10 Best Gaming Remakes Of This Console Generation
3. Black Mesa
The only PC exclusive on our list, Black Mesa is a tribute to the magic that can happen when a big name company chooses to work alongside its fans.
A remake of 1998's groundbreaking Half-Life, Black Mesa finally completed its five year journey through Early Access in March this year. Originally released as a free mod back in 2012, Black Mesa caught the attention of Valve, the owners of Steam and developers behind the original Half-Life. Rather than hitting the modders with a cease and desist, Valve instead suggested they release the game commercially to allow them access to Valve's proprietary Source engine. The group agreed, and what started as an incomplete mod became a full-blown licensed remake.
Unlike many of the other entrants on this list, Black Mesa comprehensively reshapes the original game to better live up to modern expectations. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the game's closing chapters, a massively reworked version of Half Life's disappointing finale set on the alien world of Xen. New puzzles, better boss fights and superior level design and art direction meant that Half Life finally got the finale it deserved a mere 22 years after its original release.