What Even Is This?

Listen, I'm not stopping til the end-Questionable Ethics

Right, so, as of typing this, I have just finished Black Mesa up to the end of "Lambda Core," which is all of the game that's been released so far. And I have almost 700 screenshots to sort through as I get there, deciding which of these to share with you guys. But now that I'm done actually playing the game and collecting these screenshots, you can expect these updates to come even faster...

Because once I finish with Black Mesa, I can move on to doing this with the rest of the games in the series/universe, right?

Right.

(Hmm. Maybe I oughta make a separate book for this or something lol)

But anyway. It's time for my favorite of the earthbound chapters,

Questionable Ethics

So Gordon's had the snot beaten out of him, and he's taken the time to get back on his feet. "Questionable Ethics" is his triumphant return. It's the chapter where I think he really becomes the legendary one man army he's known as in HL2. Where he really settles into his role, is truly worthy of the title The One Free Man, Opener of the Way.

I also think I mentioned earlier something about a moment where it was hinted at that some Xen natives had actually been on earth before the resonance cascade? "Questionable Ethics is where it's really confirmed. Half the chapter is going through labs dedicated to dissecting and studying various Xen creatures- the sentient ones included. I mean, the first thing we come across in the chapter is this:

An alien stuck in a tank. This is actually the first time you see this kind of alien, one of the big guys. This one is stripped of his armor and his hivehand gun, though.

If I remember correctly, in Half-Life, he had his weapon, still, and shortly after you saw him, he'd break out of containment and start chasing you. What an introduction of a new enemy type!

In Black Mesa, however, we have instead