Random Screenshots of my Games #67 - HELLDIVERS II
cobysev
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Random Screenshots of my Games #65 - Vampire Hunters
Random Screenshots of my Games #64 - Enshrouded (Revisited)
Random Screenshots of my Games #63 - The Alters
Random Screenshots of my Games #61 - The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog
Random Screenshots of my Games #60 - inKonbini: One Store. Many Stories (demo)
Random Screenshots of my Games #60 - inKonbini: One Store. Many Stories (demo) - Lemmy.World
Today I’m going to be looking at the demo for an upcoming narrative-driven simulation game that looks like a lot of fun! It’s called inKonbini: One Store. Many Stories. This demo is free on Steam, so feel free to check it out for yourself. “Konbini” (コンビニ) is the Japanese word for convenience store. It’s a borrowed word from English, but the Japanese don’t have a “v” sound in their language, so “b” is the standard replacement consonant for “v” in words. And of course, the Japanese have abbreviated the English word to make it easier to say. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/a97e2e12-d438-4d57-933f-d78baf0c8dd7.jpeg] inKonbini takes place on a rainy night in Japan, in late August of 1993. I actually spent 3 years living in Japan in the early 2000s, so this game felt very familiar and nostalgic for me. You play as Makoto, a college student who is just starting work at her aunt’s konbini, called Honki Ponki, while between school semesters. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/b468c2bc-2ded-432f-b132-acd4139bd37e.jpeg] Aunt Hina recommends all her employees keep notebooks on them for taking notes. She specifically asked Makoto to journal her experiences each night. She calls to check up on Makoto, since it’s her first night shift. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/8b81d141-c878-4fca-94ae-1d2ac1f43a1d.jpeg] Aunt Hina has already taken notes for Makoto in the journal, so you have a general idea of what to do if you get lost. However, you can call her anytime to receive more advice. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/27c089b0-c144-4cd0-afd7-daf968aa6151.jpeg] Looking around the office, there are several things you can click on and Makoto will comment on them. One is a postcard about to fall off a shelf. It’s an unsent card from Aunt Hina, to a mysterious stranger. Note: Most of the Japanese characters on this card seems to be flipped backwards, and some of the characters are even flipped upside-down! I also noticed this throughout the store. I have no idea why. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/cc565629-4bcb-4d27-b0bd-296e08a0e558.jpeg] Calling the phone number from the postcard gets you the answering machine for Chief Matsuda’s Treasures. Hmm… [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/d0e62f15-bc5f-403b-b6b2-bc363483017a.jpeg] Whelp, time to go straighten out the store so you can open for the night! [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/d47e5066-4cf8-43ec-9b32-d423b23f2257.jpeg] There are several things to do besides just stocking shelves. Look around for anything that needs reorganizing or adjusting. You have to be detail-oriented; I’m neurotic about details and took several laps around the store to check everything, and even I missed a few things! [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/05ebafb5-0b25-4e56-907d-47ed70019be2.jpeg] I found a notebook from one of the other employees. In it, he mentions that Aunt Hina threatened to change his nametag to read “Charlie” if he didn’t stop making mistakes, so customers would think he’s a foreigner and be more forgiving. Considering he’s only known as Charlie, looks like Aunt Hina followed through on the threat. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/7a23ddf9-7db7-49e6-93c1-bbe4bdd94174.jpeg] Once the place was straightened up, I started restocking shelves. There are some limited supplies in the back office, both on the shelves and in the large fridge and freezer. I packed as much as I could on the shelves, even reorganizing some products to make them all fit. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/a3df9c8c-9e1f-409f-b11d-1e95a4a0e1f0.jpeg] All done! Time to flip the sign on the door and start taking customers. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/e7fe33b3-11b7-4cf8-a216-ea02307d8e07.jpeg] The first (and only) customer of the night was an old man, braving the ongoing rainstorm to pick up some supplies. