Map Review of black-mesa-space-basement

by dunkelschwamm | January 1, 2023 | 3261 characters

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Black Mesa Space Basement is a short walkthrough map that makes the most of each encounter by making each enemy's health bar as dense as a neutron star. Most of the charm comes from the spectacle of the enemies faced, and they are faced in mostly simple succession.

First, we fought some zombie skeletons with what we thought was too much health, then some vortigaunts led by a vortigaunt with too much health, then some xenomorphs with probably a bit much health, and the process continued like that. Eventually, the map culminates in a battle with an apache with waaaaaay too much health.

To accommodate for these hefty enemies, players are given a wide arsenal complete with explosives, power weapons, and heavy machineguns to deal with the threats. It all balances out fairly well, I imagine, with at least four players. With two players it was a miserable grind to the end, even when the final boss gives the players so many helpful allies. Also, it doesn't help that the final boss locks players into a checkpoint past many of their best weapons (the SAW and Egon gun, for example). There's a rocket launcher with enough respawning ammo to go around, so I guess that just has to be enough.

Most of the map takes place in a Black Mesa styled hallway, with a couple (frankly ugly) side rooms with teleporters which move the plot forward. The hallway itself looks fine, but the big rooms are flatly lit and make poor use of textures, resulting in just really ugly rooms. There's also some teleporters which are really unclear whether they're activated or not, as some in the map show sprites and others do not. It's visually a bit of a mess. The final boss area in particular is pretty bad, attempting a stylized black-and-red neon lit platform at night with similarly colored barriers to stand behind. The problem is, the black blends in so well with the nighttime sky it's hard to tell what's cover and what isn't- during a battle with an apache.

Many of the best bits of this map are in its models, which I don't believe were made for this map as I've seen them around on model repositories and, frankly, they don't stick to any coherent theme.

Oh, there's also a totally optional battle with a Loader Voltigore we just kinda walked past, I guess.

If you're looking for an action-packed map wherein you fight bullet-sponges with funny downloaded models, Black Mesa Space Basement may be for you. It has some action and an ending, and probably works best with a swarm of people picking away at the enemies.

Pros:

  • Funny use of (probably) downloaded models
  • Great equipment and arsenal
  • Interesting variety of enemies kept me guessing what comes next
  • Final boss was interesting in concept
  • Final boss music was fun

Cons:

  • Final boss checkpoint is harmful
  • Final boss arena is hard to see
  • Bullet sponge enemies give all of the fun of combat without any of the satisfaction or surprises or shakeups- which is to say it's a fucking grind
Score: 5.2 / 10
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