Action · March 6, 2020
Black Mesa (2020)
Relive Half-Life Black Mesa is the fan-made reimagining of Valve Software’s Half-Life . Black Mesa: Definitive Edition Update 1.5 brings together all the improvements to graphics and gameplay across 15 years of development to create the final version of Black Mesa. There has never been a better time to pick up the crowbar and play! Single Player Campaign You are Gordon Freeman, a theoretical physicist at the Black Mesa Research Facility. When a routine experiment goes horribly wrong, you must fight your way through an interdimensional alien invasion, and a bloodthirsty military clean-up crew in order to save the science team... and the world! Features A completely reimagined and refined single player campaign, including all new and expanded Xen levels 19 chapters of fighting through top-secret labs, running atop harsh desert landscapes, sneaking into abandoned railways, and leaping across dimensions Mind-Blowing graphics and effects, never before seen on the Source Engine Face off against an army of classic enemies, updated with new features and engaging AI Wield an arsenal of military hardware, scientific prototypes, and the iconic crowbar through incredibly detailed environments The all-new soundtrack and voice acting create a more immersive experience than ever before 50 Fun and challenging achievements Multiplayer Frag your friends across 10 iconic maps from the Half-Life universe, including: Bounce Gasworks Stalkyard Undertow Crossfire Workshop Create your own mods, models, and maps with the Black Mesa Source SDK, then share it with the community on the Steam Workshop. Steamworks Collect the full set of trading cards, backgrounds, emoticons, and achievements! Featuring Steam Cloud, Steam Workshop, closed captions in multiple languages and full controller support.
Action releases from 2020
236 Action titles launched in 2020 — top 6 by review volume.
Position in Action
| Metric | This title | Genre position |
|---|---|---|
| Review volume | 127.7k Steam reviews | Top 5% in Action |
| Positive rating | 95% positive | Genre average: 83% — this title sits in top 14% |
| Metacritic | 84/100 | Genre average 77 — top 22% of Action titles |
| Concurrent peak | 907 players | Top 10% in Action by live player count |
| Engagement hours | 16 h average | Top 31% for session depth among Action |
Peer Action titles
Comparable titles in the same genre and review-volume band — ranked by Steam positive percentage.
Community Tag Signals
Tag weights reflect how many Steam users voted each descriptor — larger pills = stronger consensus.
- FPS · 1.1k
- Remake · 991
- Action · 920
- Sci-fi · 861
- First-Person · 795
- Singleplayer · 776
- Shooter · 704
- Atmospheric · 685
- Classic · 677
- Story Rich · 656
- Great Soundtrack · 632
- Aliens · 615
- Zombies · 569
- Adventure · 555
- Horror · 503
Localization Coverage
Interface / Subtitles (12)
- English volume_up
- German
- Spanish - Spain
- Finnish
- Norwegian
- French
- Portuguese - Portugal
- Russian
- Italian
- Czech
- Danish
- Dutch
Full audio (2)
- English
- Lithuanian
Reception Metrics
Steam community
95%Overwhelmingly Positive · 127.7k reviews
121.3k positive · 6.4k negative
Metacritic
84/100 critic aggregate
Metacritic user score
8.9/10
Curator recommendations
128.0k
Peak concurrent players
907
Features & Capabilities
Multiplayer
- Multi-player
- PvP
- Online PvP
- Cross-Platform Multiplayer
Community
- Steam Achievements
- Steam Trading Cards
- Steam Workshop
- Steam Cloud
Accessibility
- Captions available
Input & Comfort
- Partial Controller Support
Other
- Single-player
- Includes level editor
Press Quotes
“A quality remake that broadens the scope of the original and massively improves its final chapters.” 84 – PC Gamer “Black Mesa Source winds up being exactly what it always promised to be – a modernised, faithful recreation of a deservedly landmark first-person shooter.” Rock Paper Shotgun “It's a brilliant tribute to one of the greatest videogames ever made, and it's also a good game in its own right.” 8/10 – Destructoid
Engagement Profile
All-time avg
16h
moderate (15–40 hours)
Median
8h
Typical completion time
2-week avg
3h
Current engagement
Achievements
50
Steam unlocks available
Release & Availability
| Release date | Mar 6, 2020 |
|---|---|
| Developer | Crowbar Collective |
| Base price | $4.99 -75% |
| Platforms | Windows, Linux |
| Estimated owners | 1M–10M |
| External links | Official site · Metacritic page · Support |
Content Notes
Violence and death due to falls, blunt force, gunshots, and explosions. Over the top dismemberment of NPCs (gibing) that some may see as realistic.
Editions & Packages
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