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/1c588c70-595a-4024-9ed2-0840a9ec64a0.jpeg] He almost immediately noticed a mistake I missed. Someone stocked bread in the wrong place! [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/071c6eaa-e0cd-4075-8845-e76737592367.jpeg] You can go and chat with him, where he’ll reveal he knows your aunt very well. Although they’re not on speaking terms at the moment. You’ll quickly deduce that he’s Chief Matsuda! The plot thickens… [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/9dbe95b8-e94b-4b9c-b7a7-40c1dd6b43ba.jpeg] There are several multiple-choice options during conversations, so there are several ways to play out each scene. I only played through once, so I’ll be showing the general direction my game took. I’m not sure if it would be dramatically different if you chose other options, though. You can definitely experiment and see what happens. I also forgot to stock a brand of ramen that Chief Matsuda always eats. He takes this as a sign that it’s time to make some changes in his life and he asked me for a recommendation on a new brand of ramen. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/fe2a8e2d-d507-4c8d-b05e-acfd3d94b8f1.jpeg] Chief Matsuda heads over to the pet food section and asks for further assistance. His cat has been avoiding him and acting strange. Someone recommended he try a hypoallergenic cat food, but he can’t read the labels very well. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/0a9ac6c7-8ab3-4ec8-a302-99808a0bfff1.jpeg] If you inspect the cans, you’ll get more details to read. Eventually, I found the right brand for him. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/16e69868-a08a-45a8-b06a-3b6000e917f3.jpeg] When he’s done shopping, he’ll meet you at the register and you’ll have to scan the barcode on everything in his basket. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/f105684c-3d2a-4d95-9397-6ac0e6ccf831.jpeg] Then of course, you’ll accept his money and make change. Fortunately, the register keeps track of what you owe the customer and deducts each time you pull bills or coins from the till. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/22633e63-3cc2-4ec7-8c87-91b8ae4ad5ad.jpeg] Random trivia: In Japan, it’s considered rude for an employee to take money directly from a customer’s hands, so they have a small (usually blue) rectangle dish that the customer puts their money in, then the employee makes change and puts it back in the dish for the customer to take. That way, no one is directly handing money to the other. More trivia: Japan’s smallest bill today is 1,000 yen (roughly 7 US dollars). They used to have a ¥50, ¥100, and ¥500 bill back in the '50s, but they were mostly phased out by the '60s and turned into coins. Considering this game takes place in 1993, these bills are not accurate to real life. They also have never had a ¥25 coin; the next denomination after ¥10 is ¥50. Chief Matsuda is still feeling depressed and may vent a bit about some of his bad luck to you at this point. I got a choice in how to respond: [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/03b09718-725b-4a10-9157-4715f0364914.jpeg] I chose to cheer him up, and it seemed to do the trick. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/f6d4fdd0-3e78-4a6b-8a8d-5bf2c4ca6473.jpeg] He stands outside to admire the rising sun as the rain lets up. If you join him, you get a little more dialog with him before the demo ends. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/c0a0ade0-2327-43ca-9a96-ff75b78009fd.jpeg] Overall, it was a fun little game to play and I’m excited for the full release! I enjoy simulator games, and this one was very relaxed and story-heavy. Unlike other store simulators I’ve played, where you spend a whole shift desperately running around, managing a bunch of customers and store inventory as fast as you can. Working a night shift means a slower pace to the game, so you can have one-on-one conversations with the customers and really enjoy the atmosphere. There’s also no clock in the game, so you can take all the time you want to do everything. I probably spent over an hour just wandering around the store, clicking on everything and getting to know where everything was. I was expecting an influx of customers, so I wanted to be prepared for the busy rush, but I ended up with a single customer who was chill and fun to chat with. Note: I haven’t been paid to advertise this upcoming game. As I’ve mentioned in the past, I’m very anti-advertisement, so I will never accept money or favors to advertise anyone’s game. This is just a personal creative writing hobby of mine; if I’m writing about a game, it’s one that I personally enjoyed and wanted to discuss.
