Black Mesa: Blue Shift - 04 - Captive Freight

CHAPTER COMMENTARY:

There’s a lot to say about this ambitious re-imagining of Barney’s journey across the freight yard, because it just keeps on pleasantly surprising me. For starters, HECU Collective has expanded the narrative of Captive Freight from it being simply a “Sorry, your princess scientist is in another castle container” rescue quest. The HECU encounter that opens the chapter, as well as the overwhelming nature of their military presence by way of Chinook flyovers and the constant sound of heavy weaponry, helps reinforce that these soldiers are no pushover, and that Barney can expect a cold, ruthless enemy when he returns to the surface. The Steam Tunnels section is 3 maps long and could constitute as its own mini-chapter, with a well-executed claustrophobic feel via tight level design and great use of lighting. And once Barney gets back to the surface, it’s at least a half-dozen high-octane firefights in-between each scientist rescue, their intensity matching those of Surface Tension in the base game. By the time our hero jumps into the teleporter in the massively upgraded and impressively detailed Sector 7 area, it feels like a proper closure to one hell of a ride that this chapter has taken the player onto.

Something else that really makes this chapter more emotionally investing and immersive is that each character Barney encounters sticks around (with the exception of poor Harold, whose voice actor really sells his lines), leading to him eventually amassing quite a posse as they venture to Sector 7. Gone are the days of leaving the random scientists in the shipping containers to their impending doom. Now, we have Murdoch and Ronny, bickering friends that remind me greatly of Griggs and Sheckley in HL2:EP2, Ellie, a kind-hearted and genuine scientist, Rosenberg himself as a well-mannered gentleman who shows both his age and wisdom, and of course, our sugar-craving gem Otis. HECU Collective cleverly ties all of these characters into the narrative. Of course, knowing what happens in the Power Struggle chapter later on, I am both curious as to how the developers will deal with the extra characters and nervous that they will perish, given that I’ve taken a liking to their personalities.

Finally, the inclusion of the freight train as something Barney actually drives to solve puzzles is a genius idea that allows for the extension of the chapter in meaningful ways, especially when they are utilized in tandem with the now more heavily featured TOW Launchers. I am very impressed by the final puzzle at the Turntable where Rosenberg is located; the train is used for the entirety of that map and the devs cleverly space out encounters and obstacles in a way that feels organic and natural. Figuring out how to get Rosenberg to the loading dock was a great “aha!” moment.

The best work that the team has put out by far in my opinion. Looking forward to how they envision the Xen chapter next :)

Its a mod Sexy Nutella

"Weapons Free."
Worst mistake the commander made.

to be continue? what a next chapter?

How do u unequip a gun

When will it be filmed Black mesa blue shift xen

One question, why didn't the HECU just kill Barney when they had the drop on him rather than knocking him out? An even better question is why didn't they do that to Gordon when they had him in that exact situation?

A little addition:
A is the emergency brake for the trains. Cool playthrough!

Those marines did a massive oversight when they knocked Callhoun, he's still armed to the brim

Is this remake released ?

Wow that looks amazing - I wonder when it’ll get a full release

For now, this is the best chapter in this remake IMHO. Not only because the gameplay, mapping and/or story, but characters as well. Kevin Sisk is a fricking magician, I like how he voiced Murdoc, Ronny and Rosenberg at the same time. Otis and Ellie are also nice.
P. S. Oh yeah, and the first scene with HECU Marines, when they tried to fool Barney, is fantastic!

The UAV definitely seems to be this mod's take on Gordon's suit being "filled with tracking devices" in the original, that seems to be the reason why the Soldiers know where he is and follow him around.

This remake is super awesome

This is so good

Nice tank kill! Very cinematic

Can you play Entropy Zero?

One thing i love about this mod is the little animations Barney does for certain cutscenes. Getting Harolds keycard, putting on his helmet, thoroughly inspecting his weapons, etc. Really humanizes him as an average guy who's just fighting for his life, no magic space guy or orange plot armor to rely on - just some good aim and tenacious attitude.

Also the weapons sound fabulous. Base game Black Mesa is a little weak in sfx imo but these are great. I think they were tweaked a bit too, the mp5 can actually be aimed for more than 5 fully auto rounds and the glock is actually decent at killing shit without mag dumps. I do prefer Tripmine Studio's magalite melee better, the weapon variety in Blue Shift was very underwhelming and i was a bit sick of these 5 by the end of the chapter.

Could you break that creature in the ice on Map 6?? In the container?

Y E S

its insane the amount of rockets tanks can take in this level

Adrian's friends are assholes!!

I much rather would have had them have the guard actor do an accent and voice the player to keep hl2 continuity with Barney speaking. Would have been a great way to make him a better character too.

You could choose to camp to get rid of the tank but you decided to do it with style. Thanks for making it a cinematic playthrough! 😊

got finished playing this chapter and pretty awesome. only problem i had was the first red locks I had to blow up was not working and haded to noclip.

can’t wait for the last four chapters! maybe one day there will be an official remake mod opposing forces.

How you played in that first scenario was the perfect encapsulation of Barney thinking "I dunno if we should go any further...this doesn't look right."

Played it the moment it came out, what a fucking mod. Every load screen I was like "holy shit this is a long one". Was constantly praying for more and more every time I finished an area. I am seriously so hyped for the Xen chapter.

Buddy I enjoy your smooth playthrough on the Half Life Saga. I cannot wait to watch the next chapter in Xen and see what challenges await to our hero Barney.

can we appreciate how much the marines took to destroy Calhoun but did not work?