Black Mesa Source Delayed

For the past six years, almost immediately after Half-Life 2 was released, a dedicated team of modders have been working to reproduce the reproduce and update the 1998 original in the source engine. Better visuals, more architecturally complex levels than maintain the flow and feel of the originals but essentially the world-shattering game as it would appear had it been made with more recent technology.

That mod, named Black Mesa (previously known as 'Half-Life: Source' and 'Black Mesa: Source), is perhaps the most awaited mod of gaming history and has already been in development for longer than Half-Life 2 itself. It has now come to light that its 'committed' release date of before the end of 2009 has been delayed.

Its new release date is essentially 'when it's done' and, to be fair, this was its original release schedule. '2009' was said partially to appease the community and to give the team something to aim for. It never was set in stone. And of course it is a large project being undertaken by volunteers with other, paying work and their own lives to be getting on with.

Still, it is disappointing that we may not see it until a year from now or longer. 'In the near future' is a fluid definition, especially if the Black Mesa team have adopted Valve Time. More than that, the announcement of this delay came in the unusual form of a post in the mod's community forums, rather than on the website's primary News or front pages, the latter of which still promises Black Mesa this year.

Oh well, while we wait we can play over original gems such as MINERVA: Metastasis (a personal favourite) and take a look at the video the Black Mesa team released... good grief, over a year ago now.