Random Screenshots of my Games #59 - Far Cry 5
Random Screenshots of my Games #59 - Far Cry 5 - Lemmy.World
Welcome back! For my next screenshot-laden game discussion, I’m going to be talking about my favorite of the Far Cry series, Far Cry 5. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/698c2918-1cab-472a-9522-ab5c02348327.jpeg] The original Far Cry was released in 2004 by Crytek to demonstrate the expansive capabilities of their brand-new CryEngine. As such, it was more of a tech demo than a solid video game title. Sure, it had a story and missions to complete, but it was mainly focused on showing off long-distance outdoors scenery, something that was difficult to render in those days. The game took place on a lush green tropical island and pushed computer hardware of the time to the limits of their functionality. Ubisoft quickly bought up the Far Cry franchise from Crytek and proceeded to remake the original game, including several direct spin-offs/sequels of it, all for consoles. These were severely limited due to console hardware at the time, so they were far more linear and lower quality than the original open world PC game. Crytek, meanwhile, made a deal with EA to develop a whole new game called Crysis, which would become famous for having realistic physics rendering and graphics far beyond consumer PCs’ capabilities. Crysis would become the benchmark for high-end computers for many years afterward. But that’s a game discussion for another time… When it came time to make a true numerical sequel to Far Cry, Ubisoft decided they needed to get away from the tropical jungle setting. A lot of games at the time were focusing on that setting, including the new Crysis franchise. Plus, they felt like the main character from Far Cry just wasn’t interesting enough to become the face of the franchise. So Far Cry 2 was actually a completely new game, with a new story, a new protagonist, and set in an unnamed African nation. And thus began Ubisoft’s trend of resetting the whole franchise with each new title. So jumping to the 2018 title Far Cry 5 isn’t skipping any important story or background; it’s an original standalone game. Although Far Cry: New Dawn is a direct sequel to this game; don’t play it unless you want spoilers to the ending of Far Cry 5. If you want a cool intro to Far Cry 5, Steam has a free 30-minute video called Far Cry 5: Inside Eden’s Gate [https://store.steampowered.com/app/868490/Far_Cry_5_Inside_Edens_Gate/]. It’s a live-action prologue, following three people (one of which is a vlogger) who attempt to infiltrate the Eden’s Gate cult. They meet with a local man who claims his sister just abandoned her home and joined the cult. She’s changed, dedicating her whole life to the cult’s religious beliefs, and refuses to come home. This video shows how people are brainwashed into joining Eden’s Gate, as well as how news of the cult spread outside of Hope County, Montana, which brings us to the intro of the game. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/0f5a5595-2332-4878-bfe0-819d3e2fc797.jpeg] Far Cry 5 begins with clips of a documentary talking about Eden’s Gate, a dangerous cult in the fictional Hope County, Montana. They discuss how the cult started buying up land, then the local radio station, then even the cops. Before the locals realized it, Eden’s Gate was in control of all of Hope County. They’re a militant religious doomsday cult, preparing for the End Times, which they believe is coming soon. Their leader, Joseph Seed, is worshiped by the cult followers as a prophet. He’s also known as “The Father.” [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/68997fd2-e114-41cb-8ce0-5aef6095b091.jpeg] We cut to you riding in a helicopter over Hope County. You play a rookie deputy to the local sheriff’s department, accompanying a U.S. Marshal. You, the Hope County Sheriff, and another local deputy, are escorting the U.S. Marshal to an Eden’s Gate compound. The sheriff keeps mentioning “Peggies,” which he explains is what they call the cult followers here. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/43e8701a-8b4f-47b9-a4c7-dbd29b46bfe3.jpeg] Your helicopter lands in the compound and you find yourself in a tense situation. Peggies are everywhere and not happy at your presence. The four of you nervously walk up to the church in the compound and let yourselves in, approaching Joseph Seed at the altar as he gives his congregation a dangerous sermon. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/82dc274b-a31c-433d-8d46-f0c029fb6df0.jpeg] Despite the sheriff trying to keep the situation calm, the hot-headed U.S. Marshal walks up to Joseph and thrusts a warrant for his arrest in his face, demanding he turn himself in. The crowd gets agitated and you suddenly find yourself surrounded by angry, armed Peggies… until Joseph himself calms them down. He tells them that it’s all right, they planned for this, and he will NOT be taken. He then offers himself up for capture. