see.
