Back in Black (Mesa) - Gameplay Gallery

Remaking a game as iconic as Half-Life, using a small team in their free time, and then releasing it for free, is one of those ideas that on paper sounds frankly, a bit nuts. Thankfully though, the Black Mesa Modification Team have done it anyway. Earlier this month the team released the first chapter in their remake of the seminal 1998 shooter, titled Black Mesa. And we reckon they've done a bloody good job.

Black Mesa is a third party total conversion mod designed to utilise the more advanced capabilities of the Source engine. The game launched earlier this month, is free to download, and features all of Half-Life's chapters up to those set on the alien world of Xen. And if that last point was somehow a spoiler then what the heck have you been playing these last 14 years?

To give Black Mesa a go, you'll need to do two things:

1. Download the game - Just head to their website and follow the link
2. Ensure you have both Steam installed, and the Source SDK Base 2007 (located under 'tools' inside the steam application).

So, how does the remake stand up next to the original? Take a look at these gameplay clips and let us know your thoughts on the game in the comments.