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/81e8ee77-7cd8-4242-a5a0-3f0cf7473f70.jpeg] Now, here’s an opportunity to play a secret (and quick) ending to this game. You can choose not to cuff Joseph at this point and instead walk away. If you do, the sheriff will comment that it’s best to leave the cult alone and that the team would likely die if they attempted to arrest Joseph anyway. But then we wouldn’t have a game to play, so… you cuff Joseph and escort him back to the helicopter. The Peggies outside are highly agitated at this turn of events and the closer to the helicopter you get, the more tense the situation gets. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/c4e61827-adf8-45f6-85c5-f5f0547b97f1.jpeg] You strap Joseph into the helicopter and are prepared for takeoff, but the Peggies don’t want you to leave with him. They start jumping on the helicopter and the team is forced to fight them off as they lift off into the air. One climbs over the windshield and into the blades, causing the helicopter to come crashing down! [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/f5c34fae-4a9d-4670-8568-4e4393816919.jpeg] You awake to find Joseph recovering from the crash. He calls off support over the radio, then tells you, “I told you God wouldn’t let you take me.” He gives you a grave warning: [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/0fa0553d-a718-4270-afbf-29046538fe7f.jpeg] Peggies gather around Joseph as he rallies them toward action. Which begins by taking you and your team captive. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/efdc38ec-1f5a-48ac-8067-7d496093a32c.jpeg] The Peggies manage to grab the deputy, but a burst of flames from the helicopter holds them back long enough for you to unhook yourself and bolt into the woods. You run from shouting and gunfire, quickly learning how to hide in the foliage and silently pick off stragglers. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/7cc22474-416f-4736-8046-197d8026f7e3.jpeg] Arming yourself, you meet up with the U.S. Marshal in a trailer house, where you have a stand-off with a wave of Peggies. Hopelessly outnumbered, the U.S. Marshal jumps into a pickup truck and instructs you to ride shotgun and keep the Peggies off your tail. Thus ensues an action-packed car chase, through blockades, gunning down trucks and ATVs filled with Peggies, and even an airplane armed to the teeth! [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/f64b05c1-0d4c-47c9-a228-c3bab5b1b227.jpeg] Despite your best efforts, the U.S. Marshal ends up crashing the truck into a river. He’s captured by Peggies, but some stranger fishes you out of the river downstream. You wake up in a bunker, facing an older guy who calls himself Dutch. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/640f72f8-987c-4aec-8907-683873f3f111.jpeg] He explains that your coming was prophesied by Eden’s Gate and it’s set off “The Collapse.” Basically, they think society is on the brink of destruction now, so they’re leaning hardcore into their plans to secure Hope County. All roads are blocked, all signals in and out of the valley are cut. We’re completely isolated out here. And now they’re going to force all the locals to “save themselves” and convert to their cult… or die. Dutch tells you to change clothes so he can burn your uniform. It’s just going to make you a target from now on, so best to get rid of it. This is your first opportunity to customize your character’s appearance and clothing outside of just picking a gender. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/3d882401-573d-4105-920f-0ac186d1bda2.jpeg] When you find Dutch, he’s hanging out in a sort of war room of the bunker, with an information board on the wall showcasing the four leaders of Eden’s Gate. You can read the bios on all four of them at this point. There are the three brothers: Joseph, Jacob, and John Seed. Then the “sister” Faith, a woman who mysteriously showed up one day to join their family. Joseph is leader over all of Eden’s Gate, while each sibling controls a region of Hope County. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/0ef98d64-4c79-49fa-ad45-b7386e6e6573.jpeg] Dutch’s bunker is on an island between all three regions of the map. He sends you out to help him clear Peggies off his island before you set off to build a resistance and liberate all three regions of Hope County. Every mission you complete, whether it’s part of the main story or side missions, helps to free more citizens in a region and build a stronger resistance against the Eden’s Gate leader in that region. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/d51b863b-e935-43ef-8df3-a6e7af3aa0b3.jpeg] Once you clear the island, you’re free to go anywhere on the map you desire. There are three main quest lines for you to follow, one per region. They will eventually lead to toppling the leader of that region, which you have to accomplish before you can go after Joseph himself. Or you can just explore anywhere and knock out any side quests or other objectives you come across. You can also rescue and hire resistance members to follow you and help out. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/aaeed90d-9b95-4ef1-a4da-029c19ab6331.jpeg] While approaching enemies, it’s best to first look at them down your sights or through binoculars to tag them, so you can follow them no matter where they go in the area. You can even tag objectives in an area, to help you plan your strategy accordingly. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/d5fab087-8030-4ad8-925a-68e02e135173.jpeg] You get bonus points for clearing missions undetected, so I highly recommend the stealth approach. You can sneak up and break enemies’ necks or use silenced weapons from afar. My preferred weapon of choice is the bow and arrow. No one ever hears it coming! Just remember to hide bodies, because roaming patrols will alert a whole compound if they find a body. And some compounds have alarms that will draw in reinforcements. Make sure to disable the alarms before assaulting a compound, or take out anyone running to set off the alarm. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/46c65f00-2353-4048-8f1a-60e412a0f9d6.jpeg] This game also includes hunting and fishing, as you need supplies to trade, barter, and survive in the wild. The wildlife in this game is very diverse, and some deadly if you’re not careful. I’ve been bitten by several snakes and my only warning was a rattling sound just before they struck. The sound effects are not just ambient noise! Pay attention to them! [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/364b2a4c-2324-4418-a8e5-93055fef385e.jpeg] If you lose all your health, you pass out and get a cutscene of being captured by the leader of whatever region you’re in. They go over how they’re going to “free you of sin” in their own sick twisted way, before you’re shipped off to a detention center. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/839183fe-53a2-4c62-b178-752963948b61.jpeg] But your prisoner transport is ambushed by the local resistance and you manage to escape! Then you have to fight through the internment camp, clear it of Peggies, then survive wave after wave of Peggies before a rescue helicopter comes for you. Only then can you go back to exploring the map. So losing all your health (without a resistance member nearby to quickly revive you) is kind of an ordeal. I really like that they include this gameplay in the game. It allows the story to continue, so there’s no actual death of the player. And it ties into the lore of the game while making you work to get back on track with your mission; a sort of entertaining punishment for failing to survive. It’s much more creative than just showing a “Game Over” screen and then resetting you at your last save point, and it gives you motivation to stay alive and not just accept a quick defeat. These same prison vans can be found driving all over the map and you can assault them and free the captive locals inside. After being captured once yourself, you’ll likely feel the need to chase after every prison van you see afterward. No one should be subjected to that torture! [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/d308d9c8-4f02-4ac3-84db-036f5df72216.jpeg] I absolutely love the visuals in this game! The forested mountainous region of Montana is absolutely gorgeous and they do an excellent job showcasing it, especially if you have a computer than can max out this game’s graphics. Here are a few screenshots of my actual gameplay in the world, no cutscenes involved. Open them in a new window to enjoy their full 4K quality: [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/513aef34-7950-43eb-9b5b-39c36baaa434.jpeg] [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/d9d00f37-9a99-4e3e-ba2e-12db5880eeb8.jpeg] [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/e3a59e52-3961-4c23-b8a3-9bc600efe524.jpeg] I guess this game resonates with me because I used to be extremely religious in my youth. I even carried a pocket Bible with me everywhere I went and would quote scriptures as I felt they applied to situations. My friends all voted me most likely to become a pastor one day. But I was also a very curious person who loved to learn and study new things. I wanted to understand the Bible as much as I could. And when I started to find contradictions and inconsistencies in my Bible, I turned to my pastor and congregation for answers. But I received a resounding “have faith; don’t question the Lord” dismissal, from pretty much everyone. The more I looked into it, the more problems I found, and the less friendly my religious community got about helping me resolve it. After giving the Bible a full read from cover to cover, I discovered that it was an awful book full of glorified rape, torture, infanticide, bestiality, war, incest, as well as plenty of other horrifying topics, all sanctioned by God. It’s no wonder we cherry-pick passages every Sunday! There are too many stories that aren’t church-friendly in that book. You can’t do a straight reading of the Bible without losing your congregation. I turned atheist pretty quick and learned to apply critical thinking and logic in the future instead of blindly trusting something to be true. This game is all about the extreme end of that religious faith. Joseph Seed is considered a prophet, supposedly given direct communications from God about an upcoming apocalypse and how His chosen few can survive. Joseph’s methods are based on the concept of “the ends justify the means.” He will do whatever it takes to save “his people,” even if it means violently kidnapping, torturing, and brainwashing them. Even worse, the way the four Seed siblings preach to their congregation, the serene country/gospel music, even the way cult members worship, all remind me of my church-going days. Which were very happy, nostalgic days for me. So I personally feel this nostalgic pull toward this very evil cult and I have to remind myself that this cult is doing an excellent job in making it seem so appealing. Joseph Seed is what happens when a cult is designed to dominate a culture and indoctrinate all its citizens, and this game is a good look at this kind of world from an outsider, trapped within it. It is a terrifying concept, but all the more fun to play a protagonist who is able to resist and fight back against this fascist takeover of an indoctrinated region. Which seems rather relevant in today’s world. If/when you find Boomer, make sure to give him lots of pets! He’s a very good boy. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/a4099a84-8bbc-4205-9d97-74d898b2b4c9.jpeg]
Random Screenshots of my Games #58 - Black Mesa (Half-Life)
Random Screenshots of my Games #58 - Black Mesa (Half-Life) - Lemmy.World
Long time no see! I really need to stop promising to write about specific games. I get too in my head about it, then I feel obligated to write instead of wanting to write. This is supposed to be a fun personal writing project, not work! But enough about me. This is a space for discussing games! And as promised, today’s discussion is on Black Mesa, a fan remake of Half-Life that was officially sanctioned by its creator, Valve. The Black Mesa project was started in late 2004, shortly after the release of Half-Life 2, using Valve’s new Source engine to rebuild the original Half-Life game from the ground up. It would be 16 years before the game was fully completed, although you could play most of it online for many years. With new advancements in the Source engine over the years, the fan team kept rebuilding and enhancing sections of the game. Eventually, Valve stepped in and allowed them to sell the game commercially so they could afford the commercial license for their newer Source engines. The fan team never intended to make money off this game, but a source of income did help them keep building and improving the game. Black Mesa is still available on Steam for $20, and I highly recommend supporting the team and buying it over the original game. Valve makes tons of money with their Steam store; they don’t need the income from their old game. So let’s get into this game. Apologies in advance; I played this in 4K resolution, which resized everything appropriately except for subtitles. If there are subs, they’re really tiny near the bottom of the screenshot. Open the image in a new window to see its full resolution and read the subtitles. Black Mesa opens with you riding a tram line deep into an underground research facility in the New Mexico desert. You’re playing as Gordon Freeman, a Theoretical Physicist with a PhD from MIT. You’re running late to work today. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/b9ca0db1-0f57-4040-841a-6c91bb7b41bb.jpeg] Side-note: I always saw Gordon as a much older man (I was a teenager when Half-Life first released), but now in my early 40s, finding out Gordon is only 27 makes me feel super old. He’s so young! >_< This game’s opening was revolutionary for early games, as it played out like a film. You’re stuck on this single-car tram for a few minutes, just taking in the sights of the research facility while opening credits slowly fade in and out. This was unheard of for a game in the late '90s and really pulled you into the world of the game. And this remake has so much more detail than the original game! Here’s the same scene shown from Half-Life and Black Mesa, respectively: [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/bbaae9ee-9fc7-48c8-8fef-63b1f99fdf8b.jpeg] [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/200a6056-8474-408f-a9e7-112700225262.jpeg] In a “blink-and-you’ll-miss-it” scene, you pass by another tram on the left with a creepy-looking government man, or “G-Man” staring at you. He’s wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase. With all the scientists and security guards running around this place, this one G-Man stands out. This mysterious figure is important later in the game, but I’ll let you discover that story for yourself. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/6b90adc6-2a79-473e-9f72-c59b215b3088.jpeg] If you’re trying to find G-Man in the opening, you’ll see him right before you approach a hazardous chemical spill. If you see this, you just missed him: [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/9664033e-e67b-4d35-900e-ce9ababff8b4.jpeg] Eventually, you’ll reach your stop where a security guard will come to let you off. He’ll make a comment about you running late. If you linger around other scientists and security guards at the beginning of the game, you’ll hear some interesting and funny chats. You can also interact with everyone, although some people won’t have time to chat with you. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/9e090929-dd96-4ba2-89de-51c80b9c052a.jpeg] You enter the research facility (see main screenshot) and are instructed at the front desk to hurry up and get ready. Everyone’s been waiting on you. You go to the locker rooms and don the H.E.V. suit, or Hazardous Environment Suit. This orange and black suit will protect you from most damage, heal you if you’re injured, and will give you a HUD (Heads-Up Display) with some information about your health and weaponry. Its protection status is on a scale of 1-100 and you can recharge it at H.E.V. charging stations. You can also find Health charging stations, which will recharge your suit up to 100 health. Think of H.E.V. as armor and Health as… well… health. You’ll be fine if your H.E.V. drops to zero, but the game is over if your health runs out. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/b0dca604-d9cb-4e13-9ea4-16e5a8706c15.jpeg] After making your way deeper into the research facility, you run into several other scientists who give you more information on today’s research project. You are doing an analysis on a sample and are instructed to go down to the test chamber to get started. One of the scientists leads the way, where the two of you run into Eli Vance (on the left below). Eli wasn’t in the original Half-Life game, but he is an important character in the sequel who apparently worked alongside Gordon at the Black Mesa Research Facility, so Black Mesa chose to introduce you to him before the game gets rolling. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/a97268ba-a73e-420d-83da-82b33ad81246.jpeg] There’s a malfunction in their equipment, so Eli and the other scientist stay behind to fix the machines. They complain that there’s been so many issues lately and they can’t explain why. They instruct you to go ahead without them. You run into two more scientists at the giant blast door to the test chamber. They’re eagerly awaiting your arrival, but are also worried about the test potentially going wrong. They have the utmost confidence in your abilities though, and encourage you to do well today. They use dual retinal scanners to open the door for you. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/22b26d3f-84c8-47d1-a571-bf65ce97ac72.jpeg] You find yourself in a giant room with a Mass Spectrometer filling the center of the room. Once inside, a voice over a loudspeaker instructs you to get up on the catwalk and start the rotors from a computer so they can get the test going. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/db1afc22-efcb-4e29-abd8-ece6e1de1027.jpeg] The sample is brought into the room through an elevator in the floor and you’re instructed to push its cart into the beam of the Mass Spectrometer. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/7fc671ce-8e3a-4656-8c16-10d91946aa79.jpeg] Once you add the sample to the beam, everything goes haywire! A Resonance Cascade occurs! The scientists feared this was possible, but the chances were so slim, they didn’t think it could actually happen. And yet… [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/37782d87-fcd4-4970-a9b6-187801acbf66.jpeg] In a flash of green, Gordon finds himself in an alien world. The Resonance Cascade has opened a portal to another dimension! [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/6cafbeca-5b20-4eab-b95c-b3d0e6f999f0.jpeg] Some intelligent alien creatures approach Gordon, speaking in an unintelligible language. We’ll later learn these creatures are called Vortigaunts. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/ddb1f97e-c019-4454-9563-9856d32d06d6.jpeg] In another flash of green, Gordon finds himself back inside the test chamber, which has been destroyed by the Resonance Cascade. People are dead, the lab is destroyed, and all sorts of alien creatures are portaling through the dimensional rift to Earth. You run into Eli and he instructs you to get to the surface so you can contact someone and let them know they’re all trapped deep underground. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/36c32189-ba91-49c0-9f3a-8b67be8e4370.jpeg] As a scientist, you’re not especially trained to fight with heavy weaponry, so you make due with a crowbar you find on the ground, fighting through invading alien creatures on your way to the surface. Along the way, you’ll come across the infamous Headcrab, which leaps at people’s heads and munches on their brain, turning them into walking zombies. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/c37963f6-5f17-40c0-94e2-60f4b42e3193.jpeg] There are also Barnacles, which attach to the ceiling and drop a super-sticky tongue of sorts that will grab you and drag you up to their awaiting mouth. Be careful; their lure is hard to notice if you’re running around in dark hallways. [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/81036838-f8a8-49e7-b729-1708b8ae4b00.jpeg] Then there’s the Houndeye, a multi-eyed alien dog of sorts with a super-sonic bark that will injure you, even from a distance. And many more creatures to find along the way! [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/1e6353ca-b0b9-431b-8d1a-de56a68bb2ea.jpeg] If you’re paying attention, you might just run into G-Man again, who observes you curiously before calmly disappearing down a corridor. Who is this man?! [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/e76f5c11-d1aa-4c29-9299-1b32ef800036.jpeg] Once you get close to the surface, you learn the military has arrived and has orders to clean the entire site - terminating aliens and humans alike! They’re intent on covering up the Resonance Cascade! If you manage to hold your own against the Marines, you’ll earn yourself a nasty reputation and the military will call in Black Ops to take care of you once and for all. These guys are extremely fast and deadly: [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/aa592723-8980-4854-92d4-01350d97f12b.jpeg] [https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/da112ea5-33a0-41a9-8a32-e6cf13d9ea5a.jpeg] Having nowhere left to go, you fight your way back into the underground facility and search for other survivors… Why am I playing the fan remake instead of the original Half-Life game? Well, because Black Mesa was built not only to be easier to play through for modern gamers, but it also fixed plot and story inconsistencies, and flows better than the original. It’s not just a visually-improved version of the game, but they rearranged parts of the story and gameplay to better introduce modern gamers to the world of Half-Life. 'Cause let’s be honest, back in the late '90s to early 2000s, before games had standardized controls across platforms, FPS games were kind of the Wild West, with their control schemes varying from game to game. They were great fun in my childhood, but playing them nowadays is difficult and frustrating when there are much better controls in modern games. So if you want to get into the Half-Life franchise and you’re not sure where to start, Black Mesa is a great introduction to the series! The main games are Half-Life, Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode 1, and Half-Life 2: Episode 2. The other games in the series are either expansions, multiplayer-only arenas, or spin-offs. One could argue that the new VR game Half-Life: Alyx is part of the main series, but you spend the entire game playing as Alyx Vance, a side character from the series (and daughter of Eli). However, from what I’ve heard, it does advance the plot of the Half-Life franchise a little bit, so that sounds like it could be main game content to me. Also, as I mentioned in my last post, the Portal games are set in the same universe as Half-Life. Their Aperture Science company is the competitor to Black Mesa; although the Resonance Cascade led to events that would negatively affect both companies. Portal and its sequel take place after the first Half-Life game.